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!

Fun with a single!

I had seen this exercise set up in the indoor before ... I just hadn't actually done it before!  It's called "The Diamond".  I'm sure we can add that little phrase after it ... "of death" ;).  At eventing barn, I've been riding Kiara.  She is so awesome, I just LOVE her.  In a lot of ways, she reminds me of Tiki (redhead w/ a mohawk), but other than the fact that she's comfortable to ride, she goes completely differently than he does.

She has a bit of a sensitive, (hysterical) side.  She has passing issues just like Tiki did; if you came at another horse head on, he would at LEAST raise/shake his head, at worst, panic a little and put on the brakes/give a little bucky buck.  Kiara, on the other hand, over-reacts.  To say the least.  At best, she will raise her head and put the brakes on; at worst, she slams on the brakes, sticks her head in your face, and spins/bolts.  Yeesh!  She's almost gotten me off 3 times that way, but I'm learning to tune in more to her body language if we're not alone in the ring.  I've been purposely working on the issue, and it is getting a little better, but she will still react fairly violently w/out much warning.

That being said, I warmed up in the indoor yesterday at the walk.  Way back when, when I rode her the first few times, she was pretty stiff in the jaw and had a hard time flexing at the poll.  Since that time, she now has not 1, but 2 owners, and the contact has become much more consistent.  So, I kept her in the bottom half of the ring due to another horse longeing, and I played around with moving her both directions laterally off my leg.  She came nice and deep into my hand, and really raised her withers and didn't worry about what was happening at the evil GATE.  Again like Tiki, she tends to lose her shape thru the transitions, so I worked some transitions and focused on maintaining that nice shape.  Trainer came out and set the single as poles; it's pretty self explanatory; it's a single vertical with 2 poles set as a diamond on both the take off and the landing side.  It was set in the short side of the ring.  The goal is to hit the center of all the poles on a figure 8, trotting in.  The poles went pretty well; it's an exercise that you will FAIL at miserably if you try to pull on the face too much.  It's an exercise that really encourages the rider to use leg/look to steer rather than trying to pull, because pulling creates bulging and crookedness; the point of the exercise is to be straight and balanced.

After a few circuits thru, up it went as a small vertical.  To add a level of difficulty, the distance is such that you trot in, so in addition to making a super tight turn, staying balanced and straight, you ALSO have to make a downward transition!  I was so proud of her; she focused in on the center of the pole and smartly bounced right thru and up and over the jump.  I worked on landing and NOT pulling, just half halting, balancing, and looking for my turn.  Once it was smooth, walked, and pole went up.  Rinsed and repeated, then walked one more time, then up once more on the height.  We finished up w/ the vertical at 2'9.  Of COURSE  I had to jump up her neck the first time at that height, but subsequent passes thru, I actually did really well w/ sitting tall and waiting on her.  She felt GREAT, trainer was pleased.  We then went with her to "babysit" one of the young sale horses in the 'new' outdoor; it's 200' by 325', so HUGE.  Kiara has been a little bit looky and spooky outside lately; not sure if it's a 'mare' thing, or if it's the winter season, or what.  I don't remember her being that silly out in the open.  There are no jumps in the outdoor, but there are dressage judging stands, combined driving obstacles within eyesite, and stacks of temporary wooden fencing piled around.  We got in some good circuits walking together, and Kiara only ran sideways once or twice, when trainer's dressage whip got a little too close.  Then it was time to go to work ...

As we separated and headed to our own ends of the ring, Kiara out of nowhere bolted forward, scooted her butt under her, and flung her head in my face; thank goodness for the running martingale I've thrown on her for this very reason!  She then ran sideways, I circled, she tried to bolt forward again, I circled, and I realized we were going to have to start VERY slow.  So, I walked tiny circles, then tiny figure 8's, then bigger, then bigger, until we were walking nice and calm around our entire half of the ring.  As I asked for the trot, we went BACK to tiny circles/figure 8's, and finally she began to breathe and relax and I didn't feel like she wanted to jump out of her own skin.  I VERY gently asked for a canter, again on a circle, and she was super.  Did that both ways, then ended with a trot around the WHOLE ring both directions (with quite a few calming circles thrown in, but she did it!)  Trainer and I walked one more lap side by side, and AGAIN she skittered sideways a few time (silly mare), but she was  a little more relaxed, so yay.

Haha, usually it's a Jade update that's so long, but I don't have much to report on her!  She was very good yesterday.  I worked her w/t/c on a LOOSE, loopy rein, and she was nice and receptive to that.  Picked up contact and worked over some poles, and again no issues.  Both leads were easy, the canter was pretty light, and I trotted her over some singles and she was perfect.  We did have an issue when I approached those dreaded wingless "stacker" standard things with a box under a crossrail; she stopped at that a few times, and when I got her over it, I THOUGHT she was going to stop again, so I hit her all in the back and mouth over it, so I got her thinking FORWARD and jumped a few other jumps, then came back to that one and she was good, so I ignored it from there.  Finished by trotting left to a tall crossrail, then turning left.  She likes to RUN to the right when I do that, so I just repeated over and over until she did it nicely.  It was a "good mare" day!

Appreciating what you have

If I let myself think about it too much, I feel sorry for myself that I had to sell Tiki.  I love that horse, and I always thought I would get to keep him "until his legs fell off".  But I know I made the right decision when I get the pics and emails from his kidlet.  Let me tell y'all; they've competed T, and they're going to do a P CT in Dec or Jan.  WHOA!  I always wondered if the boy had the stuff for more UL, but I was too much of a chicken to find out.  It's beginning to look like he DOES :)  So I look forward to hearing about their T competitions, and the big P move up.  It's a match made in Heaven!

I feel so fortunate to not only have Jade to ride, but also to be sitting on SO many horses at Eventing barn.  I used to keep track of all the horses I'd ridden; I wrote their names on my tack box.  It was a never ending push for me to want to sit on EVERYTHING AND ANYTHING I could.  Then I got old and fat and didn't ride much, and when I finally bought my own horse, I found that ANY motivation to sit on anything else was gone.  Just for fun, I'm going to list the horses I've ridden at Eventing barn.  I'm pretty sure I've been there just under a year at this point.  In no particular order: (updated 11-30-14)
1.  Kiara
2.  Pluto
3.  Rusty
4.  Sky
5.  Jedi
6.  Kimmie
7.  Spellbound
8.  Luna
9.  Belle
10.  Hannah
11.  Partner
12.  Connor
13.  Puffin
14.  Whisper
15.  Ricky Bobby
16.  Patton
17. Puzzle

I think of what each and every one of these horses have taught me, and it makes me so happy to say I've had the opportunity to ride them!  And if Tiki had made the trip w/ me to CA like I'd originally planned, I probably wound not have sat on even half these horses!  I've learned how to FINALLY feel what it's like to have real, true collection.  I've ridden passage and piaffe.  I've felt a perfect flying change just by the shifting of my weight.  It's been amazing!  I hope things work out to where I continue to ride where I'm at for a long, long time.  I absolutely love my horsey life right now!

Busy, busy, busy!

Love my smile here.  This was the first time I REALLY felt her trot to the base and rock back nice and easy:)

Life has been a little busy!  I've been working some overtime hours at work, and for Eventing Barn, we're about to put on our very first Recognized Event!  We've done several schooling shows successfully, now it's time to put our organizing skills to the test:)  As a result, my weekly Wednesday Eventing Barn trips have been show planning sessions vs. riding lessons which is a bummer.  I DID get to ride little baby adorableness Connor.  https://www.facebook.com/FourStarFarm  You have to scroll down the page a little bit to see his little grid video.  He is a lazy son of a gun!  I love his size though, exactly what I prefer.  He was the last one I rode, about 3 weeks ago.

Rode Ms. Jade last Sat.  She was pretty much a rock star.  She's been on the back burner as well until after the show b/c all my free time is spent planning, writing emails, trying to coordinate EVERYTHING on my one day off, but I have ridden her on my off Saturdays.  A few weeks ago, we did the grid and she was so amazing.  Last week, I decided to mix things up and canter.  A LOT!  I haven't been doing a LOT of canter with her, really it's been a lot of trot.  And her trot is MUCH better than Tiki's was.  (I say WAS b/c his new kidlet is out there scoring 32's in dressage, woot woot!!!)  She CAN get on the strong, quick side, but lately that tendency has been pretty much non-existent.

Anyway, I w/t her and she was good, so I picked up the canter.  All was well; her bulging and dragging on the flat has gotten WAY better, and she's learned how to respond reasonably well to a half halt.  So ... I cantered her to a jump!  Landed, circled, cantered some more.  She was so shocked, she backed herself off, lol :)  All in all, I spent about 12 minutes (I checked my watch) just cantering different jumps.  I cantered tall crossrails, the red box w/ a pole, a small brush box, a gate w/ a pole, and a vertical sitting about 2'3.  There was even a crossrail/vertical/vertical combo.  1 stride to a 3-4 stride.  Eh, that was just OK.  It was set heading STRAIGHT to the barn, and in the area where she likes to pop that shoulder at the last second and DRAG to the rail.  She quickened a few times through it, but also had a few really good moments. I had the 2nd vertical up at 2'3, the 1st crossrail was TINY, and the 3rd element was a 3'3 crossrail.  A little awkward, but overall not too bad.

Not going to lie, there were a few moments where I had to literally stick my right spur in her on landing, and I did have to really haul her around a few times turning left (that RIGHT bulge, ugh!), but for the most part I was very excited.  The jumps weren't an issue at ALL, it's now just working to improve the overall quality of the canter and eliminate that drag to the right once and for all.  The spooking has become very much a non-issue, and her work ethic has improved tremendously.  Very proud of the mare!  S will be taking her to her very first OFF grounds show next weekend :)  I'm very sad I'll miss it since I'll be working my tail off all weekend at Event Barn.  Until next time!

A few riding updates!

All has been pretty good on the horsey-front.  My adorable Puffin pony got sold to a kidlet, so YAY for him, BOO for me:(  I got to sit on super fancy Belle the week before last; she has a MOTOR and a half, that girl does.  She looks like Tiki except with bigger ears and 4 white socks.  Her breeding is full Hanoverian, but he looks like a dang Thoroughbred all the way.  She's petite and narrow like the muffin man, and I LOVE to ride her.  Didn't ride out at event barn last week or this week due to me volunteering at another schooling 3 phase event, and this week event trainer is at REBECCA FARM competing her lovely Trakehner gelding in the CIC3*.  WISH I WAS THERE!  Next year ... I will totally be going to Rolex, Rebecca, and Inavale.

I rode a really, really, really nice horse named Hannah the time before I rode Belle ... and let me tell ya ... I've never been run away with; I shut that crap down before it ever has a chance to get revved up.  But Hannah's TROT is like a freaking 12' canter stride, no joke.  If there were ever a horse with the potential to run off with me and I'd let it happen because she's so sneaky about it, it's Hannah.  I was pretty much exhausted after trotting her for half an hour, and I wimped out and only cantered one way.  I truly believe if I'd let her go the full length of the ring and not just stayed on a 20m circle, I probably would have had a very hard time stopping her.  Event trainer says this mare has FEI dressage potential.  I believe it!  Also on that day, got to ride super handsome stallion Sky again.  I feel so blessed every time I sit on that horse, he is AMAZING.  I've only ever ridden him in the dressage tack, but that is AOK by me.  His movement and power is just breathtaking, but he is such a gentleman; when I ride him, I use a mullen mouth happy mouth snaffle, and I never even have to TOUCH his face, he's that soft.  I LOVE how much I am learning there, very thankful for the opportunity to be there.

Ms. Mare has been AWESOME.  We had a few good rides after the show, and then the month of July was a combo of vacation time, and injury time for Jade.  She got a nasty looking puncture wound on her upper leg and was off for a week or 2, so I have only ridden her a hand full of times since my last update.  Rode Saturday, and with the exception of her geting a little strong at the canter, she was picture perfect.  Today, I decided to test her bravery and jack up the baby jumps to actual big girl jumps.  Substantial crossrails, a solid 2' vertical w/ flowers, a 2'3 post and rail, and a 2'6 vertical w/ a brush box.  I normally jump her 18", and have hopped over 2' on one or two occasions.  I decided it was time to bump it up a notch!

With the time off she's had, her dragging right has made a bit of re-apperance, so in my flat work, I actally kept a right bend the ENTIRE ride so she was physically incapable of popping that shoulder and dragging me right.  I trotted her over a bunch of random poles, working on maintaining her straightness through her body and feeling her responsiveness to my leg.  I began to incorporate the little 18" vertical and then the 2 bigger crossrails into my flatwork, halting, bending right, and moving off my right leg after each jump.  I was pretty happy with her!  Progressed to the 2' vertical, then the 2'3 post and rail.  

The first few times over that one, she did get a tad anxious and try to canter the last stride or 2, so I went back and forth several times, then just went back to the crossrails for a bit, then came back to it and she was better; trotted to the base.  I let her walk for a bit, then just decided to Go For It.  

I was banking on the fact that the height would back her off a little, but hopefully not TOO much.  I told myself no matter what happened, if she went over it, we were done.  Well, she jumped it great, but knocked off the pole.  Probably because I talked myself into a last minute panic and tried to grab mane, but ended up jumping all up her neck.  Le Sigh.  That's what happens when I live jumping poles and 18" little things.  I also TRIED to work on what event trainer has had me do; shorten my reins enough that I can PLANT my knuckles in her neck approaching the jump, then NOT move.  Just sit still.  But she wans to rush the base, so I have to RIDE her to the base still.  Sigh again.  I got off, reset the pole, then came again.  This time, I grabbed my martingale strap (which is a poor substitution for my neck strap, but you work with what you've got!), and even though she did sneak in a last minute canter stride this time, she jumped it perfectly.  I let her walk for a minute, then I HAD to finish up over a crossrail, then back and forth over the 2' vertical so I reinforced TROT to the base, NO cantering.  She got it. I was very happy with her.  ME, I wasn't all that happy with; either she was just putting in a big effort with her body, or I was just seriously off my game, but I felt like I was pretty much behind the motion on every jump.  See, this is our usual jump height:

So it was probably a combination of her being impressed w/ the jumps, and me being defensive.  But overall, a great day :)  Very proud ... little maresy is growing up to be a big girl:D

And ... the 2nd of the "2 separate posts"!

Plutes!

Haha, I didn't intend for a week to go by before coming out with the second installment of last week's blog post.  I guess fortunately, there wouldn't have been one from this week anyway since it actually decided to RAIN all night long, YAY!  That means Jade gets Wed off from me, and I technically could ride at eventing barn since they have an indoor, but I have a bunch of stuff that needs to get done around here, so I'm actually going to stay home today, oh the horrors!

So after leaving HRH Jade, I made my way 45 mins up the road to the eventing barn.  After our weekly meeting with a facebook rep, I was allowed to saddle up my adorable little fluffy pony again, Puffin!  He is so adorable.  He's actually a fun little booger to ride, as well.  I spent about 20 minutes with the shedding blade, working to remove some of the great "Spring Shed", then led him to the outdoor were I proceeded to mount using the block.  Yep.  I used the mounting block for a pony who's back I tower over.  In my defense, he is extremely fat with no withers to speak of, so it's more of a step over sort of mounting.  Trainer was teaching a lesson while I rode, and didn't have a whole lot to say on the flat with him, which for her is somewhat surprising as she usually can find no less than 5 things at once to correct me on ... while I'm walking!  Lol, but Puffin is a kid's pony, so there's really no need to try and do much more than keep him straight, light, and forward as much as possible.

Then she told me to go jump the tiny 18" vertical.  OK, no problem.  What a cutie!  B/c he is so small, I felt the urge to help him by jumping up his neck, so I definitely got my correction handed to me there.  Trotted over it a few more times, and much better.  I then cantered a pretty tall crossrail; like, the cups were at the equivalent of his belly.  He hopped right over, cute as a button!  Cantered a pretty big vertical, about 2'3, and it was perfect.  His little legs are so short, trainer had to remind me to just wait on him and not get ahead, and I did.  Cantered into a line of crossrails, and I just looped the reins and kicked and he was perfect!

I was pretty content at that point to stop and watch (pony was puffing like a train, anyway.  Did I mention he's fat and hairy?  And it was rapidly approaching 80 degrees?).  I was observing trainer's head groom lessoning on a young, green Morgan/TB named Spellbound.  I'd ridden him a few months ago, and he's super fun.  She was supposed to show him at our schooling show in a few days, so it was jump around time!  They were to trot over the liverpool.  The liverpool is an actual, 4' wide liverpool, that you fill up with water, not just a tarp or something.  There was a tiny amount of water in it, really, it was dry if I'm being completely honest!  While trainer lectured her on using her stick and being effective, I just sat, watched, and patted my pony.  After a few tries, she was able to successfully trot him over the jump, and I turned to leave the ring.

"Ok Jen, now the pony needs to go jump the liverpool!"  Um, are you kidding?  I've never jumped an actual liverpool before, especially not on a 13 hand pony!  I made some comment about me being a "passive observer" as opposed to an "active participant", but I got my crop ready and trotted up after NOT being allowed to show him the jump.  As I expected, he stopped pretty hard core, and ducked left and tried to run off.  Trainer tried to block him with her body, but he was in full on run through mode.  I had my stick out ... but had neglected to use it.  I got yelled at for that, then presented again with another pretty hard stop, but at least this time I used it on his neck, on the left side.  Finally, he leaped over.  Trotted in again, and he jumped after a slight hesitation, then cantered it a few times and he was perfect.  I should have gotten the job done the FIRST time, and not trot in thinking "He's gonna stop".  It's probably self defeating.

My second ride (technically 3rd) of the afternoon was Pluto, trainer's former upper level dressage mount.  He's now her main lesson horse dude, a real steady eddy, and big enough to accommodate most riders.  I hadn't had the chance to ride him yet b/c he normally already has a lesson or 2 scheduled on Wed, but this week I'd gotten lucky.  He's one of those horses that will go around like a schoolie for most people, but you can really ride him correctly and he'll become Mr. Dressage King.  I was armed with my spurs this time, and went back out to the outdoor after covering myself with is white hair.  I spent about 15 minutes trying to figure him out, and was feeling him be really stiff and reluctant to get round for me.

Trainer came out on her horse, and immediately began barking at me to STOP PULLING, and use my legs and seat to get him round.  WAY easier said than done!  I didn't even REALIZE I was pulling.  Nevertheless, she was exactly right and when I put on twice as much leg, and half as much hand, he took a breath, lifted his back, and got on the bit.  Amazing.  Subtle is the way to get results, NOT try to pull him into a frame.  After about 30 minutes, I'd gotten some pretty decent walk/trot.  What was nice is for my canter work, the only correction I got was to lighten my seat a hair because I had him so collected he threw a few tempi changes for me in the beginning.  After that, I was ok enough that trainer focused on her on ride while I finished up.

What a teacher!  Pluto knows more than I probably EVER will, and taught me so much about how a big guy doesn't need muscle to get the most out of him. He gave me so much awareness of my body, and how light one must be in order to achieve true dressage harmony.

I spent Sunday at the barn volunteering at our first schooling show of the season.  It was a CT, with extra showjumping and dressage tests thrown in.  Super fun!  I spent all day, doing a little score running, some score calculations, and a lot of filming.  SO thankful to have found this barn, I'm learning more now than I have in the last 15 years.

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 ...

I'm actually kind of proud of myself.

Sky.  Yes, I got to actually ride this today :D

Belle!  She has QUITE the engine.

Kiara.  How cute is she??

Hello from Sunny, DRY CA!  NOT the wet, soggy, and now iced in GA :D  First and foremost, I just got a lovely text from Muffin's new child, and she just wanted to let me know she's done 2 N combined tests with him, and even finished 6th out of 12 in her last one w/ a dressage score of 35!  Yay!  My best dressage score on the red headed goober was a 38.5, and I was DANG proud of it!  They're getting ready to do their first full 3 phase in a couple of months.

Why am I proud of myself?  Because I put myself out there to "cold contact" a trainer that I picked out of the air, and I have managed to score myself some AMAZING rides.  And trainer is AMAZING!  And she's even a super nice and wonderful person too, so SCORE!  I haven't had regular, weekly lessons in YEARS, and I'm finally getting eyes on me consistently.  It's so wonderful.  99% of my lessons have been dressage based so far, which is just fine.  I feel insecure jumping horses I don't know anyway, so I find I'm suffering from a little bit of anxiety at the thought of a "jumping lesson".  I rode Kimmie the pony by myself one evening after work, and I carried my crop, strapped on my spurs, and made her go like a good little dressage pony.  She wears my leg OUT, haha.  Took her over some poles w/out her trying to stop/spook/runout which was good.  I got to ride an ADORABLE chestnut pony w/ a stick up mane named Kiara last week.  She was SO FUN.  And I got to jump her.  It was the first time I jumped a horse w/ trainer, and it was really good.  Sadly, my endurance has just been so LOW, it's weird.  I'm still working out regularly but not cleaning stalls 5 days a week makes a difference I guess.  I work SO hard to get them going correctly, and after 15 minutes I'm just dying.  Kiara had only jumped a hand full of times before, so we began just w/ a little flower box and she was perfect.  It ended up that I took her from crossrails to a little line to a vertical, to a crossrail oxer.  I only missed to one jump at the canter, and I only jumped ahead of her on one trot jump, so I would call the day successful!  Loved her, she's definitely a favorite.  Like Spellbound, she is Morgan/TB.

Today, I rode a fabulous Hanoverian chestnut mare sale horse named Belle and ... THIS GUY: Virginian Sky  Holy moly, lucky me, can't believe it.  He was super amazing awesome fantastic, etc. etc.  I figured I'd be lucky to get to walk around; trainer had me canter tiny circles, PIAFFE, PASSAGE, and do 2 lead changes.  I never in a million years thought I'd get to piaffe or passage.  Sky is so amazing.  He's tricky to handle since he's a stallion and he's pretty big.  My instructions were to carry a whip, and once we left the stall to not stop moving.  He can't walk through the barn, we had to enter the indoor by one of the side doors.

I feel SO good since I've started riding these amazing horses.  They ALL go the same.  Soft contact, super responsive off the leg, and obedient in general.  They're all a little different; one may be lazy, another hot, one spooky, one bouncy, one not as consistent in the contact, but at the core of it, when you ride correctly, they go beautifully.  I still can't believe I rode Sky.  He really was a gentleman.  There was a mare in the ring w/ us the entire time I rode, and we did have a few "lose the sh*$" moments w/ a bunch of noise coming from the barn, and getting a little too close to the mares, but overall I just felt so lucky to get to ride him.

In short, I'm glad I took the chance to reach out to someone I didn't know at all.  She took a chance on me, I took a chance on her, and it's working out!  My only goal at first was just to hang out and watch lessons.  I have gotten to ride ...7 different horses so far, and I fully expect I will sit on at least 7 more in the next 6 months.  I just feel so happy to be here doing this!  I'm glad Tiki is happy w/ his child, he looks GREAT.  Fat, shiny, and looking better and better in the sandbox.  Everything happens for a reason, and I'm happy w/ how things are going right now :)

Back on the wagon! Er ... horse.

Pretty girl today

I've gotten in some great riding time!  3 rides in the last week, woo hoo!  I rode Jade on Wednesday, and she actually was pretty spooky.  When I rode her last Saturday, I was in a T-shirt ... and we both sweated pretty darn good!  When I rode Wed ... I was wearing a long sleeved shirt/vest/polar fleece top/a pretty warm coat.  Took the coat off to ride, but it was COLD and there was a bit of a breeze.  She knew something was up, and pooped 5 times in the washrack while I tacked her up.  And NO, that is not an exaggeration;)  I took her straight to the ring instead of to the roundpen, and it then took me 15 minutes to get to mount.  Le Sigh.  She was just spooky and being a bit of a witch.  I stayed patient and didn't yank on her at all, but I did progress to making her longe in a super tiny circle at the end of the reins every time she backed up/walked off from the block.  FINALLY she just stood there, no drama, and I got on easily.  She was very tucked up, and not on any of my aids at all.  She either trotted a hundred miles an hour, jigged at the walk, or flat out crow hopped because she did NOT want to work.  I never gave up, and I just kept her moving, all the time.  The second time she crow hopped, I finally growled at her, smacked her hard with my hand and sent her FORWARD.  From that moment, she finally began to get with the program a little bit.  She was VERY mouthy with the loose ring bit I was using on her, and she kept rooting around and mouthing incessantly.  She didn't get behind it as much as with the kimberwicke, though, so score!  I didn't try any lateral stuff with her because she was just so spooky and dramatic.  I put her on a constant figure 8, didn't deviate from it at all, and FINALLY she began to come on the aids.  It was a massive light bulb moment for me when I mentally shouted at myself to regulate my posting!  I quit following her rhythm, posted high and in a tempo I liked, and she began to follow me.  Yay!  I did several canter transitions both ways, and cantered just like 6 or 7 strides, then went right back to the trot work.  That was good, believe it or not, she didn't have time to get hollow/fast/head flingy.  Ended when I could feel her settle into the contact, stop rooting, and get in front of my leg.  Good girl!

My second ride was completely unexpected!  I went over to the other barn, and the trainer was riding.  She told me to get a pen and paper, and I wrote down all that was expected of me in order to earn my 2 monthly lessons/weekly riding time.  Yay!  She is a top professional, so all of her horses are simply lovely.  I love the fact that most of her sale horses are under 16 hands, yet her Rolex horse is 17.2!  And she's TINY.  About 5' flat, and I'd be shocked if she's over 110.  I took notes, we basically shook hands (she was riding, after all), and then she told me when she was finished, I could get on.  What?  Haha, I ran back out to the truck for my helmet, and when she finished I got on the very lovely 15.3 hand TB/warmblood cross mare named Luna.  Pretty little bay, a little bit of a spook, and simply lovely.  Trainer thinks she will make an Advanced horse some day, but she's only 6.  She's completed a few T events, and is almost ready for P.  Wow.  It was an experience, for sure.  Trainer nit picked and commented on my huntery ways for the next 15 or so minutes.  I was EXHAUSTED, lol.  All I did was trot/canter in a a 20m circle both ways, but the mare is crazy athletic, and trainer is 100% a perfectionist.  I was told to sit my canter better, not lean to the left, relax my right arm tracking right, open my chest more, and of course to slow my posting and sit back.  I was in a dressage saddle.  Her gaits are very athletic, and I could feel the power underneath me.  Definitely a sports car :)

Today, I rode Jade again.  She was pretty crappy again to begin with.  It was marginally warmer than on Wed without the breeze, but it actually RAINED last night, so the rings were super wet.  I brought some of Tiki's old equipment to use on her; his running martingale, and his xc bridle with a figure 8 and the single joint Myler bit.  The martingale is purely for my safety; several times, Jade flipped her head dramatically enough for me to have Audrey flashbacks (she literally smacked me in the face with her neck, causing me to fall and get a concussion), and I didn't want her to possibly feel "trapped" by a standing.  A properly adjusted martingale of any type will prevent a horse from smacking you in the face, but the running doesn't "trap" a horse like the standing can.  I wanted to try the figure 8 because she opens her mouth like Tiki did, and it can change the way a snaffle feels in their mouth.  I longed her in the roundpen and she was perfect, but when I took her to the upper ring to get on, she did the mounting block dance again, so I just went back to the rp and mounted there.  Rode her up to the ring, and she spooked several times.  As soon as her feet hit the footing, she began jigging sideways.  I kicked her with my outside leg to get her going straight, and she popped her shoulder and tried to yank her head down as far as possible.

Now, to be fair, this is the ring S said Jade doesn't like.  I didn't care.  The mare should do as she's asked no matter WHERE you are, so I stuck to my guns and kept going.  She jigged incessantly until I finally clenched my knees so tightly against the saddle I got a hip cramp, but it got my point across and she finally walked.  I was SO glad I had that martingale; she was just beside herself with the puddles/cold/'scary' ring, and she tried to stick that head straight up like a giraffe.  The martingale did it's job, though, and she seemed almost confused when she couldn't get her head up too high.  I got her walking all around the jumps, then trotted, and she finally quit trying to go so sideways (for the most part).  She also tried to drag me around like I was a little kid, and I began to do the Clinton Anderson one rein stops.  Gee, I remember a certain little red head I used to have to do the same thing with!  She decided pretty quickly that those suck, lol!  All of a sudden, I had a mare willing to work :)  I kept my posting slow, weaved her in and out of the jumps, kept my outside leg on so she couldn't blow it off and skitter sideways, and rode until she totally gave in and got between my hand and my leg.  As a reward, I walked her down to her comfortable ring, and trotted 2 big 20 m circles in the middle of the ring.  She was pretty dang good.  I had to spin her about 5 times rather than hang on her mouth to keep her slow, but the trot work was better than on Wednesday, for sure.  I cantered her both directions on the circle which is a tiny big deal because she is VERY confused about cantering circles.  She tries to blow off the outside leg and drag you to the rail.  I kept my reins together, my outside leg firmly pressing, butt planted firmly in the saddle, and she cantered well.  Ended with another few minutes of trot just on the rail, and let her be done.  Just to "torture" her a little bit, I took her back up to her spooky ring for the cool down walk and she did holler for her buddies a few times, but she didn't try to spook/spin me off, so I consider the day to be a success! :D  Gave her lots of pats, brushed all the mud off her she'd accumulated riding in the wet ring, cleaned the dirt off the tack, and put her back out.  Good girl!  Bad start, good finish, it will be like this until she gets in the routine.  I will ride her in the same tack setup on Wednesday; the ring will be dry and HOPEFULLY it will be warmer, so I can better assess the bit/noseband set up.  Thanks for reading my novel, y'all have a happy Sunday!! :)

Jade on Wed

Karma

NOT my little muffin;)

Oftentimes, one sees the word "karma", and thinks negatively.  There's good karma, and bad karma ... obviously, we tend to reap what we sow!  I believe I'm finally about to reap me some GOOD karma :)

When Tiki was my little muffin, I offered him up to several of my good riding kids as an experience for them.  A few took me up on the offer, but not too many.  LR was more of a mutually beneficial thing; she got the experience, Tiki got a fantastic schooling ride.  I now find myself in the somewhat awkward position of being "horseless and broke", which doesn't always bode well for riding.  As stated in my earlier blog post, I'm trying to work out something with a local trainer to exchange lessons for "work", but in the mean time I received a  "pm" in my COTH inbox today.

Lo and behold, it's a fellow CA cother with an ottb not too far from me.  She seems to have found herself in a position similar to mine previously.  Nice green horse that could use more miles under saddle, and a limited schedule that gives her only 2-3 days per week to ride.  I see a potentially mutually beneficial arrangement in the works!  We've made a plan to meet up so we can meet "in the flesh", and I can sit on said horse and see if I'd like to ride her!  Yay, something to blog about!  Lol.  In the mean time, I plan to continue to try and do the 'lesson' thing as well, I'm just sensing opportunity here and intend to jump on it!  I'm glad that by my giving back, and doing things for my students for 'free' (I shipped not only Tiki, but also Star and Sparky out to PWF several times just for the sheer heck of it), maybe I'm getting a little bit of 'cosmic justice':)  Looking forward to finally getting to sit on a horse for the first time since JUNE.

Feeling the love

First off ... Tiki has a new mom.  More on that in a later post ...

I want to touch a little bit on how amazing my "kids" are.  When my husband I made the decision to move to California, I'm not going to lie.  I was feeling a little bit "unloved".  A huge fight with a great friend, a big fight with my family, good clients leaving my lesson program ... I was feeling a little bit like, "What have I got to lose"?  Well, as time has progressed and we've begun this process, I am being reminded that I AM loved.  A lot.  And it makes me so happy and I feel so blessed to have these amazing people in my life.

Words cannot even express the emotion I'm feeling as I read all the letters and cards that my girls and even my kid's parents are giving me.  I'm realizing I have COMPLETELY underestimated the impact I've had on people's lives.  I've been doing what I do for 16 years.  Whoa!  Can't even believe that!  To bring things full circle, I've had a young woman shadowing me for last month that I actually TAUGHT back then, when I was 18.  I've always held myself to a high standard, and tried to live my life by example; I've always tried to be an example to the people I've taught.  Turns out ... I've made an impact.

I am so humbled to read the anguish my leaving has brought on, to hear how much my kids (AND my adults!) will miss their weekly lessons with me.  I KNOW  I have a gift ... and I WILL use that gift again.  I have learned SO much from my wonderful boss; she has really helped to shape and mold my teaching style, and has gotten me to see things in a much more professional way.  She has been a mentor for me in my "actual" life, as well as for my professional life.

I think the reason I'm good at what I do is because I always put a piece of my heart into each and every soul I teach.  Sometimes those people end up sucking the life out of me.  More often than not, I feel an infusion of love and appreciation each time I teach them.  It's so nice to read how much that heart I give is appreciated. God has put me EXACTLY where I've needed to be all this time, and now He wants me to move on and focus on my own life a little more.  I've helped young girls grow into amazing women, and I've helped my fantastic teenagers to become horseman and really love themselves and their riding.

I wish I could articulate to each and every person that has sent me a sweet and touching letter how much you all mean to me.  It honestly breaks my heart a little bit to feel the pain my leaving has caused, but I KNOW I've given all of you the foundation you need to become amazing people, and amazing horsemen.  My heart is definitely fractured as a result of walking away from this life, but I know my path has taken a turn, and I have to follow it!  I will remember all of you fondly, and I MEAN it when I say CALL ME, TEXT ME, E MAIL ME, I'm here for you:)  We live in an amazingly connected world these days, and I plan to take advantage of it!  I love you guys.  Thank you for the memories.  Thank you for the life lessons.  Thank you for shaping ME into the woman I am today.  I have learned as much from you all as you have from me.  I am forever grateful to have had the opportunity to teach your children how to love horses, and how to love themselves.  Godbless!!!!!

Here in the 11th hour ...

My favorite pic from our first show together!

There's finally a little action.  We move in 9 days.  NINE days. I've been preparing myself for the reality of moving Tiki 3000 miles across country since my barn owner is kicking us out, but it's beginning to look like maybe a little girl will get to love on him and spoil him :)  I've moved into actually wanting to sell him, believe it or not.  I was SO sad about my decision to put him up for sale, but upon reflection, I KNOW I'm making the right decision.  We are changing our life, and moving 3000 miles away ... on our own.  Paying our own way.  I have a responsibility to my family to get on top of my finances, and go back to school.  Paying for a horse at this point in my life is irresponsible; for all intents and purposes, I'm 18 years old again, just graduating HS with my entire life ahead of me.  Tiki has been tried by 2 ADORABLE 12 year old girls, and he would be PERFECT for either one of them; they just have to pony up the $$!  Praying we get things wrapped up by the weekend, because this is my LAST weekend in the state of GA.  Wow.

On the upside, having 3 people try him in 3 days means I've actually ridden the muffin 3 days in a row!  He has been a fantastic rockstar, really showing off his good side.  He's even thrown some nice, clean lead changes across a diagonal to prove he really CAN do them, good pony!

I've decided to continue this blog after I get moved ... because 4 Star Eventers will be 20 minutes away from where we'll be living.  I see some lessons in my future!  And I WILL have more horses; I want a pony some day.  And another OTTB.  Or 2, or 3;)  I take pleasure in the fact that I've transformed a skinny, terrified 5yo ottb to a mature, confident 10 year old.  I took him over his first jump, took him to his first show, and taught him trail riding is FUN.  Now I get to pass him along to someone that will love him just as much, if not even more than I do.  Thank you to any of my readers that have passed along his information, it was a hard decision that I'm finally good with.  I'm excited to continue sharing my adventure as I take this fork in the road of Life.  Hope you all are doing great!  I know I finally feel optimistic again instead of sad and terrified:)

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:)

I half way think maybe a corner has been turned ... sort of.

Conformation pic from today.  Looks good, doesn't he?

First off, I just have to say I have been slightly overwhelmed by the outpouring of support of my friends, clients, and facebook friends in regards to me selling Tiki.  Offers of leases and horses for me to ride have poured in, and for that I am SO grateful.  We'll just see what happens.  I've put him out there, and while he's not outrageously expensive, he's also not "cheap", so I'm hoping to make sure he gets in to a good program where he will be allowed to become MORE than he can become with me.  Simon Eades talked about how, "WHEN this horse goes prelim", as if it were a foregone conclusion.  With ME?  I'm not so sure.  I'm not that brave, or that clever, and I'm always too broke to get in the necessary lessons/schoolings/shows to make that happen.  Maybe this whole situation is just his destiny, and someone buys him with the time, talent, and money to bring him along to his full potential.  I don't know, I'm just going with the flow right now.

So far this week, I've had 2 really great rides.  Honorary little sis Nicole is flying home from NY for the weekend, and we will ride together (YAY!), AND I've ridden twice, so good for me!  Tuesday, it had been 3 weeks since I'd sat on a horse.  LR rode him a few times for me in those 3 weeks, so he didn't sit idle the entire time.  I tossed on the dressage tack and went up to the rock hard ring to get in some good work.  He was amazingly quiet and fabulous.  Honestly, he didn't even feel fresh at all.  No swishies or head shakes.  He DID feel a little bit heavy, but that's to be expected.

There was a random pole on the rail in his track that I went over every time.  It mostly felt perfect, and I simply kept my leg ON him vs. chasing him around the ring.  I did a bunch of circles, trying to concentrate on keeping him big and slow, and to use my leg more than my hand so we got a correct bend in the circles.  TONS of reverses, and I tried just to ride well and relax.  I didn't canter very much, and he did feel a little fresh at the canter, but as usual he was a gentleman.

Today, I slapped on the stadium tack (wonder bit included), and set up a single vertical dead center of the ring, and a cavaletti on the other long side of the pole I'd worked over Tuesday.  For ME, I stretched down in my heel and worked to stabilize my leg.  For him, I just wanted to keep him big and slow like on Tuesday, and I did a bunch of shallow and big serpentines to get him to soften up and bend around my leg.  I LOVE that wonder bit, he is so much lighter in that vs. the mullen mouth loose ring.  I schooled the walk/canter transition, and he really sat down and stepped into the transition BEAUTIFULLY!  LR has been working on those, and I can tell big time.  He has really improved.  Even those downward transitions have been so much better and more balanced.  Having someone else sit on him now and then has been GREAT!  I'm very grateful to her, and I know he is too.

I finally quit procrastinating, and cantered the pole, counting down from 5.  It worked, I got to the pole perfect every time.  5 strides out gives me time to actually adjust instead of sit there paralyzed.  Moved on to the cavaletti, and it was just as good.  Counted down to it each time, and we got there great.  I DID notice that I was a little more accurate off the left lead.  Coming in right, I got just a *hair* deep, but it was still good.  As I cantered into the vertical, I realized that I freeze mentally a little bit.  As I look at the jump, I feel the rhythm in my mind, but I forget to literally THINK 5,4,3,2,1.  Once I finally made myself count down, we got to the jump very well each time.  It wasn't as perfect as our MayDaze xc run, but it was pretty good. No frustration today whatsoever.  I DO wish I had a reliable eye and could nail every jump every time, but I don't.  I just have to work on it!  Muffin was fab, not sure what we'll do this weekend, but it will be something:)

Light at the end of the tunnel

First bath since ... December?  Can't even remember!

I'd decided to do a dressage school on Friday, but I stewed as I cleaned stalls, and decided to do a "jumping flatwork" type of ride, and do a LOT of cantering over poles.  Because EVERYONE knows you can't crash a pole, right?

Poles are safe!  Right?

Lol, I most certainly CAN crash a pole, because we did it ... 3 times.  I was so frustrated, I pulled him up in a nice, lovely halt and yelled "FU$&" at the top of my lungs.  I then gave him a loose rein and walked, composing myself.

Geez, what an off week.  I apologize if my last post seemed a little bit poor, poor, pitiful me.  This blog isn't all sunshine and rainbows, people!  I blog about it when it's bad, too.  I KNOW I'm a decent rider.  I'm not a genius, and I don't have a perfect, phenomenal feel, but I'm certainly far from the worst rider I've ever seen:)  I decided to change up my tactic, and began to 'look' for my distance 5 strides out instead of just 3.  I think 3 strides out, it's too late at that point to make a good decision.  5 strides gives you time to make an adjustment.  Not only did I look for 5 strides out, I also counted out loud, 5,4,3,2,1.  It was under my breath, but it was audible ... and calm.  I didn't get wound up and anxious, I let go of my frustrations and rode what was right in front of me.

Miracle of all miracles, I didn't miss another single distance.  I cantered probably 12 additional poles after my little hollering melt down, and even though I had to do a 5,4,3, pole, or a 5,4,3,2,1,2,3,pole once or twice, Tiki and I managed to arrive at the right distance each time.  Yay us, maybe I'm on to something!

As an aside, I have a little ex-student that's a facebook friend of mine.  EVERY single picture I see of her and her fancy show pony show them in draw reins.  I mean ... EVERY picture that is posted daily.  I added draw reins to Tiki's tack today, and by the end of the ride, he was nearing freight train status.  Yes, they help him hold his shape, but DANG they make him pull on me.  The pulling occurs at the canter; the trot work is usually stellar and Friday was no exception.  At the canter, I think it's just SO hard for him to do it in the correct shape, he compensates however he can.  He was really tired.  Every time he crashed a pole, that back would hollow out and his head would come flinging up, fighting me.  Once we took our little rest, it was better, but I had to do a couple of pretty colossal half halts to keep him off me.  That's precisely why I hack in the draw reins MAYBE 6 times a year.  I think I prefer them for the hills, but will leave them off in the ring:)

So, we had an ok day on Friday.  It's hard when he is unenthusiastic and doesn't take me down to the poles.    I will take him to Patchwork either this week or next one day to give him a field trip and give me a chance for some input.  LR will ride tomorrow.  Things will be better, I know it.  I'll just keep taking it one day at the time, starting with a clean slate each time.  If I have to resort to trotting jumps for a while, so be it.  I hate trotting jumps so much, my eye will improve out of sheer desperation!;)

Finally a decent week (towards the end!)

Hills in the ghetto draw reins!

Holy Moly, the beginning of the week was COLD!  And WINDY:(  Ugh, GA weather really stinks sometimes.  Thurs and Fri were half way decent though, so I rode my boy!  Thursday was a nice dressage day.  I was trying to build on what LR has been doing with him, and get him to rock back on his hind end, really track up behind, and get that back to come up.  I got him moving forward off my leg first, tracking straight, then put him on the 20m circle to get him bending and listening to my leg.  I decided to simply stay on the circle, and do trot to one or two steps of walk, then right back up to trot.  Worked on keeping contact, not throwing him away, and getting him right up to tempo immediately as opposed to picking up the trot slow then getting up to speed.  This is the exercise we did with Paul.  He was GREAT!  Very responsive.  I tried to keep him lifted through the wither, and deep in the contact.  It was a little stiff at first, but I could feel him finally begin to lift up and get comfortable.

Reversed through a toth, making sure to keep him moving forward through it, then picked up the canter, focusing on not allowing him to take ANY quick, short trot steps.  I had to do the w/c transition a couple of times before I was satisfied, but he did try really hard, so I allowed him to keep cantering.  Did c/one or 2 steps of w, then back to canter.  At first, I did throw him away a little bit, but I mentally kicked my own tail and made myself slow my body and keep a feel.  It worked, and I got a LOVELY transition.  Allowed him to keep cantering, then actually gave him a walk break because he was SO good.  Repeated the other way, and let him stop once I got another stellar transition.  So, simple work, but focusing on correct basics and correct shape so he continues to build muscle in the RIGHT places.

Yesterday, I put on the draw reins and walked hills.  I made his little red butt march both up and down, and going downhill, he tried to bulge that left shoulder like he does at the jumps.  I focused on keeping him absolutely straight nose to tail, and worked my own self hard to keep him motoring forward.  That didn't make him extremely happy, but he was obedient.  In the flat upper part, I w/t/c a few laps, loving the beautiful shape of his neck that the draw reins produce with virtually no effort.  I rode the snot out of his hind end, feeling him reach up underneath me.  Sometimes in the pasture he gets quick and shuffly, so I worked on going big and forward, reaching into the contact.  He did GREAT, and I gave him a long rein to be finished.

I plan to go xc schooling at Chatt Hills in April.  I'm actually thinking of saving a little money and doing the May Chatt Hills event instead of May-Daze.  My friend can't go with me if I go training, and it's just too expensive to cover gas and hotel by myself.  If I do CH, I can just come home each night.  Just something I'm chewing on!

Motivation:)

I set up the gymnastics today!  It was again COLD.  Snow is definitely in the air ... whether it will actually do anything I don't know, but I'm sure glad Muffin has a nice heavy blanket and a snuggly neck cover:)  I worked myself into a good sweat cleaning stalls, and moving jumps, so I actually was a little less bundled up than yesterday!  I opted to tie my stirrups to the girth today since I haven't jumped in 2 weeks, and when I did I could feel the leg slippage a little bit.

I swiped borrowed an exercise from Kate over at Greybrook Eventing which SHE swiped borrowed from Jim Wofford's book of gymnastics.  A trot in one stride crossrail to vertical with 2 different options; a 2 stride bending line to the left to a vertical, or a 3 stride bending line to an oxer to the right.  I used up all the good (and not so good) jump standards, but still had the coop and cavalettis to do something with, so I sandwiched one section of the coop between 2 cavs for a warm up jump.  I had Tiki 'dressed' in his regular cavesson D-ring, and when I went to pick up the trot he actually was nicely forward!  I got him flexed at the poll and kept my leg on, but I didn't have to nag for forward.  Reversed and warmed up the other way at the trot; he swished his tail a few times when the boys in his pasture decided to start running like maniacs.  The pasture doesn't share a common fence with the ring, but there's only about 20 feet between them, so when the pasture horses start running, your horse in the ring has the potential to get a wild hair.

He swapped a few times at the canter, but considering the boys were STILL running around, I honestly didn't care.  Since I'd planned to get up to 3'3 on the jumps, I did just the bare minimum to get him stretched and warm.  I had a crossrail, 18' to a 2'3 vertical.  The left hand vertical was set at 2'9, the right hand oxer was 2' in the front, 2'6 in the back.  I warmed up over the coop oxer and he was just lovely.  Didn't change his rhythm, and I could feel he made a decent effort over it.  Did it off both leads and I couldn't feel any difference going to/away from the barn.  I'm very fortunate in the fact that Tiki seems to be very unaffected by the in gate.  I had to set the gymnastic going towards home, because the footing is a little thin RIGHT where the right hand jump would have to go if I had it set going away.

I went right to the 1 stride, and he jumped it in his usual style; getting a little tangled up in the trot pole coming in, then getting a little long and weak to the out.  I did just that again and he was a little better.  I jumped both side jumps as singles, and he was right there for me EVERY time, so I finally came in as part of the gymnastic.  I think I'm opposite of many people; Tiki can be so inconsistent with the length of his stride that fixed distances send me into a cold sweat on him;)  Just to be safe,  I had both bending lines set 3' short, which theoretically would make the distances easy for him.

I went vertical first, and he did 3.  Of COURSE he did!  Back to trot, then right bend to the oxer, where he did 4.  Lol, such a predictable little Muffin!  I concentrated hard core on ME; auto release, hold the closed hip, eyes up, don't drop him at the base, don't change the rhythm, leg on takeoff, and watch the left bulge.  After successfully negotiating at the starter height, I hopped off and went up 1 hole on the vertical, 2 holes on the oxer.  Again jumped them as singles, he was perfect, then did them as the combo, and I RODE him for the correct striding.  I have GOT to go forward on him without chasing him, that's for sure my achilles heel.  The 2 was riding better than the 3, and I'm sure it was a combo of the gate being to the left, and that subtle left bulge.  When I quit trying to correct the bulge with hand alone and added left leg, the 3 began to improve.  I can finally jump him 3' and not be battling butterflies, he felt GREAT.  Hopped off and reset one more time, so both singles were 3'3.  Tackled the vertical first, concentrating on trying to ride it EXACTLY like I did with my last lesson with Paul Macrea.  Just a nice steady canter, and jump the jump right out of stride.  He jumped out of his skin over it, he felt GREAT!  Came to the oxer and missed.  Like, MISSED.  Got there long and weak, did nothing, he took off and plowed through the back rail.  I slipped the reins to him so I didn't catch him in the mouth, then kept coming straight away back to the vertical.  He jumped that fine, so I decided to do the combo so I couldn't miss so badly again.  Did the 2 to the vertical and perfect.  Came back to do the 3, and even though the distance was RIGHT there, I could feel him hesitate off the ground and I got a little left again.  Decided to go ONE more time to reinforce forward and this time added a little cluck off the ground, and he jumped the SNOT out of it.  Good boy!

I felt great, he felt great, and even though the jumps RODE fairly big, I didn't break out in a cold sweat;)  If I'm going to survive an entire Training level showjumping course, we have to be comfortable at max height, so from now until May I plan to jump him every other week at height.  I see more gymnastics in our future, and some bounces as per Simon Eades, UGH!  I gave him his Adequan shot yesterday, and he for sure felt nice today.  Fresh, but smooth and forward.  Love my boy!  LR will ride on this chilly Sunday, and I will play next week by ear.  I think rain is supposed to be a factor again at some point, yay.