Bending Lines, Butt Cramps, et al.

Oh hey, just Dino, being majestic...

Yesterday was jumping day, because I said so.

I decided to work on some bending lines and jumping fences on an angle, since lately I've been jumping stuff that's pretty straightforward, although the fences have been on the bigger side. I kept everything tiny, from literally a flowerbox on the ground on up to a 2'6" oxer. Low impact fences with challenging lines were the name of the game.

Dino was of the opinion that since he worked hard on Tuesday being a dressage pony, working on Wednesday as well was absolutely out of the question. It took us a while to get moving and grooving, but after we started jumping around Dino got into "jumping is fun" mode and I had a little more horse to work with.

I had 2 different bending lines to play with - a 3 stride on a pretty hard angle, and a 6 stride with a more gentle curve. I jumped the smaller fences in each line individually to warm up, and then started with the 3 stride since it was a 2'3" wall to the flowerboxes.

It rode great! I actually didn't walk the distances beforehand, so I had guesstimated the striding just by looking at the lines, and the 3 rode very smoothly. Bending lines are a great exercise for learning to keep my eyes UP on the next fence.. since my pony's neck is oh-so-pretty and I love to stare at it. But I was most excited about the fact that I didn't get freaked out not knowing exactly how the lines were going to ride... I just rode them. And it worked out fine.

The 6 stride - a 2' coop to the 2'6" oxer - proved to be a little more challenging. The first couple times through I kept getting an awkward 6 and a half or 7 strides. Nothing horrendous, but not as smooth and flowing as it should have been. I changed my approach to jump the first fence on an angle and increased the pace a bit, and BAM, the 6 was right on the money. Bending lines are also great for working on pace and track! We practiced both lines several times until I was really satisfied with the quality of my ride, and by that time both Dino and I were totally worn out.

And I had a butt cramp.

But only in my left buttcheek.

What could I be doing from a biomechanical standpoint to make my left buttcheek cramp? Because that shouldn't happen, and I'm probably riding crookedly in some way to cause the one-sided butt cramp. Any ideas? Anyone? Am I the only one who gets left-handed butt cramps? Help.