Category Archives: Training Tips and Techniques

Personal Stories, Training Tips and Techniques

The Tamarack Chronicles: Volume III

July 12, 2014 christinakeim 6 Comments

I grew up taking lessons at the local hunter/jumper barn, and so I would guesstimate that I have been jumping horses for nearly thirty years, give or take. While I have never aspired to the upper levels in any jumping discipline, there was a time in my life when I was fairly comfortable and competent over fences up to about 3’6”. As a Pony Clubber, I passed my B rating and competed at the USPC National Championships in 1994 in Senior Girls Tetrathlon, which required a 3’7” show jumping course. In fact, through most of my USPC ratings, if I could manage to squeak through the flatwork, I felt quite competent in the over fences sections. It was my forte.

But somewhere in my mid to late twenties, my feelings towards jumping changed. It was a slow transition, so painstakingly unhurried that I was almost unaware it had happened. I became less bold, far less brave and much more anxious. I have taken falls, like everyone else, and I have ridden stoppers and horses with low confidence that don’t pull you to the fences, but (fortunately), there is no single event that I can point to and say, here, this is where it began. The change was so insidious as to be almost invisible, but it occurred all the same.

When I bought Anna, she had been worked lightly under saddle at the walk and trot. The rest of her under saddle education has been from me. I took her on her first canters, taught her about dressage, and introduced her to jumping. From the very beginning, she was a willing partner, if a little lazy, and only spooked at the occasional fence. The first time she saw a ditch cross country, she just popped right over it; no fuss, no drama. Banks, drops, water— same. I competed her for three seasons of sanctioned eventing at beginner novice and novice, earning her USEA Silver Medal and taking trips to the Area I Championships at both levels (with clean cross country rounds). Sure, we had a stop here and there; at her first horse trials at Huntington, she was in first after dressage ahead of several accomplished trainers but spooked her way around the cross country course. She spooked at the glare on a freshly painted coop at Hitching Post one year. But for the most part, I could rely on her to give me her best effort, and if she did take a peek at a fence, on the second presentation she willingly went right over.

Anna over the first fence at Fitch's Corner 2013 — Anna over the first fence at Fitch’s Corner 2013

Fast forward to the fall of 2013. For the more complete story, please read my earlier blog, “Reflections on Gratitude: Part I”. But the short summary is that after completing (with only one penalty) three solid novice courses in a row (GMHA, Groton House, and Fitch’s Corner Area Champs), we were eliminated at King Oak in show jumping for three refusals, and then somehow scrambled around Stoneleigh Burnham two weeks later, in spite of refusals in both jumping phases. Gone was my willing partner. And gone was my sense of confidence or belief in the horse. Jumping had become a real chore and ceased to be fun at all. After several months of down time, I began working Anna over fences this winter in the indoor under guidance from my longtime coach. She had me focus on being softer in my arms, trying to not “set” Anna so much for a takeoff point, and to stay lighter in my seat so as to not hollow her out before the fence. Things were better—mostly. Except for oxers. And in and outs. And anything new or unusual or unexpected.

I dropped back down to beginner novice for our spring prep outings in 2014, which should have made things super easy, given her accumulated experience over fences. But at the shows, Anna got stuck, wouldn’t go, and stopped at fences for no apparent reason. I was eliminated in show jumping at two combined tests (THANK YOU to the organizers of each who recognized the schooling opportunity and allowed me to complete my rounds anyway). I was so, so discouraged. It is hard to ride confidently towards a fence while in the back of your head you think the horse might stop.

When I arrived at Tamarack in May, I was seriously worried about how on earth I was going to get through the jumping lessons. I felt so many emotions about it. I was frustrated and embarrassed. I felt like I was a bad trainer and like I had messed up my horse and caused these problems. I was worried about being overfaced or incapable of riding to the expectations of those around me. I was embarrassed to have people watch me ride.

My first jump school here did nothing to assuage my worries. We had the unfortunate luck to begin our school right as a thunderstorm was rolling in, forcing us into the indoor. Anna had yet to settle into the routine at the farm, and was anxiously calling for her new BFF Lee, as well as reacting to the thunder and rain on the indoor roof. During most lessons, Denny will call students over to him to discuss concepts relevant to the day’s exercises; while Denny was speaking that day, my horse was spinning, calling and in general acting in a disruptive and busy manner. The other horses in our group were quite green over fences, so Denny had set up a teeny tiny vertical for us to school back and forth over. The idea was to quietly trot to the fence with a soft rein and just sort of casually go over it. Anna was so tense and distracted that our “quiet trot” was more of a “forward trot/canter”. My “soft rein” was more like a steady rein as I tried in vein to keep her in the quiet trot. We approach the teeny tiny vertical—and my horse stopped.

The truth was, my own anxiety level was through the roof—I was nervous about the jump lesson, my horse’s behavior was doing nothing to sooth my nerves and now I was unable to even jump this simple fence. How much worse could it get?

Denny noted that I was (quite unconsciously) pulling back on Anna and holding tension through my arms as we approached the fence, and that when Anna did jump, she rushed over the fence. We had just gotten into such a negative cycle with one another that in order to try to fix the problem, there was little option other than to go right back to the beginning. So that is what we did.

“Earnest in a Box”

Something that has become clear to me is that when it comes to jumping, especially in public, I have begun to suffer from performance anxiety. I am so concerned about being perfect that I work myself into an anxious state which is completely counterproductive for riding. On the one hand, I know what I need to do and I know that I am physically capable of doing those things. I have years of muscle memory on my side. But in spite of this, the state of anxiety and emotional turbulence I get into are ultimately causing me to be less competent than I should be. Even going to jumping lessons had become a big deal. As in, we were going to Jump Today, instead of jumping being just a matter of course in our training.

Anna at GMHA in June 2013; Photo by Flatlands Foto and used with permission

Most of us are familiar with the term “earnest”. According to its definition in Merriam and Webster, “earnest” is an adjective which means “serious and sincere; not lighthearted or playful”. It would seem that for someone who wants to become an effective trainer and rider, being earnest in the study of horsemanship would be an admirable quality. But Denny has brought up several times that being too earnest can actually interfere with a rider’s ability to be effective. Being “earnest” can cause us to overanalyze and worry, which results in physical and mental tension. I absolutely fall into the category of “earnest rider”, and Denny has helped me realize just how much this earnestness has interfered with my desired success.

Denny coaches that there are certain aspects of ourselves that we almost have to “lock in a box” when we ride so that they don’t get in the way. For me, earnestness is one of these qualities. Each time I have a jump school, I have started to remind myself to lock my earnestness in a box, along with any feelings of performance anxiety or franticness.

Another critical concept that Denny brought forward is that ego has no place in horse training. If you need to go back to rails on the ground to work on your horse’s canter, do it. If you need to ride with a neck strap so that you don’t catch your horse in the mouth, do it. If you have to jump 18” verticals for six months because that is where you or your horse is comfortable, do it. Humility is NOT one of the qualities which should be locked in your box.

Furthermore, even though you might think that everyone around you is watching and judging (especially at a show), the reality is that at the end of the day, no one really cares about your performance except for you. So learning to let go of what others think is an important quality.

Back to Basics

Horses will provide us with the responses which they have been conditioned to understand. Teaching a horse to jump is a matter of conditioning them to understand that when they are presented to an obstacle, they jump it. But if they are punished by the rider for providing this response, whether through being caught in the mouth, pounded on their back, or being put too many times to an incorrect take off point with insufficient impulsion, then they are not going to be a willing partner.

It sounds so simple, right?

To start to rebuild both horse and rider confidence, Denny had me jump very small fences from the trot several times per week. The idea was to make jumping much less of a big deal than what it had become. This approach is what he uses when introducing greenies to jumping for the first time, as well as how he works to rebuild shaken confidence. The intent is to create a situation that is set up for success. Keep the questions simple and repeat them until it is a confirmed response. A quote from former USET coach Jack Le Goff that Denny repeats often is the guiding philosophy here: “Boldness comes from confidence, confidence comes from success, so do a bazillion little things that guarantee success and you will have a bold, confident horse.”

To begin to instill this feeling of success, I would establish a forward but not rushing trot with Anna, and before the fence make sure that I was keeping my leg on, my eyes and chin up and not leaning with my upper body. I also grabbed mane over every fence. Denny wanted me to never ever catch Anna in the mouth and by so doing discourage her effort. The reins were kept soft but not totally looped either. He would have us ‘go play’ over the fences. I only jumped the ones I felt okay with; there was no specific course or plan– very low pressure. Some days, we only jumped maybe eight or ten fences, and if she stayed happy and relaxed, we went for a hack. The pressure had totally come off.

A big turning point came one week when all of the farm’s horses were being schooled over gymnastics. There were two lines set up, one which had several bounces in a row to a one stride, and another that was a vertical one stride to an oxer one stride to another oxer. Obviously, each line was built up gradually. The fences were kept low, as the intent was to work on the horses’ form and function through the exercise. Gymnastics, and bounces in particular, are physically demanding on the horse and it is quite important to ensure that you quit while you are ahead.

On our first approach to the bounce line, Anna really backed off and though she went, it was sticky and lacked forward intention; this was the feeling which I had gotten so used to when she was faced with new and unexpected questions. Denny had me make a fairly strong correction with my whip (we actually school her over fences with a dressage whip, as you can more easily touch the horse without taking a hand off the rein). Then I reapproached—and he said something which for some reason really, really sunk in. I had to ride to the fence EXPECTING THAT SHE WAS GOING TO JUMP, instead of riding assuming that she was going to stop. So much in your body changes when you are thinking that your horse is actually going to jump the fence—you stay softer, you keep your leg on more, and if you have been coached enough, you wait with your upper body for the horse to throw you out of the saddle and close your angles.

Once I began riding EXPECTING THAT SHE WAS GOING TO JUMP, she actually did! We had no trouble through the rest of the day’s exercises.

Several days later, the horses were schooled through the gymnastics again. Denny’s wife May came out to help, as Denny was riding with us. May has retired from riding herself but still has a sharp eye and uses her years of personal experience to note fine details in horse and rider performance. She commented that during the grid line, I needed to keep my hands in a steady crest release, and not let them move around so much (where it is easy to start getting backwards pulling). She suggested shortening my rein and lengthening my arm (something which I say to my students all the time, how funny), and then finding the crest release and just staying there. When you come to the fence with your hands out ahead of you, it is SO MUCH HARDER to pull back. This was a second turning point for me. In addition to EXPECTING THAT SHE WAS GOING TO JUMP, I needed to remember to ride with SHORT REINS AND LONG ARMS, and to keep pushing her towards that contact, instead of the other way around. I was rewarded for paying attention to this detail by a horse that happily skipped through the exercises.

And in this slow, steady, methodical way, Denny began quietly increasing the questions we faced. One day we jumped the barrel fence. Another day we jumped some of the colorful panels (Tamarack has the most amazing array of beautifully painted fences). Each time, we came to the quiet trot, and I rode like I EXPECTED THAT SHE WAS GOING TO JUMP. And with each fence that she willingly popped over, a little boost of positivity went into our partnership.

Slowly, quietly, with as little fanfare as it had slipped away, I realized that my confidence was coming back, and that the horse that I had formerly trusted to jump was coming back too.

Using the Lower Leg—and What That REALLY Means

Anyone who has taken or taught a jump lesson should know that in order to encourage your horse to jump, the rider must apply leg. “Add leg!” “More leg!”

But riders (and coaches) must remember that the leg goes all the way from the hip joint down to the sole of the foot. That is a lot of real estate. Our quadriceps (thigh) muscles are usually our strongest in the leg, so when riders are coached to “add leg”, the common instinct is to squeeze with the thigh, which turns into pinching at the knee. However, if you stand still on your horse and squeeze as hard as you can with your knees, your horse will not move. This is an incorrect use of the leg.

To be effective over fences, the rider must be able to apply her LOWER leg to the horse. Denny quotes Bruce Davidson as saying that there is a control button on the horse, located just behind the girth and against the rider’s heel, which when activated will send the horse forward. But even saying that you need to apply your LOWER leg is still not descriptive enough. You must apply your leg at the location of the ankle bone/heel, and this must be positioned on the control button (just behind the girth). In order to apply this part of your leg, you actually have to rotate your leg from the HIP joint. And you also must SIT in the saddle.

When approaching the fence, the rider must shift the horse’s balance from forward and down to back and up (Denny likens this to cocking the pistol). The LOWER LEG of the rider in the location of the heel/ankle bone must be on the horse in this phase, in order to keep the hindquarters engaged and the hind leg underneath the horse. An image Denny uses is to imagine your leg coming slightly to the east-west position on the horse’s sides. The rider sits in the saddle and adjusts back with the upper body to help the horse’s shoulders to lift. The horse is the one who closes the angles of the rider’s hip and knee when he leaves the ground, while the angles of the rider’s shoulder and elbow open as she releases the rein. The rider’s body is essentially shaped like a “?” mark.

Some trainers advocate approaching fences in a light seat/half seat in the final strides, but it is quite physically impossible to apply your lower leg at the ankle bone when your seat is out of the saddle. One of the most common arguments against sitting is that it causes the horse to hollow his back; however, if you think of a dressage horse, riders sit all the time and the horse remains round and engaged. The key to successfully sitting before the fence is to do so without locking the hip and driving. The rider sits so that they can apply the leg and to ensure that they wait with the upper body.

3,2,1 Jump—Finding Your Canter

Denny frequently points out that most horses don’t have a jumping problem, they have a canter problem. Riders need to know what quality of canter is necessary for successful jumping, and they need to develop their ability to adjust that canter slightly to get to a correct take off point. He calls this “developing a three stride eye”.

Riders can work on this every single day, not by jumping, but by using hoofprints in the arena footing or other inanimate objects that are ahead of them in the ring. Practice transitioning from a travelling canter to a jumping canter and count down, “three, two, one” in rhythm with your horse’s stride as you approach your mark. If you are in jump tack, you can also practice the transition from a light/travelling seat to the sitting seat/leg on you need in front of the fence, asking your horse to shift his/her weight back and down while lifting the shoulders up.

Denny was helping me on the flat one day, and he asked me how many hoofprints I had jumped in my warm up. I had to admit to him that I had “jumped” no hoofprints, as I wasn’t happy with the responsiveness to my leg in the canter and besides, we were doing flatwork, not jumping. Denny said that working on the 3,2,1 exercise would actually IMPROVE the quality of the canter as well as my horse’s responsiveness. So I started riding with that thought in mind; sure enough, the exercise of looking for the three stride approach caused me to use my leg more effectively, thereby bringing more thrust and jump to the canter.

I personally have an easier time using an object that is up higher or is broader in my field of vision than a hoof print as a focal point; I have been using jump standards or rails on the ground to work on the 3,2,1 concept. The more a rider practices this during every ride, the sharper their eye becomes. The next step is to begin to figure out what the rider needs to do in those last three strides to affect the canter if they aren’t going to reach a perfect take off point. If they are going to stand too far off (leave long), they need to add more leg and move up. If they are going to come too close (chip/get deep), they need to half halt and further adjust the horse back. These skills make a not perfect distance less problematic—but it requires knowing when you are three strides away from the fence as well as having a horse that understands and is responsive to the aids which adjust stride length.

The Show

The first test of my rediscovered connection with Anna came at the Tamarack Hill Farm Schooling Jumper Show on June 18. THF offers these shows once/month in the summer time, seeking to fill a need for affordable, local, low intensity opportunities to practice jumping skills. Denny is a HUGE advocate for supporting these types of shows and believes strongly that event riders should take advantage of them to improve their jumping skills.

As hard as it was for me to do, I had to lock both my earnestness AND (especially) my ego in a box when I chose to enter the 20” and 2’ classes. This was a perfect opportunity for me to put all of the skills and mental focus I had been working on to the test, and to do that, I needed to keep the stakes very low.

My reward was that Anna was focused, confident, and wholly with me during both rounds and jump offs. Both of us admittedly had more experience as a team than most of the other entries in those classes, but it was with a huge surge of relief and joy that I actually felt a sense of partnership with my horse return. This was exactly what both the horse and I needed to be doing right then.

“Boldness comes from confidence. Confidence comes from success. So do a bazillion little things that guarantee success and you will have a bold, confident horse.”

It is my “earnest” hope that this jumper show represents one of those ‘bazillion little things’, and that we will only continue to grow in confidence from here.

Personal Stories, Training Tips and Techniques

The Tamarack Chronicles: Volume II

June 24, 2014 christinakeim 2 Comments

The Tamarack Chronicles: Volume II

I think I may have found my new favorite horse sport—distance riding! On June 8, Lee and I, along with Denny and his mare Cordie (Beaulieu’s Cool Concorde, a 9 year old Selle Luxembourg mare) completed the 15 mile competitive trail ride at the Green Mountain Horse Association (GMHA) in South Woodstock, VT. It was such a great experience on several levels and I am excited that we are aiming for a second 15 mile ride this weekend, with the Hartland Riding Club in Hartland, VT.

If you love to be outside, love riding your horse, and enjoy spending time with other people who value these same things, then you may already be a trail rider. Competitive Trail Rides (CTR) and Endurance give those of us who enjoy all of the above but also appreciate a bit of friendly competition a chance to put our horsemanship skills to a true test.

CTR How’s and Why’s

As a veteran now of TWO CTR’s, I feel MORE than qualified to explain the basics of how these rides work—haha! Just kidding. Please take what I say here with a small grain of salt (or electrolyte) and understand that it comes from my limited personal experience and research only, not years of dedicated study and practice.

The CTRs that I have attended are by far more relaxed than any horse trials or hunter show, and nearly everyone—competitor, staff or volunteer—is quick to say hello and lend a hand.

Lee and her friend Ariat at GMHA Distance Days, 2013

As with most competitions, one of the first things to do upon arrival is to check in with the show office. Here, you will sign up for your start time; at GMHA, entrants are usually sent out in small groups at two minute intervals. You will also receive your entry number, and your horse will be marked on both sides of the hindquarter with their number in greased pencil. This allows for easy identification of an entrant from a distance, and provides a marker that is hard to wash off when the animal is being cooled out at the completion of the ride.

The next order of business is the “vetting in”, where each entrant is carefully looked over by both a licensed veterinarian and the lay judge, who is a knowledgeable horse person. The vetting in might be completed the day before a ride for a longer distance, or it can be done just before the day begins for shorter rides. Rides that are sanctioned by the Eastern Competitive Trail Ride Association (ECTRA) provide feedback on the vetting in/out to competitors via a carbon copy sheet which clearly identifies several critical areas for assessment. The purpose of the vetting in is to establish a baseline for the horse’s condition prior to completing the ride. The vet and lay judge will palpate the topline, note any rubs/blemishes/swellings, check the legs and note filling, cuts, windpuffs, etc., check anal tone, do a pinch test on the skin, note the condition of the horse’s gums and check capillary refill time. All findings are carefully noted on the horse’s sheet. Finally, horses are jogged in hand, moving straight away from and straight towards the judges, as well as in a circle to the left and right. Horses will start with a perfect score of 100, and points are deducted for changes to the horse’s condition at the end of the ride.

Once all the horses have been vetted in, competitors will attend a pre-ride briefing, during which various personnel are introduced, trail markers are described and general information about the route is provided. Additionally, riders are made aware of the time for the route; rides sanctioned by ECTRA or running under its rules seem to adhere to an average speed of 6 miles per hour. The officials also give consideration to the weather and trail conditions to come up with a window of time during which riders should aim to complete their route. There is a thirty minute grace period during which riders may still officially finish with point penalty. Exceeding the grace period will result in a team’s disqualification. Finally, the vet and the lay judge will announce what the target is for the recovery pulse and respiration rates (more on this later). For rides longer than 15 miles, information is also provided on the mandatory hold. I will have to update more on what this means once I tackle a 25 mile ride!

At this point, competitors will return to their horses to prepare to move out on the trail. The rides at GMHA allow competitors to sign up to go out with another entrant(s); this practice is almost encouraged for the simple fact that you will have someone nearby in case of emergency. Once on the trail, it is really up to the rider to pay attention to many variables to determine an appropriate pace. You must consider your mount’s condition and how they are feeling that day, the terrain in front of you (and yet to come), the temperature, etc., and then travel at an appropriate pace. Because CTR’s DO have a time limit, it is important to be mindful of this and to aim to travel an average of 6 miles per hour. The walk is about three miles per hour, so completing a ride on time requires maintaining a pretty steady trot. However, there will be times on the trail where conditions warrant a slower speed (walking) and it is more important to consider your horse’s well being than to make a specific time.

Conditioning ride with friends Cordie (back) and Roxie (in front, with Denny on board).

Next comes the best part—the actual ride! Vermont in the late spring and summer is a simply breathtaking place, and so as you ride along, you are able to enjoy your horse, the company of friends old and new, and of course, exquisite scenery. The June GMHA ride took us first part way up Morgan Hill Road, and led us past amazing properties, including one of the homes of endurance Hall of Famer Steve Rojek. The road sections of the route are on town roads of hard packed dirt, which allow you to fairly comfortably trot out. We passed homes that even Denny hadn’t seen before, including one that appeared to have a homemade polo field and another antique home which someone was painstakingly restoring to its original appearance. (We learned upon our return that this particular property formerly belonging to the famous actor, Michael J. Fox. It seems like everyone wants a piece of Vermont’s beauty!)

Yet another stunning vista in Vermont, looking towards Tunbridge.

Our June ride took us on about 50% trail and 50% road. We had one ‘road crossing’ which required volunteers to police the traffic for safety. During the course of our ride, we encountered a handful of vehicles on the roads, and every driver was courteous and respectful of our horses. As someone who by and large avoids riding on roads when it is possible to do so, I appreciate drivers who pass horses slow and wide, and we were certain to acknowledge them with a friendly wave and smile.

One aspect that it is so important to remember is that in several instances, we were guests on private property. GMHA sits on 65 acres and maintains an extensive trail network, with some routes on their own property but many others are only accessible through the generosity of private landowners. Lack of space to ride is a major and critical issue facing the equine industry today, and all riders, not just trail riding enthusiasts, would be wise to take active steps to preserve the lands which they value. This topic warrants its own blog post, so perhaps I will reflect on this more and do just that. Visit http://www.gmhainc.org/trailpreservation.html for their thoughts on the topic.

As riders near the end of the CTR, many will try to slow their horse down to begin allowing their pulse and respiration to return to lower rates. This is less true at an endurance ride, where the goal is to complete the distance in as quick of a time as possible while considering the well being of your mount. Upon crossing the finish line, volunteers hand each rider a small slip noting the time of finish, and they also record the order in which each horse crosses the line, as this will determine the order for the vetting out. Riders are then given twenty minutes to return to the stable area, remove their horse’s tack, and to sponge their horse with water to assist in lowering pulse and respiration rates. Note that I said “sponge” not “hose”; hosing your horse is not allowed. Competitors usually will set up multiple buckets full of cool water along with sponges and scrapers before they head out on the ride; during the twenty minute window, riders will sponge and scrape, sponge and scrape, all in an effort to cool their mount out as efficiently as possible. At the twenty minute mark, more volunteers will come by to measure each horse’s pulse and respiration, and then record it on the slip handed to each rider at finish. Ideally, your horse has recovered to rates within the parameters set forth at the briefing. Horses whose rates are still quite high will be rechecked, and horses whose rates do not drop to within normal limits within an hour will be disqualified (and checked by the vet!).

Once they have completed their P&R check, competitors proceed to the “vetting out”. Horses are reviewed in the order in which they finished, but horses who are “friends” are usually allowed to come to the vetting out together and are reviewed in order. The same vet and lay judge who completed the vetting in will re-evaluate the same parameters that were checked before the ride; careful attention is paid to any areas in which condition has worsened. This may mean that the horse has acquired some rubs from the girth, or perhaps they have some swelling or scrapes from interference (shoes are permitted in CTR but protective boots are not). Horses are also jogged out in the same manner as they were pre-ride to note any unsoundness. Horses who show physiological signs of stress (changes in muscle or anal tone, increased capillary refill time, dry gums, etc) will have points deducted and in extreme cases might be disqualified. Sometimes, an area might actually improve in condition; for example, a horse may have presented with windpuffs pre-ride but shows tight and clean fetlocks post ride. Points won’t be given back for the improvement, but it is left to the judge’s discretion whether or not to deduct points for the initial blemish. Again, all horses start the ride with a perfect score of 100, and points are deducted for exceeding the time allowed on trail, for not meeting the P&R recovery threshold and for changes to the mount’s condition at vetting out.

Some rides, like our June GMHA 15 mile, are scored on a “pass/fail” basis. This means that no placings are awarded; it encourages riders to really consider their horse and use the ride as an opportunity to improve the horse’s fitness in the way which makes the most sense for that animal. Either your horse meets the minimum criteria and “passes” or they do not. At a ride with placings, it will be the best conditioned and soundest horse that wins. Therefore, the horse’s well being must always come first, as it should for all true horsemen.

Lee contemplates the view. Or more realistically, the grazing options.

CTR Versus Endurance

I was a little shaky on the difference between a CTR and an endurance ride, but after doing some research my short answer is that in an endurance ride, the winner is the horse/rider team who finishes in the fastest time whose horse is judged sound and healthy post-ride. Time of finish is not a factor in CTR, so long as you complete the ride within the time allowed. One other difference is that in endurance, where the distances covered tend to be longer, forward progress can be made by an unmounted rider leading their horse. In CTR, horses must be ridden for forward progress to count.

From the website of the North American Trail Riding Conference (NATRC; www.natrc.org): “A competitive trail ride is similar in many respects to an endurance ride. Both cover a set, measured course, and the veterinary judge closely monitors the horses in both sports. Endurance rides must be completed within a maximum time, and the winner is the horse that finishes first and is judged fit to continue. But in competitive trail riding, the horse and rider must finish the ride within a window of time, and speed is not a judging factor. Horse manners are judged in competitive trail riding, as is horsemanship; these are not judged in endurance. In endurance riding, horses are checked by a veterinary judge at certain points and are judged as fit to continue. The veterinary judge in competitive trail riding will check the horse anywhere along the trail, and the horse is judged on whether his parameters have changed since the baseline established at Friday check-in. Riders can proceed on foot in endurance riding, but for all forward motion in competitive trail riding, the rider must be mounted. Endurance rides may be much longer than a competitive trail ride-some endurance rides go 100 miles in 24 hours!”

Preparing for the CTR: “Never Hurry, Never Tarry”

When Lee arrived in Vermont the third week of May, she was coming off a winter of steady work 5-6 days/week in the indoor arena and a spring which saw some work outside (finally) by mid April, including a few rounds of trot and canter sets. I would tell you that she was in moderate work, but that she had not been doing the long, slow, distance style work that getting out on the trails can do for you.

Being at Tamarack is an amazing experience for someone who likes to ride out. A local resident for over fifty years, Denny knows the land and landowners like no other, and works to help maintain a network of trails which I understand is shared with snowmobilers and cross country skiers in the winter. Riding back on these trails is unlike any experience I have had at home; there is no traffic, no road noise, no airplanes overhead, no trash in the woods. It is as though you have ridden back in time. And when you ride out with Denny, he tells stories of the places you ride through, gets to open vistas and identifies landmarks and towns and points out historical markers and other features that one might otherwise not notice.

Old post marking the townline (TL) between Strafford and Tunbridge, VT

In getting ready for our first two fifteen mile rides, Denny put our horses on a schedule of hard days followed by easier rest/recovery days. Some days, we would ride as long as two to two and a half hours, mostly walking, but also riding up some steep hills; these are hills which surely put positive stress and strain on a horse’s cardiovascular system as well as work the topline and hindquarters. To aid my horse, I would also assume the two point position, making me a stronger rider as well! Easier days might include an hour on flatter trails, or even light work in the arena. As someone who is accustomed to a steady five-six exercise days/week schedule (usually four in the ring, one on the longe, one as a hack), it was a different concept for me to consider conditioning a horse by pushing a bit harder/further and then giving them a day or two of complete rest in between. In addition, the week before a ride is usually a bit lighter, overall, so that the horse arrives to the competition feeling fresh and fit. Though I am just beginning to learn about conditioning horses for distance work, and Denny says most of what he does he has learned through trial and error, we have been told that this type of progression is used by serious endurance riders. It is exquisitely important to listen to your horse—if you give them a hard ride (whether in terms of distance, terrain, speed, humidity or some combination) then your next day might be a light ride or no ride at all, to give the horse’s systems time to recover. If you plan to ride, and the horse feels tired, then you back off even more. Of course, over time you steadily increase the demands on your horse so that they are stronger in mind and body to hold up to the longer distances on rides.

CTRs themselves can serve as part of the conditioning process, as they offer riders a chance to work their horses under a structured format over longer distances. In fact, you will often see these rides called conditioning distance rides (CDRs) when they are ten to fifteen miles in length. Veterinary evaluation offers clear feedback as to how your horse coped with the demands of the ride, and a smart trainer can use this to sculpt their conditioning plan as they move forward.

When we were on the ride itself, Denny shared with me a piece of wisdom that he had gained from a serious endurance competitor; when on the trail, “never hurry, never tarry”. You want to be more like the tortoise and less like the hare, I suppose. Keep your horse moving at a steady, consistent pace; trot where the footing is good, walk where it isn’t or the trail is too steep (up or downhill) to trot safely.

Distance Planning, or, Setting Long Term Goals

When planning the career of a distance horse, you need to think long term. Not just in terms of the actual rides you plan to attend, but for the overall health and well being of the horse themselves. One endurance blogger reports that he believes it takes three years to put enough conditioning work into a horse before they can be a serious contender at 100 mile rides; this is not to say that they might not be fit enough to compete before then, but they will be competing for mileage/experience as opposed to try to win. And this is assuming that no setbacks occur to horse or rider. Denny says that preparing for distance riding is largely a question of time and place; you need the time to put in the saddle, and you need a place to do that riding (ideally a place with hills, which maximizes your conditioning time).

It is easy to get caught up in Denny’s enthusiasm for everything horses and riding related, and he has been favorably impressed with Lee’s performance so far, calling her, “one tough horse”. He thinks that she has the capability of completing a three day 100 mile ride like the one they host each fall at GMHA, but to do something like that would require planning NOW. In other words, instead of coming out of the indoor next spring fifteen mile fit, she needs to be twenty five or thirty mile fit. And then next summer would be focused on continuing to gradually build the muscle, joint and organ systems to handle the increased demands required of a ride of that length. He has me excited to try to go for it, or to at least seriously consider prepping for it, with the option of re-routing to a shorter distance if she doesn’t feel ready.

So the plan for this summer will be to continue to gradually build and to see where we end up; the Hartland Riding Club 15 mile ride is this Saturday, and based on how our horses feel, we hope to go to the GMHA 25 mile ride in early August. Time will tell whether Lee will truly make it to a three day one hundred mile ride, but as in other horse training endeavors, I shall just keep adding layers to the onion, never hurry/never tarry, and see where we end up.

Leebacksidehacking — Roxie and Lee, from Cordie’s perspective.

Training Tips and Techniques

Winter Training Session: Mini Pro Style

January 11, 2014 christinakeim 1 Comment

I have just returned from Ocala, FL, where I participated in a Winter Training Session. No, not one of THOSE training sessions—a more personal one, targeted for someone whose ambitions are currently a bit less lofty than those on the High Performance List.

Over the past year and change, I have had the opportunity to reconnect with clinician Verne Batchelder of River House Hanoverians in Williston, FL (formerly of Piermont, NH). Along with wife Jeanie Hahn and daughter Nora, he runs a successful breeding and training business whose products are competing successfully through the Grand Prix level in dressage and elite levels in show jumping, eventing and hunters as well. We are lucky to have a lovely mare named Morocco in our program at UNH who is by their former stallion, Maronjo.

The trainers at River House regularly incorporate schooling on the longe, on long lines and in hand into their horses’ training programs, and in our lessons Verne has frequently made reference to how one technique or another would be of assistance to me. I feel quite proficient with single line longeing, and have used it somewhat regularly with the Dark Mare (Lee) to help better develop the strength in her topline, the swing in her back and self-carriage. However, my exposure to other techniques, such as double longeing or long lining, has been relatively limited. When my schedule caused me to be in the Ocala area anyway, I invited myself over to their farm in order to learn more about how these trainers use unmounted training techniques to improve under saddle performance.

I should preface this discussion by saying that any errors contained within are likely mine, and also that I believe this subject to be one of those on which horsemen tend to be divided, depending on your training philosophy. So please take these comments at their face value; not gospel but rather my observation and notes.

Verne explained that the development of a horse’s ground training is progressive, and begins as you might imagine at the most basic level when you teach a youngster how to lead. Young stock should be regularly handled from both the left and the right hand sides, though Verne admits that at a busy breeding operation this can be hard to monitor. He jokes that the easiest way to ensure that babies learn to lead from both sides is to lead two at a time, and to trade off on which horse is on which side! I think that to do that you need to be a bit braver than I am.

The next step is to teach the young horse to safely longe on the single line. There are many well established and effective techniques for doing this, but at a fairly early age (less than two full years old) the young horse should be able to wear a cavesson and surcingle and be able to maintain their rhythm on a longe circle. Side reins can be introduced but not until the youngster has some concept about what is being expected of them, and they are not used to force a frame in the neck. In many training programs, this will mark the end of a horse’s ground training, which closes the door on other opportunities to develop the horse.

An interesting note here—Verne insists that all of his youngsters are longed off of a cavesson or even a tightly fitted halter, either on their own or over a bridle. He feels it is of paramount importance that when they make a “young horse mistake”, such as slipping, scooting, shying, etc, that they are not then jerked hard in the mouth. Even once the bit has been introduced, a halter or cavesson is worn over it and the line attached here rather than the bit directly. River House’s young stallion, Spot, is currently just beginning his under saddle training, and while Verne rides him off of a snaffle bit, the horse wears a halter over the bridle, with a second rein attached to it where the crossties would go, which he uses to stop Spot if he gets scared. Of course, safety is paramount, and if the young horse is behaving in a dangerous manner, then a stronger means of control may be needed and the bit can be used.

I had the opportunity to watch Nora longe River House’s two and half year old colt; he had had several days off. I was impressed with his overall good behavior on the line, especially given the impending arrival of the ‘polar vortex’, which was bringing rapidly dropping temps and strong winds to the area. This horse was able to stay quite steady walk, trot, and canter and was confident with his side reins, which were attached to a halter worn over his bridle.

Sometime in the two year old year, most horses are ready to begin “double longeing”. Double longeing is similar to long lining, except that for the most part the demands and expectations are more basic, and the horse remains on the circle. Using two longe lines, you attach one to the inside ring of your cavesson or bit (depending on the horse’s experience) and one to the outside. Your horse must become accustomed to feeling of the outside line around their haunches, but once they do, this technique is quite effective in helping them to understand the concept of an inside and an outside rein. This technique can also be used to help review this concept with horses that resist the connection.

Double longeing is helpful for other purposes as well. I observed Verne work with a client’s mare on the double longe, and his goals for her were to use the ground work to improve the quality of her rhythm, increase the activity of the hindquarters and to increase the horse’s overall level of suppleness. Having used this as a warm up, when he began the day’s work under saddle, the horse was ready to work at a higher level of activity and engagement. In addition, work on the double longe can help to increase the horse’s submission.

Long lining is a logical extension from double longeing, and can begin to be introduced from a horse’s three year old year on. The River House trainers sometimes use side reins with their long lines, which helps to increase the horse’s degree of straightness, but for other horses only the lines are used. I was only to get a taste of long lining during my stay, but the ladies were kind enough to show me work on the lines with three quite different horses, all of whom are schooling Grand Prix. So basically in terms of long lining training, we went right to the college level!

Prior to beginning their work on the long lines, the horses were each longed on the single line in side reins to allow them to warm up their bodies. Long line work can be quite concentrated and focused, and as I learned, timing is everything—timing in giving the right aid at the right time, timing in terms of ensuring that the work is long enough but not too long. Knowing to quit when you are ahead is a mantra that all excellent trainers subscribe to, but unfortunately sometimes the ability to recognize that moment only comes from having missed the moment at other times.

Each horse was worked with Jeanie at the head, holding a lead line clipped to the bit, while Nora expertly managed the long lines and the driving whip. The long liner stands much closer to the horse than they would as a longer; most of the time she walked just off the horse’s flank, where the contact could be maintained quite steadily and the whip used as a tactful aid. This trainer team works all of the upper level horses on the long lines weekly, and it was clear that they have developed quite a partnership.

The first horse, in retrospect, seemed to be the least confirmed in his work, though this could just be my impression, as I did not see any of these horses go under saddle during my stay. On the lines, Nora explained that they were mainly focusing on trying to develop better rhythm in the passage work. On this day, they had left him in shorter side reins, a technique which had worked well on their previous school. Today, however, this horse still seemed confused and wanted to swing the haunches or get ‘hovery’ in his movement, rather than maintaining his rhythm. “Oh well,” shrugged Nora. “Back to the drawing board.”

The second horse they brought out was a lovely, refined, tending towards hot mare who is aiming to show in the developing Grand Prix this year. The difference in her level of confidence and focus from the first horse was remarkable, and her ability to truly sit to collect herself in this work was impressive. The ladies worked the mare in both directions, not more than ten or fifteen minutes total, and through the work there was a clear improvement in quality. I noticed here that the handler at the head tended to bounce in the rhythm she was looking for from the horse, whether consciously or not I don’t know!

The third horse they worked was a big, expressive mover. In his work, the trainers emphasized the development of increased rhythm, impulsion and straightness, as well as the quality of transitions in and out of each movement. Some work was done with transitions between the movements, as well as transitions from the walk. This horse at times showed his power by trying to push away from the women, who needed to quickly coordinate their efforts to steady him but also provide a release from the pressure. As he came to a better place in terms of clarity, impulsion and cadence, the trainers stopped work for the day, even though they had only gone in one direction. Mentally and physically, the work had taken him to the edge and he had found his way back, so it was the moment to “quit while you were ahead”.

Overall I was quite impressed by the quality of the team work and the accuracy of the timing demonstrated by Jeanie and Nora. As Jeanie later emphasized during a lesson, the most important aid a trainer can give is the release. How many times have we heard this, and how hard is it to always effectively do it?

The pinnacle of the ground work is the work ‘in hand’, which Nora demonstrated as a warm up with their stallion, Bretone (Tony to his friends). Using just a cluck, a dressage type wand and a light feel of the reins, Nora showed Tony’s piaffe and passage; he is clearly quite well schooled in this work and knows what is expected, and it was an excellent demonstration of the fact that these movements initiate with the hindquarters, not the reins.

I had the opportunity to work Tony in hand myself the next day, which was quite a thrill. Tony is a big fellow, but quite a gentleman and rather tolerant of my attempts to tell him what I wanted him to do. Working the horse in hand should not be begun prior to their 5 year old year. It requires a fair degree of coordination on the part of the handler. You carry the whip (which is a longer, driving style whip) in your dominant hand, and hold the lead line close to the bit, all while walking backwards. Using your lead, it is possible to half halt the horse as well as elevate the poll, while the whip cues the hindquarters. Ultimately, though, the majority of the cues should come from the handler’s body language and the length of your step. We began with the piaffe, which you initiate with a touch of the whip at the hock and a cluck. To transition to the passage, the whip is raised and can touch the horse at the point of hip, along with an increase in the handler’s length of step.

A few notes on side reins—the adjustment in terms of both length and height is quite important, and the trainer should not hesitate to adjust them as necessary. For younger horses, the side reins should be set higher on their sides, while more advanced horses can handle the lines being set lower. The horses at River House that I watched work all warmed up in their side reins on the longe, a technique that I myself prefer, though I can imagine many scenarios in which this would not be safe or sensible. Clearly, these horses are accustomed to their ground work and are conditioned both mentally and physically to the use of the side reins.

Another useful piece of equipment that the River House trainers use (we used it on Tony, in fact, during my in hand practice), is what Verne nicknamed the homemade Willi Schulteis bridle. This is a basic cavesson to which a bridoon sliphead (what the snaffle bit on a double hangs off of) is added. It is then possible to easily add a bit to your cavesson, which then allows much flexibility in the training along with a close fit.

I am most grateful to Verne, Jeanie and Nora for taking time out of their busy schedules to accommodate me and my questions and for sharing a glimpse of their training with me. If you want to learn more about them, visit their website at www.rhhanoverians.com.

The Academic Equestrian

Category Archives: Training Tips and Techniques

The Tamarack Chronicles: Volume III

The Tamarack Chronicles: Volume II

Winter Training Session: Mini Pro Style

Celebrating the incurable addiction which is being an equestrian