Sadly, torrential rain made the XC course was too wet to be safe for Sunday’s rides, therefore cutting our weekend short. While definitely a disappointment, I still got a lot out of even just one day with Buck. I came away with lots of things to work on, got a much needed confidence boost, and made some new friends. That’s a win.
Saturday was a stadium lesson, and we started out with the typical “tell me about you and your horse” part. I told him a very brief version of my and Henry’s history, then told him that our stadium has gone off the rails a bit lately and that I felt like I just wasn’t riding well in general.
Then we went out on a circle as a group and did some w/t/c work. The main exercise we did here was putting our reins on the buckle and then collecting/lengthening the gaits off of only seat and leg. I’d like to say we were good at this, but no… not so much. It didn’t help that Henry was quite excited to be there and ready to GO. Enthusiam, he gots it. Then we went back to a normal rein length and worked on adjustability in the gaits a bit more. Point made – we depend too much on our reins to adjust the horse.
After the warm-up we moved on to jumping. We started with a simple 3-jump serpentine exercise that really stressed the importance of rhythm, pace, having a plan, and executing that plan. It’s always the simple exercises that highlight those issues immediately. Luckily we didn’t have too much of a problem with the serpentine, except Buck wanted me to really keep Henry bent more around the turns (which ended up being pretty much the entire theme of the lesson for me). He stressed that it’s the rider’s job to get the right pace and keep a good rhythm, but we shouldn’t let ourselves become obsessed with finding a distance – that once we start trying to hunt for it we inevitably mess with the rhythm, the pace, or both. He was also big on always finishing the exercise no matter what happens. His reasoning was that you can’t stop at a horse show to regroup or start over, so you have to learn to ride through mistakes. Then we added the serpentine before and after some other fences.
Once the serpentine exercise was conquered, we moved on to other courses. He had us jumping on a more open, forward pace than I’m really used to. The first course or two went fine, and then Henry did pretty much what he did to me at Greenwood where he totally just flipped me the bird and basically locked his jaw and took off. He was like “You want forward? WATCH ME FLY!”. There was a fine line between forward and running, and Henry crossed it. I really could not get him back, either. He braced his jaw and just pulled me around. I have to admit, when I pulled him up I was very very frustrated. Henry’s tail has just been LIT ON FIRE lately and since it’s something he’s not done before, I’m at a bit of a loss about how to fix it. Buck suggested that when he starts pulling on me like that, I need to really overbend him to the inside, get him around my leg, and then give with the inside rein to break the cycle of pulling vs pulling. Once we did that he got a lot better.
We also did an exercise where in the middle of a bending line we had to reach up and pat the horse’s neck first with one hand, then with the other. Again the idea being softness with the hand, while steering off the seat and leg. Pretty much all of us got very crooked in this exercise – highlighting the fact (again) that we’re depending too much on our reins.
Luckily there was someone with a really nice camera and great eye taking pictures, so hopefully I should have some nice non-iPhone pics next week. Here’s a preview snapped off of her camera’s screen.
A few other key points from Buck:
- When you soften, the horse softens. When you tighten, the horse tightens.
- When the horse needs a correction, make it clear and concise, and then move on. Don’t continue to nag them.
- Use your body to help with turns after fences.
- Coming out of the turn, it’s common to pull on the inside rein and then cause the horse to be crooked down the line. Think of funneling the horse equally between both reins for straightness and use your legs to turn.
- If the horse is bulging out around the turn, you’re using too much inside rein.
But the main point of the day, and something Buck said to us over and over: You know how to ride, so just ride the horse. It really is that simple. Meaning: be a thinking rider, make sure that you’re riding every step, focus on the task at hand, and ride the same way at shows that you do at home. 
After the lesson I pulled Buck aside to get his suggestions for exercises that work well in a small arena and we got to talking about other things too. He scolded me a bit for what I said in the very beginning during our introductions and told me that I should never say I don’t ride well – that I ride very well, I just had to believe it. I have to say, I got a little choked up when he said that. While I don’t talk about my emotions as a rider very much, I’m extremely self-critical. I know that 99% of whatever problems Henry has are directly because of me, and there’s no doubt my confidence took a huge hit at Greenwood. We’re in a bit of a tough phase right now so it’s easy for me to feel lost and, honestly, sometimes borderline incompetent. I, much like Henry, internalize everything and it tends to fester. So while Buck doesn’t know it, the words he said to me in private were exactly what I needed to hear right now. If he has confidence in me, I have no excuse for not having confidence in myself. I need to suck it up, ride the horse the way I know how to ride him, and stop second guessing everything.
Thanks Buck – for the lesson and for the psychotherapy. 😉
breedrideevent.com 
Glad you had such a great clinic experience with Buck! He is absolutely wonderful!
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I know what you mean about being self critical – and it’s a terribly hard habit to break. But if Buck said you ride well, then dammit you do! So hopefully that helps going forward. Hope y’all didn’t drown Sunday, I thought I was gonna have to swim home from HEB!
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It poured buckets from about 1pm on Saturday all the way through Sunday morning. At points it was so heavy you couldn’t even see across the parking area! Totally nuts.
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That note about funneling the horse makes a lot of sense. Though he didn’t phrase it that way, that was a lot of what Ragan worked on with us when I did his clinic back in August. Though I think Buck’s way of phrasing helps it make more sense and not seem so mechanical. Sounds like many good takeaways!
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I’ve been so so anxious to read about this and am so glad the clinic was great! Buck is a genius and SO nice. I’m glad you got some good pointers. And I know how you feel. When I ride well, Georgie goes well. When I ride poorly she has a really difficult time doing what I ask. So, know this is a phase and you’ll both come out stronger!
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I liked him a lot – you can tell he just oozes compassion, both for horses and people. It’s refreshing to encounter that from someone so high up and well established in the sport. Much respect for Buck!
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Totally agree!
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Sounds extremely worthwhile! I can use a few of these exercises myself for sure, like the collecting & lengthening gaits off the seat and leg, especially at the canter.
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Glad the clinic went well! I would have failed miserably at the collection and extending without the reins
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Oh trust me, we did too
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I love Buck’s advice of always finishing the exercise, because you can’t stop or start over at a show.
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Me too – it makes a lot of sense. If we always practice “riding through it”, it becomes second nature to not let our mistakes be our downfall. He also said “The first mistake, you almost always get away with. It’s the second mistake that gets you.”.
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I’ve gone off course in lesson before because I was so busy patting Murray on the neck between fences sooo that definitely sounds like something I could work on! Glad the clinic went well in both the physical and the mental aspects!
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Yeah, that is probably my biggest problem as a rider. My confidence in myself. I am not afraid of anything. You could put up a 1.20m jump and I will take any horses — even one that isn’t nessarily the most honest horse — with not a second thought. It is not a case of me being afraid of falling, I am just terrified of failing my horse, my trainer, and myself. I feel resposible for every mistake and everything that doesn’t go as planned. My trainer would often have to take me to the side and remind me that I need to just breath and have a little bit more fun. I am a huge perfectionist when it comes to myself and it both drives me to work harder than ever and can discourage me even more. Especially since I work with pretty green horses, I always feel like that I am not doing a good enough job when I am riding them and things don’t go well.
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Aw, I’m glad you had a wonderful time with Buck! He sounds like a nice guy.
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Bummer about the second day, but what an awesome experience!
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he sounds like a wonderful clinician, glad he had some ideas for helping your sort out some of the atypical stadium demons arising from Greenwood. also is it overly optimistic to think that some of Henry’s new found “GO” is related to the recent injections and getting him more comfortable?
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He’s been pumped full of really good food and lots of expensive “feel better” joint juice, so it’s entirely possible. I don’t mind the go, he’s just gotta learn how to channel it without getting rude lol.
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Its true, almost all of us are offenders! My trainer has been torturing us with 20m circle exercises with no reins and most of the horses are hot OTTBs and dont like listening very well and end up careening around the arena. I still dont get how we are supposed to ride with just leg when thats what they respond to the most…I NEED my half halts…then again, I’m not the best rider. That clinic seems really productive and your recap, per usual, is great! Very valuable lesson, bummer the second day was cancelled.
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We were (ideally) supposed to be half-halting off of our core and seat. I will say – my freaking abs hurt like hell the next day from actually riding more with my body and less with my hands. Point taken!
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Those sound like some difficult exercises, but very beneficial ones. I think you guys look awesome on the video, and I hope you see the awesome too. I too am horrible about being critical of my riding. But Buck knows, and obviously he is right!
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It’s awesome that you got to ride with Buck! Seems like he made some great points! The bullet points especially stand out to me.
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I hear you in the lacking of self confidence department.. I have this in spades! I worry that I’m failing my mare all the time.. or that she’s just too much for me… or that I suck.. It so affects how my ride goes. Those damned TB’s are so intuitive to what our feelings are. I have to be in the right frame of mind in order to make the most of my ride. So much checking my emotions at the door! Her sensitivity is what I love about her, but could she be a little more polite about it??
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Great you got so much out of it, in spite of the shortened time!
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you guys needed the help in stadium not cc so as much as it sucks that you missed out on CC I am glad it didnt rain out stadium day. CC would have just been icing 🙂
I am glad you enjoyed it and got your money worth! He sounds amazing.
Stuff to work on, yay 🙂 abs hurting..boo 🙂
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Looks like an awesome clinic! Thanks for sharing! Those hard times always come right before a big break-through, so hang tough girl!! We are all our own worst critics (except for that one Dressage judge that one time….yeah. She was our worst critic. LOL) so you’re not alone in that feeling. That drive to never be satisfied and to always keep learning is a really important ingredient in this sport/lifestyle, but it can also be a bummer sometimes when we take it too far and get too down on ourselves. Having a good trainer who has been there and can recognize it in his/her students is so key. I’m so glad for you that you are able to have experiences like this one with Buck. Keep up the awesome work, and thanks for sharing your journey!!
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Am I the only one wanting an epic rain picture?
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You are so lucky! And wise to hear what he is saying and pay attention to it. You will get through your rough patch and come out the other side, maybe a little dirty, but definitely better for it.
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