In the Arena #134 - Ain't nothin' gonna break-a my stride...

So happy to report that we are sticking to our new - taking dressage seriously - work schedule. Five rides, and five non-riding sessions since the last post. (!!!)

One of the unmounted sessions included practicing for our Christmas card picture, which was super fun, as well as a very thorough massage and an intermediate trim session where I practiced my hoof knife skills getting after Val's bars.

My horse is a hoot... seriously.

Another day I intended to ride (dragged ring and dressed) but just as I began to groom, there was crackling from a midday, midweek brush fire next door. (why p-i-t-a neighbor, WHY?) With not a hint of wind, the sound of the fire was extremely loud and incredibly close. This sent Val into the stratosphere. Instead of schooling, we spent several hours on leading work, longeing, finishing up our interrupted grooming, and then a spin around the arena bareback with the halter. Fear banished. It wasn't in the plans, but very productive nonetheless.

After two pleasant bareback rides, I bit the bullet and pulled out the saddle again. I had developed a weird superstitious ridiculous mental block about this, but a conversation with my former trainer got me over the hump. Thank goodness! It was time. We've had several of our most effective rides ever since saddling up again. It seems that Val appreciates my improved balance.

Some high points of our best ride - we had the loveliest warmup on the buckle, with a smooth transition into contact. Our work on school figures - accurate - check. I focused on feeling Val's mouth through my elbows and contact - check. Next I asked Val for a bigger walk. What I got was happy, swinging trot from a minimal aid. Forward - check! Full school, figure eights, working over the back - check! Best of all, I even knew when to stop.

To say I was elated after this ride would be an understatement. Never fear, today's ride brought us right back down to earth. Very good, but I wasn't as even in my seat, and Val reflected my crookedness back to me. The takeaway - nothing new. If I sit in the middle of my horse, am clear in my aids and offer him smooth, elastic, consistent, following contact, the sky's the limit.

This spring we had begun to school the canter depart and did some sitting trot work. A bad fall led to a series of nervous rides with a distinct lack of brakes and security. Summer made the arena almost useless. I decided to work on my balance riding bareback, and rode out in the open to address the steering and brake issues. Basically - we've recovered the ground we lost over the summer - my seat and my confidence are stronger. I am over my period of discouragement. Learning dressage on your own is not for the fainthearted.

Part of our progress is due to Val is feeling better. I suspected that Adequan wasn't doing the trick for him. He spent a lot of time cocking his hips this summer, noticeably increased, seemed uncomfortable during trims when we worked on his back feet and was reluctant to move out sometimes. After considerable research, I switched him to a new medicine - Pentosan Polysulfate - which I will share more about in another post. If the one tempis he did down the fence line yesterday, and his repeated offering of the trot unasked are any indication, it's working. :D

After our ride today, I spent the afternoon on a free two hour teleseminar with Jane Savoie. It was simply packed with useful information. I took extensive notes which will also appear in an upcoming post. Now I just need a few more hours to devote to blogging. At least I'm spending as much time as I can with my horse because horse time = happy time.

In the Arena #117 - Time keeps on slipping...

Deep into planting season around here - sorry for the sparse posting. I started a few, but just wasn't feeling it. I did manage to get horse time in, thank goodness.

We have had two productive groundwork sessions and two productive rides. After a ten day break, Val was pretty up and distracted during the first session - boogeymen at the back of the property and all... Head up, barging around, not with me. Luckily I was having one of my more patient days. After a few sharp corrections + letting it go immediately, we got on the same page. I worked on Val moving his shoulders freely - especially turning away from me. By the end we were gelling. Today I had Val from the beginning - we concentrated on his hindquarters and finished with some clicker work. Let me just say, Val is a pro on treat related activities.

Next, a bareback ride. I was hoping to address my crookedness, and stretch out my hip and thigh. Yes, and yes. I did almost the whole ride on the buckle, and Val was moving like a little reining pony. Note to self: watch that you don't block with the reins, your horse maneuvers better when you don't really use them...

On Saturday we saddled up, and had absolutely our best ride ever. Our warm-up went smoothly, transition to contact as well. I took up the most contact ever so far, and my horse snorted out many thank you's throughout the ride. Can someone explain why I resist taking contact when it makes my horse feel so good?! He was relaxed and responsive, swinging his rear end. We've been building up our stamina too - more consecutive trotting, less resting. While our contact basically rocked, energy still has a ways to go, but we did keep it up up through the corners. Transitions were good. My focus in coming rides, will be generating forward without annoying Val with my aids.

Things were going so well that I thought I'd turn on the camera. While documenting rides is super helpful, I seem to lose some steam, and / or get self conscious, less relaxed. Around here, when people ask how the surf is, it's always like, "oh - you should have seen it yesterday." That's how I feel about videoing. The break I take to mess with the camera interrupts the momentum, and I always wish I'd had the camera on for the whole ride, but who wants to wait eight hours to upload? And no one wants to watch all that, including me. That said, I have some stills to share from the video I took Saturday - highlights if you will.

 

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Thanks so much for all of the observations and constructive criticism of the videos I posted recently. I want to respond in general - I have a hip issue (old injury) that contributes heavily to the drawn up right leg / bracing against the iron. The right shoulder is bum too which likely doesn't help. My stirrup leathers are even, I rotate them periodically, and I check that my saddle is centered before I start my ride. I am always more even in the saddle when I ride bareback or drop my stirrups. I need to zone in on what happens when I give a leg aid on my right side - reviewing my videos has been helpful. So have your suggestions - very much so. Again, thank you.

Okay - so I had my first less than kind feedback. It went back and forth between harsh critique of my position and riding skills (repeating what I said in my post, but meaner) and numerous tried and true dressage rules - practically lifted verbatim from one of my favorite dressage master's books. I got the impression that the motivation behind it wasn't sincere helpfulness. Something didn't ring true. The commenter obviously had not bothered to read my post or the many thoughtful comments that preceded theirs, but jumped straight to the video. A click on the commenter's name revealed someone whose only profile information was that they had joined blogger in April, and had no profile views yet. On a whim, I looked up their curious screen name, the definition of which is a pejorative UK slang meaning "foolish incompetence." Welcome to the round file. :)

In the Arena # 89 - An attitude of gratitude

Val and I took advantage of some gorgeous weather yesterday to squeeze in a ride before the holiday mayhem sets in - the arena does have perfect footing at the moment. (!)

After a quick warm-up we moved right into trot work - with Val responding to nice light aids. I focused on balance in the corners, not leaning to the inside. Sitting straight and tall, even in my stirrups, and leading with the girls ;). Looking out through Val's ears - not down. Visualizing what I wanted to happen so that I almost didn't have to use my aids after a while. And soft following hands. Things were feeling pretty good, so I picked up quite a bit more contact than I have been lately, which Val loved. He responded by getting rounder and motoring forward using his cute little hind end. 

Most of all - I focused on INSIDE LEG TO OUTSIDE REIN. Thinking of getting that tattooed on my wrist - not even kidding... ;)

We had the most fluid, connected trot work I've ever experienced outside of working with my trainer. I have been trying to improve my posting by loosening up my ankles, and letting them take the weight rather than posting off of the balls of my feet. The quality of the trot also seems to improve when I can accomplish this. We ended our trot fest with what felt like a super square halt and reinback, and did some beautiful turns on the forehand - on the buckle and no stirrups. I'm glad I finally figured out that doing walk work later on makes our sessions much more productive.

Saving the best for last - (can't get enough of Val's cute little whiskery muzzle)...

Can you see it?! There was more before the cookies...

And when really Val enjoys our ride, he grooms me while I clean tack. Love you too buddy!

Yes - this was a hard shot to capture

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Thanks to our kind readers out there in blogland. You never fail to share your inspiration, knowledge, support, humor and friendship with us. I am so lucky to have found you all, and I am very, very grateful.

I hope you all have a great holiday, and get to spend some time with your family and your horses. I'm off to the kitchen - Happy Thanksgiving!!

At the Barn #46 - The good, the bad and the ugly In the Arena # 84 - Making do

Guess what showed up at the farmette last week! A cowboy. A real live cowboy. A cow working, colt starting, boot, hat and spur wearing, knows how to use the rope hanging from his saddle horn yes mayam'ing cowboy from a ranch in Wyoming. *sigh*

The real cowboy's kid - a thirteen year old cowgirl - has dreamed of riding horses on the beach for her whole life... this summer they made the dream come true. After stops in South Dakota and Iowa for horse shows and to pick up grandma, they found their way here. Sounds good so far...

Stock photo - not the real cowboy ;)

Background: the woman I bought my property from still owns the land next door. She had to move inland due to health issues, temporarily abandoning her small horse boarding operation. For the past year I have helped her keep the business afloat on this end. Taking bookings, maintaining the facility, sorting the customers out when they get here, often letting them camp on my property. Here's why - although I enjoy meeting the horses (and horse people), I'm planning to put an end to helping with boarding business.

Shortly after the boarder's arrival, we spent three hours in the boiling hot afternoon sun releasing their 25,000 lb converted semi + three horse slant with live-in from a soft spot in the sand where the cowboy had attempted to turn the rig around. We ended up creating a track with lumber that I luckily had laying around. A very labor intensive and sweaty job. (strike one)

And the picnic table I sat on for a few minutes while rehydrating was apparently infested with chiggers. The back of my legs are covered with scores of maddeningly itchy bites. (strike two)

The offending devil bug

At 9:30 that same night, I was well on my way to bed when a series of confusing phone calls ensued. My neighbor down the way from the farm called to tell me that the cowboy's elderly mother was lost in the neighborhood randomly knocking on doors. I tracked her down at another neighbor's house. She wanted to call the police because she was worried about her son and granddaughter not being back from riding. She also had no idea where she was - across the street from my farm, her son's truck, her son's cell phone, (and her son and granddaughter as it turns out). I talked her down, reminding her that the ride takes over two hours which technically gave them another fifteen minutes, and directed her back across the street to her son's truck with the phone and the living quarters where she could wait comfortably. I also wondered how the police could possibly help someone who has no clue where they are.

I then left a message on the cowboy's cell asking that he please call me to let me know he and his daughter had returned safely. I never got a call, so could barely sleep worrying that one of them was injured and they had to spend the night in the woods or worse. Why would you not carry a cell with you on a trail ride in a strange new place when it was likely to be dark before you get back? (strike three)

SO as much as I love sharing our fabulous trail ride to the beach  - I'm done with feeling responsible for people who don't / won't be responsible for themselves, no matter how adorable they are or how cute of an accent they have...

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I took advantage of a beautiful cool day on Saturday to finally get a ride in. Still very very deep footing in our arena. There's a small area that is still somewhat firm, so we stuck to working in that limited space, at a walk. A delightful bareback ride. We worked on moving out, outside rein connection, halts and turns on the forehand. And me being even and balanced, keeping my weight down in my right side, not collapsing my left side. I thought from Val's responses, that I had succeeded in evenness, but the pictures tell a different story. :)

Left leg longer...

 

 

"Need more cookies - mouth empty!!"

 

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An update on improvements at the farmette...

My poor grading / tractor man is recovering from double hernia surgery. He'll be out of commission for many weeks, so the new arena is on hold (again). We'll have to work where we can, and pray for rain. On a good note - over the weekend I got the trailer properly electrified. That just leaves bringing in h2o and connecting to the septic and then we're operational. On tap for the next few days - carrying the trailer contents to the dump + the very thorough cleaning. Stay tuned for pix...

In the Arena #73 - You are the sunshine of my life...

Best. ride. ever.

Hands down. Happy snorting pony. Zero steering issues. Contact, softening, leg yields, serpentines... etc. Fun! It wasn't even what we did, but how we did it. I rode with something approaching subtlety and tact, and my horse so appreciated it, rewarding me with his willing cooperation. Balance and self carriage are in our grasp. (add a thousand smiley faces here)

Once again I am reminded - if I can get / keep my act together... focus + concentration, tempered by relaxation - Val will gladly give me 100%. (And lots of nibbly grooming while we un-tacked!) I love you Valentino!!

In the Arena #72 - No horses were harmed in the making of this post...

When I got down to the barn this afternoon, Val came over to say hi, then immediately ambled off to lie down for a big ol' nap. Hel-lo - it's time to work. You get twenty three hours free per day, I'm just asking for one... dude - wake up!

Can't. work. must. snoozzzzzzzzz....

This would be why I have gotten the occasional worried call....

"Um, something might be wrong with Val!"

"You mean he's playing dead horse again?
Just offer him a cookie - he should come back to life."

I may have to rethink this advice, as today I waved cookies - smelling salt style - under his nose, and got only nostril twitches and a half-hearted lip reach for a reaction. I messed around in the tack room for a bit, and when the heat and flies got to be too much for him, he joined me in his stall. We groomed and tacked up with the lead rope just laying over his back, in case he needed to reach his water, which he did. What a good boy :)

We had a very, very nice ride. Worked more on contact and forwardness, with focus on being balanced through the turns and transitions. (inside leg / outside rein). We weren't 100% consistent, but had some really good moments. There were a few sticky turns which resolved as long as we kept moving forward.

After our sweaty trot fest, it was time for a cool refreshing bath, with a liniment rinse and drinks from the hose, followed by grazing. The grass has exploded in the last few days, and must be so tempting when you're stuck in a mostly dry lot all day looking at it.

I deserve this

As Val munched on the grass, I got to thinking about how contrary riding can be. You want to address issues, but not to get hung up on them. Don't obsess about your location in the arena, but your school figures must be accurate. You need to get answers to your aids, but also must know exactly when to stop asking. I guess it really is all about balance. (More balance please!)

Love my horse!!

In the Arena #52 - Two firsts + needs improvement

A reprieve on the foul weather until this evening. We got a sunny but very chilly bareback ride in. I arrived at the barn to a sleeping horse, then experimented a bit with shooting video. I repeat experimented. This is my first try. One way you can tell, is by the part where I turn the camera sideways to get a nice closeup of Val's droopy lip... didn't know it's better to keep the camera oriented horizontally. And (who knew) time to update my software - I don't have the capability of rotating the screen. I actually need to update my whole computer. It's nine years old - gotta love a mac - nine years and (knock wood) never had one moments trouble. Except now, when my software is antiquated :)

Despite it being windy and brisk, we had a super calm and fun ride. I captured a couple of minutes of our ride on video as well, but since it's all shot in the vertical mode, I won't tempt you all to get big cricks in your necks. Plus it might take five years to upload.

So.... we finally trotted bareback! (Val might question the use of an exclamation point) Several passes of the long side of the arena. I figured that was enough for him. I felt very stable, so I wasn't even nervous, but not nearly quiet enough in my seat. Hopefully that will come with practice. Love, love, love bareback. Yay!