December Photo Dump

 Since I’m behind in blogging, I figured I’ll just speak through photos instead of trying to get everything down. And hopefully the formatting works; I’m stuck in an airport typing this on my tablet. 

While we had some good rides at the beginning of the month, the cold weather plus a full and busy barn (IL had been at shows for 7wks and everyone is finally home again so the barn is BUSY), Cinder got a little amped and we’ve had some tense rides. A is also pushing us in the flat work and man is real dressage work hard. 

Cinder was a very good girl for A and went in the water jump with zero hesitation after not seeing it for months. She also isn’t phased by the vineyard getting installed on the big hill.

I audited an Anne Kursinski clinic and it was awesome. She’s a very old school type clinician and I was glad I wasn’t riding in it. I did get a few great takeaways (count out loud to your jump from farther away than you think and proper flat work is key). 

Cinder had a gas colic and while she seemed to come out of it well, I wanted to hang around the barn till we had poop. Trainer A offered me the ride on Sal while I was waiting. He’s a 21yr old, ex-1.45m jumper who was a stud till he was 19. He’s been teaching beginners how to jump for the past few years. He is so much fun! It felt weird riding a horse that isn’t mine, but he’s so well schooled it was great to just focus on myself for once. His owner has offered A a breeding to him so we’ll have a Sal baby to play with next year!

Two days after her colic, the temps dropped into the single digits and Cin’s barn saw snow and ice. Horses stayed in for three days, getting some arena turnout time. By Christmas (the fourth day) it was almost 60 and the ponies were psycho. I lunged Cin on Christmas and rode the next day where she proceeded to spook at the tree that’s been in the viewing room for weeks. We did lots of circles and transitions but she was still convinced the grinch was out to get her. 

We started 2023 by having a fantastic ride where she was soft, listening, and just over all really fun. We had the barn to ourselves and I think the quiet atmosphere really helped. We had a lesson the next day and while the barn was relatively quiet, both of us were more tense. It didn’t help that A really asked a lot of us in the lesson and I let my frustration at not being able to get what she wanted show. I know progress isn’t linear and that Cin is only 5 and has had an easy few weeks, but sometimes when you’re in the middle of that slough it’s hard to remember. Here’s hoping for more consistent good rides as we head into Cinder’s six year old year!

Julie Winkel Clinic

 Last weekend one of the other training programs at Trainer A's barn was hosting a Julie Winkel clinic. Auditing was free, so I went up on Sunday (day 2 of the clinic) to watch. I knew Julie's name, knew she ran a big program out of Reno, was a rider, trainer, breeder, judge, and author, but really didn't know much else about her. I didn't have much expectations going into the day; I mainly wanted to watch ponies jump sticks and get a better feel of the barn before bringing Cinder up there next weekend. 

I absolutely loved Julie's teaching style. I gained so much from watching the clinic, I'm kinda pissed I didn't watch both days of it. There were two groups, a 3' hunter/eq group and and a 3'6" jumper group. The 3' group went first and Julie explained so much about how the hunters and eq are judged, and how to ride them differently. Some of which I know (ride in a light seat at the canter in an under saddle vs a deep seat for an eq on the flat) and some that I didn't (why a two stride is numbered as separate fences in the hunters vs numbered as an A-B combo in the eq/jumpers. It's because a two stride is meant to represent jumping out of one field, cantering across a road, and jumping into another field out on a hunt. If your horse refused the second jump you wouldn't jump back into the first field and jump out again you would just re-approach the second jump). 

I failed at getting media from the clinic so have some random shots of Peebs

Julie had the hunter/eq group do an eq course, complete with a test at the end including answering questions from the judge, and explained what she as a judge was looking for, what score she would give them and why she'd place one person over another. There were a couple jumpers in this group, and their horses wanted to get a bit hot and quick, but Julie was very complimentary on how the riders rode them and handled the horses. I was proud of myself for being able to answer most of the questions she asked, and being the only one to know where the wolf teeth are and why they should be removed.

The jumper group ended up doing the same course as the eq group, but with the addition of a triple bar and one of the ramped oxers became a Swedish. For their warmup, Julie explained the different types of fences (vertical, ramped oxer, square oxer, Swedish) and how it affects the horses jump. I learned to not jump a Swedish square, but to jump it off center from the low end of the front rail so it becomes a ramped oxer. 

My favorite part of the clinic though, was how Julie handled riders making mistakes. In the jumper group, the first fence of the course was the triple bar and one of the junior riders didn't make a decision cantering up to it and her horse stopped. Julie didn't get upset at the girl, just calmly explained that at 3'6"+  you can't be a passive rider and hope that your horse gets you out of a bad situation. You have to be an active rider, and make the decision, even if it's a bad one. Julie said she's much rather see a rider make a bad decision over sitting there like a sack of potatoes because it means they're thinking and trying to help the horse. That resonated with me. 

Julie does clinic at some other barns in the Portland area and next time she's around I'm going to make it a priority to audit again. And maybe someday Cinder and I will take part in one.

Cinder Progress Report: Waiting Game

 It was my understanding that Cinder was going to get her first set of shoes last Friday, and that Trainer S's hoof/leg specialist vet would be there to consult with Farrier J.  Half of that ended up happening.

I failed at getting any media of Cinder, so here's Peebs looking cute

Vet K was there, she was also doing a PPE on another horse in the barn, so I did have her take a look at Cinder's feet. Cin had some high/low issues going on, and after a set of radiographs, her left front is a club foot. Not a bad one, but a club foot. Luckily, she has more sole depth than K thought she would have and my farrier, Farrier L, has done a great job of trimming her. I would honestly like him to keep doing her while she's in training, but he doesn't have time to do just one horse at a barn he doesn't go to. 

Farrier J, S's farrier, ended up not being able to make the appointment so hopefully he can make it out sometime this week to do Cinder. I've used J in the past, and he's good, but he's not so great about communication, or being where he said he'd be, when he's supposed to be there (big reason I switched to L who is fantastic about communication and being on time or letting you know in advance that he'll be late). Vet K did message him about what set up she'd like on Cinder (aluminum Rockers in front), and what size shoes she needs so again, fingers crossed, J can make it happen this week. 

Baby's First Clinic

I'm getting ready to drop our entry in the mail for Cinder's first clinic.  There's a Young Horse Show Series show next month and the day before they're hosting a jump chute clinic.  I'd love to show Cin in the YHS, but they have to registered with a warmblood/sporthorse registry and she is not, yet. I have filled out the membership application and paid my fees for the American Warmblood Society and Sporthorse Registry.  Cinder should be able to be registered with them but the process will take longer than a month.  So no show for us this year, but we can still do the clinic.

It kills me how grown up she is now

Per YHS rules, horses two and over must be show in hand in a bridle.  I had Cinder's wolf teeth out and her first dental done last month so she's been starting to practice with a bit and bridle. Getting it on is still challenging, but she's fine once it's on.  Her head is in a very awkward stage; the length is very cob sized with the widths is horse. I have her in a cob with the throat latch and noseband on the last holes and might have to cobble a frankenbridle together for her soon. I do need to get clips or something for her bridle.  The YHS says to have reins that are easy to clip on and off.  Anyone have suggestions?

Practicing our whoa and stand skill

I was supposed to have a lesson with Peebs this week but he halfway pulled his right front shoe off. So I asked my trainer if we could a jump chute lesson with Cinder instead. I set the chute to what the YHS does and we started with a single crossrail and worked up to a row of three.  It  wasn't about the height, just getting Cin used to it.  Once she figured out she did really have to jump and go through the chute (and that I gave her cookies afterwards) she was great.  She willing went back and forth and one time even bounced the first one stride.

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Practicing for the jump chute clinic next month #goodgirlcinder #babywarmblood #jumpchutetraining

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George Morris Clinic 2016

I mad the hour and a half trek north on Friday to watch Day 1 of the 2016 George Morris Clinic. It's hosted by Rich Fellers, so you get the added bonus of watching him ride.  And catch glimpses of Flexible!!  Honestly, I think I was more excited for that than anything else.  This clinic has a slightly different format that others I've heard about; it's a 3 day clinic with 3'6", 4', 4'3"+ groups and is geared more towards the jumper rider than the hunter/eq.

Started the day off by catching a glimpse of Flexi

George had all three groups do the same basic exercises, both on the flat and over fences.  Everyone started with shoulder in/out and haunches in/out at the walk and trot. George had them do lots of walk/trot and walk/canter transitions to sharpen the horses to their aids.  All groups did counter canter, with the the 3'6" group only doing a little in their warm up while the the 4' group had to land off a fence and counter canter the corner and short side.  The 4'3" group had to change direction in the canter and hold the counter lead going the new direction.

All three groups warmed up trotting a cavalletti to a trot fence.  As they went through, the fence got progressively bigger and the 4'3" group ended up trotting like a 3'6" fence. It was huge! They jumped right into the jumping (sorrynotsorry for the pun) and did a tight roll back to an oxer, direct short five stride bending line to a skinny plank, then a four stride bending line to a triple bar. This caused lots of problem, for all three groups.  The first group mainly wanted to over bend the first line, making the five easy or adding for six. The triple bar was set so the horses jumped directly towards the spectators, so they had to land and turn quick.  Some horses spooked at us the first time and there were a few that looked like they might not make the turn. The first clip in the video is Chris Fellers (Rich's son) on his 3'6" horse (he also rode in the 4'3" group), a lovely chestnut that could come home with me.  The second clip is Shelley (Rich's wife) in the 4'3" group. Shelley has been a pro and competing in FEI classes for a while now, but Chis just turned pro this summer and is now one of their assistant trainers.

 

The second exercise was a quadruple combination; a vertical two strides to an oxer, two strides to a vertical, one stride to an oxer.  Then it was around the ring and down the center line towards the "open water".  The 4'3" group then came around the ring and did the quadruple the opposite direction. Since it's December in Oregon the clinic was inside but Rich has a huge moveable liverpool that was set behind a plank. The 3'6" group had the most trouble with the water but luckily no one ended up in it!  The quadruple took its toll as well, with the 3'6" and 4' group being nailed on their straightness, or lack of.  In the 4'3" group Shelley's horse decided it was done and stopped out a few times with her.  She came off but landed very gracefully on her feet.  George had them lower the fences and she did it again going to the whip over every fence. They did it a few time till she didn't need to go to the whip.  Rich's horse had some problem with one of the oxers, a big airy fence with all white poles.  He knocked it a few times and George kept yelling out for Rich to do it again, and again, and again.  They did finally get it, but George told Rich to set airy oxers all over the place.

Rich's horse #noscopenohope

As far as Georgeisms, and his temper, there wasn't much to report.  He loved all the horses in the clinic; said this was one of the best groups he had.  He asked one of the girls in the 3'6" if she owned the horse she was on, and when she said yes, he told her that the horse has a major problem.  You could see her spine stiffen and she had a taken aback look on her face.  He then said the problem was that she paid to little for her horse, that no matter what she paid the horse was worth much, much more. The whole audience laughed while she relaxed.  There was one older adult ammy in the 4' group that had a few stops before falling off that George didn't let get back on.  He had his helper, Alex something (didn't catch a last name, I think he was from Canada?) ride the horse for the rest of the group.  George told her she needed to be in the 3'6" group and that she has hero syndrome.  Trying to jump bigger and better when not prepared for it.  He also made a few quips about having Alex or Rich show the horse while she sit in the VIP tent as owner. I felt sorry for her.

During the lunch break Flexi was in the crossties getting groomed.  If there weren't a bunch of people around I would have kissed that little nose.

 George and Alex each got on a horse for flat work during each session (and Alex got on the one horse from the 4' group to jump)  but George only jumped one horse.  At the end of the 3'6" group George rode Chris' horse.  He schooled him over a couple single oxers and then the water.  The horse didn't need schooling but it was obvious that George really liked him and wanted show that he's still got it.  Video below.

Triple Whammy

Poor Peebs and I got a 1-2-3 punch this weekend. We had a jump lesson Friday night and while we kept it together it was far from our best.

My trainer's been out of town for vacation and work so we haven't seen her in a few weeks. I've been feeling somewhat directionless and in need of guidance. Unfortunately Peebs was up and spooked pretty hard a couple of times at goblins in the bushes. We mostly just tried to keep him calm and relaxed, trotting fences and lines. The one time we attempted to canter a fence he bolted out of the scary corner then went sideways. We did manage to trot out of the corner and over the jump, but didn't attempt cantering a fence again. Another horse bolted in that some corner later that night, so there really must have been something there.

The whip and the neigh neigh

Saturday there was a western dressage clinic in the barn that we rode in, except in jump tack, that completely fried the pony's brain. I told the clinician that Peebs likes his face to be left alone and she said that her style is a lot of seat and leg and to ride them front to back. Sounded good to me. She had me really focus on his head in our transitions, keeping him deep and round. While she did want me focusing on keeping my seat active and bumping him with my legs, she did want a lot of contact with his mouth.

Clinician and another rider

Going left was pretty good but going right, his hard side, we hit a brick wall. He got very pissy, started sucking back and not going forward. She had me shorten my reins and lift my hand to follow his head, but my reins ended up being about a foot long. My hands were at the end of the braided section of rein, with my arms fully extended. I was supposed to be channeling him forward but he decided that going up was a better option. He popped up with his front end, not a full out rear but definitely a warning. She kept telling me to turn him and send him forward but by the third time he did it I mentally said f**k this and turned him left and let him walk on a long rein. 

We were able to trot left, do a half circle and trot right, then go back left before we called it quits. She told me I need to ride with my reins that short for a few weeks for him to get it. Umm, no. How bout not. I'm really not doing a good job of clinics this year.

Before the carnage

Sunday my BO was doing some fence and pasture work and we turned a few of the horses out together. Peebs went out with my BO's young gelding, who he's been turned out with before, and one of her mares. Peebs and Charlie were fine but once Liza was out it all went to hell. Liza kicked Peebs in the shoulder and they separated and seemed ok for almost an hour till he got too close to her grazing and she went after him again. A scrape on the right front, a kick to inside of his left hind gaskin and cannon bone later I pulled him out. He was a bit gimpy at first, but seemed fine by the time we were back in the barn. I hosed and washed everything, liberally applied vetericyn, buted him up, and left him in his stall. Hopefully he won't be too sore tomorrow. So much for a relaxing end to a killer weekend. Sorry bubba!!

Psychologist My Ass

The clinic didn't go as I thought it would. In fact it was about as opposite as it could get.  If that woman is a sports psychologist, or has even studied psychology at all, I'm Beezie Madden. She was one of those old school trainers that barked everything, insulted and put down me, my horse, and my tack.  All I can say is that I was very proud of myself for not crying during our ride, but I think that's because I was in shock.

According to her Peebs is spoiled, and the fact that he's been shown, even as a lesson horse, is just unthinkable. The pelham is just wrong, the chain was too long and the person who sold me the bit (I bought it at the local tack/feed store) needs to be shot. My monocrown bridle was awful and she didn't see the point.  She had me switch to a borrowed bridle and full cheek snaffle that actually worked pretty well for us, but we didn't jump in it.  I'm willing to try different bits with him, but in the past he's been pretty adamant that he likes the pelham. My polos were also wrong, both in the way I wrapped and the feel of them, and I should just throw them away.  She doesn't like my wide MDC stirrups and told some story about the guy who makes them. And finally my horse needs a breastplate.

My position was wrong.  My body type is going to make riding hard for me. I need more leg and to carry a stick. I couldn't correctly describe a circle, or excecute a serpentine correctly or turn across the diagonal. I changed my posting diagonal too early. She had me carry my hands much higher than I'm used to, locking my thumbs around each other with my elbows glued to my sides and shoulders back.  The second my hands came apart or my thumbs weren't up I was yelled at.  It was unthinkable that Peebs doesn't have a lead change, and I didn't know how to do a proper simple change.

As I said before, we didn't even jump except to walk over a raised pole.  We mostly trotted with a little canter because the first part of the ride was spent switching tack and telling why everything I had was awful. She did say I knew quite a lot about riding, and had potential, but I need more supervision and help with the finer points. She said she's used to doing clinics with people she already knows, that this was the first time she's opened up a clinic to riders outside the barn.  She's apparently going to be part of Judge My Ride, and wanted to see how "helping" riders she doesn't know would work out.  Let's just say I don't think it's going to go so well. 

Both of us were mentally and physically exhausted.  Sorry Peebs

I ended up leaving Peebs there overnight, planning to ride again Saturday but then after sleeping on it and talking to friends I said "F*ck this shit" and scratched.  My friend came with me on Saturday and talked to the clinic organizer while I grabbed Peebs from his stall and loaded him up. I think she told them I was sick, but I'm sure he knew the reason.  I'm sorry, but if you bill the clinic as something to help riders overcome their fears, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, have a clinician that will actually do that, not some barky, harsh, judgemental bitch who wants to put everyone down.  I felt humiliated driving home Friday night, but I've gotten over that.  I know I'm a good rider, I know how to wrap polos, I know what my horse needs and likes, I know I don't have that Big Eq body, but I try my best. I will take some to the blame for this as I should have done more homework on her before, to see what she was like because if I knew what I was getting into beforehand, I would never have signed up for this.  Live and learn.

FOMTD

Every equestrian knows FOMTD...fear of missing the distance.  It's that crippling anxiety as you canter up to a jump and can't see anything and internally pray for Jesus to take the reins.  Or there might be some external expletives in the form of "Oh shit" or "We're gonna die". Or maybe it's all just me.

Happy even cantering baby fences

In my past two lessons I've had major FOMTD.  I either can't see a distance and circle, or lock my elbows, raise my hands, and make my saint of horse wait till forever to get to the jump. The plus side is my horse IS a saint, and will happily wait to jump the fence until we are on top of it. And, when I do decide that we can do a forward stride and go for the extra, extra long spot he happily says "You crazy lady" and adds the short one so we don't take off a mile from the fence. Thanks Peebs, you're the best!

Hover mode activated!

It just so happens that a semi-local barn is having a clinic with Katie Frank, a h/j trainer, judge, and sports psychologist who specializes in helping riders overcome their fears this week and we managed to snag a spot Friday and Saturday.   Can you say awesome timing or what?!? We'll have a private lesson both days and I'm really hoping to get some good help and tips out of it.

Melanie Smith Taylor Clinic

I went up to one of the bigger A circuit barns on Saturday to audit the Melanie Smith Taylor clinic.  It was a two day clinic, with three groups (2'6", 3', 3'6") but I was only able to go for the early groups on Saturday.  Based on the schedule I should have been able to watch the 2'6" and most of the 3' groups, but the first session ran long and I had to leave before the 3' started.

Melanie

There were 7-8 riders in the first group,  a couple pony kids, a few teenagers, and the rest adult ammys.  The first thing Melanie said as they were coming in to start the clinic was she wanted them to stand in a circle around her and let go of the reins; let the horse stand on the buckle. Having contact while stopped is unnecessary; "pressure without purpose". She also wanted them to lightly bump the horse if their heads were turning or they were looking outside the circle.  She wanted them tuned in to their rider, or centered as she called it.

Melanie had them go out on the rail walking on a loose rein and ran the riders through a series of stretches. Dropping stirrups, one hand reaching up over their heads (ride long and tall), arms out to the side, lifting one leg off the saddle, then both legs off to help feel their seat bones.  Next was some walk-halt transitions, trying to do 5 steps walk, halt, 3 steps walk, halt etc..... Melanie really wanted the horses paying attention to their riders, again focusing on centering the horse. She had them do the same thing in their trot and canter work as well.

During the 45 minutes that the group spent of flat work I noticed a majority of them either picked up the wrong diagonal or the wrong lead many times.  One girl, maybe 13ish?, (who was obviously incredibly nervous and over-horsed) never picked up the correct diagonal, and never checked it.  Her trainer was standing at the rail and would whisper to her as she rode by, and eventually Melanie started telling her to change.  Melanie also had to announce to the whole group that making sure you have the correct canter lead was more important than getting it at a certain spot.  In my mind, if you are jumping 2'6" and shelling out $400 to ride with an Olympic gold medalist and World Cup winner you should be able to get the right diagonal and leads.  It really surprised me how something that is so basic seemed to be so overlooked. /Rant over/

So deceptively simple

For their first jumping exercise Melanie had the group trot in to a line of crossrails with placing poles and a set of cones halfway between the jumps.  To continue the theme of precise transitions and having the horse tuned into you, the group was to trot the first jump, walk between the cones, then trot the second jump and halt on a straight line. Simple, right?  Almost all of the riders had trouble, either not being able to walk between the cones, horses going sideways, not stopping on a straight line, and quite a few had refusals. Some of my favorite quotes came from this exercise. "Do you want to ride in the Olympics one day?  Then you need to ride this, today, like an Olympian. These simple exercises are the basics you need to learn now in order to use later." And  "she's [the mare] is trying very hard for you, but she can't jump the standard. You have to direct her at the center and give her the confidence to do it." The mare was petering out to the base of the jump and drifting sideways, not dirty stopping but the girl (the one who can't find her diagonal) was doing nothing to help the horse.

Sorry for the crappy phone pics

After the riders somewhat got the exercise Melanie had them move onto what she called "the hourglass". They started with the same outside line, then trotted a diagonal crossrail, came back to a trot and did some raised ground poles in the center of the ring, then trotted out over the red crossrail oxer.  They continued onto the little white gait, back to the trot over the raised poles again, then a bending line to a far crossrail oxer. The more advanced riders of the group were to canter in, trot the poles, then canter the oxers.

During this exercise two girls fell off, one twice at the same fence, and I counted three instances of crying (one fall related). Melanie was getting slightly frustrated, but was still kind and encouraging to the riders.  She was happy if they took a circle to collect their horse, or if they asked to come back and do something over. Her main focus with this exercise was to get the job done, ie the transitions, then smooth it out. "Do as much as necessary, but as little as possible." I really liked watching this part, and wished I could have seen the more advanced group do it.  You could really see how some of the riders thought out their rides and how the horses had to think through it too. A few riders really got it, while most had trouble getting the canter to the second jump in the lines. One woman in particular had some very nice rounds and make it look super easy. I would highly recommend watching or riding in one of Melanie's clinics if you ever have the opportunity!

John Turner Clinic - Day 2

It seemed like we rode longer on day two than day one.  My group was right after the lunch break and all of us had gotten on about 10 minutes early to start warming up.  John came out and started talking to us and giving us exercises to do during warm up so I think we did get an extra bit of time.  He didn't have us do a lot of trot work, mostly walking with turns on the haunches and forehand and sidepassing.  We went almost straight into canter work, doing walk-canter-walk transitions then doing canter-halts. 

Moving right along John had us start jumping with a skinny brick wall set along the outside, with no standards.  The first time through Buddy veered left two strides out and we had to come again but we got the standards put up.  Not a problem then.  A few others had runouts as well, so we went back and forth over the wall a few times. 

The other fences were set up along the center line in a zig zag pattern.  John had us do a bunch of different bending lines, starting with some longer ones and ending with an incredibly short one. I got yelled at for using too much left rein and not enough right rein.  At one point as I went around all John was saying was "No left rein, no left rein!". 

Then we switched up the lines and did a short, hard line bending to left he turned to me and said "You can open your left rein here, but only here".  The line started off a short right hand turn from a skinny bending left in 4 to an oxer.  The first time I did it we totally missed the turn, but then so did almost everyone else.  Second time, we got the turn but Buddy was pretty tired and we pulled up at the oxer.  You can hear on the video John saying he was ok with that, then he had the oxer put down to a vertical and we got it (mom missed getting that on camera).

I never realized that I'm a lot stronger with my left rein before.  Buddy's gotten most of this week off, his lease girl did a flat hack with him today, but when I ride this weekend I want to set poles and practice the same lines, not using my left rein. John was a great clinician and I'm hoping they'll have him back down because I would love to ride with him again.

John Turner Clinic - Day 1

Friday afternoon getting ready for the clinic was a bit of a disaster.  My truck wouldn't start despite the fact that I took it in 3wks ago because it wasn't starting then and had supposedly been fixed.  That combined with the fact that I have been majorly overextending myself at work and the barn (12-14hr days/5 days a week for 3weeks combined with not being able to sleep more than 5hrs a night) led to a panic attack/sobbing phone call to my mom, the second one in a week.  I was all set to cancel the clinic and spend all weekend in bed until another boarder at my barn, who I don't know super well, said she'd lend me her truck.

Nice F250 diesel that hauled really smoothly

My mom ended up flying up to meet me Friday night and joined me at the clinic both days.  No one else from my barn went, even though auditing the clinic was free.  It was awesome to have her along to take videos and make sure I ate and drank and to spoil Buddy with apples and peppermints.

I was in the 2'6"-2'9" group and we started right after the lunch break.  There were 6 of us, one 17yr old junior and the rest of us were ammys. We started out by going back and forth from a two point to a deep seat at the walk, finding our balance and stretching down in our heels. In the trot John wanted us to flex our ankle and nudge the horse with our heels every time we sat.  We added some trot-halt transitions, making sure they stopped straight and didn't move once stopped.  A few of us (me included) had horses that stopped crooked, so we were instructed to halt with the haunches in the opposite direction they wanted to go.  Buddy likes to stop haunches left, so I had to make sure to stop him haunches right.

Introductions day 1

This led to turns on the haunches and turns on the forehand.  John said he does a lot of this with his horses, and that the key to successful lead changes is turn on the forehands. I got dinged for going to fast and trying to rush through them. He kept telling us over and over that nothing we do is a race, and to keep everything slow and in control.

We didn't do too much canter work at first, just a few transitions to lighten them up. Again he said "It's not a race, it's a departure. You prepare them, then ask for a canter departure." For jumping we started by trotting a small vertical with one side dropped and halting in a straight line. The jump was the first in a 4 stride line so that made it a bit more challenging. Buddy was offended by stopping and not going down the line and was pulling me forward. John had me take off my figure 8 noseband and martingale, saying that he thinks they are just decorations and he thought Buddy didn't like the flash. We then moved onto cantering a small vertical on a diagonal with a long approach and stopping on a straight line.  The first time sans noseband and martingale was pretty awful.  Bud was flipping his head so much I was afraid he'd rear.  Almost everyone in the group had problems so we did it a few times, and each time through got better.

Way to over jump Bud.

The jumps went up and we added the 4 stride outside line after the vertical.  It was a long four, and some people got 5, Buddy was feeling forward so I pushed for the four. Again we had to stop on a straight line and despite having to move him up, Buddy halted well.  John then had us reverse the exercise and go up the line to the diagonal, halting again.  A few of us were having issues following our horses mouths and relaxing our elbows so we finished the day by doing some canter work  and jump the single fence with our reins in a driving position.  As weird as it felt, I did notice I could follow easier and had to unlock my elbows.

It took me a while to figure out how to do this and hold a crop at the same time.

Planning Ahead

I've started getting some fun stuff scheduled on the calendar for me and the ponies.  Next weekend, the 25-26 I have the John Turner clinic.  Ride times were sent out this morning and thankfully I ride midday.  I'm hauling Buddy back and forth each day so I'm super happy that I don't have to get up at the crack of dawn to drive down for an early ride.  I will got early to watch the group before so I can get an idea of what I'll be doing.

I sent in my yearly registration for OHJA and registered both Buddy and McKenna. I have no idea how this show season will go, but it's only $5/horse to register them so why not? I would love at least have McKenna go to a show and do flat classes by summer. I need to see if as a rider I can cross enter trot-a-pole and the 2'6"-3' jumpers.....

I also asked for and was approved for a few days off work to go down to my parent's in San Diego and take a road trip to watch the Thermal Million.  I'm already planning to ask for time off next year to go to the FEI World Cup Finals in Vegas!

The Plan

For the short term, the plan with Buddy is to work him up to 3ft during Dec/Jan.  His lease girls are gone starting next week, and then he'll only have one half lease from January-March.  After that things get a bit hazy, as I'm assuming his other half lease will want to lease again when she comes back from studying abroad.  If not then our time line gets moved up.

For Christmas my dad is paying for me to ride in a John Turner clinic at the end of January.  I sent in my registration form this week, and while I really, really wanted to check the box on the 2'9"-3' section I signed up for the 2'6".  It's a two day clinic and don't know if Bud will be ready for two days of 2hr rides at that height by then.  Which leads to the long term plans....

I want to move up to the 3' jumpers this year with him. But he's going to be 18, and while he doesn't have any soundness/joint problems I don't want to break him.  I have McKenna, who in theory should be more than able to do the 3' (not this coming show season, but 2015?).  Long term I can not afford 3 ponies and Phoenix is my forever horse.  So my long term plan for Bud is to put him up for sale sometime in the spring/summer.  I think he'd be an awesome first horse, for either a little kid or an ammy looking to do the 2'-2'3".  No one ever believes he's 17 and he's got years left in him at the lower heights if he's taken care of.  It will kill me to see him leave so I'm going to be super picky about where he goes and a good home is much more important to me than his price. But that's a bridge we'll cross when we get there.

Making it Hard

For the past few days, Buddy has been making life hard.  Thursday Jen used him for a beginner lesson, the girl has only ridden maybe 3 times, and he kept trotting off with her.  Jen eventually put him on the lunge line and he calmed down.

Friday I went to get him and he was minus a shoe.  The other was missing a nail and loose so I pulled it the rest of the way off.  It was the first time I've ever pulled a shoe off myself, and boy do I have more respect for my farrier!  It took me about a half hour to work it off and I was pouring sweat by the end.  Luckily Buddy was due to get redone this week anyways so he'll only have a few days barefoot.

 

I was a little worried how ouchy he'd be because Saturday we were scheduled to ride in a cutting clinic. I've been to the barn where it was held before and knew they had really nice cushy footing.  It was the walking on the gravel/hard pasture that worried me.  I gave him a little preventative bute Friday night and Saturday morning and he was fine.

It's been six months since Bud's been on cows, so I figured he'd be pretty excited.  Wrong.  He perked up a bit when he first saw the cows but then promptly lost interest.  We started by practice moving the herd and then being "herd holders" for the person cutting.  Basically the herd holders keep the group of cows back while the cutter cuts their cow out and works it.  There are two herd holders, one in each corner of the short end of the arena.  Buddy and I were actually pretty good at holding the herd, we got compliments and didn't get yelled at as much as some of the real cow horse people.

At least he's cute, right?

Unfortunately Buddy's lack of interest in the cows killed us when it was our turn to cut.  He wouldn't focus on a cow and was dead to my leg.  We couldn't keep a cow separated from the herd and it was pretty frustrating.  The clinician called me off and said that Buddy was loosing confidence because he couldn't get a cow. He then said to go somewhere else and work with just one cow till we could get it. In the moment I was pretty hurt, no one likes being told their horse is loosing confidence and to be called out like that in front of the group was pretty humiliating.  I walked Bud around for a few minutes, then got off and went back to the trailer.

By this point I was trying my hardest to hold back the tears.  My barn owner who had come to watch came out to talk to me and said the clinician was wrong, that Buddy was just being incredibly lazy and wasn't loosing confidence.  He just couldn't be bothered to care. She also offered me her spurs that she had in the truck if I wanted to get back on him. I thought about it as I untacked and groomed him and she was right.  Buddy normally locks on to his cow and is pretty enthusiastic about moving them.  He just didn't care and wasn't paying attention.

One of the clinic organizers came out and talked to me saying they were sorry I had a bad go and offered to have me work one on one with a cow. She said she'd been in my place and she knows how hard it is to be called out in a group setting. I stared getting teary eyed again and that set her off and the two of hugged and cried it out.  I got Bud tacked up again, put on the spurs, and headed back to the arena. 

There were only two cows in the arena this time and we worked on just following one and moving with it.  Buddy woke up after a couple jabs with the spurs and was his normal cowy self.  He was locking onto the cow and moving with it.  The clinician was having me go slow and emphasize moving Buddy's shoulders when the cow moved.  At one point he told me to move Bud's shoulders away from the cow, and thanks to the spurs, Buddy did almost a 180 spin.  That got everyone laughing and saying that when he wakes up he could move.  It ended on a good note, I felt that I had redeemed us, and that Buddy at least remembered how to work cow.

Control the Shoulders, Control the World

That was the theme for the dressage clinic yesterday.  I rode Buddy first and we mostly worked on the trot, getting him to yield the outside shoulder and working on lengthening.  We were riding outside and Mary had me stay on a 20 meter circle in the middle of the ring so Buddy couldn't lean on the walls.  I wasn't allowed to touch my inside rein; I had to turn him from my body and outside leg.  Man was it hard trying to keep him on the circle!

Once we had a few nice circles in a row and he had started to drop down and soften Mary had me start asking for lengthening on the circle.  We started for half a circle, then moved up to a few times around with the lengthened stride.  After we got that she had us go down the long side and ask for the lengthening.  The first few times I was too tentative and Mary kept saying "more, more, more!"  The third time through we got it!  Buddy really stepped out and it felt like his shoulders were dislocated from the way he was moving. 

After a walk break we went the other way and tried to replicate it.  He picked up the canter a couple times but had a couple decent tries.  We never got that same OMG feeling as we had the first way but it was still really nice work for the little cow pony!  Both Buddy and I were pretty tired so we quit with just trot work.

Luckily we had a lunch break and a couple other rides before I had to go again with Wednesday.  We decided to take her inside and I rode in the western saddle, just in case.  Mary had us start walking with small 10 meter circles thrown in whenever she felt tense or quick. Once she was somewhat relaxed we picked up the trot and she immediately zoomed off.  Mary told me to just stay with her and let her go.  I was to slowly pick up my outside rein and use my posting and the small circles to slow her down.  We had a couple minutes of borderline out of control trot before Wednesday started to calm down and relax.  Mary had me reach up with my inside hand and pet her neck and talk to her and that really helped, every time I said "good girl" I could feel he relax and slow down.

We took a walk break and Mary had me do small figure 8s, using my body and outside leg to turn her.  Wed would get very tense every time I touched the inside rein so I was under strict orders to leave a loop in it and ignore it.  Again, so much harder said than done!  At this point my thighs were staring to protest and I though we were going to run into a wall a couple of times. We ended with some trot-walk-trot transitions which were really nice.  I was actually having to put leg on her to keep her trotting by the end.  Mary said with a horse like Wed you have to be very deliberate and methodical, give her structure and be her alpha.  She also said that she couldn't have ridden Wed any better than I had and that made me feel great!  I'm always worried I'll screw up Wed even more, but its wonderful to hear that I'm not!!

Back to Work

I had this whole post all ready on my phone,  but apparently it didn't post.  Grrr!  Buddy went back to work this week after his after show break.  He was cranky on Monday, it was windy and that always fires him up.  We worked in the draw reins and while he threw a major tantrum going left we ended on a good note.

Tuesday he got the day off as we were having a barn BBQ to celebrate my and one of the horse's birthdays.  Yesterday I set up a gymnastic, vertical bounce vertical one stride oxer, and had a blast.  He was rushy at first, just very excited to be jumping.  As long as I remembered to have a forward, active trot to the first fence it flowed very well.  My friend suggested cantering a large circle before coming back to the trot and going to the line and it helped a lot.  I can't let him sucker me into a slow trot; he then scrambles down the line and it gets a little dicey.

Our fire pit at the BBQ

Today he got lunged and I'll do a quick ride Friday in prep for a dressage clinic with Mary on Saturday.  I originally wasn't going to ride, but a spot opened up and I got some birthday money so we're doing it!  I hope we've improved since December when Mary saw us last.  I'm also going to do a ride on Connie's mare Wednesday, the one who was bucking people off.  She's had some time off as her back was pretty sore and we've been taking it slow trying to keep her relaxed under saddle. 

Dressage Clinic

Was awesome!  We started by schooling shoulders in and leg yield at the walk.  Buddy would hold the shoulder in for 3-4 strides, then slowly bring his haunches in against my inside leg and straighten up.  Tina had me increase the angle in his body, then thump him with my inside leg and/or whip every stride to keep his haunches on the wall.   Didn't take him  long to figure it out.  In the leg yield, it was the same thing; hold his shoulder with my outside rein and tap every stride with my inside leg and whip.

We then went on to do the same thing in the trot and it took a little longer (and me being more forceful) to get a nice shoulder in.  Buddy would keep flipping his head or trying to yank the reins from me when I would get after him.  Tina had me grab the front of my edge of my saddle pad to anchor my hand so he couldn't get the rein. While it worked, it really pissed him off! 

After a walk break in which we worked on going from a free walk to a medium walk without his head shooting up or him anticipating we went to canter.  We worked on the trot-canter-trot transitions.  His upwards weren't bad, and Tina said they had improved since we last rode with her (which was last summer).  For the downwards, she had me do a one rein half halt in a one, two rhythm.  Basically I was supposed the mimic the trot rhythm by half halting on my inside rein, then my outside rein.  As long as I kept my leg on, it worked nicely.  He would come down into the trot forward without feeling like he was diving on to his front end.

During the transitions he was holding his head up, and not really listening to me asking him to keep it down.  Tina suggested a German martingale, and asked if I had one.  I don't, but Connie was right there and she does. We put it on, and what a difference!!  He was much lighter in my hand, and our transitions felt 100% better.  The canter was much rounder and it felt like he was floating.  I'm going the keep using the martingale and hopefully by next month when Tina comes back we'll have a much nice, rounder pony!

I asked Tina to check Phoenix for me to see if he needed an adjustment.  He didn't, yay!  She's know him as long as I've had him, and said that he felt great for being turned out for a year.  She suggested I start him on B-L Solution, which is an anti-inflammatory.  Our local feed store has it, so I'm going to pick some up on Monday.  She agreed with me about putting shoes on, but said his feet looked great.

Poor, poor Buddy

Not only did I ignore him for a couple days while I brought Phoenix back, but then he goes right into show prep for next weekend.  I had a good lesson yesterday, and then today we have a dressage clinic at our barn.  I originally wasn't going to ride, (its a clinic put on for OSU's dressage team) but one of the girls had to back out so there was an empty spot. The clinic is with Dr. Tina Steward, who has ridden and trained thru Grand Prix (and rode hunters as a kid) and who also happens to be a fully licensed/certified DVM who specialised in chiropractics. She's been our chiropractor for years, and this is the 4th (I think) clinic she's had at our barn.

Our lesson last night was really pretty good.  Buddy was back to his normal tricks of over bending on our approach to the fences, then falling in on the landing side.  Jen had me pick up and hold a counter bend to fence, and while he wasn't perfectly straight, it helped a lot.  I'm hoping Tina can give me some pointers today to help with that. 

Jen had put a couple of the fences up to 2'9" and Buddy jumped really big over them.  He tends to have a flatter jump, because A) he's lazy and B) confirmationaly he's not designed to have a lot of scope.  It took me by surprise a couple times how round he jumped last night.  At one point we were doing a 5 stride bending line and he jumped really big over the first fence.  I lost my reins, cantered two strides, picked one back up and somehow managed to steer him to the second fence.  We jumped the second fence one handed and the distance was actually pretty nice; and on the off side he gave me a flying change!  Seriously, I couldn't ask for a better pony!

Thursday the horse in the stall next to Bud moved out, so I was able to move Phoenix into it.  The boys sniffed noses, then promptly ignored each other.

Goals and Plans

Let's see how we did for the January goals:

Ride at least once a week on the flat without stirrups. As in take my stirrups off the saddle once I have gotten on and still do all our normal flat work. (A miss, but only because I was gone for a week taking care of Dad. When we did do stirrup-less, we did most our normal flat work; leg yields, shoulder in, and counter canter.  I was too timid to try flying changes)

Jump once a week, getting up to 2'3" by the end of the month. We haven't been jumping regularly for the past few months due to a variety of reasons, and we need to get back into shape for show season. Depending on weather, if our outdoor arena is usable I would like to be doing small courses by the end of the month. Our indoor arena is only large enough for a couple fences, so if the outdoor is out, I'll be ok with cantering single fences inside. (So we did a small 2'3" course in Feb.  Due to me being gone, then the massive flooding that had both our indoor and outdoor arenas flooded we couldn't jump the last big of January.  But if Mother Nature had cooperated, we would have been ready)

Continue working on our dressage-y flat work; leg yields, shoulder in, lengthening and collecting.

(We did the leg yields and shoulder in, but kinda failed on the lengthening and collecting.  Hopefully the addition of spurs will help us with this one in Feb.)
 

Work on our flying changes, both across the diagonal and along the long side. Our changes across the diagonal are almost there, but he hasn't quite gotten the concept of doing them in a straight line. (Our changes on the diagonal have gotten much better, but we only schooled the ones on the long side a time or two.  They were better than they have been, so I'll take it)

For February:

• Continue the no stirrup work.  On days we jump, start doing some small trot fences with no irons.
• Start schooling single fences at 2'6".  Continue course work at 2'3" adding in more technical aspects like rollbacks and bending lines.
• Again, focus on dressage for flat work.  As stated above, I hope the spurs will help make our leg yields nicer and I know they will help with the lengthening.

Our local show association is staring to put out this years show dates,and I've started tentatively planning our schedule. If I can afford it, and if we keep jumping regularly, I want to take Bud to a little jumper show on March 3.  They have x-rail classes on up, with a relatively small entry fee. 

A big barn in Portland, that my friend (and the girl who started Buddy over fences) manages is having a one day clinic with three time Olympian Kevin Freeman in April.  While I'm mainly a h/j rider, and Kevin Freeman is an eventer, I'm really excited for the clinic.  It's being billed as a fundamentals of jumping clinic for all disciplines. It's right before my birthday and my mom agreed to pay for it as my present.  We will be riding in the 2'3"-2'6" group, so we really have to be coursing 2'6" by then!