In the Arena # 126 - No time left for you + words to live by

"...how important it is to build softness of intent and feel, and correct breathing, and good posture, into your life, every day and in every circumstance.  

Horsemanship cannot be separated from your life - it's all the same thing - and you can't be and act and hold yourself differently in only your horsemanship and expect it to be effective.  

If you build it into your whole life, it'll then be there and available in your horsemanship without your even having to think about it."


Apologies - for the long post + photo spam. I've had little time to blog. It's taken me days to finish this.

So I looked up from the grindstone to see that half of 2012 is already gone. A good time to assess, and revisit the game plan... (was there ever a game plan - my head is spinning)

There have been many ups and downs for Val and I so far this year:

Tangible progress over the winter - establishing connection and contact. Followed by saddle fit issues which stopped forward in it's tracks. Then months of bareback rides while I played the saddle search game. More improvement! Saddle success - new saddle bliss carries us into experimenting with the canter. (!) Gradually we find ourselves in all canter / all the time mode... aaaaand it's just a matter of time before I hit the dirt. (insert needle scratches the record sound effect here)

I know that my dressage struggles go deeper than physical limitations, constant delays in setting up our new arena and lack of proper any instruction other than books and the internet for several years now. Practicing is great, but it needs to be correct practice. Not trying to sound whiny. I am so thankful for what I have, but I feel stuck and a little bit frustrated.

Riding well / being a good horseman is something I want to achieve more than just about anything. Sadly, I do not have natural talent at horsemanship and riding. Believe me, I wish I did. A good work ethic, enthusiasm, and a tendency toward perfectionism are what I have an abundance of.

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Val and I have worked four times this week.

One ride, which started off with a 180 spinning spook. Stayed with him, ignored the scary area, and continued the ride. Position - sitting in the saddle and loosening my hips, steering - not with the inside rein,  and contact - more and consistent, were the focus. Val came back to me,  even clowning around picking up and swinging the cones when we halted at them. It ended up as a productive ride.

We also lunged for the first time in ages. Not traditional lunging standing still in the middle of a circle, but lunging where I moved with Val. He was very attentive, gave me some lovely big walk and volunteered the trot work. Glad I tried this method. Very satisfying.

Finally, we went on two trail walks off property. Down the road to the woods trail, and then over next door where there is some good grazing as a reward for bravery.

The first walk went very well, just a little looky. Yesterday though, we had to have a come to jesus meeting on our way out the front gate. My dog Sweetpea jumped up suddenly as we passed by the trailer, and Val overreacted, stomping on the back of my barn shoe, tearing it, and glancing off of my foot. He needs to be aware of my location in every situation - no excuses.

Val still isn't 100% about my leadership. He still doesn't trust me completely when the chips are down. Death dealing noises from next door... geriatric dog behind a sturdy gate... leaving your buddy in the next door paddock for any reason at all...

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The quote above is from Kate's blog A Year with Horses. She recently attended another clinic with Mark Rashid. I don't know how she manages to ride two horses in a clinic, and finds the time to capture the essence of the experience and share it, but she does. Thank you Kate.

I believe it pretty much sums up what is lacking in my dressage efforts, and is also a road map to my goals.


And now on to the photo dump...

They are well overhead now, a few days later. Yep - I planted way to close together. I will never learn.

First full sized tomato. What does it remind you of?

Porch garden is in full bloom

Sweetpea eats a sweetpea

Maybe I see why Val was scared...

The land of plenty...

Refreshing!

In the Arena # 104 - Hope springs eternal II...

Firstly - we've gotten a number of new followers recently. I've tried to stop by each of your blogs, but if I missed anyone, thank you so much for visiting!

Don't know about you all, but when I go for too long between rides, I tend to get anxious. I worry over losing ground in our training, losing fitness - both Val and I - and losing my confidence too. It's so ridiculous really. We're not planning a bid for the Olympics after all. At this point, if we ever even get to halt at X, I'll be amazed. We haven't made it inland for lessons in ages. I had maybe four lessons in all of 2011. Now my trainer has moved away. And I don't have a saddle.

Nonetheless, I am determined to continue with the pursuit of dressage, no matter what the obstacles. I'm stubborn like that. (my fellow riders around here would say foolish I think) Days like yesterday are exactly the reason why.

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After leaving Val with his head in the breakfast bucket, I came back to the Shimmy Shack for coffee and a quick look at the computer. I checked one of my new favorite blogs, SchoolYourHorse. The several posts I read precisely addressed our issues of late; forward, energy, lightness of aids and how my position affects each. I was filled with inspiration.

SYH's first good advice recommended energizing a sluggish horse even from the grooming and tacking phase. I realized that I had been purposefully lowering my energy level while preparing to ride - usually to appear calm. This recalled my former trainer's energy equation - your energy plus your horses energy should add up to ten. If your horse is a two, you must be an eight. Your horse is nine, you must be a one. Too right!

I walked Val briskly out to the mounting block, head up, shoulders back. I hopped on - still polishing up that graceful bareback mount - and low and behold there was an energetic horse under me. Next task was light aids. If my calves weren't answered immediately, next came my heels, followed by the whip if necessary. I realized that I have been inconsistent, lacking intention, and frankly a bit lazy with my aiding.

I only had to resort to the heels and whip once each. Soon we were marching around the arena. Then the very best thing happened. I asked for our walk to get a little bigger, and Val reached into the bit and offered me the trot, off of the very lightest aid. I felt as if I could have gotten the canter just as easily. Such a lovely feeling. It's amazing what our horses will do when we don't block them. Yay - forward!!!

We kept things interesting doing some cone work, with Val moving off my leg beautifully. I focused on sitting in the deepest part of my horse, head and shoulders up and back, looking through his ears towards my destination. All these things are such basics, but apparently I need near constant reminding.

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After our ride came a walk around the property. Val followed at my shoulder, head down, super calm, even in the v-e-r-y s-c-a-r-y areas. There wasn't much grass to be found, so next we headed out the front gate, past the construction site next door, the formerly death dealing row of trash bins, and down the road towards the highway. The last time we ventured out was a year ago. I usually only go during school hours to avoid traffic and kids on four wheelers. A motorbike zoomed by and Val didn't even blink. We had a nice pick of grass, and returned home to take a few conformation pictures for saddle fitting. Lastly there was another picnic in the paddock. Val tried to steal my sandwich, my hat, my book. When all that failed - he licked my arm for half an hour. I love my great goofball of a horse.

On the saddle front - I've contacted Trumble Mountain about assessing Val. I'm planning to list my old saddle - first on ebay - then consigned if that doesn't work. I'm looking at a Sommer Egon von Neindorff close contact saddle at the moment. I really like this saddle - it's a demo model, so almost new, and reasonably priced. My trainer used to ride in one and loved it. No thigh blocks, mono flap. She said they fit the horse a bit wider, which will be better for us. Learning not to get my hopes up... well - not too much anyway.