Joe Fargis - 11 Aug
We had our third lesson with Joe, this time it was outside in his jump field. Soon came off his mini-layoff with a couple of hacks, flat rides, and only one (light) jump school at home prior to this, so he was a little "up" for the jumps in the huge field. And by "up," I mean I'm pretty sure he was doing this out the trailer window as we pulled into Joe's yard.
Actual footage of our arrival |
Big field, lots of jumps, lots and lots of horses schooling around us,wet grass and no studs (WHEEE!) made for some exciting moments, but thankfully despite some yee-haws, he was still very rideable to the jumps. It maybe wasn't the most productive lesson learning or progression wise, but Joe saw I had a relatively hot horse that day and he kept things to a dull roar. He is such an incredible, calmingi influence. Soon was clearly feeling better, he jumped very confidently all morning. He even did the liverpool with zero drama! He thought about stopping the first time, but I closed my leg and showed him the crop and he went right to it. From there on he felt very solid going to the liverpool. Bottom line, it was a good day. I felt like I had my horse back, and Joe was very pleased.
Linda Zang - 14 Aug
A few days later we hauled down the street for our third dressage lesson with Linda. I have to stop and pinch myself sometimes because the opportunity to ride with her is just so, so incredibly special, and I'm floored that someone like me (not a dressage rider, not even an eventer!) gets to work with her, and she's just has enthusiastic about working with a jumper as she is working with someone at 4th level. She had Soon and I work more on moving him through the shoulder, building on what we started in June. This time, though, we started at the trot and she had me put him into a shoulder-in through the corner. This helped get him moving more freely through the shoulder, as well as stepping more through from behind. His trot work started to feel REALLY lovely, and got a couple of compliments from the auditors and Linda too. An auditor must have asked about Soon's breeding, because Linda explained he was a Thoroughbred...as I trotted around, I heard her say to the auditors that Soonie looked like a warmblood because he had good muscle and a topline (which, I must say, is sadly missing from the average TB folks see out and about).
We quickly refreshed some of the canter work from last time, as well as adding some 10-meter and even 8-meter canter circles, focusing on keeping him engaged behind and straight off the outside rein. We worked on his right lead as well and tried to troubleshoot his recent cross-cantering shenanigans - which are caused by me, of course. She and I talked it through, I tried a few different things, and it's a fun combo of him blowing through the outside shoulder and me sitting too heavily. We got to a good place though, that discussion was very useful. Sadly I did not get video this time, but Linda was extremely complimentary of us, which just made me beam ear to ear. Those sitting around and watching also seemed very happy with Soon as well. We cooled out as Linda and I talked about the upcoming George Morris clinic, and she shared some fun stories and offered some excellent suggestions. Can't wait to ride with her again!
Stephen Bradley - 15 Aug
So at this point Soon was just totally sick of me showing up at non-standard times of the day during the week. He knew he was getting on the trailer again and was not super stoked about it. But, being the polite gentleman he is, he didn't complain.
Him when I showed up for second day in a row to haul him off to a lesson |
Joe Fargis - TODAY! YAY!
I splurged and took another day off to drive out with Kim to lesson with Joe again. Soon more or less had the last week off between recovering from Legend Lesson Extravaganza! and his shoes being loose/falling off. I did manage to get out Wednesday and Thursday evenings to ride him to somewhat prepare for Joe, but still...Soon was clearly feeling great, had a little too much energy, and I wasn't feeling the most confident going into today's lesson. But I went for it, because any day you get to lesson with Joe Fargis is never a bad day.
I mean...how can this possibly be anything but amazing and special? |
We were back in the jump field again, this time with studs in, and this time with a horse who was less high on life. I especially enjoyed lessoning on a Friday, as Kim and I had Joe all to ourselves up there on the hill. No other lessons or clients, no other horses schooling around, nothing. Joe took his time and it was like he had all day to just teach us. It was wonderful.
The big issue today was definitely me. I just couldn't find a consistent pace, rhythm, line, or anything really. The warm up went well, Soon was perfectly rideable and less bouncy than the other week, which was nice. But once we started jumping the bigger course I just couldn't make a decision. At one point, Soonie stopped at a simple vertical (into the two-stride), which was extremely telling. I just didn't get him there and he didn't feel like launching. It was a wake up call for me to ride. When he stopped, I didn't react or hit him, because it was entirely my fault, not his. I just sat there for a few moments and tried to get my shit together before coming around at it again. We had a couple stops at the bounce too earlier on, so I wasn't feeling like I was doing well. The doubts and frustrations from the night before were eating at me. I was having those "Dammit I can't ride every day because I have a full time job and the horse isn't in training and I can only do so much" weakness moments. If that's even a weakness. It's just frustrating sometimes.
Joe was perfect here. He saw that I beat myself up over mistakes and that it gets in the way of me getting the job done. He didn't rush, he didn't get tougher, he just said calmly (almost jokingly, he had to lighten the mood!) to let it go and don't dwell. Relax and just ride. I have that pep talk on video and I'm going to keep it so I can refer to it later. He handled that situation perfectly, because afterward I sat up and rode. And Soonie went beautifully as a result.
It was another fantastic day, and I'm thankful that I went despite maybe not feeling like today was going to be our day. As Kim said, what better time to ride with a legend like Joe than on a tough day? He can (and did) help me work through that and actually improve. It's not as useful to show up and be perfect, you don't learn as much. Show up, try hard, and if mistakes are made, Joe can help me navigate the turbulence, as he calls it.
After the Stephen lesson last week, I had to stop and just be thankful for what I have here. And now after today's ride I'm still just in complete awe of being able to take Soon and ride with these incredible mentors. Each ride is invaluable and inspiring. Each person is different, but the fundamentals are all still the same. Three disciplines, three gurus, all with my little Thoroughbred I took off the backside of a racetrack four years ago. Soonie is feeling so much better, and we got our mojo back. I am so grateful for him, for our barn friends, and for the opportunities here to work with some true legends of the horse world. Nothing is forever, appreciate it while you can!
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