In the Arena #122 - If it doesn't kill you...

Val and I parted ways this week. Unanticipated dismount.

I've spent the last couple of days eating ibuprofren like candy, and moving around very gingerly. Well, if I don't sugar coat, I feel like I got hit by a truck - but it could have been so much worse. Happily, I had my helmet on, as I might not be capable of typing this, had I not. Helmets are good.

The first giant horse flies of the season? They were buzzing us during grooming. Captain Outburst next door shooting something out of his mower as he rode up and down next to the arena? His timing is uncanny. Me paying more attention to a visitor to the farm, than to my horse? Probably. Me blocking my horse as I tried to get a trot transition rather than the canter? Definitely. I had second thoughts about riding when both horses spooked violently at my visitor's dog as she arrived - Val bolted, losing his saddle that I hadn't quite girthed up yet. (Hated, hated, hated watching my new saddle hit the dirt!)

It doesn't ultimately matter. After a nice warm up, I rode out a warning buck, but a few minutes later lost my seat as Val bronced across the arena. I remember me coming down and him coming up, and then knowing I was about to hit the dirt, just like my saddle.

I landed on my side quasi rolling, but still very hard. I turned over. Everything seemed to move okay. My vision was blurry for a few minutes though (concussion?), as I collected my bemused horse. I remounted, and rode for a half hour or so on the buckle.

I haven't fallen off for a couple of years. I've come a long way I guess. My reaction this time wasn't doubting my horsemanship or fearing my horse, but obsessing over what I could have done differently. Even though my former trainer isn't in the area for me to get lessons from, she generously makes herself available for telephone debriefing. Thank you E.!

Our conclusions were that falling off is inevitable, and more importantly, cannot be prevented. Falling off is a moment in time - the horse isn't obsessing about so neither should we. Our horses deserve 100% of our concentration and attention when we work with them. Anything less is disrespectful, and occasionally dangerous.

E. gave me some good advice (again) for how to move forward with our trot / canter issue, namely never let your horse know that what he's doing isn't what you wanted. Don't get upset. It's more productive to go with the wrong gait and then ask for the downward transition. Never let them see you sweat. Keep a light heart.

Bright side. I didn't break anything, or miss any work. It wasn't as bad as the anticipation - nothing ever is. If statistics mean anything, I'm a lot farther away from my next fall, than I was the other day. :)

Probably need a new helmet

Wish my ass had stuck to the saddle

Hand needed attention

Shiner on my hip

Later that evening - it's all good...

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 #47 - You can't have one without the other

I've read some good posts about getting in shape recently... Kate over at A Year with Horses and Carson at The 7MSN Ranch. They got me thinking about fitness, and what makes a successful fitness program, specifically riding related fitness. It's certainly that time of year, when we're stuck indoors more than we'd like, and may be dealing with holiday over-indulgences.

After putting on several pounds a year for a few many years, I found myself huffing and puffing, uncomfortable in my clothes, heading down the road to ill health. And worst of all embarrassed to be seen on my ride at the time - Ginger the Banker pony - who topped out at a strong but petite thirteen hands. Photos don't lie...

I am super lucky that my job is a physical one, because otherwise, I might be as big as a house, as much as I love eating :) I basically get paid to exercise, and much of it is weight bearing activity. (which helps to avoid osteoporosis!) For instance, this time of year, we get our mulch delivery in. Forty or so pallets, seventy bags per pallet, forty to fifty pounds per bag. I handle every one of those bags at least once. If you do the math, that's a total of sixty three tons - minimum.

Dieting by denying myself food has never worked for me. Eating is such an integral part of life, and should be an enjoyable experience. Better food choices, proper timing and size of meals are all helpful approaches.

I struggled with weight for half of my life before I had any kind of success. I've lost (and kept off) twenty pounds for the last three years. My weight still fluctuates seasonally, but the fluctuation is very minor now. Weight finally doesn't feel like an issue.

Increasing activity and controlling consumption are typical approaches to fitness. In my experience there is a mental component that is equally important. Mental energy. Focus. Focus helps with improving eating habits. Shop for and prepare food mindfully. Eat mindfully. Appreciate the look, smell and taste of the meal. Stop eating when full...

Focus is essential to riding as well. You can practice mindfulness and improve your riding skills when you're not on a horse. For example, focus on engaging the core - all day, in all activities. Focus on posture... shoulders up and back, head in line with your spine. Stand with your weight evenly in both of your feet. (not more heavily on one foot than the other which torques your hips)

Being mindful / paying attention is harder that it seems, as are all new habits. It's like learning a new language. Multitasking, in a good way. And I don't know about anyone else, but I always benefit from more focus when I ride. Use your mind to slim down, tone up and ride right - it's all good.

In the Arena #41 - Looking a gift horse in the mouth

It been busy around here with holiday preparations / obligations so this post will attempt to catch up on the news. I had a real lesson in barn ownership over the weekend. Turned on the hose Saturday night and no water came out. Bummer! It wasn't frozen, we're thoroughly winterized, so likely there was a problem with the well pump. It was dark and pouring freezing rain, so I had to wait until Sunday to discover that the pump was indeed history - seized up. Can't think of anything I'd rather do than handle cold metal pipes and cold metal tools out in the cold - fun! The morning was spent replacing the pump (and freezing) with my Dad, who luckily is such a handy man. Mechanics, carpentry electric and plumbing - he can do it all. Problem solved, and no toting water... yea! Dad - you're the best :)

It was more complicated than it looks

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Today was the bright spot in the weather forecast for the week... time to saddle up, or not saddle up and ride bareback as the case may be :)

As I was preparing to mount, Val wiped his muzzle up and down my leg, with his mouth open. It seemed strange, so I inspected further. He had some blood on his front upper gum line - just a tinge. I'm planning on some warm salt water rinses for a few days. I have recently contacted a new dentist, and am in the process of scheduling an appointment. He's not due until April but my gut feeling is the sooner the better. I'm still not convinced that some of our turning difficulty hasn't got to do with dental / tmj issues. Thanks to Kate at A Year With Horses for setting me on the path to finding a more enlightened horse dentist.

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Do I get extra cookies for courage?!

It was just a little distracting down at the barn today. Let's see... the neighbor was working in his yard (power tools of course) which always seems to include yelling (a lot at the top of his lungs) at his dogs. Yelling at his dogs who came crashing through the woods and spooked Val. Apparently it's easier to ride out a spook bareback because I swear, I didn't even realize it had happened until it was over. I continue to be impressed with the benefits of bareback riding.

Next came the yowling feral cat bursting out from the woods. A minor prelude to the little button buck bouncing around just outside of the arena. Why was he out in the open, so bravely, so uncharacteristically you ask? Well maybe, because my boarder's mom decided to chum him and his deer buddies up with piles of corn. I figured this out while the boarder family were at my place over the weekend for a holiday open house. (As they arrived they managed to let my Jack Russell terror run out the front door - it took half an hour to catch her!)

Over holiday punch I happened to mention that Val had been extremely distracted for a few days. Distracted to the point of dropping hot mash out of his mouth and tearing off to the far end of his paddock where he stood and stared for hours. Distracted to the point that one morning when I arrived at the barn no water and barely any hay had been touched overnight. "Oh, he's probably seeing the deer. I've been feeding them. I want to touch that little one!" Needless to say, no more corn at the barn. Special prize was awarded for self control...

But I digress... despite all of the commotion, we still managed to focus and get some nice work done. Most of the work was getting Val to pay attention to me and move forward. We did some pretty turns on the forehand, and the contact again seemed improved - another no glove ride. Afterwords we did some work in the backup arena - located smack in the middle of the bermuda triangle of horse eating monsters. I could tell Val wanted to get excited, but I firmly kept his mind on me. As I began some in hand trot work he popped up a little bit and scooted around, but all it took was a firm voice to get him back on track. Val did beautifully! I was so proud of my horse today. His reward was some grazing on the tiny patch of grass I still have, a pocketful of gingersnap and all my love. What a good boy!

Happy Holidays!!

Clinic notes: Day one and two

Remote from universal nature, and living by complicated artifice, man in civilization surveys the horse through his glass of his knowledge and sees thereby a feather magnified and the whole image in distortion. We patronize them for their incompleteness, for their having taken form so far below ourselves. And therin we err, and greatly err. For the animal shall not be measured by man. 

In a world older and more complete than ours they move finished and complete, gifted with extensions of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. They are not bretheren, they are not underlings; they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendor and travail of the earth. 
Henry Beston

We arrived safely on Friday afternoon. Got Val settled in, unpacked and it was time for dinner and a movie. Dinner was delish and the movie - Secretariat - not so much. I won't go into all the things that weren't satisfying - it's very much a Disney movie - enough said.

Saturday morning. Val and I are up first for our lesson. It was seriously cold and windy, blanketing overnight weather and a shock to the system.  We've been spoiled down at the beach - but no matter.
 Our warm-up was excellent and to the point. I handled the entire warm-up myself with little input from my trainer, validating the hard work we've been putting in for the last month or so.

After fifteen minutes of loose rein work and some simple figures we moved on to the trot. Val is slowly but surely reaching and using his back. I focused on allowing hands and driving with my legs - if he ain't reachin', you ain't drivin'! - plus re-balancing with some half halts. My trainer commented positively on the changes in my seat since our last visit (!) We only had a little stickiness, that she pointed out happened when the next student was bringing her horse into the arena. Chalk that up to distraction. I didn't make the connection at the time but she is right. All in all I couldn't have asked for a better start to our clinic.

Sunday morning. Colder and windier. Val didn't notice or care. He really seems to enjoy working, getting playful and sweet as we tacked up. I had more of a struggle with allowing hands, and even weight in my stirrups - sticky hips - in this session. Val responded in his usual way by challenging my leadership. Although I don't enjoy when this issue comes up, I got a lot of good ideas about how to keep it from happening (the goal) and dealing with it appropriately when it does while I'm on my own.

The answer is to break everything down to it's simplest components. If I'm having trouble with the turn on the forehand, make sure I'm getting a halt. If he's blowing through my aids (he was) then really get the halt, not the halt plus one step. I decided my course of action was do as many walk / halt transitions as necessary, gradually increasing the number of strides between the transitions, to get him focused back and listening to me and my aids. I am really happy to say that I worked this out myself, without constant feedback from my trainer.

She reminded me that not only must I allow and give with my hands, but I must also allow and give with my heart. This comment hurt a bit, but what she meant was that Val absolutely knows if I am not trusting in him. Horses know what is in your heart. And (as usual) she was right. I was holding back. As soon as I gave him 100%, he gave me 100%. After getting on the same page we did the most beautiful trot work we've ever done, long, low and relaxed. Smooth round circles. She also stressed that when we are struggling with something, I must be aware when to keep asking versus when Val has given me something - even just one step in the right direction - and therefore deserves to be rewarded. You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em! :)

Sunday afternoon. Time for a longing session. My trainer had computer work to catch up on so another of her students and I longed each other on the students' lovely 17 hand thoroughbred Howard. Very satisfying session. As instructive when you were the long-er as the long-ee. When on the ground I really aware of the way I used the longe whip affected Howard's stride length and smoothness. I had him reaching and using his back which I felt good about. When on board Howard, I was reminded of how far Val and I have to go - Howard uses his back. His trot almost threw me out of the saddle for the first few strides. A cadillac. I haven't ridden another horse besides Val for nearly a year. Getting longed is a great reference for whether you balance on the reins or not. I will say that I was better that I'd imagined I would be. Pleasantly surprised. My hips and upper arms are indeed sore this morning.

Unforeseen horse handling opportunities have popped up :) I had to catch a very wound up mare - who was running her legs off in the arena due to a gate left open. Another student was just chasing her around with a lead rope... not effective. I grabbed a bucket of grain and things calmed down immediately.

This morning two horses appeared on the property and had everyone riled up, running the fence lines.  My trainer took the truck to find the owners and the next door neighbor and I - armed with carrots, hay and lead ropes - rounded the strangers up.

Oh, and Val showed another side of himself this weekend - the escape artist. He got out of his makeshift paddock three times, and had a little middle of the night gelding party that got us all out of bed. We've finally got him somewhere that will contain him. All's well that ends well.

I have some pictures but no cable to upload - so I'll post later. Off to a tack shop (!) to look at bareback pads.

In the Arena #27 - When it rains...

Long string of bad weather here. One dry day since last Saturday. More on that later...

Might as well eat...

Happily, Val and I rode yesterday morning. We warmed up and worked on transitions, turning, and turns on the forehand, utilizing the cones I have had set up for the last few weeks. Nothing new, but it went smoothly. We had a nice, calm, effective session. The wind was whipping from the north bringing the coolest temperatures here since the spring. Oh, and black powder (hunting) season started on Friday. Val took a few sidesteps but I kept him (myself) focused pretty well.

Might be to soon to predict, but it looks as if the horses are not as worried about the nearby hunting activity as last year. It's not just the surprising gunfire that bothers them - it's the people sneaking around in the woods surrounding the property. Apparently most hunters are not quiet enough to sneak up on horses - the horses always know.

With all of the potential for scariness, I probably would have been hesitant to ride on another day, but it had been a quite a while and who knows what this week will bring.

I was kicking myself that I didn't bring the camera on board for this ride. Frankly, I don't need something dangling and swinging off of the saddle to add to my challenges with coordination and concentration... It would have come in handy though, when, while halted next to one of the cones, Val decided he needed to sniff and taste the cone... pick the cone up... swing the cone to and fro... side to side... throw the cone... punctuated by sidelong glances to make sure I was paying attention. If anyone was in earshot they probably thought I was losing it. Mind you, the cones have been in Val's space for weeks now, and haven't budged. Up to now, he has shown zero interest. Using humor to avoid work - a temporarily successful strategy :)

Back to the weather. We have had, depending on who you talk to, one tropical storm and three sub tropical low pressure systems since last Sunday. The upshot is at least 12 inches of rain, many roads covered with salt water, 20 - 30 mph winds daily and 50 - 60 mph wind gusts, and today several feet of sea tide that no one predicted. I happened to look outside this afternoon and see the road disappearing, so I rushed up to the barn to feed an early dinner while I could, and left my truck on high ground in town. I sloshed back home and took the girls out for a dog walk/wade.

Where's the land?