In the Arena #136 - ...but if you try sometime, you just might find...

Between Christmas and New Years (my Dad and) I built and hung doors on my old boarder's run in shed, turning it into a second and much needed hay / tool storage building. Top capacity is now 120 bales on site - 150 being our yearly consumption. My inner hay hoarder is (almost) satisfied.

looks like Dad did all the work, but I wielded power tools too

Completing that project allowed me to clean out the other half of my studio, and bring everything to the farm from the storage unit I had rented since moving into the Shimmy Shack. Big savings, much more convenient, and I'm simply overjoyed to have yet another reason to justify kicking out the boarders. (I also feel better not storing hay in the same building I use a torch and kiln in... hel-lo!) 

Val and I ended 2012 with a bareback ride. Prompt response to the aids and smooth steering were our goals, which we achieved in an enjoyable and easygoing ride. My neighbor stopped by and shot a few pictures for us.

putting squeezers on him

We began 2013 with a morning ride. My plan to groom Val while ground tied proved challenging, with him being super wiggly, and ultimately taking advantage of my turned back to flee to the far corner of the arena, giving me his best "I'm naughty but also very cute" face. I brought him back, smiling, doing circles, halts and backing as we returned. Val relaxed and relented, staying put for the remainder of tacking up. I was proud of him. It was windy and hunting season is in full swing.

The rest of the session was like a (very good) dream. While I focused on yogic breathing - deep, regular and audible - we worked on the buckle. We stayed that way much longer than usual. I let Val tell me when he was warmed up. He did this by snorting and deeply breathing as he stretched down and gave me a swinging walk.

I focused on keeping my seat bones even and over Val's long back muscles, which basically prevents me from collapsing my right side and shortening my right leg. My other task was to press the saddle gently forward into Val's withers, which is to say keep my weight on my triangle, seat bones and pubic bone equally. I think it has to do with the tilt of the pelvis... counteracting a chair seat.

As we worked on a few school figures, the thought floated through my head that it might be a good day for trot work. Val immediately picked up a trot. I was shocked, promptly ruining the moment by posting on the wrong diagonal, but the feeling was still awesome. I finished up by working on trot transitions in the non-telepathic way, and we called it a day.

The remainder of the first day of the year was similarly fruitful. After shucking the last of the holiday oyster bushel in preparation for making oyster stew, I loaded the last twenty four bales of hay waiting in my trailer into the new storage space. Next, a thorough cleaning of the trailer, collecting all the loose hay for evening feeding. I organized Val's blankets and blanket bins, and returned them to the spic and span trailer, which is an excellent place to store, hang and air out blankets between wearings. As the light faded and a cold rain began to fall, I delivered a bucket of steaming mash studded with apple slices out to the barn. What a good boy.

one for the stew, one for my belly...

the best oysters have delicious crabs in them

I avoided doing a blow by blow ode to 2012 post on New Year's eve. Mostly because there were so many really disappointing aspects to the year... very tight finances, putting my dearest Sweetpea to sleep, yet another hurricane disrupting everyone's lives and destroying our road for the second time in a year, ugly, public confrontations with my boarders + a family member that made me physically ill. Worst of all, the nagging feeling that desire and passion are not enough to progress in dressage when you are on your own...

finally got the road "back" on 12.21 - to be continued...

...so I tacked up my horse and rode anyway. I've heard that how you spend the first day of the year reflects the way your year will develop. I hope this is true, as I had one of the best, most productive days I can ever remember. Happy New Year indeed.

In the Arena #135 - Worth a thousand words...

I was lucky enough to have a friend with camera skills stop by for our last schooling session. She took numerous pictures quickly enough to give me an approximation of video as far as assessing my position and the effectiveness of my aids.

Overall, I need to be (more) consistent with my position, shorten my (curse word starting with f) reins, and as always - make sure at the start of the ride that I can use the lightest aids possible. This post should really be titled s-s-d-d...

Jane Savoie detailed a method of evaluating your aids and position during warmup in a recent online symposium which I will post about after the holiday rush is over - promise!

Ready to work

Photographer magnet at work here... 

opening inside rein but refraining from steering with it

The end of a turn on the forehand...

(more like turn on the piano hands)

Decent walking, but not engaged yet -

not enough energy

Don't forget the praise! 

(wake up Val)

Looking better, but I really need to shorten my reins,

and maybe stop posting off the balls of my feet

Yesssss

What a goooood boy!

In the Arena # 113 - A ride, a trim, some drama...

Yesterday was farrier day. Will, (my sweet farrier who makes a seven hour round trip to see our horses), showed up early, just when I was mounting up for a quick ride. He took a break in the shade and watched us work for a bit.

Usually having someone watch me ride makes me (ridiculously) nervous. I guess I feel like my riding will be judged - or maybe I become too critical about myself - in either case I often become stiff zombie girl in the saddle - but I know and trust Will, so I was able to summon up some calmness.

We warmed up on the buckle, took up some contact and moved into trot work. I focused on staying even in the saddle - equal weight in the stirrups - to address our tendency to lug in the corners, and on parts of our circles. I'm pretty sure I tend to weight my inside stirrup more on the right rein, which pushes him out. And - if my outside rein contact isn't there as well - our figures fall apart. We achieved some reasonable transitions, circles and figure eights. I felt good about my posting, my changes of rein and whip transfers weren't too dorky, so we called it a day. It was sunny and humid - both Val and I were hot messes. ;)

It was a happy accident that Will arrived in time to observe Val's movement while we worked. Val lands heel first, which I was happy to hear. Will pointed out that while Val toes in with his right front, it appears this is compensation for his leg conformation - twisting to the outside slightly. His foot has a bit more more sole on the outside half, and tends to flare on the outside as well - all related to how he loads his foot, also compensation. Despite these conformational issues, he doesn't paddle.

It's amazing how our horses feet / legs will deal with their issues pretty well, if we don't interfere with constrictive shoeing. I know everyone can't make the barefoot transition, but it has been so good for us. Val's feet look amazing right now.

While working on our horses, Will mentioned that one of the clients was expecting him to shoe her horse with nowhere to tie, and no one to hold him. I offered to help, because the horse lives right around the corner, I love learning more about trimming, and I want Will to continue to be our farrier, despite the sometimes rude treatment he gets from some of his clients.

This horse belongs to my longtime frenemy G. (cue dreadful music) There is an excellent chance that there will be fallout from me daring to enter G's barn and touch her sainted horse, should word get around to her. (it will) I suppose this means it's time to tell the story about how we went from friends to frenemies. I'm off to ride, because this is all the drama I can handle for one day.

Stay tuned...

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.

In the Arena #91 - Farewell indian summer + better late than never...

Well.. it couldn't last forever. Shorts and flip flops still appropriate, windows open, no heat using, beach walking, horse riding weather for most of November. It was good for the soul. :)

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Val and I got another ride in on Sunday. We worked for well over an hour, until both of us were good and sweaty. Lots of trotting - 15m circles and figure eights. Transitions and staying forward were my main focus. The upwards transitions are coming right along, although I'd like to continue to get lighter with my aides. We achieved some nice halt to trots. Also - contact is becoming more consistent with each ride. Val has many a foamy mouth lately. (loving it!!)

I also wanted to address getting prompt responses and more smoothness on the downward transitions. I  'filled my sail', corresponding to tightening my core and resting in the saddle, but also closing my legs and asking for some energy at the same time. Transitions always help Val to focus - I need to remember to work on them more often - especially if he comes to the arena distracted.

The rest of the ride I worked on posting and in two point. I'm continuing to improve my posting - my ankles are gaining flexibility. The best indicator is my horse. He blows, snorts, seeks contact and generally seems to be enjoying himself. Poor guy - he's had to wait far too long. Now I need to open the hips more so I get ears over hips over ankles...

So here's where I had a little epiphany. *eye roll* Sinking the weight down through my heels, which I (mistakenly) thought I was already doing, makes balancing in two point a piece of cake. Really, you say?! Yes indeedy :)  

Apparently, I've been bracing my ankles by jamming them down in the stirrups, thereby putting the weight on the ball of my foot, (and driving my lower leg too far forward in two point). Analogous to pulling a horse's head back into a fake frame. It may look on the surface like the proper posture, but it's actually produces the opposite of correct mechanics.

Hel-lo! How many times did my poor trainer have to remind me I wonder. I have a sneaking suspicion that I'm a visual / experiential learner, and decidedly not aural... :)

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 Who knew that hay can be more dangerous than horses? I had another hay related accident. This time I fell between my tail gate and the doorway to my hay shed. Well, one leg fell between. The rest of me fell on the truck, doorway and under the bale of hay I was slinging when I slipped on some loose hay. My one leg smashed on the towing ball. I immediately felt sick to my stomach - said some bad words, and silently thought how much it would suck if I couldn't ride. Not if I couldn't work, pay my bills, drive or dress myself mind you... The knee is as big as a grapefruit but nothing is damaged on the inside that I can tell. Ibuprofren is my friend.

Oh yeah - this is my 200th post :)

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!!

In the Arena #86 - We are stardust, we are golden + award!

Just in case anyone thought I was exaggerating about the veritable plague of mosquitoes we were having, check this out... caught by the Park Service in a trap, not too far from my farmette last week. 24,000 in 12 hours... (disgusting - right?!)

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Val and I had a very satisfying ride Tuesday evening, although it didn't start out so promising. First, I had to follow Val around the paddock with his halter for a while before I could catch him - unusual. And then he developed a major case of ants in his pants during tacking up. He didn't seem super enthused about the prospect of working after sooooo long. Plus it was technically dinner time. Some firm, gentle persuasion got us on the right track. The ride starts on the ground...

Our warm-up at the walk was uncharacteristically energetic - I'm chalking that up to the lovely cool weather. It did take some work revving up into trot mode however. After a few d-r-a-w-n out attempts on the long sides, we got into gear. Val began responding to my leg immediately. He was very relaxed, snorting and blowing. During our walk breaks, we did a number of correct turns on the forehand, and a few rein backs as well. I'm relieved. It won't take too long to get back to where we were before our extended break from working. 

It's funny how sometimes the things you resist are in reality just what you need. It's been really stressful to me not riding for these many weeks... my horse lost fitness... I lost my fitness (sore sore thighs yesterday!). And even more so not having had regular instruction for so long. 

The reality is - it's time to put my big girl britches on. I'm officially 100% responsible for my riding at the moment, and may be for some time to come. No more relying on someone else's feedback - I must develop the feel for what is right under saddle.

My plan of action moving forward is:

Regular work schedule. Check. I'll be living full time at the farmette by next weekend so riding time will be optimized. Four days a week would be ideal.

Balance my dressage goals with my riding goals. Time to regroup. I've spent too many sessions getting hung up, sometimes arguing with my horse and I guess letting my reach exceed my grasp. Time to go back to basics. From here on out, my plan is to get Val moving forward at the trot. Lots of long and low, reaching and stretching. We'll concentrate on the walk after warming up at the trot. My job will be to keep him moving, do tons of two point and no stirrup work, and perfect my posting. Loose flexible ankle, legs long and draped, and open hips. My position is important, but not at the expense of impulsion and cooperation from my horse.

Future trainer search.  I'd like to take lessons school horses for a while once I do find a trainer prospect. I want lunge lessons - my seat needs the work. Once I've found the right trainer we'll see about putting Val (and me) through all of the work, stress and expense of trailering several hours away and getting used to a new farm. And - I would like to find a trainer who focuses on biomechanics. Who sends me home with exercises to work on, in and out of the saddle. I feel that my intellectual understanding of dressage is competent, but my body fails me, which leads to frustration.

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Annette over at News From Aspen Meadows kindly bestowed an award on our blog... the One Lovely Blog Award. I say - it takes one to know one Annette. She regularly fills her blog with beautiful photos, good training and horse keeping info and fun stories about all of the darling inhabitants of her ranch. If you haven't visited her - do :)

So a stipulation of receiving this award is recommending fifteen blogs and sharing this award with them. Due to many of my choices already having been recognized by Annette and Grey Horse Matters, my list will be limited to these eleven - which amounts to much of my blogroll minus Annette and GHM's lists. ;) I have been remiss in searching out new blogs, as well as posting and commenting lately - as soon as I have completed my move to the farmette, I plan to spread my blog wings again.

In no particular order... every one of these blogs is heartfelt, horse loving, informative and lovely:

The Grey Horse

Equine Insanity

A Work In Progress

Miles On Miles

Bay State Brumby

I Am Boyfriend

Collecting Thoroughbreds

TB at X

It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time

Honeysuckle Faire

Sweet Horse's Breath

The other stipulation of this award is to share seven things about myself, so here goes...

1. I studied classical piano, classical ballet and Latin when I was younger - and now classical dressage. This pattern will be explored in a future post, and possibly in therapy lol.

2. I studied graphic design in art school - the equivalent of six years - no degree. Ran out of money or I might have stayed forever...

3. I've never owned a vehicle with automatic transmission. Neither have I trashed a clutch. I'm inordinately proud of that fact ;)

4. I've been a vegetarian (lacto-ovo-pesco) for almost thirty years. Longest commitment in my life.

5. I worked as a sous chef in NYC for several years. Great learning experience but sooooo underpaid!

6. I've broken six bones... none from a riding incident. Best one was (as a four year old) falling out of a the bottom bunk while having a super active dream.

7. I've had four concussions where I lost consciousness... only one from a riding incident. (Tell the truth... are you thinking "that explains it"?!)

In the Arena # 78 - All's well that ends well...

So, last winter I posted about emergency repairs to the well pump that brings water to my barn. Dead well pump. Not fun - again...

There's the inconvenience of having to take things apart, purchase new parts and put them together... I know I shouldn't complain too much as my handyman (who also happens to be my father - love you Dad!) does the real work. All I really have to do is fetch tools and run back and forth turning spigots on and off. Then there's the worry about what we would do if suddenly we don't have the well. Dad does the fixing - I do the worrying.

I was right to worry. For the last month or so, the well not been reliable. Uneven, surging water flow that will sometimes peter out after being used for more that filling up a bucket - horse rinsing, or watering the garden. We checked out possible mechanical causes, but there may be another factor. The water table is as low as I have seen it since living here. Lack of rain in general, and lack of tropical systems that really dump in particular. I woke up this morning scheming about transporting water in the back of my truck, and siphoning verses carrying buckets, trailering Val to my house for bath time...

Good news is that handyman extraordinaire got the mechanics taken care of so we can bring what water there is to the surface - let's pray for rain!

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Progress... Dad and I laid out the boundaries of the new arena over the weekend, as well as shot levels to get an idea of how to move around the material we have, and how much sand I'll have to bring in for the project. It looks like rearranging what sand I have already will make the cost more manageable. Next step - planning. I have to take all the info we collected and transpose it onto a large copy of the site drawing. Ugh - math. I had to pull out the pythagorean theorem to make sure the layout was square. Within inches as it turned out, although a calculator was necessary to accomplish the ciphering ;) Getting closer all the time. Once we have our proper arena with proper footing there will be no excuses Val!

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Val and I had a "play date" yesterday. I hooked up with the only other dressage rider in the area - D,  a summer visitor. She borrowed a horse and brought him over for some schooling as I have the only "arena" around. Val was happy to have horse company - Cowboy pulled his patented scary jump out from behind the run in when they go by move. Twice. Thankfully Charlie, a pretty little refined chestnut quarter horse, was unfazed. 

We had a nice first session, although Val took advantage of my lack of focus. It was the first really hot day and he didn't feel like moving at all, so it took a lot of effort - mental and physical - to get beyond a walk. To be fair, the arena sand is very deep right now, making it all the harder to work. I can barely push the manure cart through it at the moment. Our trot transitions were labored and took way too long, with even some popping up in the front end as protest. (Yes - I was blocking with my hands at the time) ;) We finally got some round 15 meter circles at the trot, very good work on the buckle before it was over, and we ended on a high note.

It will be a good challenge for us to focus on working with other horses and distractions around. D's arrival is very timely. We have plans for more rides, with photos and video to come.

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A final note - with the sudden temperature rise come the snakes. This little pretty appeared between me and my destination - Val's stall window as I left last night. She may have been laying eggs under the wash rack concrete pad when I disturbed her. She hissed, coiled, struck and rattled her tail at me. An impressive display, but bluffing none the less. Hopefully this will be as serious as our snake interactions get this summer :)

In the Arena #76 - Three rides = wet saddle pads + :)

Recently I made an addition to the description of our blog - "and the occasional tale about creating my one-woman farmette". Well, the one woman farmette has kept me super busy lately, hence the infrequent posts. I spent much of last week building new garden beds and filling them with our lovely composted manure. Then came the planting the baby vegetables and herbs. Yay! Then came the deer.

So a few more days to round up materials and fence the beds. The materials were on order, but Bambi found the garden with one day to spare, and tasted a number of plants. It looks like everything will recover nicely, if just a bit misshapen. I wasn't able to find something to recycle for this purpose, but I did come across an inexpensive, flexible plastic fencing that should last, will be reusable and was relatively easy to install. Then I scrounged up some old fish net to drape over the beds when the birds come around to peck up my ripe tomatoes. They always know the peak of ripeness, as do the racoons.

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We've gotten three rides in this week. Doing loads of trot work, and our stamina is increasing. Our balance through the corners is better. I'm getting some honest reaching for contact - usually right after the trot transition - although it's not sustained yet. I've become obsessed with both of us getting fitter, and specifically with Val's haunches filling out. I know that getting Val to work over his back, use his hind end and carry himself properly is the key to our dressage and fitness goals. I haven't pinpointed what I'm doing / not doing, but hope that when I can get us up to my trainer's farm for some lessons again she'll set me straight. I'm so looking forward to riding in a proper arena with good footing. Time to complain about my arena again... it's very deep sand at the moment due to lack of rain. I've been thinking that I want to start working on the canter, (which I can't believe I'm saying) but until the footing is more solid I don't want to try it at home.

Overall, things are going really well for us now. While our improvement isn't swift, it is happening consistently. What I am most pleased with is my partnership with Val. And we're becoming more adventurous - two jr. trail rides this week, after schooling in the unfenced arena. Six months ago I couldn't steer my way out of a paper bag. The thought of a dressage test was literally nauseating. Heck - the though of working outside the arena stressed me out. Now I can finally envision not only successfully completing a dressage test, but possibly showing. Horse shows are pretty impractical when you live in the middle of nowhere like we do, but with enough planning it could be done on the rare occasion. Something to look forward to :)

View from the other arena

Cookie please - bring one for my friend here too....

That's right - it's bath time...

I love shiny things

Just desserts