A Lesson With Grits McMullen

Today was kind of a big deal for me and Mo. Today we went to Sunset Farms [gorgeous] and had a jumping lesson with the amazing Grits McMullen. Locally, Grits is  renown as a fabulous horsewoman, and is a senior member for the Hunt in the area.  I hope I can remember everything we did, because she was fantastic. FULL of perfect little tid bits to chew on and mull over, and right on to what we all needed to do to help our horses.

It was a super funn lesson to begin with, because I got to share it with two good friends. Between the three of us, we were all having the same basic question, just presenting in different horsenalities! How cool is that?

Mo was feeling the introvert today. It was hot and humid, and she wasnt very go-y or particularly sensitive. Loading her on to the trailer took a little longer than usual, she was really curious for some reason. She wanted to poke everything and give the trailer a real once over before getting on - which is perfectly fine. Whatever floats your boat, Mo.

We stopped to pick up Miss Spotty Princess, Indy and L, and away we went, headed to Sunset [ten minutes down the road] We pulled in and met J, unloaded and got ready to warm up. We were purposefully early so we would have time to warm up and play a little before the lesson. I had brushed Mo before loading her, but she somehow still got dirty on the trailer. Go figure! She also had a few sticky spots on her sides from where she bit at bugs after eating some molasses last night... sigh.... so much for professional turn out... ! I brushed her up again, but even the no-rinse shampoo I used couldnt get the molasses off her sides...  Oh well. She still looked adorable. She always does!

We headed into the ring online. Got some feet moving, got a little focus, some bend, some HQ yields. Finished our ground time with some nice sideways trots with impulsion! We slowly made our way back over to where our bridle was and finished getting ready. Finally mounted and ready to begin, I just walked the rail with Mo, waiting for everyone else to be ready, and Grits to finish setting our course plan. I played with isolating the HQ freestyle, really asking her to connect to my leg. She did really well, softer than she has been, for sure. I played with picking up contact and asking her to stretch, just at the walk, and she did very nicely.

Grits gave us a great talk to start the lesson, and then asked everyones goals. We were all very similar, in that we wanted to be able to help our horses approach jumps confidently and find the right take off point in the canter. Mo has a tendency to take off WAY early, and I never knew how to help her find the closer spot.

Our first exercise was a simple but challenging one. Two poles on the ground, get seven strides in between[84 feet]. Sounds easy huh? I promise you, it isnt! Well, maybe to people used to doing stuff like that. The goal was an easy ten foot stride. Mo is about 9 feet I think, on average, when she is just mincing around. She doesnt really stretch herself out there. So the first time we did it, we got eight strides. I also had no idea we were GOING to get eight strides. Learning to see the distance is part of the exercise! Cool! By the end of the exercise I was able to ask her to hold her stride [instead of leaping over the pole] and extend a little bit more to create the seven strides. BOY was it a challenge though! Its not about faster, its bigger!

When we got the plan with the poles on the ground, in both directions, Grits added a teeny vertical where the second pole was. The idea was, that if you could control your stride, it should hardly matter over the jump because you would just land in the right place - the sweet spot - for take off. Some how we did! The magical thing I was learning was about guiding Mo and not leaving her alone when we got to where were going. My tendency is to get to the jump and go "your turn... I dont know now" and just say go. In order to help her figure out distance and not feel lost or dropped, I need to hug her a bit with my leg, keep her steady and convince her I am still there. When I got it right, and she believed me, things went perfectly.

From there we went to jumping on a circle. The exercise started with trotting the pole on the ground, then cantering the pole on the ground. This was to the left, which is harder for Mo, and she kept wanting to fall in after the pole. My goal became to really push her out straight from the obstacles and not allow her to just go over in a crooked heap. This also effected her keeping the correct canter lead.

After we all got the pole on the ground, it was turned into a tiny vertical with MO EATING FLOWERS under it! HA! We were going to trot it the first time, canter it the second. I had picked up a stick to help support my leg to keep her from falling in. She kept leaning on me, so a small shoulder tap to remind her to pick that big thing up helped out tons! Trotting in she was a little looky at the flowers, but nothing major, she had already tried to eat the flowers earlier in a different location. Grits said I hold my breath while jumping sometimes, which effectively lets Mo down, so I need to BREATHE!! I come in expecting Mo to jump badly and I brace for it, so she does. Crummy catch 22! So the next time we came through at the canter, thinking FORWARD. We had to RIDE THE OTHER SIDE!!! There is just a stick in the way, as Grits would say.

Id say things improved considerably! Of course we had many a spazzy moment, but overall better already! The final test was a string of three jumps, on a funny sort of serpentine-esque sort of line. The third jump required a rollback, which was really cool, and Mo did great at! The first time we jumped all three together, things went spectacularly! I felt really good about it! The second time was a little diecy, but the third time we re-organized and finished up on a great final jump.

I think getting to watch the other two girls really helped cement the thoughts and plans in my head. I really feel like I can start to see the intended distance a little better, and I can ask Mo to take a stride when she wants to take off so early. We still need to play more with impulsion to the obstacles. Mo wants to suck back and analyze instead of thinking up and over.... and, so do I, so we both need to think about the other side! Balance, Straightness, Impulsion!! and practice, lots of practice.

In other Mo news, she came home and positively GOBBLED up her new supplement, which she wouldn't even try yesterday. I soaked it mixed with some crunches and then mixed applesauce in right before giving it to her... bwahahah! BE HEALTHY MO!

SO much learning today, it was great!

 - S