How about that weather?

New England is fun.  Remember when I posted this?

Now I get to post this

92* for a high with a heat index near 96*.  That's not okay when you also have a wind chill of -34* in the same calendar year.  And we're on day 3 of this nonsense with two more to go.  You really can't be good at both very hot and very cold.  I know that looks pretty mild to anyone from the south (grew up in Lousiana and Texas), but let me tell you, we Yankees don't handle heat well.  I don't even have central air in my house.  And my  office is on the top floor.  I guess I could look at it as a free sweat box?

Fortunately  you can see the break coming on Friday.  Those 83s and 84s are what we are supposed to get in July. 


It's harder for Theo than me.  He's a northern boy, born and raised.  He's also solid black and not exactly dainty.

Keeping a white fly sheet on him all day helps, but he's still having to come in for the afternoons when he's sweating just because he exists.  With this weather, we're not doing a lot of heavy work.  On the flip side, Theo is proving to be just about the fittest horse in the barn.  He's something of a cardio beast now and can recover from even canter work.  Unlike last summer where I had to set off a bomb under his tail to get him to move when it was hot out, he doesn't mind working in the heat for a bit.  He'd rather not, but he can be convinced easily enough.

We're getting a lot of miles with walk/trot/walk combined with laterals in this weather.  And it's starting to show.  We're starting to get some topline in front of his withers and he's starting to carry his head in a nice, low, natural way with a lovely lift through the base of his neck and without my help.  Canter is still a bit of a wreck, but we'll work on that once the heat breaks.  Our month of no hands is paying off dividends.

2.5 weeks until we go back into the show ring.  The heat should break, my lessons should revert back to the normal pattern, and the pressure should be back on next week.  Our break was well timed, but it's time to get back to the grindstone.  I need to get First 1 and First 2 memorized and ready to roll.  We're super fancy First level dressage types now.  That means I have to know where the heck I'm going in the ring.  Where the heck is L?

Roads to Rome

There's this move they introduce in Second called the turn on the haunches.  It's pretty basic stuff for most horses.  A lot of horses pick it up for other reasons, like opening gates or turning around in tight places or showing in hand.  I've never really had a problem teaching it to a horse.  Until Theo.

I swear, something in mi papi's brain fries every time we go near this.  We've used the wall, we've worked it with the trainer on the ground assisting, we've used poles and cones as visual aids, we've done little baby steps.  Nada.  We've been working on this for a year!  He wants to plant his massive shoulders and swing his butt.  When you correct him, he freezes his back feet and steps around until he can't keep his balance anymore and then steps out sideways.  No, no papi.  That's falling on your face, not turning on your haunch.

Last night Trainer A set up some some cones for my adult ladies lesson (after she took my stirrups away, damn it).  Each of us got a cone.  We were supposed to do a 360 around them, head in. So turn on the forehand, but not a pivot.  Cool.  It was a little tougher than usual because Theo couldn't just lay on one shoulder and pivot.  It took a couple tries to get it going.  In the end, it was less a turn on the forehand and more a step of leg yield, a step of turn on the forehand, repeat.  They have slightly different buttons, so I was shifting my leg to move his haunches more than his shoulders, then shifting my leg back to keep the shoulders involved.  Okay, cool, still easy enough for papi's brain but not what we've been doing. 

Then she had us turn around and do the circle with our heads out.  GROAN.

We tried.  We flailed.  We experimented.  Smoke came out of Theo's ears.  Finally, desperate to make him move his hind feet, I shifted all of my aids over to the set for half-pass/side-pass and shoved him over.  He understands that, so he moved over.  So we kind of did half-pass on a circle, upping the pressure on his shoulders like a shoulder in so he'd move them over more than the haunches and eventually get back to where we started.  That got him moving and his ears flicking.  We got around a 10 meter circle and trotted away with carrots and celebration, then came back and did the circle smaller.  It was a delicate balancing act to make the hind legs take smaller steps and ask his shoulders to come around, but so long as we walked into it and I thought half-pass, not turn on the haunches, his butt kept moving.

After about six reps, we had his hind feet tracking a small, one meter circle while his shoulders came around in a nice, reasonable flex.  I could feel him lifting his shoulders to make it work, which is progress.  He's finally using the right set of muscles instead of planting his hind feet and falling on his face!

It's hard to describe what I was doing in the saddle.  I don't tend to think in terms of aids, I think in terms of his body parts.  Trainer A said 'shoulders!' and I moved his shoulders more.  This is the problem with riding off of feel and experience.  I'm not entirely sure how the hell I do it, I just know I can do it on command.  Some of it was trial and error.  I have to set him up flexed in the direction of travel, he can't manage it flexed away from the direction of travel.  Then it's outside rein while shrinking the steps and active push with the outside leg, like a leg yield or half-pass, but holding that inside leg to keep his hind legs engaged.  And don't do the hula, stay in the center of the saddle or your poor horse is going to try to go where you're leaning and you'll have a mess on your hands.  Yes, we did this.  A couple times.

So that's one for the tool box.  When the hind feet aren't marching and taking the weight in a turn on the haunches, half-pass/side-pass on a circle and shrink down the circle.  Our new exercise is to walk off of the rail heading toward a cone on centerline.  Shorten steps and set up the flex in the direction of travel as we approach.  Half turn around the cone, keeping the hind feet as close to the cone as possible without losing the march behind, then walk out.  Our goal is to get the idea planted in his little head, get the strength in his butt built up, and gradually work the size of it down till he's marching on the spot.

As a nice little side effect, mi papi gave me my first half-pass at the trot.  Half-pass?  Come on, mom, give me a real challenge!

Gut check and perspective

I wrote most of this before I got the news about Dorkzilla.  It does put things in perspective and makes me appreciate the simple fact that I could go out and see Theo.  The fact that it was a Tuesday and therefore jumping day just makes it even better.  So I sound chipper, even though I'm not really.  My lesson tonight probably won't be quite so giddy and high energy.

----

I got papi all dressed up in his jumping gear and headed out.  Trainer A flagged us down and told me to head to the jumping field next to the Ritz.  No one was turned out there and it was a gorgeous day, time to practice getting Theo over new fences.  Mi papi got all perky thinking it was a trail ride, but wasn't too disappointed once he realized what the game plan was for the day.

Heading away from the rings?!  OKAY!

We didn't do anything too dramatic or wild, we just got out in the field and practiced jumping on uneven footing over jumps he hasn't done yet.  Log, little stone wall, skinny, even the very weathered roll top.  The picture chops out the steep incline off to my right that we were cantering up and carefully trotting down.  Maybe next season I'll have the guts to canter down.

So many jumps, so little time

That rolltop was a gut check for both of us.  As a kid, my first pony always stopped at rolltops.  I always consider them spooky.  With the ripped fabric, Theo was pretty sure there were aliens living inside.  But he jumped it on the first try, even if he pulled his favorite trick and tried to look between his knees on the way over.  Nothing else even got a blink from him.  His adrenaline was up and he was happily locking on to fences.  We had to practice cantering around in a half seat since I haven't done that in a long time.  It's a different set of muscles, and they're muscles I haven't been working recently.  Theo was also a bit confused to have a whole set of aids disappear, but we were having fun, so whatever man!

Yay, jumping!

As a side note, I popped on my new stirrup leathers and stirrups today (before I knew I was going cross country schooling).  The leathers are a set of Prestige lined leathers I picked up for a song on Ebay to help keep the wear on the calfskin flaps to a minimum.  I got child length.  I'm not proud of that.  My new stirrups are some composites I got from Smartpak.  For $30, I figured I'd give them a whirl.  It's not like I jump in the open or anything . . . .

Theo is the master of the man bun

After about five minutes, I completely forgot they were anything different.  My ankles felt good, the bit of cushioning in the foot bed kept my ankles intact even when he popped a big effort over the rolltop, and it felt more stable than my more narrow, jointed stirrups that are now on my dressage saddle.  I liked them.  I didn't think I would.  And my saddle is noticeably lighter.  Trainer A is going to hop on and try them since she didn't like composite stirrups in the past.  I had no trouble hanging on to them, so maybe she'll take a fancy to these.  Can't beat the price and the black and blue colors are a bonus for me.

I'm going to forget how to be a DQ at this rate.  Two cross country schools in a week?  Crazy talk!

Dorkzilla

Dorkzilla might as well be a costar on this blog.  He's been in cartoons, he's been in lessons, he's been at shows and clinics, he's been everywhere.  He's shown up almost as much as Fi, Theo, and Ben.   He was there at Fi's first horse trial and he was there at our sanctioned dressage show in June.  I feel like anyone that's been reading this blog knows and loves Dorkzilla, the 17h German import Hanoverian with unorthodox jumping that loves everyone on sight and has a talent for being a lazy ass and charming temperamental chestnut TB mares.

I got some bad news today.  Dorkzilla had an accident and had to be put down. 

 Mary Wanless clinic, November 2016

 UNH at the show where we both debuted at Novice, 2011

He wasn't my horse, but I adored him.  His big, goofy nose and very kind heart.  Both the Princess and mi papi had adventures with him and saw him at dressage shows.  Dorkzilla was there at almost all of Fi's eventing outings and every single one of her dressage shows.  I saw him at the UNH show just a couple weeks ago and the Walnut Hollow kids couldn't believe I knew that gorgeous, fancy horse.  He was practicing his changes before going in and winning Third 1.

BFFs (sorta), November 2016

Seriously BFFs, July 2013

Six years I've been watching his career as an eventer, a dressage horse, and a foxhunter.  I watched him go from a sour dressage horse with a dangerous buck to a loving life jack of all trades that would jump anything, dressage with the best of them, and roam anywhere.  I don't know of another horse with a career like his.  He won ribbons at Third Level dressage, Training level horse trials, and Hunt Trials all in the same summer.  He could out gallop most of the field and steal a mouthful of grass during his extended walk in a dressage test.  He's the kind of horse most of us lay awake at night and dream of.  Oh, and he was a cuddler that wanted attention and affection at all times.

UNH dressage show, pulling every bit of hay out of the trailer and looking very proud of himself, July, 2013

 

 Super fancy show horse, Winter 2011

I got to ride him several times.  He was huge, heavy, powerful, and endlessly kind.  He never gave me a problem, but made my abs ache.  He gave me a taste of what a real dressage horse felt like.  I loved jumping him, I loved flatting him, I loved everything except the way my arms would quit working and I couldn't really sit up afterward.  His owner is a strong lady.

Dorkzilla and the Princess on a trail ride, September 2012

 

Trail ride, 2011

I can't imagine going to UNH and not seeing his ridiculous white nose in the warm up ring.  I don't know how I'll deal with going to the Wanless clinic and not having him there.  I don't understand that he won't be there when we go to the town forest to trail ride.  I'm bawling my eyes out. 

Filthy, filthy fancy pony, September 2013

Good night, Champers.

Playing with the big kids

In Region 8, the regional championships take place at the biggest show of the year, the NEDA Fall Festival in Saugerties, NY.  This is the HITS grounds where they run all of the fancy h/j shows.  It's a massive event with 10 rings, breed show, vendors, a bar, VIP pavilion, the works.  It's like the shows you read about in the magazines.  I've never gone as it's a four hour drive and rather expensive and rather huge.

Seriously, this is just the description of the schedule policies

 

Since it's such a big to-do, I'm already working on the plan.  Prizelist, schedule, rings, and stabling were all posted recently, so I've been trying to piece together what's going to happen.  Entries open August 1st.  As a championship ride, I have priority entry from August 1 - 6.

The most important bit is that Regional Championship ride.  That is Thursday, the first day of the Festival, and they're expecting 37 people in the class so it runs pretty much all day.  YIKES. 

This is just for Thursday and just the 8 main rings.  I ride somewhere between 11:20am and 5:06pm

It's in one of the two rings that are being used for the championships, away from the FEI ring and the other five rings that are running most of the open and breed show.  I have to scoot between the boutiques and the vendors to get to my ring.  I get to school it all on Wednesday, but it will be quiet.  Rings 1, 2, and 3 will all be running championship classes when we go.  The only way to get into my ring with the show in full swing (bleachers in use and the vendors running) is to enter the one class running in the ring before the championship.  First 3.

I'm in Ring 3 for the championship ride, note the VIP pavilion, vendors, bleachers, and breed show ring

So I guess we're doing First 3 this season.  HA. 

Seriously, it's going to be a lot of atmosphere, I need to get in there once and deal with anything Theo throws at me.  I can get through a First 3 test, it just won't be a fantastic score.  Especially considering everyone else doing the class is going to be people that qualified for the First level championship getting in a last minute tune up before their rides the next day.  We're going to get butchered, but at least we'll get a chance for Theo to see the bleachers with people on them and the vendors in full swing before we have that all important championship ride.

I'm currently predicting we get a 66% for Training and land smack dab in the middle of the pack, assuming he doesn't blow his top in the chaos.  We've been consistently landing smack dab in the middle on most of our rides with occasional breaks into the top percentage.

The junior championship is on Sunday, so if my co-pilot is attending, we'll be there the whole weekend.  She hasn't qualified, but she has one more shot in August.  It's all up in the air.  Miss Thang has been throwing fits at the shows and making it very difficult for her.  If the copilot isn't coming, I'm done on Thursday.  I'm going to enter a class on Friday morning because I drove 4 hours and have a stall all weekend, I might as well.  I'll run First 3 again and hope that between the two runs, one of them is a 60% and I'll have my score for freestyle.  We're considering hanging out to watch on Saturday before we take off for home, catch some of the Grand Prix and freestyle. 

I've also booked my hotel, signed up for the videographer, and started reviewing the extra rules for a level 5 competition.  No whip in the championship ride, no one can ride my horse but me at the show until after the championship,  I'll need a health certificate and full shot records to get my horse on the grounds, etc.  It's a lot of fiddly little details that need to be nailed down and planned out.

It's just now dawning on me what I'm going to be doing in September.  Wow.  What have I done?

Mr. Cadillac

As part of our month of slacking, I've been riding with the adult ladies on Wednesday nights as one of my two lessons.  Rather than having a private, dressage focused lesson on Fridays, I hang out with a group of ladies that are practicing correctly getting into the canter and learning what a half halt is.  It's very low pressure and we're known to escape for trail rides with no warning.  Or heckle people on their dating life.  Or have poor Trainer A throwing her hands in the air because she's completely lost control of the group.

Come August I'll go back to my high intensity private lesson, but for now, we slack.

Last week was hot as hell so Trainer A set up a lesson on leg yield at the walk using poles to give us markers.  Theo can leg yield at walk, trot, and canter.  He leg yields well enough to do it in shows.  This was not exactly a challenge for us, so Trainer A decided we should play musical ponies.  The three of us traded ponies every twenty minutes.  I started on mi papi, then moved to Baby Pony who I haven't ridden in months, then finished up with an 18 year old TB mare that used to be a hunter.  This also gave the other two riders a chance to try it on a horse that knows it and will do it for them easily enough, so long as they ask correctly.

Theo was a complete non-issue.  I messed with him and did stuff like run the exercise backwards or side pass over the poles.  I also took off to shoulder in at the trot between runs through the poles because I wanted to break up some of that stiffness. 

Baby Pony is now all of five years old and having his first summer as a camp pony.  He's not a fan.  He was definitely giving me a round of teenage angst as only an appy pony can do it.  I basically had to set my hands and ignore him while he had his baby temper tantrum about not being able to trot around with his head next to mine.  By the end of our turn, he was leg yielding over politely enough and keeping his head down where it belonged, which was all I could hope for.  He's such a good baby, just having some teenage angst.

The older mare, now that was interesting.  It took me a bit to get settled, Trainer A has beaten a lot of my old hunter habits out of me, but once we were both settled in, she was a blast.  I cantered a bit in my half seat and she set her head like an old pro.  It was like putting on a comfortable old glove.  We both knew the same language and she seemed happy to have a rider that understood her.  Trainer A wanted me to sit down, but her saddle was super uncomfortable and I kept my keister out of it.  Thanks, but no thanks.  We only cantered for a minute due to the heat, just enough for me to play around.  And when I got off?  All of the pony cuddles.  She's such an affectionate mare.  It really is a pity that most of the kids don't appreciate what a good girl she is.  If I wasn't already in a very committed relationship, that mare would have my interest.

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|      Imagine picture of cute, senior gray mare here      |

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As for Theo?  He was dubbed the Cadillac by the other two riders.  While Baby Pony had no clue what a leg yield was and Hunter Mare had no idea what bending was, Theo can leg yield as easily as breathing.  He can also trot around with no fuss and sitting his trot is a breeze compared to most school horses.  It helps that I have a fantastic saddle.  And calfskin covered reins.  I had him dolled up in white polos and blingy browband.  They really enjoyed a chance to get on him after I'd warmed him up so he was in working mode.  Little squeeze and you were off.  With a light contact, he now stretches forward into it, nose poking out a bit, and trots about as steady as a drum.  Nothing fancy, nothing powerful, just steady, comfy, and pretty. 

Cantering was another matter entirely.  Seems you still have to be willing to work to get that.  First he offered a haunches in since she didn't know to keep the inside leg.  That was confusing for both Theo and his rider.  Then he did the transition, cantered two strides, and trotted again because she wasn't riding the canter.  Whoops.  Not that I'm going to do a damn thing to fix either of those.  I want him cantering off my seat and not my legs.  Even with that little mix up, both of the ladies agreed that he was fantastic and they both wanted to ride him again.

And he's aaaaaall mine.

Gone galloping

It was one of those weeks where work beat the snot out of me.  After a couple fourteen hour days and a massive amount of stress, I took a half day yesterday as a mental health day.  Which is corporate speak for taking time off so I don't rage quit my job when they've been completely ridiculous with their expectations.

It's not very often that I get to escape in the first half of the day.  I zipped out to the barn with an iced coffee in hand.  The heat has been unpleasant lately.  Since it's summer and a lesson barn, summer camp was in full swing.  The barn has Girl Scouts out a couple times a week for their horsemanship program.  I found fourteen youngsters roaming about, highly supervised and very excited about absolutely everything.  They were all down in the lower barn while I tacked up in the upper barn. 

I'm not actually good with kids, as a side note.  I was quite pleased with the arrangement.  Kids at camp assume every horse is totally safe to touch and while I adore mi papi and he is very safe on the ground, he's also very big.  It also annoys the snot out of me to have kids touching my horse and my stuff without permission.

Between the 78* temps, the 12mph wind, and the mostly cloudy skies, it was the best riding conditions we've had in awhile.  It rained pretty heavily over the weekend so the footing was actually good and not an acceptable replacement for concrete.  And looking at the forecast, it was going to be the best we were going to get for at least a week.  I decided to skip my planned schooling session in the ring and tossed his jump saddle on for a day of playing in the Ritz. 

I didn't really think about where the Girl Scouts had gone until I was galloping Theo up the hill at the corner of the field closest to the barn and heard 'OH MY GOD' in a pitch that should have been in audible to me.  I glanced over and the entire group was ignoring their lesson on anatomy and watching me tear around the field.  I'm pretty sure I managed to completely derail the lesson since every time I went by I could see them all turning around to look.  It got worse when we started jumping. 

Theo was feeling his oats with the cooler weather, stiff breeze, and the opportunity to just cut loose.  He even gave me a half buck/head shake combo when we first started cantering.  I liked it, since I don't get a lot of wahoo moments out of him.  I like him showing that he's enjoying the work and feeling good.  He took the bit a couple of times, asking to go faster.  The nice part of him not being a lesson horse any more is that I don't have to correct that because it might scare some beginner.  Screw it, I don't mind, it was basically nothing, I can stop on a dime in a D ring, carry on, mi papi.  You're a fancy dancy show horse now, you get to be more horse than the average beginner can handle out in the open.

We jumped everything in the field, much to the amazement of the Girl Scouts.  The two stride combination, the big log we've never jumped before, the steep uphill.  Theo's adrenaline was up and he wanted to take on the world.  We did some transition work on a circle in the semi level part of the field and I definitely had a lot of horse to work with.  I had to keep an eye on him due to the humidity.  He's a cardio beast, but the field is rolling so everything is either uphill or down.  It doesn't seem like a lot, but it ups the difficulty on everything we do.  He was blowing hard when I pulled him up after his last jumping round.  We went for a walk down the road to let him chill out and he was noticeably tired.  He moseyed along on the buckle, content but definitely tired.  I'm glad I pulled up early.  With his adrenaline going, he didn't give me his usual signs of being tired until we were out of the field and having a nice walk.

It worked out so beautifully.  He had a nice romp, I got to shake some stress off, he got to cut loose, and then we had all afternoon to play with his hair.  Beauty like this doesn't come easily.

That tail will be the death of me.  It's a good thing he loves having it brushed.  I also pulled his mane and evened it up.  Then he got tucked in a stall for a nice afternoon nap out of the heat and bugs.  Severe storms were in the area so Mr. Fancy Pants was on the list of horses to come in, just to be safe.  Life as a show horse agrees with him.  He's now on PM turn out, so he comes in when the heat and bugs are at their worst so he can relax in a stall.  He wears his full bug armor when he's out and no one heckles me about it.  Theo's a show horse, of course he wears his sheet all the time.  You can't have his coat bleaching out or bug bites all over his neck.  If he looks uncomfortable, he comes in.  If he's bored, he goes out.  Anything the fancy show horse wants, he gets.

And, amazingly enough, the complete shift in the way people see him has changed how he sees them.  Everyone gets touches and inquisitive snuffles now.  All of the barn girls know that reaching out with ears back is actually a request for ear rubs, which he now gets.  Theo is no longer the Thigh Master jerk that tries to bite everyone.  He's now dubbed The Cadillac and people feel privileged to get to ride him or handle him.  Hell, even I feel privileged to ride him.  It's been a long time since I galloped down to a 2'9" log with no fear or second thoughts at all. 

July's half way over, almost time to get back to work.  I'm looking forward to it, but I'll miss our mad adventures.