Strapping on the life preserver

Wow, can't believe it's been almost 2 months since I updated the blog!  I've had QUITE a few good rides, I'm still riding Kiara every Wednesday and LOVING it.  I got to ride Trainer's CCI3* horse a few weeks ago ... NOT at the walk for an hour, but for an hour w/t/c.  He's coming back from an injury and has a very specific regimen of dressage stuff he's supposed to engage in on a daily basis, and I learned what it felt like to REALLY get a 17.1 hand horse trotting forward enough to a good dressage test.  Let's just say it's NOT Like hacking a hunter ;)

Did a few gymnastics over the last few weeks.  Cantered through 5 one strides with a placing pole; that was FUN, and good.  The jumps ended up around 3', so a fun ride.  Another gymnastic I did was trot a vertical with 5 placing poles; it began as 2', ended up at 3'6.  WOW!  She was amazing through it, as the jump got higher, I found I could really just sit still and she was right there for me.  The cantering gymnastic was trotting in; a placing pole to an x, one stride to a vertical, one stride to a TALL crossrail, 2 strides to another TALL crossrail.  She was actually pretty spooky, and I really had to work to help her make it through the distance AND keep her from getting wiggly.  Trainer didn't make the last big X an oxer since Kiara is a little ... um, FAT right now.  Besides, she was pretty looky-loo with those tall crossrails.

I titled my blog post "Strapping on the life preserver" because today I FINALLY zipped myself into my xc vest!  It has a belt that clicks in the front, and I always feel like I'm putting on a life vest, lol.  I've been riding for a year and a half at a fabulous facility with a FULL xc course, Intro to Prelim, but I've never ridden out on it.  I had a chance once, but it was knowing full well I'd have to be "beating" the horse over every jump, so I bowed out of that one.

2 weeks ago, I hacked Kiara down the course and rode her on the tracks between fences at a walk.  Holy heck, she felt like she'd spook and spin right out from under me pretty much every second of the ride.  She spooked at the tall mustard growing, the tall grass, the jumps, the wind, the rustling of leaves ... she felt VERY tense.  I kept at it until she FINALLY stretched down into my hands and took a deep breath.  Back to the barn we went.

Today, I showed up when trainer said to, only to be told I was supposed to be ON at that time, not just arriving.  Grrrr. So I had to run to the pasture, grab Kiara, knock the dirt off, and rush rush rush.  I worked myself up a little bit, because I'd hoped to somewhat zen out, but it was not to be.  To top things off, I could NOT find my neck strap, so I grabbed a loose stirrup leather and put it on, but it was much tighter that I typically like; however, it was better than nothing.

As we walked down, she was working HERSELF up, head up and snorting.  We made our way down, and she spooked at the other horse that was already down there throwing a hissy fit.  We made our way past the other horse, found a track that wound through the mustard, and picked up a trot.  We approached a series of jumps, and she spooked.  Approached more jumps, another spook.  Kept going, and she finally began to focus on the job at hand.  I made it all the way to the end of that particular lane, and had some room to work back and forth a little.  There was an Intro log right by the start box.  VERY tiny.  Walkable in fact.  So, we walked over it both ways.  She relaxed a little more.  Trotted back the other way with MUCH less spooking this time, turned around, and walked the log again.  No biggie!  Trotted over it both ways.  I snagged the neck strap just in case, but she hopped over with no drama.  Landed with a bit of a head shake and a crow hop, but came right back to me.  Walked over 2 more Intro logs on the way back, and she was starting to feel pretty good.

Made it back to Trainer who was at the smaller water complex.  She went over my position at the canter.  I had to bridge my reins, lean INTO her neck, move my stirrups more towards "home" position, and stand straight up to stop.  I felt VERY awkward leaning on her neck, but Trainer insisted this way allows the horse to just fall into rhythm and YOU not to pick and pull on the way to the jump.  Makes sense to me!  There was another tiny Intro log that we trotted over, and I worked on keeping my knuckles in her neck the whole time.  Strung together a baby hanging log, canter thru the water.  She CHARGED into the water w/out a single hesitation.  Trainer told me to go trot an Intro Palisade jump on a path we hadn't gone down and gave me the "rules" on the course for when a horse stops.  You clear it 3 times, and you GET THE JOB DONE.  I gulped a little, headed to the jump, and she was so busy spooking at the mustard that upon arrival at the jump, she popped her shoulder and attempted to canter right by it.  I pulled her up, put her nose right on the middle of it, and reapproached.  She hopped over it big and crow hopped on the landing side, but we were over.  Came again and it was better.  Came the 3rd time and no problem.

Strung together log at the water, turn and go thru water, over hanging log, then down over an arched Intro log about half way down my warm up lane.  She ate the distance to the log and b/c it was so small practically tripped over it.  After the hanging log, she tried to crow hop so hard that Trainer hollered at me to fix it, but I was so busy laughing I couldn't do anything about it.  Finished up by doing the hanging log into the water to a BN coop, then on around to a BN green painted roll top type jump.  Coming to the coop, I sat down, got in the "back seat", pressed my knuckles in her her neck, and she jumped it well despite being a little surprised.  The turn to the rolltop was a PERFECT spot for her to duck out to the right b/c it was off a left hand turn, but I sat back, growled, closed my leg, and OVER she went!  I walked her back to Trainer on a loose rein w/ LOTS of pats and praise, then we did that one more time for good measure.  The 2nd time, she was like a BEAST.  Flew over the hanging log, charged through the water, took the coop like a star, and was looking for the center of the rolltop.  GOOD GIRL! I had SO much fun, she was GREAT.  Pleased, proud, and excited to go out again soon!

Overall theme of the day is ...

... Improvement!  My lessons w/ event trainer have been literally life changing, in the riding sense.  I got to ride both her stallion again!

AND ... I finally got to sit on the 4 star horse, woop woop!  Granted, the 4* horse was a trail ride followed by 45 minutes of walking, but STILL.  My butt sat on a horse bound for the Rolex CCI**** next year.  How lucky can a girl get??

So, I'm so thankful for the opportunity just to be able to experience that upper level feel and movement.  My old hunter trainer said her daughter didn't get to be the amazing rider she is today by riding the "bad" ones, as so many people say.  She got to where she is by having the chance to ride NICE horses, that taught her what a "nice" horse should feel like.

I've been riding lots of ponies; Puffin the puff ball Icelandic, Kiara (not so much since she got purchased.  BOO for me, but yay for her new owner!), and Kimmie (the gray Connemara).

When I rode Kimmie, it took me about 5 minutes to get her round, soft, and in front of my leg.  The previous 3 times I rode her, I EXHAUSTED myself TRYING to get her forward and round, and achieved maybe half a lap of actually having her engaged and her back up.  This last time, it was quick and simple, and she stayed nicely between the hand and the leg for most of my 40 minute ride.  The pony Puffin is mostly about WORKING him.  He's pretty fat, but he's super athletic.  I love to jump him around, and trainer is working with me on doing as little as possible.  I tend to want to "help" him by jumping up his neck, and we all know how that works out.

I took a lesson with honorary little sis Nicole on Rusty, and it was super fantastic.  I jumped around on a horse I'd never ridden, and it was just NICE to be able to focus mostly on ME, and fixing the myriad of bad habits I've developed over the years.  Rusty is another Pluto; an ex upper level horse of trainer's that is now a super lovely lesson horse that I don't get to ride hardly at all b/c she has to use him for her other students!  A year ago, I would have politely declined to jump around, focusing instead on flatwork, but I'm finally being brave and going for it!

I rode a SUPER nice older BTDT hunter named Partner last week.  He's another big, gray Trakehner, and though he has a bit of a spook to him, it was a lovely lesson.  Our first jump was almost enough to zap my confidence b/c he apparently HATES to trot jumps, and it was a horribly awkward and painful jump, but I took a deep breath, pushed back the fallen down brim of my helmet, pushed my heels down, and persevered until I was able to canter back and forth through a line perfectly.  He's just BIG, and I don't feel all that comfortable on a BIG horse.  Flat, yes.  Jump?  Not so much.  But it ended great, I'm happy. :)

Overall, I'm SO happy with the progress I'm making, and trainer treats me like any other part of the team.  I get to ride her 'fancy ponies' (for which she actually THANKED me, what??), I get to ride the nice sale horses, and I have my fun little pony project, which I'm loving.  Even though I miss my sweet, sassy little muffin man like crazy, it warms my heart to see him out competing with his new child at N, finishing on his dressage score like a good boy.  She's thinking of moving up to T this Fall, and I can't wait to hear all about it!  I'm lucky that I can still keep up with him, and I'm lucky the sale worked out and his new home is every bit as good as his old one was :)  I am very grateful for the situation I'm in now, and looking forward to continuing to improve and to sit on more fancy ponies :)

Yet another *amazing* day!

Look Ma! A big oxer with a little pony!  

The "box"

Gymnastic line

The 'out' oxer of the gymnastic

I tell ya ... I am loving this whole "take lessons" thing!  It has been a serious desire of mine to get back to receiving regular instruction, but it's definitely a difficult thing to get worked out.

I rode Jade this morning.  She was OK.  I have difficulty sometimes because she really can just be a witch with a capital "B".  It's frustrating because when I throw her in the roundpen to longe her, she canters BEAUTIFULLY.  Balanced, rhythmic, and easily.  When I longed Tiki, he would fight me every step of the way.  Jade is happy to oblige, all the time!  When I throw a leg over her, though, all that changes.  She gets tense, rushes, evades, and generally acts the part of a pissy mare.  I don't know if it's hormones, pain, general attitude, or learned actions.  Her saddle appears to fit EXTREMELY well, but the sweat patterns are a little wonky sometimes.  She sweats more on the left side of her body, it's weird.  I've tried using my Thinline pad instead of the fleece half pad, and it seemed to make a difference, but now she's just like she was before.  She just fluctuates like CRAZY!  I've had a few amazing rides on her, but lately I've been fairly unimpressed.  Maybe once the days get a little longer, S and I can alternate days and get her ridden 4-5 days a week instead of 1-3.  It may be that for her level right now, she just needs more consistency.  Were she mine, I honestly would probably start supplement tinkering, beginning with the U gard stuff by Cortaflex I had Tiki on for the first 2 years I had him.  She is an OTTB, it's not unreasonable to think she may have a little bit of an "ouchy" tummy.  I don't know.  I've never owned a mare, so suggestions are always welcome!

All that being said, she wasn't bad today.  I truly don't take any crap off her though, so when she experimented with trying to canter off and swishing her tail when I asked for a trot, I hauled off and yanked her up in a circle and paired that with growling at her in "angry voice".  As SOON as she gives me what I want, I release pressure and give lots of pats and sweet voice praise.  Switched up the bit today and used the mullen happy mouth loose ring.  Meh.  I like her better in the waterford.  S said she'd been heavy and curling up behind the bit her last few rides, so I was curious which mare I'd have today.  Heavy, yes, but I've also changed the way I've been riding her.  I feel like when they're learning, they do go through the "heavy" stage before they learn 'self carriage', and lightness.  She MUST learn to accept the leg contact, she MUST learn to be forward but not fast, and she has to figure out balance.  I've done the loose rein thing like I did with Tiki, but instead of that I've been focusing on accepting the aids.  She felt quite like she could be a bottle rocket if the circumstances warranted, so I didn't push my luck and jump.  I only did about 4 canter transitions, and literally cantered about 3 strides before pulling up.  Kept the ride to 20 minutes, and ended as SOON as I got some good, honest attempts to be submissive and have a good attitude about it.

At Eventing Barn, I got to ride my chestnut pony again.  I WANT TO WIN THE LOTTERY SO I CAN BUY KIARA!  She is my pony.  I love her.  And literally, she's a 14.2 hand pony :)  I got to join in with another person and jump her today.  Like, not just hop over a crossrail, I mean JUMP :)  Trainer had a "box" set up of 2 diagonal lines with 2' verticals; 30' between one line, and 40' between the other.  Exercise was to make a figure 8, doing 3 in the 30', and 4 in the 40'.  Holy hard exercise, Batman!  Lessoning again is a humbling experience.  That dang left bulge got me again, as every time I cantered over the single cav pole, I was too far left.  GRR!  Lol.  Finally got straight, and we moved on.  Thank the lord I had the awareness to NOT drop my leg at the base.  I kept my awareness at all times, and for the most part the leg was there.  My first few attempts at the exercise were a great big FAIL.  Kiara is a little bit "hard" and generally unsensitive through the bridle, so it became a challenge for me more about using my body instead of my hands.  After a few epic misses when she didn't quite add the step, she finally figured things out and added in.  Got a few GREAT trips through, and we were both pretty exhausted.

From there, Trainer had us canter a 2'3 square oxer.  Considering my pony has jumped only a hand full of times, I sighted in, CLOSED MY LEG, and had a few nice warm up jumps, yay.  The next exercise was to canter 4 placing poles, vertical, 4 more placing poles, oxer.  Um, the jumps looked HUGE, haha.  Honestly, I'm pretty sure they were just 2'6, but I haven't {bigger than crossrails}jumped since ... May or June, maybe?  And then it was my 15.2 hander!  I haven't jumped a jump of substance on a horse other than Tiki in 10-12 YEARS.  That's why I had all my "height" hangups at the beginning of my blog!  Too much teaching, not enough riding.  And Britain the lesson horse pretty much DESTROYED any confidence I had in my ability to jump unfamiliar horses when he stopped, propped, and popped a bunch of jumps until I finally had to jump off in humiliation ... in front of my peers and my students.

Anyway!  I went first, carried in a nice canter to the first pole, had a good vertical, but then pretty much lost it to the oxer.  I kicked my way through, and the distance was STEADY, not forward.  Ooops.  Despite my inadequacy, she managed to get over the jump and I stayed on, and when I came around again, it was MUCH better.  She jumps great, very cute and round.  I felt GOOD, Trainer said I was doing a good job letting her jump up to me.  There is video evidence of this ... it just hasn't been emailed to me yet!  Last part of the exercise was to do the gymnastic, then right lead around to a bending line of 2'9 oxers.  Square.  First time through, I did it directly and got an awkward 6 1/2 stride distance.  Tried again with a bend and got a 2nd awkward 6 1/2 stride distance.  Third time was a charm, and I put the bend in again AND gave her a nice little kick so she got there at 6 and just a smidge long.  She was exhausted, lol!

SO much fun.  SO glad I'm lessoning again.  SO glad to be "on the other side", it's enlightening and humbling all at the same time.  Thanks for reading "the Novel", stay tuned for the next chapter ...

Healing

Tiki loves his kitty

Well, it's been a week since literally laying Timbre in the ground, and my heart has finally stopped outright hurting.  I kept it together pretty well for the most part, and I'm finally adjusting to my "new normal".  I have 2 other "fur babies" that need my time and attention, and I can't dwell on my feelings of loss with regard to my wonderful partner of 14 glorious years.  I HAD that time with him, I got to send him over the bridge on MY terms, and my MIL is concentrating on making his grave a beautiful memorial to his life.

I didn't ride at all last week.  I've been feeling a little bit overwhelmed, and if I'm being honest with myself, a little bit depressed.  I vowed to shake it off this week, and for the most part I have.  Put out a 'paid' ad for Tiki, and lowered his price on my sale blog page, and I'm finally starting to get a few nibbles.  STILL praying as hard as I can for a teeny tiny lottery win so he can continue to be mine, but barring that, trying to motivate myself to market him a little more aggressively.  Soon, y'all will find out the main reason I'm sacrificing a large chunk of my happiness, but first there are still moving parts that need to be finalized.  Soon, my friends:)

I rode the gorgeous red head yesterday and today.  Put on the dressage tack, and employed once again a Jeff Cook type flatwork exercise.  He was out at PWF last weekend, and I audited all day on Saturday.  I just love him.  I WISH so much I could have ridden in it, but hey ... I got to watch!  I focused on using half the arena at the time, paying lots of attention to his straightness and my track, and his bend as I approached the fence.  He felt VERY stiff on the right rein.  Left, all felt light and lovely.  Right, I felt like we both were struggling a little bit.  To be fair to him, I also have not done much at all exercise wise in the last 2 weeks, so I probably wasn't much of a help to him.  I INSISTED that he maintain his flexion through the poll, and closed my legs every step to squeeze out of him as much movement as he could give me.  A friend borrowed my spurs, so I was riding sans any artificial aids!! :0

I rode him for probably 40 minutes, just doing the half arena exercise and going back and forth, and LOTS of circles.  I trotted several poles and worked on maintaining rhythm and power.  Rather than cantering a bunch, I worked trot/canter/trot transitions.  At the end, I was pretty pleased.  He settled into a nice and steady contact, and gradually that right side loosened up and I felt like he was more willing to bend his body rather than tilt that head.  Success!

Today we just walked hills.  Nothing fancy!  He was pretty forward considering I was still spur-less.  I actually dropped my stirrups on the uphill and sat hard, opened my hands to encourage him to breakover at the poll, and used my seat to create as much energy as possible.  On each downhill, I halted and backed a few steps to work on building up that back end, ALWAYS!  Finished with a nice long rein hack through half the pasture, and gave him a bath.  His coat looks so great right now, I love that deep copper color.  Here's to moving forward:)

Enjoying the 2 week GA Spring

I think we get about 2 weeks of Spring here in GA.  You know, the fabulously sunny days with a nice, cool base to it?  It was positively magnificent today!  Warm, but not hot.  No pollen in the air.  Perfect day to ride the Muffin!

He's been off for awhile.  I didn't get to ride him last week before leaving for IEA National Finals in Syracuse, NY on Thursday, and LR hasn't been out lately, so his fitness level is waning slightly:(  Little booger was tired after his ride today!

I went up to the ring to set some jumps, but the ring was hard as a ROCK, so I changed plans.  I haven't ridden in his pasture since I did some hill work in the draw reins, so I decided to ride back there.  Tacked him up in his normal cavesson bridle, and set off at a brisk walk.  Tiki's pasture is fairly large; about 20ish acres.  I walked the entire perimeter of the pasture, going up and down hill, and weaved through rocks, holes, and ant hills.  After walking a full lap, reversed and trotted a lap each way, then cantered a lap each way.  The canter was tough!  He wanted to break a few times on me, and at the trot he was quite literally tripping over his own feet.  I'm not all that sure he's actually worked outside the ring since his Poplar horse trial.  As I knew he would, Tiki got with the program and finished up great.  As I pulled him up to the walk, I could feel him huffing and puffing.  Poor baby!  It's supposed to rain pretty good tomorrow, so maybe the footing will be good on Thursday.  I'd like to jump around a little bit this week.

The stadium round

Walking, er, marching down to warm up

Final jump!

First of all, here are the pro pics from the weekend!
Horse trial pics

Secondly, here is the recap of the stadium round:  He was perfection:)  LR placed him exactly where she wanted him, and he said, "Sure!".  Her comment when coming out of the ring was, "I can't believe how stinking ADJUSTABLE he was!"  Wait?  No problem!  Go?  Sure!  I LOVED the course; it was a nice, long twisty course that looked like a lot of fun.  I was a little surprised there were no combinations, but that was a nice thing, too.

After watching a few super scary rounds with horses tearing around on the wrong lead and tearing around in general, LR walked in and laid down a trip worth of an equitation medal.  He looked at nothing, he didn't obviously hit anything, and he marched around like it was easy:)  Good Muffin!  A lovely double clear in the grass arena moved them up 5 spots to 14th going into XC on Sunday ...

The Dressage Test

Um ... Y'all?  XC is over THERE!

Well, we are home safe and sound!  Muffin was a ROCKSTAR, LR had a wonderful time, and I am STILL exhausted from playing horse show mom:)

As y'all know, I encouraged her to go BN since she's never done a HT before, and Tiki has only done 2 previously.  She's been preparing now for a few months, but unlike what I did, she hasn't had any lessons on him at all.  She's also only averaged riding him about once a week per month, so NOT much saddle time (on Tiki.  She gets PLENTY of saddle time on other horses).  I'm saying these things in defense of the fact that they were 19th at the end of dressage ... out of 19.

To be perfectly honest, I was VERY shocked they ended up dead last.  I feel like my May-Daze dressage test wasn't any better than what they put in Satureday, and I was somewhere around 9th I think after dressage then?  LR spent plenty of time early Sat morning schooling in a relatively uncrowded warm up ring. She just sat patiently and waited until he came down into the contact, and BREATHED.  Looked pretty good to me!  He was quiet, he was obedient, and he was calm.  No wild eyes, no kicking hind legs, no swishing tail ... he looked really happy.  All was well!

Their test was dead quiet.  THAT'S why they were last.  She's a hunter rider that's never performed a dressage test in public.  Actually, she's a hunter rider that's never performed a dressage test in front of any sort of trainer or ANYTHING, so what she did was GREAT:)  It was accurate, it was pleasant, it was even, and i was steady.  The ONLY thing it lacked was pace, a bit of impulsion, and a flapping, "loud" rider.  Final score was 41, which certainly wasn't bad at all!  Very respectable, in fact.  At least 10 of the horses in front of her was above 35; there were a LOT of 38's and 38.5's.  So despite the last place finish, we were happy with both HIM, and HER.  She shrugged and said she'd go home and work on it.  Lol!  Cool customers make me happy.

I just have to add in here, I had SUCH a good time!  LR's mom, SM (Super Mom) and her good friend MP (Mama P) took care of LR and I all weekend.  MP owns a beautiful little cabin in Calloway Gardens, just 20 minutes from PP.  She took advantage of having SM around, and invited all of us to stay with her for the weekend.  I just have to say, I haven't been so spoiled by even my OWN mother!  I am very grateful for having them there, and for having such a nice place to spend the weekend; made it feel like a little vacation weekend vs. just a "horse show" weekend.:)

Game faces

He was VERY good in the warm up!

Work!

It's almost time!  And of COURSE the muffin decided to injure himself, he wouldn't be normal without maiming himself in some way days before a competition.  Ever since his splint injury, he has been turned out/ridden/longed in some sort of protective leg wear 100% of the time.  This bloody injury occurred outside of the protective boots, on the OUTSIDE of the pastern.  How???  Sigh.  Fortunately, no heat or swelling and he moved completely sound on it, so I will just keep an eye for the next few days.  Tomorrow is supposed to be a 100% chance of rain/thunder storms AND 70 degrees, so I'm planning to do his body clip tomorrow.  I've been doing the "grunt work" this week.  LR rode on Sunday and had a nice ride in the dressage tack.  Monday I spun him on the longe line.  Well, that's too light of a word.  I really worked him pretty good!  Lots of transitions, lots of swipes with the whip to get him walking ON, and back and forth between all 3 gaits.  I tightened up the side reins pretty good, and kept him working hard until he came down and settled into the contact.

Today I did trot sets, but because I was "interrupted" by a phone call, I trotted for 18 minutes straight, 9 tracking left, 9 tracking right.  At 18 mins on the dot my phone call ended, so I did my 2 mins of canter right, then turned around and went right back to it left.  He felt so amazing, it was a good day:)  I feel SO good being more fit.  If you read back through the blog, trot sets typically kill me!  Today, I didn't feel so much as a twinge in my back.  It was like I wasn't doing anything at all. Cold hosed that booboo and determined the wound to be about thumb sized, but NOT a puncture.  Poured some HP on it, then gooped it up with an antibiotic cream, and will prepare to bathe him first thing in the morning.

Tomorrow it will rain, Thursday I plan to hack him in the ring in draw reins.  Friday we ship south!  Ride times are 2 something and 4 something on Saturday, then 2:30ish on Sunday.  XC on Sunday.  Can't wait!  Check back in for the course walk!

Leading up to XC!!!

Lol, look at that face!  First time over the big ditch.

Muffin's very first time over the train

Lol, the FIRST(and only) time I fell off my boy!

Even though I'm not going to be the one riding, I'm super excited for Sunday!  One of my former kids will ride up there with us and hang for a bit:)  I'm looking forward to seeing LR jump the boy over his favorite phase!  He will love it, it will be a nice break from all the dressage boot camp he's been subjected to lately;)

Speaking of, had another great ride today.  I realized I forgot to mention how he went in his bit yesterday; I really liked him in it actually.  I'm not sure it will be great for any sort of jumping, but he felt pretty nice in his dressage work.  Used it again today and went straight to 'Gigi' contact which is the most effective way of getting Tiki on the bit.  I keep a steady, bending contact with the inside hand, then close the outside hand actively to get him to stretch down into it.  I didn't give him any time at all to be above the bit today, I put him right in the contact.  A'la Anne Kursinski (courtesy of www.usefnetwork.com), I moved him back and forth off both legs before I even shortened my reins.  Once I picked up contact at the walk, I went immediately into shoulder-fore both directions.  Walked the poles and cavs again, then went to the trot on the 20m circle.  Today was very similar to yesterday except that I cantered on the straighaways, I worked shoulder-in/haunches-in both directions, AND did a distinct lengthen/shorten at the trot.  I tried to make it a REAL collection; not SLOWER, SMALLER.  Then for the extension, I concentrated on keeping the same rhythm, but asking him to reach through the shoulder like crazy.  It was decent.  That's now what I need to work on; LOTS of adjustability within the gaits.  I do work on that, but not all that often.  At the end, I couldn't stand it and tried to pop off a few lead changes.  UGH!  I SUCK at those.  I just need to give up:(  He can do them on course when needed, I just need to quit mucking things up.  I will never be able to get a nice, balanced tempi type change, I fear.  My timing is just BAD.  And Tiki gets anxious about it.  Whatevs!   Even if we DO go Prelim some day, the dressage test will have a counter-canter, not a flying change.  Don't want to mess up something he CAN do well (counter-canter).

It was a great day, he felt super.  Very responsive in the bridle, very light off the leg, happy to move laterally, and NO mini geyser eruptions, lol.  I will report back after Sunday's schooling, super excited!:)

Paul MacRae

Oxer Farm, Dec of 2010!

Excited to have another lesson coming up.  This one is with a local trainer Paul MacRae.  He used to be the pro rider/assistant trainer for GP rider David Raposa, so excited to hear what he has to say.  After this lesson on Friday, I want to take Tiki out to Southern Comfort (where the Simon Eades clinic was) to take a lesson every other month or so from the owner there, Carolyn Wright.  My dressage trainer likes her.  I have easy access to Susan (just across the street!) but not to a jump trainer.  I fully plan to do May Daze again at the KHP this year, but other than that, nothing planned except for LR's beginner novice.  Yes! She's going to do her FIRST HT on the Muffin Man.  Super excited, I will play groom and nervous pony mom, but I will WATCH my horse rock it out around all 3 phases.  Most likely doing a Feb HT at a venue I've been DYING to ride at, but for now will just have to live vicariously ... Poplar Place.  Of course there will be a full report complete with course walk and lots of pics of the muffin in action, can't wait!

Last week I rode very minimally; did a jump school on Monday where I set up 3 bounces on one long side using the cavalettis, an end vertical set at 2'3, and an outside combination of vertical with a barrel under it, pole, low wide oxer.  Now, the low wide oxer should theoretically not look very intimidating, but put that sucker at 2' and make it 3'7 wide with a pole placed diagonally over it ... it looks BIG!!  Lol.  All oxers look big to me;)  I need to set up a triple bar, haven't done one of those in a while.  I kept him up in front of me and moving forward off my leg.  Did the "Jimmy Woffard" warm up where I did 2 laps of trot each way, 2 laps of canter each way, jump!

Began by trotting the end vertical.  He doesn't take me down to trot jumps at home.  I always feel like I have to nag him incessantly, but I worked on staying in the rhythm, not getting ahead of him, and  keeping my leg on.  It went well.  I jumped it 3 times off the left lead and 3 times off the right, staying on a 20m circle.  He actually landed at the trot a few times, but I didn't stress about it.

Let him look at the oxer from both directions.  Came at it barrel side first, and it was of course NOT a good jump.  He backed off the barrel coming in, struggled to get over the pole in the right striding, then stood way off from the oxer, ewww.  I of course slipped my reins so I didn't catch him anywhere and came straight in again, and this time it was GOOD.  The oxer felt easy as pie, no problem.  The distance between the oxer and barrel was 18', with the pole set in the middle.  Trotted into the bounces and tried NOT to "help" him with my hands.  I went through the obstacles many times, including turning around the oxer/barrel.  The first time coming in oxer first, I missed to the oxer and got super long (no surprise).  Came again and it was good.  I was conscious of the left drift and made sure he stayed straight, at the end of the school I was happy with him.

Did one last ride with honorary little sis Nicole, a dressage school.  She's currently settling into her new apartment with her new husband in the Bronx, NY:(  I will be keeping her ponies looking not too shabby, and hopping on once in awhile to keep them doing SOMETHING.  I will miss that girl, she is a very good friend.  She's the only one that I've even SEEN in the last ... 4+ months.  Oh well, all things happen for a reason!  The ride was very meh.  I wasn't very focused, Muffin wasn't very focused, and he felt stiff as a board.  Got the trot work flowing pretty ok, and then he felt like a freight train through the canter work.  Oh well, doing something is better than nothing, right?

I will do a trace clip tomorrow, and ride Tues and Thurs before shipping out to MSF on Friday for the Paul clinic.  Pics and a full report will of course follow!!:)

Birthdays!

The picture I was snapping when Muffin decided to get away from me

My dad's birthday was on Halloween and now my husband's is today (Nov 1)!  Funny.  Not a WHOLE lot going on on the Tiki front right now.  Last week, I was battling both a huge half chap rub and a super sore hip flexor, so was completely unmotivated to ride.  The only day he came out of his stall during the day was on Friday when Lovely Rider came out to ride him.  She schooled in the dressage tack and did some figure 8's over low cav trot rails.

Rode yesterday in the huntseat tack.  Decided just to hack up in the ring.  He started out unbelievably stiff.  This is the time of the year he starts to feel that way.  Mon/Tues had horrific wind gusts as well as suddenly cold temps (Friday I turned the stall fans on, Monday I was literally wearing 5 layers), so he was slightly grouchy to have his nice warm sheet off and be out working.  I stayed super soft and light and eventually he relaxed and started to lift through the back and slow the rhythm.  I too trotted him through the cav trot rails, and for the first 20 minutes he felt horrible through them, losing rhythm, tripping, akwardly trying to leap over 2 at once ... you get the idea.  I didn't drill on them, just would 20 m circle, reverse, spiral, go do the trot rails.  I had no real plan, just keep moving and get him to LOOSEN UP.

Spent a LOT of time on the 20 m circle both directions, and he was feeling better and better.  LR has obviously been working on downward transitions, because they are MUCH improved.  Our canter transitions were pretty darn nice too, and I went back to the trot afterwards and all of a sudden the trot rails were perfect!  No change in tempo, no whacking of the feet, just a perfect trot through:)  Spiraled in and out and he felt not too bad in those.  Cantered twice over poles set on the diagonal, and each time he gave me a picture perfect lead change through them, so I stopped there.

Today we actually did trot sets; haven't done those in quite awhile.  Went into the usual pasture, and trotted 8 mins to the left, 2 mins of canter (and maybe 45 seconds of huge, flowing, lovely gallop).  2 mins of walk, then reverse and repeat.  I have NEVER.  And I repeat, NEVER gone all the way through trot sets without feeling the strain in either my upper back, quads, or both.  Also, I definitely feel it in the lungs right before the walk break.  Today, I felt NO strain whatsoever, from anywhere.  No hard breathing, no fatigued muscles, just good balance and soft hands.  Tiki breathed a little; I think he needed the little bit of fitness work.  His neck and saddle area were nice and sweaty, but he felt good and spunky the entire time!  I REALLY need to buy me some clippers (again) and body clip him.  He's grown in a pretty good fur coat already and normally he really doesn't.

Tomorrow I will do a dressage school, and LR is going to come out and video us so I can post some more video.  I'm not sure if she will ride this weekend, but I hope she rides at least one day:)  Next Sunday is my friend Nicole's wedding, and also a lesson with Simon Eades if it's early enough in the morning.  Hoping for a 9:00 lesson!  I'm super excited to take an ACTUAL JUMPING LESSON from a real eventing trainer.  My boss is awesome for jumping lessons, but she endlessly tries to get us to be more hunter-like ... which we NEED ... but a lesson from an actual jumper/eventer trainer is much needed!

And life goes on!

This has been a fairly busy week for me; lots of lessons which is SO GOOD:)  Maybe between the extra lessons and the IEA shows I can find a few extra dollars to do something horsey-fun:)  I'm going to have to spend a LITTLE money buying some new clothes.  I have lost more weight than I think I've really realized.  Looking at some pics from today vs exactly one year ago, it's quite apparent!

10-15-11

And back in May ...

Today!

As an aside, I TOTALLY hate that no release with the long reins thing I do sometimes.  I think this pic is much better!

My favorite cavaletti stack oxer!

For comparison's sake, this is the video of Tiki and I schooling at Patchwork about a week before May-Daze:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vj857Y9aAa4

And this is he and I schooling at home!  I think this is the first video I actually have of us jumping at home:)  It rained a bit last night/early this morning, so the footing was pretty perfect:)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kkMYR0V_qc

LR is to thank for the pics and video!  She actually rode him yesterday, and this is what she had to say:

"Tiki was SO good today!  I rode him in the close contact saddle and his hacking bridle.  I set up 2 "circles of death" that met over the same cavaletti in the middle and had 2 other cavs at either end of the ring so the circles alternated between cavs and poles.  We had a few REALLY good moments warming up where he really broke over nicely and was nice and soft everywhere else.  I started out just doing a circle of death to the left and did that a few times til he settled in and then did a few to the right.  It was either a short 6 or long 5 between elements.  I started out making him do the 6 since he wanted to dive and rush a bit for the 5.  The few times I let him go for the 5 early on, obviously set us up poorly for the turn, and his cute little head would get frustrated and then he would toss it a bit!  I then combined the 2 circles so I had him going on a figure 8.  The 6 started getting increasingly difficult for him, and all of a sudden we were doing 5's everywhere in the SAME RHYTHM as we had started with the 6's!  It was LOVELY!  I just sort of let him figure out the changes for the turns.  I would help him if we went around more than one turn on the wrong lead but at the end he threw some really nice changes when we changed direction!  Nice and challenging, but he worked well!"

Today was pretty dang good!  LR fit right into my lesson plan for the week, but when I had the opportunity to get some video/pics I couldn't resist a jump school!  I warmed up pretty quick; the only thing I did that was "tricky" was a leg yield:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KOnIrGtNqI

This is the first time I've actually SEEN us do one.  I think for not being in a nice frame, not really all that supple yet, and me not really taking my time, they're not too bad!  I began to jump, and the first go round (which is where all the pics are from) was pretty lack luster.  I tried to keep a pretty slow "huntery" rhythm, and he got quite deep several times.  He just wasn't really going FORWARD.  I was riding him in the wonder bit today, and he just had no desire to really take me to the fence.  As a result, I felt pretty meh about our efforts.  After giving him a break, I went again with LEG this time.  That's the 2nd video I posted.  I'm pretty happy with it!  He was more forward, he was happier to take me when I revved him up a little, and all our distances were completely acceptable.  Let him rest again, then came around one more time and with the exception of the 3 stride line the first time, it wasn't bad.  I liked our other round better, though.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NIyBTKelY4

Muffin was wonderful, tomorrow we will do hills, and in about 3 weeks we're going to do a jumping lesson with Simon Eades!  My dressage trainer took a dressage clinic with him and REALLY enjoyed it.  He's coming back in Nov, and I can't resist the opportunity to take a jumping lesson with him.  It's even $20 cheaper than the dressage lesson!  Woo Hoo:)

Hope everyone has had a great week and you've all been ODing on the live feed of the National Horseshow from Harrisburg!  www.usefnetwork.com

Scary

Hoping for a nice xc school soon ...

So ... I learned the feeling of watching my horse go for a nice little gallop ... down the driveway ... and out onto the main road:(  I was TERRIFIED.  I learned a valuable lesson though ... NO picture in the world is worth losing my horse permanently.  I had let go of the reins to snap a quick pic like I've done literally hundreds of times over the last 4 years and he decided to just mosey away.  When I walked after him to grab the rein, he decided to stick that tail up like an Arab and take off.  He made it as far as Susan the dressage trainer's driveway, then turned around and started to trot back towards me.  I am still thanking God that Tiki didn't continue on down the LONG rural highway lined with thousands of acres of land, AND that the normally busy road was quiet as a mouse for once.  When he realized I was trying to catch him, the sh!+ head tried to spin and bolt, but slipped on the slippery asphalt and I was able to reach out and grab that rein.

I marched his little red butt up to the ring, and whacked him with the longe whip to get him running.  Wanna run?  OK, you do it when I TELL you to do it.  I cracked the whip a few times to keep him going while I dragged out some poles to throw down for a quick pole course, and when he stopped to just stand like a statue, I ignored him while I walked some distances.  By that time my racing heart had calmed and my anger had subsided, leaving me with that desire once again to have that "Black Stallion" bond with my horse.  I've said it before; I wish Tiki and I had that fairy tale bond where he comes up and places his head on my shoulder and we communicate telepathically.  Lol.  At best, he is tolerant of attention lavished on him.  At worst, he's a downright prickly horse that would prefer to do his job, then just be left alone.  It hurt my feelings when I called him sweetly and walked up to him FULLY expecting him to stop and come to me and he DIDN'T.  Not only did he NOT come to me, he took off and ran up the $^*%^&^** road!  Oh well, at least we're pretty in sync most of the time when I ride him.  Despite his misadventures, he was good to ride.

The trot was pretty forward considering he'd been running for awhile; it felt really good.  I was using the Myler D with the plain cavesson (his old dressage bit) and he was perfectly lovely.  I did a "hunter hack" type ride using minimal contact and collection.  He was super soft, had an easy flexion at the poll, and I couldn't feel any of the usual tension across his topline.  The canter was lovely and I hadn't even broken a sweat trying to keep him slow and easy ... he was doing that all by himself!  Had 3 cavs on the tallest setting at 18' apart, 2 inside single poles, and a bounce to a 3 stride, poles on the ground.  I cantered around the poles in my 2-pt, keeping that hunter metronome rhythm every where.  I tried not to leave long anywhere, and I REALLY worked to keep the 18' one strides slow and rhythmic.  When I cantered into the first, he took the one stride over the second, then bounced the third!  I began to keep a feel on his mouth over the cavs and he finally took a SLOW one stride instead of getting tense and quick.  Quit there.

Yesterday I moved the cavs to 21', set the bounce/3 stride as offset single poles 9' apart (a little spooky looking), 3 quiet strides (6' short) to a 2'9 vertical, and the 2 inside poles each got half the coop.  I haven't done a "super skinny" in a while, figured it would be good for him!  Flatted him just like on Thursday, little contact, low frame, slow and easy.  Cantered all the jumps, and he looked hard at the first section of coop but jumped it fine, and jumped well through the spooky offset poles.  His canter was a little slower through the 21' one strides, but it still got flat and quick.  I attempted to go around with lead changes, but he either counter-cantered, or cross cantered, so I went back to walking every time I needed a change.  I went around and around until I was satisfied it was a hunter-worthy course.  The first few times he would get a little quick, a little long at some, deep at others ... found my consistency though, and he ended up quite well.

Only got in 2 days this week, and LR is home this weekend so NOT riding Muffin in other words;)  Will get in his 3 days next week, definitely a dressage school, definitely HILLS, probably a no stirrup day.  Doubtful I will jump next week, probably just do poles again when I do my no stirrup day.

Fall hunter pace!

I love Fall.  It's my FAVORITE time of the year:)  Super excited to be going back to Kingston Downs to do the same Hunter Pace as March.  It's the one with the big coops and sketchy stone walls but GORGEOUS scenery:)  AND it's 20 min from my house, EVEN BETTER!  Can't wait, muffin hasn't set hoof on a trailer since May-Daze so we're long overdue for some fun time:)

The bummer thing is this is ALSO the time of year that the Squeakster decides to try REALLY hard to maim and maul himself:(  Of course last week is was a lost shoe and 2 slid back shoes.  This week it is his annual neck boo boo:

And a lovely looking slice on his thigh above the hock.  It looks as though he was lying down and tried to get up and his leg strap from his fly sheet sliced through the leg.  LOVELY!

Sigh.  He was SUPER fresh today, no surprise since it's been Sunday since he got ridden.  He felt fine throughout the warm up, but the left lead canter felt VERY strange.  Not necessarily off, but definitely not right.  Today was nothing but transitions.  I didn't push too much flexion because of that nice neck hematoma, but I did not accept any short quick steps at ALL.  Rode for about 35 mins, and roughly half that time I spent cantering.  At the end of it, I felt like he was working nice and hard, and that's really all I can ask!  Tomorrow will be more of the same, and then Saturday we will be chillin' on our first outing in 4 months!  Woo HOO!!!  I will leave y'all with a few pics of the gorgeousness that we will be exposed to in T-2 days ...

Wait!  That's not scenery!

Fairly boring week

Well, Muffin's feet looked like this all week:

Lost shoe

shoes slipped off and slid back

So he has been standing (and sleeping) in his stall all week:(  I had scheduled a lesson with Susan the dressage trainer for today, and it seemed as though all the stars were aligning to STOP me!  But I persevered and took that lesson:)  I had to hold horses for the farrier, Tiki needed his shoes done obviously, and I hadn't ridden him in a week, but overall we had a most excellent go round.

I requested some canter work today vs. so much trot work.  He was extremely tight and noticeably tender on the LF that had the missing shoe.  Susan worked on getting me to close my leg, keep my hand soft and still, and slow him down.  I worked on keeping contact even from a back/trot transition (where if I don't give with my hand we wants to just keep backing up), and eventually we did pretty well.  On the halt/back/canter transitions, I worked on keeping my shoulders back and using my seat in the upward transition so he didn't take any quick steps, and we cleaned up the downward transitions so he went from trot HALT and canter HALT with no messy steps in between.

The canter was good, very light and easy.  We worked on the 20m circle doing canter/halt/back/canter and after doing it about 10 times got it down pretty nice!  Finished up with shoulder-in and haunches-in down the longside and down the centerline.  He did GREAT!  We FINALLY have a real haunches-in!  All my hard work has been paying off because last time she worked those with me, I was probably about 60% good on the shoulder-in and about 40% good on the haunches-in.  This time we were 99.9%.  Next time we will learn how to do a half pass, woo hoo!

So for a pony that hadn't been ridden in a week, had a lost shoe for 4 days, and had 2 rear shoes slipped back and slid to the side, PLUS a tendency to be tight and not 100% after shoeing anyway ... it was a fantastic lesson.  I'm glad I pushed through and went for it even though the stars were not aligning to actually ride.  We needed a boost I think, and this was it!  Lovely Rider is supposed to hop on him this weekend, so hope he behaves for her!

Weekend:)

Rode the Tiki Muffin 3 days this week, like usual.  Tuesday I wanted to ride, but it actually RAINED, hooray!  So I rode Wed-Fri.  Wed I decided to do a jump school since the footing would be nice and soft from the 2 previous days of rain.  Dragged out the middle jumps from the gymnastics and set them up as an outside single swedish oxer, and an inside 2 stride line with the coop.  Left the 2 tall crossrails as a 7 stride line.  I still had the oxer set around 2'9ish in the middle, and the other one at 3'.  I warmed up with just some simple w/t/c.  I've totally subscribed to the Jim Woffard's idea of when you're jumping ... JUMP!  Otherwise, do dressage.  I just did the usual trot into a tall cav, then just keep jumping.  I worked on staying out of his way and feeling his mouth to the jumps so he doesn't blow past the distance and get too deep.  He likes to either gallop up and jump out of stride, or get quick in the last step to get too close.  We did pretty well:)  Once he did the line a few times, he wanted to lengthen and do 6 in the line, but I held him off the jump and maintained our rhythm.  Did pretty well at the oxer (I mean come on ... how many of us do well on a long approach to a single SWEDISH oxer?  By ourselves?)  We really only had one tragically deep distance, and one "miscue" where he was a hair long and I went for it ... but forgot to close my leg.  'Doh!  All the other jumps were fine.

Yesterday was a dressage school.  I began with walking on contact.  Progressed to shoulder-in/haunches-in at the walk.  He is doing SO well with the haunches-in!  So proud of my red head.  Lateral work is super easy for him, I just have to ask him correctly:)  The trot felt pretty good; I did some dramatic long side lengthening to some super slow sitting trot.  I then moved from the super lengthened trot to a more correct "collected" trot at the sitting trot.  He just felt so tight in the jaw!  I wish I could find that "magical" bit that helps him stay soft and relaxed.  I made sure I was soft and relaxed in the arms and hands, and I tried to avoid fighting with him.  I'm experimenting with using my seat a little more for transitions, and made sure to transition to the walk or halt after cantering.  I did my "thread the needle" exercise at the canter today.  When I came in on the shallow diagonal to do my half turn in reverse, I did a simple change through the walk.  He gets SO hollow in that downward transition, sheesh.:(  I lamented my woes to a friend of mine, and she suggested a trick to try next week.

Today was a longe session over a low cavaletti.  Tiki dork tries SO hard to not pick his feet up over it; he jumps with his front end and kind of heaves the rest of his body over half the time.  It's crazy.  He was lazy on the longe as usual; I actually had to pop him on the butt with the whip to get him to move.  I've been slowly shortening up the side reins each time I longe him, trying to achieve that elusive dressage frame.  When we do our Training debut, I want the test in the sand box to be up to snuff, which means that nose needs to be IN.  So, I scheduled a dressage lesson with Susan next Friday, woo hoo!  I'm long overdue for a good butt kicking, so will see what she has to say.  He was so preoccupied with trying to get the reins in his mouth at the canter that he forgot to try and cross canter, but it is so hard to get it and keep it on the longe line.  He also does not look at the cav and adjust himself at all; he just trots if he gets a bad distance.  Lol, today was good for him.  It's like a no stirrup day for me.  Not all that fun, but sometimes necessary.:)

Weird feeling!

Yay!  A good trot pic!

I have always loved to share my horse, but have NEVER had a desire to sell or lease him out.  He's a pretty big financial/physical/emotional drain, but I wouldn't trade it for ANYTHING.  I've offered several times to good riding kids the opportunity to come and ride my horse.  No strings, no charge, just a nice ride.  I've been taken up on it a hand full of times, but it's not usually a repeat performance.  The barn is just too far out for most of the riders I know, and he isn't necessarily the easiest ride on the planet ... plus, I'm a bit of a control freak, and there are very few riders I'm comfortable with actually messing around/riding my horse while I'm not there.  If I'm watching, SURE!  I'll let pretty much anyone try him.  But alone?  Only if you pass muster;)

Yesterday, I finally got a young lady out to the barn I've known for about ... 7 years? now.  She goes to a local college that is NOT far from the barn, and finally all the offerings of a free ride were taken seriously, and she came out yesterday to try him out.  This girl is GOOD.  She has had several ponies she's taken from pretty rank to hunter machines, and on her most recent guy has competed in the Jr/AO hunters.  She's horseless at the moment while she finishes college, so I offered up Tiki as just a fun little distraction.  Not only did she ride him beautifully, she loved him:)  She picked RIGHT up on my eternal issue with him; those downward transitions without yanking the head down.  She popped off a few picture perfect flying changes, just further reiterating that his half change is probably 99% MY fault, and even took him through the gymnastics I did Friday.

She genuinely thought he was so cute and fun which is EXACTLY what I think:)  She also confirmed that even though he isn't EASY, he is very simple and easy to figure out his buttons.  Yesterday, he was steady in the contact (on a really soft rein), he wasn't chewing hard and crossing his jaw (normal cavesson/D-ring), and that rhythm was slow and forward.  I dropped the jumps to poles again since Lovely Rider hadn't taken him through gymnastics before, just leaving both xr's.  His rhythm was SO nice ... AND she trotted him in each time.  He totally adjusted himself, and stayed in a VERY nice rhythm once I got the 2 askew poles set as well.  I was right; his front end was up and very careful looking.  Over the oxer he jumped it super:  still tracking left through it, he touched the front poles for some reason, but didn't whack it like Friday.  I raised the low ends of the oxer 2 holes, bringing the height of the oxer up to more like 2'9ish, and he didn't bat an eye.

The day ended with me showing Lovely Rider where all his stuff was in case she ever felt like coming out to ride him.  I only sit on the booger 3 times a week, average.  4 if he's LUCKY.  And never on weekends unless I'm doing some sort of activity with him.  This morning, Lovely Rider went back out to ride him again this morning:)  I'm so happy that she liked him!  She will go out and ride him periodically when she is at school on the weekends and can't ride at school.  It's such a weird feeling knowing Muffin is getting ridden without me:)  I KNOW he will only benefit from having her on him ... she had some good ideas to get him off the hand in the downwards, so I'm happy.  LOVE IT when other people love my horse ... he is my heart horse <3 p="p">

Rides rides rides ...

This week has been great!  Tuesday began with a nice dressage school.  I warmed him up as I have been lately, walking over the medium cavs until I felt that back loosen and engage.  I circled him with his nose to my knee both directions a few times to stretch out those side muscles, then picked up contact at the walk.  There was no beating around the bush; as soon as I shortened those reins I marched him forward.  At the trot I kept that slow forward rhythm and did lots of 20m circles both directions.  Sitting trot and shoulder-in was pretty good both ways.  I did leg yield, catch him and go straight, then leg yield to the rail.  Practiced canter from walk/change to counter lead on straightaway, counter canter corner, then switch back to correct lead on other straightaway.  No flying changes; don't like it when he anticipates it, so I kept him calm and relaxed.  Ended great!

Wed was bareback hack through his pasture in the halter.  Can I just say ... my horse is STILL the most uncomfortable horse I've ever ridden bareback?  Gah!  If he was to buck, I would break my pubic bone, 'nuff said!

Today we did gymnastics!  It's been awhile since he's done them, and I got some inspiration from the latest issue of Eventing magazine.

Tall crossrail, 21' to a single askew pole, 21' to a swedish oxer (2'6ish), 21' to another askew pole, opposite the first one, 21' to another tall crossrail.  Having learned my lesson about setting a big gymnastic line and asking him to go through cold turkey, I set the first xr then put the rest down as poles.  The oxer I actually laid down the poles wide, then placed a pole diagonally across it to simulate a "ditch".  I was SOOOO glad I set them like that, because first time thru off the right lead was a little rough.  He jumped HARD at the xr, then fell through the rest of the poles.  Came in off the left lead, and he placed his feet MUCH better, still jumping the snot out of the xr ... this time when he landed, he got a little bucky bucky.  Turd!  Set the next element, and now he was going through fine.  The 21' distance was getting a little tight, and I started to keep a feel of his mouth and whoa him a bit.  I set the other askew pole, then came thru both leads again.  Good!  Finally set the oxer ... I'm an oxer wimp, and he is historically very overly ambitious over oxers in gymnastic lines.  He came thru GREAT off the right lead, but off the left he actually backed off the line and had down the front pole on the oxer.  I reset it and went ahead and set the final xr, then came thru right lead.  He felt VERY round and didn't get fast because I kept a feel with a following hand.  He landed pretty fresh again, though!  Double Turd!  Left lead was better, but he felt like he struggled a little.  Came thru left one more time and it was better, so I quit.  This grid was SPECIFICALLY for squaring up that front end.  I could feel him study it and really try, so even though I couldn't see him, I'm sure it helped that slightly hanging front end. Interestingly, I rode him in his xc bridle; a figure 8 and the Waterford bit.  The minimal flat work I did in it wasn't all that amazing; he was all like, "HEY!  Where's the FIELD???"  

I was going to be finished for the week, but sounds like a friend I have been trying to get on him FOREVER is finally coming out tomorrow, so I will hop on him so she can see him, and then she'll ride him!  Woo hoo!  I love to see my pony get ridden by most excellent riders.