USHJA Outreach

Here in Oregon the main local h/j organization is the Oregon Hunter Jumper association.  They have membership tiers for those showing at the local shows (me!), those doing a mix of rated and local, and those doing just rated shows. This year OHJA decided that all of the local schooling shows needed to be part of the USHJA Outreach program for points to count towards OHJA year end points.

I was slightly pissed at first.  Last year, only three of the schooling shows were outreach shows, and they were all at the same venue run by the same show management. But it looks like this year all but one or two local shows have decided to become outreach shows. And while you don't have to be an USHJA member to show in these shows (unless you're doing special classes like medals or derbies) you might as well, and that's a $35 membership fee. My OHJA fees are $30 (for the local membership), so that doubled my fees.  I do like that you don't have to pay the full membership fee since these aren't rated shows.

What I do like is that they have jumper classes starting at .70m/2'3" and a 2'6" derby with options to 2'9". I'm hopeful that some of our local shows will have the derby since all of the other derbies in Oregon are the National and International ones held at the rated shows. I'd love to show in a 2'6" derby!

USHJA used to do year end points by zone, but this year has decided to do bronze, silver, and gold certificate of merits.  Bronze is 30pts, silver 50, and gold 75. Bronze certificates are mailed out when you've reached 30pts, but silver and gold are given our at the zone year end awards.

I'm excited/nervous to see how this changes our little local circuit, but hopefully it's all for the best. Here's hoping we can at least make it to the bronze level this year!

Subtle Signs

One of Peebs' biggest issues is his right side.  He has always felt slightly dropped right.  He doesn't like bending right; putting his nose in the air and tilting his head to the left is his favorite thing ever, after food. Cantering to the right can be pretty awful at times.  Cantering jumps to right is something we've just started doing, and again, can be pretty damn awful. He loves to ignore my hand, counter bend, throw his haunches to the inside, and run full tilt at the jumps. 

So imagine my surprise when a couple weeks ago during our last jump school when another boarder commented that Peebs looked really straight going right. Say what?!  This was maybe the second or third time I've ridden with this other boarder, she's usually out at different times than me.  We had had some really awesome fences going left, so I decided to be brave and canter the single cross rail going right.  He wanted to be strong and run at it, but after other boarder commented on his straightness, I realized that he was in fact, straight.  He was still high headed and strong, but he wasn't twisted left or throwing his haunches around.  And he didn't switch leads over the fence like he usually does. Huh.

Earlier this week I was riding when a couple other boarders came out and we started talking.  As I was sitting on Peebs it felt like he calked a hind leg to rest, and I pushed him forward a step to square up.  But he still felt uneven. I asked the girls if he was standing square, and they said he was.  For the first time ever, his right side felt a touch higher than his left. When I rode last night I tried to pay attention to his evenness, and again, he felt even if not slightly higher on his right side. I guess all of my work focusing on his right side is staring to pay off. Now, if we can just canter on the bit and not run at the jumps, we'll be golden!

Mas Caballos Mexicanos

I was down in Mexico last Sat-Tue for our yearly trip south with by BO and her husband. We sadly didn't eat nearly enough tacos, but we did get to see plenty of ponies. 

Pretty cute 3yr old Azteca

Sunday we went out to the wine valley about an hour from my parents place.  We had some very good wine (and a buzz at 11am) and food, then headed out to meet a dressage trainer my mom had met on Facebook.  M is the resident trainer/rider/manager at an Azteca breeding farm that's located on a winery/B&B.  She explained their program and a bit about their Aztecas which I guess are different than American Aztecas?  I didn't quite understand.  I blame the wine. They have a few studs that they breed to only select mares.  They show, both in Mexico and the US.  We asked about taking horses over the border and M said they ship through Nogales, AZ.  That's a 9hr drive from where we were, not factoring in hauling a trailer.  M said when they go to the US they stay at least a month to make it worth it.  They also have passports for all their poines so its easier to cross.

Lesson pony

Tuesday we went back to the jumper barn I visited in November.  This time we were able to get a tour from the owner (CP) and I really liked her.  She's from France, but lived in the US for 15yrs before moving to Mexico.  Her daughter (who I think I used to show against when we were kids) had a working student position at this barn before they took it over.  The daughter is now at WEF working with Chris Kappler. 

CP has tried very hard to bring the barn up to American standards.  They've redone a lot of the barn, and have plans for more.  It's common in Mexico to have full grooming, but CP has all of her lesson kids take care of their ponies when possible.  She also requires all vet care like vaccines and teeth be done on a schedule, which was not a thing before.

In talking with her, she said they ship through the Otay Mesa border crossing, just east of the main San Digeo/Tijuana crossing. They've had horses flown in from France to LAX, then come down that way.  That makes so much more sense to me then shipping to Arizona and back. She also gave us the rundown on what to do if we were to ship a horse down. I would have no problem using CP's knowledge or having her arrange shipping if I ever needed it.

The last thing we talked about is showing.  There's a circuit, of sorts, of a few different barns, or clubs as they're called down there. Each club has two shows a year, and one can be a classic that offers prize money.  CP said the shows have a much more party like atmosphere in Mexico than they do in the US and she invited us to come to one of their shows. I'm going to head back down in May to watch their show.  My BO and her husband are figuring out if they can come. So any bloggers, SoCal or otherwise, that want to go spectate at a Mexican jumper show in May, let me know! There are tons of rental houses in my parents community, it's totally safe, and there will be all the tacos you can eat! All you need is a passport.

Surprise

When I opened my mail last week I got a huge surprise...in a good way!  Mixed in with my W2 and a medical bill was a big padded envelope from an address I didn't recognize.  Turned out it was from the points chair of the Oregon Hunter Jumper Association.  The year end award ceremony was a couple weeks back, and considering I only showed twice last year and one show was in the crossrails and the other was a 18" beginning rider division, I didn't bother looking at points or going.  Apparently I should have because I won this:

For reference, I'm 5'3

Peebs and I qualified for the Certificate of Merit, a program for equitation in the walk-trot, trot-a-pole, crossrails, and 18" classes.  If you accumulate over 25 points you get the Certificate and the big ass ribbon. Apparently we did. I'm guessing the program is geared towards lesson kids on lesson ponies, but I'll never say no a ribbon as bigger than my torso!

Sundance Goes for a Ride

Over the weekend I pulled Sundance, the former ranch/trail horse out for more desensitizing.  I haven't done too much with him lately, due to the cold weather and the barn being busier.  Saturday he got lunged then I used clippers on him for the first time.  He snorted a pulled back a bit, but was actually ok with them on his muzzle, as long as I was on his left side.  As soon as I switched to the off side, he'd pull back again.  We went pretty slow, and he got lots of cookie, and he let me clip his muzzle and part of the long hairs under his chin and head.

I hate you so much right now

Sunday was the big day.  My BO and I turned him out then rubbed him down all over with towels.  He wasn't so sure about them around his head, but put up with our shenanigans. We then tacked him up with BO's western saddle and a plain snaffle.  His owner TN has either ridden him in a hackamore or curb bit and said he can be fussy with his mouth. 

I guess he kinda liked it?

BO wanted to lunge him in the side reins (we're guessing his first time in them) so we put them on super loose.  He's way out of shape so she just did maybe 10 minutes of walk trot, switching directions a lot.  He's not really sure about lunging on a line, and changing directions was a hard concept to grasp. But he didn't protest about the side reins, and you could tell his issues were from not understanding what we were asking.  He really, really, really wants to please and be a good boy. It's obvious no one has taken time with him to let him understand and figure out he's not going to be hurt.

Once he seemed fine lunging, I hopped aboard for his first ride since July or August. There was no way I could get on him from the ground so BO held him while I used the mounting block.  He was a bit reactive to my seat and leg at first but settled in as we went along.  He goes really well off voice command, so all I had to do was cluck to get him to trot. Again, because he's so out of shape, I only did 10mins of walk with a few trot circles each direction.  I played around with trying to get him on the bit at the walk, and he actually started looking for the contact.  He got stuffed with cookies and was told he was the bestest pony.

OMG tiny human!

His torture wasn't over yet.  My BO's boss brought out his kids and grandkids for pony rides about an hour later.  Once the pony rides were over the kids went up and down the aisle petting the ponies. Poor Sundance had to suffer through having a two year old try and pet him.  He loves getting his head rubbed, but only if you move slow and by people he knows. The tiny human trying smack pet his nose was just too much.

Half and Half

We had our first lesson in a few weeks on Thursday.  While I say it was a good lesson, we definitely had some awful moments.  Peebs started out pretty quiet and relaxed, popping over a warm up cross rail like it was nothing.  We moved on to a couple of the lines set up, a short five on the outside and then a forward bending four strides.  It took me a couple tries to figure out how much to hold in the 5, and then what line to take for the four, but both were pretty much non-issues. It was more of fine tuning everything, which is a nice feeling to have instead of hoping and praying you'll make it down the line.

Single diagonal on a short approach going left to right - should have been our hardest fence but was the easiest

 We then did a rollback from a diagonal fence to an single on the outside.  It was a right turn, our hard way, and we had to canter up the outside to the single, something Peebs has historically wanted to run at.  He was surprisingly good; I was able to get the lead over the diagonal and while he was strong going up to the single he waited and listened to me.   After a little walk break trainer wanted me to combine the bending line with the rollback and this is where the wheels fell off. Peebs woke up and wanted to run and not turn in the bending line, way overbending his neck and throwing his shoulders to the right.  We also had some impressive head tossing involved. I made the decision to trot in and trot out of the line because no one wants to deal with a pony running sideways.  Trainer also put out two placing poles to help keep Peebs straight, which we might have jumped over a time or two when we did a drive by of the second fence.

Thank god for standing martingales!

Once we kinda sorta got the bending line refigured out, I added the rollback and Peebs once again decided that he couldn't horse.  Wouldn't give me the right lead over the diagonal, wanted to run at the second fence.  So again, he got brought back to the trot and we halted on a straight line after the second fence.  We ended the lesson on the pink fences above, which we had already jumped in our warm up.  He was ok about running after it, even though it was up the long side on the right lead. Our last time he offered a lead change but only got the front end, then scared himself when he was crossfiring.  But I was able to do a simple change and canter on quietly.

While the second half of the lesson was crappy, I was happy with how I handled it.  Even a month or so ago I would have frozen up and gotten scared with the head tossing and going sideways, or the running up the long side on the right.  I don't like when Peebs does those things, but I can handle them now.  We were able to work through them without getting into a fight, or me giving up, or trainer having to put the fences down to teeny tiny jumps or just poles. Yay for progress!

Horse Show Pet Peeves

Overall the show last weekend was pretty well run but there were a couple little things that checked my pet peeves list.  As I mentioned in my earlier post, bedding wasn't included in the price of a stall.  Which wasn't the end of the world since I only got a day stall and Peebs was in it for about an hour total but it would have been a lot worse if I had gotten an overnight stall or if we had hung around a bit longer.  It wouldn't have been that hard to say on the entry form that bedding wasn't included and needed to be bought from the facility.

 No distances were listed for the lines and the course wasn't open for schooling or walking before hand.  Or if it was I never heard them announce it.  Granted, its a jumper class, so how many strides you get in a line isn't important but by looking at the course I thought 6ab would have been a 1 or 2 stride line but it ended up being a four. And that was a long four trotting in; I'm sure it would have been an easy four cantering in or maybe a three for the bigger classes.  I've always been taught that a combination is a 1 or 2 stride line, anything 3+ strides are numbered as separate fences.  Is it different in eventing?  This was a jumper show put on by eventers and I don't know the rules for numbering fences in a stadium round vs a straight jumper class.

For the crossrail classes when I walked into the ring they told me to start whenever but then started whistling people for the 2' classes. I had already picked up a trot to come to the first fence when my whistle blew and I wasn't expecting it. So that was a bit confusing.

What are your show management pet peeves?