Steuart Pittman Clinic Redux

It dried out enough in the backwoods of Maine to hold the cross country portion of the Steuart Pittman clinic outside. The footing was wet, but not muddy, and I am afraid Brego and I damaged the field pretty badly during our rides. The big boy is tough on wet turf.

Steuart was in his usual good-natured, positive role. He was very upbeat and funny with all the riders and had a great eye for balance and soft feel. I am really impressed with him. If I had infinite money and time, I would try to work with him more privately because in a group clinic setting, your time is limited and the focus is not as critical.

In general, I felt really loose in the tack and pretty run down. I am beginning to think I am fighting some cold off. I've felt a little run down all week and it definitely showed in my riding. I went right back to squatty, toes out, fall back in the saddle riding. Brego felt my vibe as well and was a consistent 20% behind my leg at all times. The only time we could get a nice jump out of him was when Steuart placed his baseball cap on the jump. Then Brego sat up and paid attention.

We had some trouble finding out way around the big water puddles, so our finale course was broken into "pre-water screwup" and "post-water screwup". In the first half, we were rocking. I felt like we had a good rhythm and Brego was jumping nicely out of stride, even with my sloppy position. The second half was definitely harder going with stickier fences. We lost our rhythm and impulsion and then we just scrambled around the rest of the course. I can't complain too much, Brego echoed how I felt. I just didn't feel like we were "on".

Pittman Clinic from Eventing Percheron on Vimeo.

Steuart was very happy with Brego and, once again, I got some nice feedback from him. He said not to stress too much about him putting his head down before fences. I have been worried about it, even enough to post on COTH. He said he was just looking at the fence and to not try to correct it unless Brego then had trouble getting off the ground. From what he could see, he thought he was fine and it was even desirable to have a horse look down at the fence and then use his neck and shoulders to lift off. It meant he was paying attention, like he should, but still using himself well. You do not want a flat jumper who never uses their neck or looks where he is going.

He also really liked Brego's form when we rode well. He brought up he knees and used his back. He said he was very honest and looked much more experienced and confident than last time he saw him. He asked me when I was going to take him Novice and I said late next year maybe. He thought that sounded really good.

So all in all, Brego put in a solid performance and was a very steady ride, even in extremely wet grass. I was not at the top of my game and it showed, but it was still great to get Steuart's feedback.

First Week in New Barn

After the long trip, Brego got a day off and then went immediately into work. Nothing strenuous or fatiguing, but just enough to get his brain active and focused on me. He did very well during the first ride in the potentially spooky indoor. He took the atmosphere in stride and was very attentive.



The barn itself is very fun and welcoming with some good, knowledgeable horse people around at all times, so I feel like the horses are well watched. There is a lot of activity with tractors, bicycles, kids, other riders, lessons, etc so I consider it really good desensitization to busy show environments. Both Hobby and Brego have taken it all in and soaking up the "new horse" attention.

Everyone loves butt dapples

They spent a few days in a private paddock and then I turned Brego out in a HUGE pasture with about 10 other horses. I knew he would quickly work his way to the top but I was pretty surprised to see two little mares work him over with their charms. Yes, Brego then did what all boys do, much to my shame and dismay. My little boy is growing up, all into girls, thinks mom is so uncool. We pulled the mares out because, although he did not hurt them, he was getting fixated. We had one of our best rides later in the afternoon, he was very forward and light and we just rocked at dressage. And yes, I do appreciate the delicious irony of my April Fool's Day joke and Brego's recent coming of age. I just hope he forgets about it. I do not want stud behavior out of him.

I had my Dad come out and visit and give Brego a man to man chat. I don't think he got the point across (stay away from the hussy mares, nothing but trouble), but Brego certainly enjoyed the pets.

Mares are nothing but trouble, my son

The barn is located on lots of property to set up some trot and canter sets down logging roads. I will start conditioning sets with him in the coming week.

The show schedule is coming into focus. Brego is doing so well at dressage, I am going to start the season with a dressage schooling show May 18th. Then I will go to an eventing schooling show in June and FINALLY register for our recognized debut. I am so excited to start showing. He is so much improved since last time we showed, I can't wait to see what the judges think.

Winter Training

Although the weather indicates otherwise, the lack of shows on the horizon signals the beginning of winter. Since I am currently enjoying how lateral schooling is elevating Brego's canter, I am planning on focusing on dressage through the winter. I would also like to save Brego's legs and only jump as a refresher until about mid-February.

Brego's calendar of activities looks a little thin for the next couple of months, with maybe an odd clinic, dressage lesson, or schooling day here or there. I am taking the boy camping for a week in the Ozark mountains over the holiday break to get back to our rustic roots. So that is something to look forward to, at least.

Then the mid term goal is to go to our first recognized event at Pine Hill on April 5. Hopefully, a schooling show will pop up before then to serve as a pipe cleaner.

In the meantime though, I have put up a poll to see what people are interested in seeing more of on this blog. It's been up for 6 months now, with a little over 50 posts, and I would like to refine the content to stuff people are more interested in. I started this blog as a journal for myself, to keep track of training, and to also chronicle things I get asked about a lot on online forums, like feed. Since there are a couple of regular readers however, I would love to actually provide more information that is useful instead of whatever rambling subject about Brego that comes to mind (and there are many). So feel free to vote in the poll and comment if you have more specific suggestions. Without the excitement of shows and other activities, I can try to fulfill all requests over this winter.

The Un-Clinic is a Big Success

As I was making final preparations to leave for the clinic in Dallas early Friday morning, I received an email from host Allison Freeman saying that Rainey Andrews, the super-star clinician I was so eager to ride for, was in the hospital and the clinic was officially canceled. Rainey is going to be completely fine, no need to worry. She just wasn't up to teaching this weekend.

Although the clinician was MIA, Allison extended an invitation to all of us to come be her guest and use her facility as open schooling. Food and accommodations would be provided, just as if the clinic went on. Well, only a fool would pass up an invitation to ride at Cedar Creek Farms, Allison's little slice of heaven on earth, for the weekend. So we loaded up and headed to Dallas.

We got there just before dark and settled the horses into the posh temporary stabling. We met up with the other 10 riders who decided to come hang with Allison for the weekend and had a great dinner. We made plans to ride in two groups the following day: the beginner novice crowd (including me) and the novice and above crowd.

Saturday was a perfect day with gorgeous weather. We did our morning ride in the covered arena and worked on combinations and turns. Brego and I had a lot of trouble with the turns in that arena, and it really exposed some areas we needed to improve. After the arena session, two other riders took Brego for a spin just to see what he was like. The rider who normally rode a huge warmblood liked him, the rider who normally rode a pony did not. Brego is an, er, acquired taste.

After lunch, we hit the cross country course. Brego did water and banks like a champ. I jumped him over hutches and coops and anything that looked like it was beginner novice level. He never missed a beat and I even started to get that "taking a fence out of stride" feeling. He obviously started to feel how much better life would be if he would jump out of stride instead of chipping every fence, because he really started moving out.

After the ride, four of us took out the 4-wheelers for a little dash around the huge property. It was a blast, tearing around the dirt roads and 200 acre hay fields, crossing bridges, and moving through cow herds. What a beautiful peace of land. We got back just as the sun was setting to a picturesque view of a hot air balloon floating above the barn. After washing the road dust down with a few beers, we tucked in for Wurstfest where brats were served, appropriately, on a stick! Great times!

Sunday morning, we took the horses out on a long hack to the back of the property. It was good "foxhunting" training because we cantered down a dirt road as a pack and Brego was very much listening. It was a great relief since we are going out hunting for our first time next weekend. He also seemed to have plenty of gas, thanks to his new diet and fancy body clip. He had been working hard all weekend in pretty warm temps and never even really broke a sweat anywhere but under his saddle. He loves the body clip and I love it as well, so easy to keep clean and he needs so much less after-ride care.

We then rode up to yet another schooling area, where I took Brego over his first ever corner. And it was a narrow as well! I am so proud of him for being able to lock onto a fence that is only 4 feet wide and jump it without hesitation. That was the fence where Brego finally moved up to make a proper distance. I can honestly say that he has never moved up to a fence before, he always sucks back and chips. I think my little boy is growing up... He is starting to see the fence and think about it. And the trickier the fence, the better he does. Cross rails are sooooo boring. Brego wants to jump crazy narrow corners in the shade with only three strides of an approach because we are cantering through a dense forest!! He's turning into a bit of an adrenaline junkie.

We finished up back on the cross country course where I took Brego over some scary barrels. I think it's safe to say he is completely over his barrel phobia. I then took him through the water again and then got a lead off a training-level drop into water. He wasn't particularly graceful, but he was very brave. In fact, his uncanny ability to jump anything and everything I put in front of him won the hearts of all the riders. He may not be cleaning up in the placings, but his honesty is priceless.




Brego did well, but the real lasting impact of this un-clinic was the riders. Every single person, no matter what level, went out of their way to be helpful and generous. I think I got a wonderful tip or bit of advice from every single person there, and when I remembered to do what they said, my riding really improved. We missed Rainey for sure, but it was a very productive weekend nonetheless.

More pictures

Cross Country Schooling

I took Brego down to Indian Creek Farm in Spring Branch, Texas for some cross country schooling. We're only two weeks out from an eventing clinic, and I wanted to make sure there were no cobwebs in the XC gears before we showed up in front of Rainey Andrews.

With no appreciable rain in a month, the ground was very hard so I kept the time on xc short. I did try out the new and improved "go" button in the jumping arena. I must say, it was much less exhausting to get him around a course without nagging and holding his enormous head up. His balance has improved tremendously in a month and I love the new comfy forward canter. (Of course, he's not truly forward at this level of his training, but measure progress, not perfection!)

So after a lengthy warmup in a cushy sand arena, I hit the course. The main objective was to school ditches, which is something Brego has never seen, and to jump the Scary Wall. The Scary Wall is not big, or particularly wide, it's just made out of telephone poles and rock. It's solid and not the kind of fence you want to hit out of stride. It's definitely a rider fence though, because it has good lines and makes sense to horses. It just scares me to death. So I decided today was the day we were going to jump the Scary Wall.

First, to build some confidence, we schooled a little ditch. Brego looked long and hard, but by the third time, he was jumping it well from the trot. I decided not to attempt it from a canter and to save his legs for... the Scary Wall. But before that, I needed even more confidence. So I took him over a brightly painted blue coop. It's amazing that he is already getting used to cross-country fences. Even though he's never been schooled over this particular fence, he was so ho hum, I could tell he was thinking "just another coop".

So with all that confidence (hubris, even?), I cantered across the field from the coop to the Scary Wall. Brego enjoyed his little sight seeing tour of the field, past the big white barrels and along side the horses playing in the next field. He was really cruising around enjoying the sights until he happened to notice the Scary Wall right in front of him. I guess he actually saw it about two strides out. You know, I never knew a Percheron could do a reining sliding stop before. I guess Brego has many talents. Luckily, my own subconscious desire to stay as far away from the Scary Wall as possible kept my position back so I was not surprised by the stop, even though this was Brego's first true "Holy Sh@#t!!" stop.

So I circled him around and tried to present it again, this time with feeling, and not letting it sneak up on him with all the other distractions. It was hard to emote that I really want to jump this fence when I really don't. But Brego took care of me and cleared it on the second time by a nautical mile. By the time the Scary Wall picture was taken, we were on our fourth or fifth jump and he's already bored with it. Not me. The visions of a rotational fall off that itty bitty wall still play in my mind. Eventing is such a mental sport.

So in the end, we did very well. Both objectives were fulfilled and I don't think for one second that the stop at the Scary Wall was Brego's fault. One of the many things I need to learn is proper presentation. Show hunter experience doesn't really emphasize jumping unschooled questions that make your blood run cold.

It's interesting that in both pics, I have reverted to some strange hunter position except with some egregious faults: I am ducking, my leg is back and my toes are out. I mean really, check out that crest release! Yikes! At least I am not trying to fly away with my chicken wings. Also Brego's truly bizarre jumping form is apparent. He likes to get deep and then spring up and over a fence, losing some momentum. You can see it in the warmup picture over the oxer if you notice how high he is in relation to where he took off from. Also, he hasn't really learned yet how to stow the rear landing gear. He just jumps everything high enough to drag his fully extended legs over it, and splats down on his front legs. He won't stay sound for long over big jumps with that form, so I am going to experiment with gymnastics and spreads to see if I can get him to thrust forward more and clean up those hind legs. I would love to see less "jamming" of his front feet on the landing.

But these are all smallish nits and easily fixable as we both get stronger. The coolest thing is that Brego is schooling some "real" cross country questions with a very fun and honest attitude towards the work. I couldn't ask for more from this fish out of water.

Back in the Saddle

After last week's confidence debacle, I received an invitation to school on Saturday with two very cool ladies at Pine Hill in Bellville, Texas. It was just the opportunity to get back into the swing of things and regain some trust in the big guy.

Brego did very well. We not only schooled most of the Beginner Novice fences and a couple Novices fences as well, but I jumped a nice bank out of the water. As the grand finale, I took Brego on a tour of three fences back in the woods by myself. It was time to really see if our trust was rebuilt. So I left the security of my companions and we cantered down the sandy path into the woods.

After the first fence, I felt something on my right arm (my crop arm) and looked down to see the legs of a spider which was so huge that while it's body was on the underside of my arm I could see its legs wrapped around my arm from both sides. Needless to say, I flailed. And while I was flailing, I dropped the reins and smacked Brego in the neck repeatedly with the crop as I tried to fish around in my vest and shirt to see where the monster had gone. Good ol' Brego, sensing that his mom was in mid seizure, slowed and halted and waited patiently while I cursed and swatted all over my body to rid myself of the spider. I finally regained my reins (and my senses) and we continued cantering down the path. Nothing says love like ignoring a thudding crop and realizing mom was out of sorts and slowly taking care of her until the killer spider was gone, while we were alone. In the woods. My Brego was back.

So we continued our romp through the woods, had no trouble with the fences and came out onto the field with a flourish. He finished up over a brightly-painted blue roll-top which he had not schooled, just to show me he wasn't scared of jumping anything cold.



He was tremendous. My position has definitely suffered from me being uncomfortable. I am resorting back to my old habits of turtling and jumping over my hands and pivoting from my knee. I've already got the call into my jumper trainer. She knows the work she has cut out for her.

But first, we will take a little while off from the jumping and schooling. We have a camping trip to the Gulf planned for next weekend. It will be a well-deserved R&R for both of us.