In the Arena #151 - Ready or not - here we come...

The past several weeks have been overrun with travel preparations. When it wasn't raining that is. Thirteen inches in thirty six hours. Okay - I'm really sorry I complained about how dry it was, how I was tired of having to water the plants, and especially how I couldn't use the arena, because then this happened:

 

I will not walk in the quicksand...

  

Somehow no wires or insulators popped... It's fun to do electric fence repairs in the pouring rain.
Yes - that branch is covered in poison ivy.

Not scared unless it falls on me...

We did get some decent rides in before the deluge. One in particular combined an energetic, attentive horse with a balanced, focused rider. Heavenly. Actual round circles. Really nicely forward + good bend, off of light aids. Best ride all year, and it felt like we might possibly be ready for our clinic. Of course I promptly got dumped the next day following a very lateral duck and spook, the source of which was a total mystery. (wouldn't want to get over confident or anything...) No worse for the wear, I remounted and we continued working.

Loving you despite the sandy helmet...

With no objections to getting wrapped, and after donning his protective headgear, Val self loaded and we hit the road. (love my horse!) I worried that he wasn't eating his hay, because he's such a rubbernecker when we trailer - always looking out the windows - but at our midway stop he'd finished his travel manger and promptly polished off the half bucket of soupy mash I held for him. He only got a little on me. ;D (is it weird that he pees on a moving trailer?)

 

After an uneventful seven hour trip, we arrived at L's farm. Val settled into his accommodations, although sadly for him he's residing in the round pen. Coming from the land of sand and no grass it didn't seem a good idea to go straight on to 24/7 grazing. Poor Val... Maybe to pay me back - he waited several hours before drinking anything. At bed check he pulled his face out of the water bucket to greet me, so all is well.

Saturday is our first mounted lesson + an unmounted bio-mechanics seminar. (!)

In the Arena # 80 - Well worth the wait + letting it all go

No computer access since last week, so my apologies for the sparse posts. Also - thanks to our new followers. The weird blogger issues from a few weeks ago made it difficult to find out who you are until recently. Will be catching up on reading posts and comments over the next few days. Oh - and p.s. - I think my use of the term horse p*rn the other day (that's what I call my horse magazines) caused some major traffic. Yikes!! Am I going to have any regrets due to this naive mistake?!

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So - I've had just two lessons since last November - only one on my own horse. It's been exhilarating, frustrating, but mostly so challenging to be responsible for Val's and my dressage training... it was such a relief for us to finally work with my trainer again.

Friday was our travel day. After packing the truck and trailer - Val couldn't load fast enough once he sniffed out the extra special alfalfa kicker in his hay bag - we hit the road. I'm thankful for my fiberglass trailer. With temperatures in the mid nineties, Val was still (fairly) cool and comfortable. Our 3 1/2 hour ride was smooth, but best of all, safe. After arriving and getting Val settled in, I trailered a horse from another farm across town back to my trainers place. Dinner + a movie and day one was done.

 

We had three lessons, two Saturday and one Sunday. Started off with some groundwork refreshers. I have not been consistent in my space boundaries lately when Val and I are leading and hand grazing, so he has been disregarding my authority ;) Erin reminded me that when I correct him, I have to mean it. To put the absolute fear of god in Val if he steps one inch into my space, doesn't stop on a dime, etc. every single time! My inconsistent leadership stresses him out - he's much happier when I make the decisions. This work had immediate benefits under saddle - what a good boy!

Is it time to work? No? Ummm, cookies then?!

 On to our main objective - relaxation. We did numerous exercises that loosened me up.... ankles, hips, arms and torso. At one point I was dancing to the trot (doing the twist)... totally fun, and Val was loving it. I became very aware of where I hold my tension. It was amazing how Val's movement became freer, smoother and bigger once I let go and stopped blocking him. There was lots of blowing and snorting + grateful looks. :) Here's what I want to keep in mind:

What I thought I was addressing with more leg - sluggishness, lack of forwardness - was really Val trying to cope with me being tense and unbalanced.

No holding. No holding tension in your body, or more importantly in your mind. It blocks your horse - and if you keep it up - pretty sure it pisses them off.

No holding your aids either. Adjust him and trust him. Trust is not 95%, 98%, 99.9% - it is 100% or nothing.

You cannot prevent mistakes. You need to allow your horse to make an error, and then you have an opportunity to correct it. I had a major realization of how often I am guilty of this. It's an insidious form of not being in the moment.

Overall, the weekend with my fabulous guy was so wonderful. He enjoyed grazing, friends, attention, the grass... don't forget the grass! I can't wait to do it all again, but in the meantime, I'll be focusing on loosening up so we can boogie!

Nancy and Lad

Ashley and Howard

Bud and Val grooming - Lad watches longingly

Lovin' feelings