Summer and I just got back from a couple of beautiful days in sunny Temecula, California. Seriously, it was gorgeous- warm, dry, and I've got a wicked sunburn! Summer took both of her horses down, and ran the prelim on Tim and the training on Jake. I took the dog, my running shoes, some shorts, and not much else! This is the first show I've not ridden at in quite a long time, and I have to admit, I really missed having horses competing. It was great, however, to be able to focus so exclusively on my student- we walked several of the upper level XC courses, we spent quite a while watching the CIC 3-star and advanced dressage, and discussing the rides, and watched a ton of cross country riding (some of it very good) on Saturday afternoon.
Both of Summers horses went really well. The theme of the weekend was "preparation not reaction," something that I think event riders in particular struggle with. Both of Summers dressage tests were good, with Tim showing huge upgrades in his work over the winter. She was double clear with both on XC, and really got both horses into a good rhythm and jumping well. Tim was one of only a handful of horses inside the time in his division, so that was the icing on the cake! Both show jumped well, although Jake showed how green and spooky he still is when he nearly wouldn't go through the start flags because he was to busy spooking at the ring decorations! He doesn't know it yet, but the will be spending some quality time at jumper shows this summer... Ultimately, Tim finished in 5th, and although Jake finished well out of the ribbons, she was thrilled with his performance.
Back at home, Cha Cha is going well and getting ready for his first dressage show of the year in May, and Luke is back on track again after some saddle fit issues. I'm pretty excited about him, and look forward to eventing him this summer. We have some great clinics coming up, including Mary Wanless in May, which is really great for auditors. I look forward to seeing everyone as the season gets started!
Thursday, April 4, 2013
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
And then there was one...
Bad news today- Coco, my little grulla pony mare, is out for a couple of months with a suspensory injury. She hadn't been feeling great lately, and was noticeably funky behind, so she got a date with the vet on Monday. It doesn't seem to bad, and hopefully she'll be back up and running by Coconio in July, but until then, I'm down to one horse, Luke, to event this year. Granted, I haven't been on Luke for two weeks since I've been battling some serious back soreness due to trying to ride a 5 yr old thoroughbred in the saddle that is fit to the 12 yr old Irish Draught cross...
The good news is, Kristen, saddle fitter extraordinaire from Schleese, comes on Saturday. The more horses I ride, and the more I learn, the more I realize the utter importance of saddle fit. We ask our horses to do so much for us, and we spend so much time trying to get them going correctly, that its silly to expect them to perform their best in ill-fitting tack. I'm hoping I can find a new (used) saddle to fit Luke, and also re-fit Cha Cha's jumping saddle to him, and we can be on our merry way.
In the mean time, I've got a handful of nice horses in for training- a young Hannoverian cross who is one of the easiest young horses I've worked with in a long time, even if he's a bit green about things, Bob, the world's most wonderful Appy is back for a few months, and is as enjoyable as ever, and I've got a few more expected in within the next couple of weeks. Cha Cha is progressing very well (and throwing in flying changes at random times, just because he can)- he's gearing up for his first show in May, and Delilah has found a new jockey for the season- Katie rides her well, is gutsy, and is small enough to not lose her balance when Delilah unexpectedly leaps sideways... I'm heading off to California at the end of the month to coach at Galway, and I fully intend to wear shorts all weekend and come home with a tan! From then, its on to Rolex with my mom and Summer, which should be a blast and a nice little vacation. Then, its back home, and back to work- clinics, dressage shows, and events, right up until November!
The good news is, Kristen, saddle fitter extraordinaire from Schleese, comes on Saturday. The more horses I ride, and the more I learn, the more I realize the utter importance of saddle fit. We ask our horses to do so much for us, and we spend so much time trying to get them going correctly, that its silly to expect them to perform their best in ill-fitting tack. I'm hoping I can find a new (used) saddle to fit Luke, and also re-fit Cha Cha's jumping saddle to him, and we can be on our merry way.
In the mean time, I've got a handful of nice horses in for training- a young Hannoverian cross who is one of the easiest young horses I've worked with in a long time, even if he's a bit green about things, Bob, the world's most wonderful Appy is back for a few months, and is as enjoyable as ever, and I've got a few more expected in within the next couple of weeks. Cha Cha is progressing very well (and throwing in flying changes at random times, just because he can)- he's gearing up for his first show in May, and Delilah has found a new jockey for the season- Katie rides her well, is gutsy, and is small enough to not lose her balance when Delilah unexpectedly leaps sideways... I'm heading off to California at the end of the month to coach at Galway, and I fully intend to wear shorts all weekend and come home with a tan! From then, its on to Rolex with my mom and Summer, which should be a blast and a nice little vacation. Then, its back home, and back to work- clinics, dressage shows, and events, right up until November!
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Struggle and Frustration
Like all things in life, horses can be hugely disappointing. They go lame, they get sick, they don't behave the way we want them to. Sometimes, we fall off, or loose our tempers, or leave the arena in a huff. I've been struggling a lot lately with taking the next step with all my horses- getting them more supple, more reliably on the bit, and more balanced. I know theoretically how to do it, but I just can't seem to get all the parts to line up in that magical way all riders aspire too. My body doesn't cooperate, or I can't get the timing right, or I release too late, or, or, or... I know that I'm on the edge of a breakthrough, but that is little comfort when I can't seem to put all the pieces together and I'm frustrated and struggling.
When things are going well, all rides are successful and fun- I'd love them to last forever, but I also know that unless I miraculously learn EVERYTHING there is to know about riding and horses, that won't ever work. Usually it takes a couple of weeks for things to start to feel like they're going downhill. For example, last week, I ended up spending 2 days working on my posting trot. On every horse I rode. Not lateral work, not changes, just posting trot. I just couldn't get it right enough! I know I'm on the right track when I start to recognize what I'm struggling with in my students (sorry, guys!). I know I'm getting closer when I have little glimmers of "GOT IT" in my daily rides. I know I'm really close when I can tell when I'm doing it wrong. I once heard training and learning described as an "inconsistent upward trend," which is perfect.
Once I figure this next piece of the puzzle out, I'll head merrily along my way until I come up against the next big struggle. Then, I'll try and try, and get frustrated and try some more, because, at Rebecca West said,
"Life ought to be a struggle of desire toward adventures whose nobility will fertilize the soul."
When things are going well, all rides are successful and fun- I'd love them to last forever, but I also know that unless I miraculously learn EVERYTHING there is to know about riding and horses, that won't ever work. Usually it takes a couple of weeks for things to start to feel like they're going downhill. For example, last week, I ended up spending 2 days working on my posting trot. On every horse I rode. Not lateral work, not changes, just posting trot. I just couldn't get it right enough! I know I'm on the right track when I start to recognize what I'm struggling with in my students (sorry, guys!). I know I'm getting closer when I have little glimmers of "GOT IT" in my daily rides. I know I'm really close when I can tell when I'm doing it wrong. I once heard training and learning described as an "inconsistent upward trend," which is perfect.
Once I figure this next piece of the puzzle out, I'll head merrily along my way until I come up against the next big struggle. Then, I'll try and try, and get frustrated and try some more, because, at Rebecca West said,
"Life ought to be a struggle of desire toward adventures whose nobility will fertilize the soul."
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
The Post Holiday Rush
Most people talk about the post holiday crash. I prefer the post holiday rush. For me, the holiday season is a time to reflect and recharge, to see friends and family I spend far to little time with during the competition season, to participate in sports that DON"T require a horse, and to eat far to much. My horses don't get a whole lot of down time (maybe two weeks if they've had a long, hard season), but I do decrease the time and intensity of my rides in the dead of winter. Lessons tend to drop off a bit right around the holidays, too, as people attend endless parties, Santa visits, entertain relatives, and catch up on last minute Christmas shopping. The end result of taking it easy for a while is that by the time the holidays are over, everyone, horse and human, are ready to get back down to business!
For a year that started off with so much promise, I do have to admit, I was a bit disappointed at the end! I really thought Cha Cha would move up to intermediate after the CCI* at Colorado, but sadly, that was not to be. We finally discovered some changes in his pastern joint after a disastrous showing at Rebecca Farms, where he drug me around as the world's slowest runaway. I decided to finish out the season on him after injecting the joint- I was hoping to get a qualifying score at the CCI* at Galway in November. I ended up pulling him from the three-day anyway, and then pulling him up on course in the prelim at Galway. It was his last event, and next year, he moves into dressage land. He'll still get to jump for fun, and I may even let him cruise around a training level here and there, but I'm back to just babies for now. Luckily, I found a great young thoroughbred while I was at Galway (because what else do you do when you are stranded in Southern California for an extra day with no trailer brakes- you go horse shopping!), and mom lent me the money to buy him, so watch out for Luke next season!
Delilah did a few training levels, and was pretty good. She was a bit of a pill at Rebecca Farms, but thoroughly redeemed herself with a LOVELY double clear show jump round. She had a silly stop at area championships at a very spooky graffiti covered bank, but still finished 5th. Colorado Horse Park was where her season ended, however. She misjudged a fence out of the water and left legs all over it and down we went. It hurt. And it destroyed my second helmet in 2 years (there are hoof marks on the thing). It was so unlike her- she's such a careful mare and a good jumper to boot, and when we got home she still wasn't quite right so she sat the rest of the season out.
Coco, at least, ended up the season on a high note. She went to a couple of schooling shows and discovered she could do all sorts of things, like get peppermints from very obliging dressage judges, and go away from her friends and I would hold her hand. She finished 2nd in her very first beginner novice (and would have won if she'd had a more competent pilot), and ended the season with an 8th place at Colorado. She is going to be really fun, and I'm looking forward to competing her next year!
Things went for the most part, better for my students than they did for me. There were a few pop offs, Suzi having the most memorable one, because she has the whole thing on helmet cam! There were also lots of good placings- Summer has a solid prelim horse now, Marley more than just got her feet wet at training, Grace and Luke had a super year, Lani has a nice young horse who is fun and willing, and Suzi had some good showings, but more importantly, maintained her positive outlook even when things weren't going well at all.
The training horses went home in November, and I got to have knee surgery. This is a very good thing, and was long overdue. I'd managed to schedule an appointment with the doctor for the Monday after Colorado Horse Park, and I'm pretty sure I horrified him. How do you explain to someone that you've just been fallen on for the second time in just over a year, and its your job? I could just see the wheels turning- his kids will never get to have pony rides at the fair ever again... While I recovered, Steph kindly kept Cha Cha and my new thoroughbred Luke going for me, and Suzi took care of all the day to day things like grain, as well as working a couple of the horses. During December, I also lost both of my old advanced horses. Moon was 26 and Celebrity was 30, so they weren't exactly spring chickens, but I still miss them. I'm also secretly hoping that Moon's dressage prowess and Celebrity's cross county skill will magic their way into Luke. Every thing else about that horse has seemed as if it were meant to be, so I'm crossing my fingers!
So, now that I've compressed eight months down into a couple of paragraphs, I'm going to go. I've got horses to ride, and its supposed to be warm enough in Salt Lake for the footing to thaw, so I'm headed down to teach this afternoon. I haven't seen the kids since before Christmas, and I'm excited to get everyone going again. I head to sunny California in a couple of weeks for teacher training, and then its not long until we'll all be on the road for the first event of the year. Oh, and my New Years resolution is to keep this blog updated! What are you sitting around reading for? Go out and ride your horses!
For a year that started off with so much promise, I do have to admit, I was a bit disappointed at the end! I really thought Cha Cha would move up to intermediate after the CCI* at Colorado, but sadly, that was not to be. We finally discovered some changes in his pastern joint after a disastrous showing at Rebecca Farms, where he drug me around as the world's slowest runaway. I decided to finish out the season on him after injecting the joint- I was hoping to get a qualifying score at the CCI* at Galway in November. I ended up pulling him from the three-day anyway, and then pulling him up on course in the prelim at Galway. It was his last event, and next year, he moves into dressage land. He'll still get to jump for fun, and I may even let him cruise around a training level here and there, but I'm back to just babies for now. Luckily, I found a great young thoroughbred while I was at Galway (because what else do you do when you are stranded in Southern California for an extra day with no trailer brakes- you go horse shopping!), and mom lent me the money to buy him, so watch out for Luke next season!
Delilah did a few training levels, and was pretty good. She was a bit of a pill at Rebecca Farms, but thoroughly redeemed herself with a LOVELY double clear show jump round. She had a silly stop at area championships at a very spooky graffiti covered bank, but still finished 5th. Colorado Horse Park was where her season ended, however. She misjudged a fence out of the water and left legs all over it and down we went. It hurt. And it destroyed my second helmet in 2 years (there are hoof marks on the thing). It was so unlike her- she's such a careful mare and a good jumper to boot, and when we got home she still wasn't quite right so she sat the rest of the season out.
Coco, at least, ended up the season on a high note. She went to a couple of schooling shows and discovered she could do all sorts of things, like get peppermints from very obliging dressage judges, and go away from her friends and I would hold her hand. She finished 2nd in her very first beginner novice (and would have won if she'd had a more competent pilot), and ended the season with an 8th place at Colorado. She is going to be really fun, and I'm looking forward to competing her next year!
Things went for the most part, better for my students than they did for me. There were a few pop offs, Suzi having the most memorable one, because she has the whole thing on helmet cam! There were also lots of good placings- Summer has a solid prelim horse now, Marley more than just got her feet wet at training, Grace and Luke had a super year, Lani has a nice young horse who is fun and willing, and Suzi had some good showings, but more importantly, maintained her positive outlook even when things weren't going well at all.
The training horses went home in November, and I got to have knee surgery. This is a very good thing, and was long overdue. I'd managed to schedule an appointment with the doctor for the Monday after Colorado Horse Park, and I'm pretty sure I horrified him. How do you explain to someone that you've just been fallen on for the second time in just over a year, and its your job? I could just see the wheels turning- his kids will never get to have pony rides at the fair ever again... While I recovered, Steph kindly kept Cha Cha and my new thoroughbred Luke going for me, and Suzi took care of all the day to day things like grain, as well as working a couple of the horses. During December, I also lost both of my old advanced horses. Moon was 26 and Celebrity was 30, so they weren't exactly spring chickens, but I still miss them. I'm also secretly hoping that Moon's dressage prowess and Celebrity's cross county skill will magic their way into Luke. Every thing else about that horse has seemed as if it were meant to be, so I'm crossing my fingers!
So, now that I've compressed eight months down into a couple of paragraphs, I'm going to go. I've got horses to ride, and its supposed to be warm enough in Salt Lake for the footing to thaw, so I'm headed down to teach this afternoon. I haven't seen the kids since before Christmas, and I'm excited to get everyone going again. I head to sunny California in a couple of weeks for teacher training, and then its not long until we'll all be on the road for the first event of the year. Oh, and my New Years resolution is to keep this blog updated! What are you sitting around reading for? Go out and ride your horses!
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
St. John's Recap. Or, "Freezing our tails off in Sunny Arizona"
Eventers are a tough crowd. Actually, horse folk in general are pretty tough, but since I primarily event, I'm a bit biased. My late spring event of choice was a no-go this year due to the upcoming Mary Wanless clinic, so a group of us had a choice to make- drive 10 hours to Arizona to St. Johns HT, or drive 16 hours to Ram Tap in Fresno, CA. We weighed the pros and cons, and decided that since none of the experienced horses really needed a run, we'd forgo the rail road tracks, power lines, and police shooting range at Ram Tap, and head to St. Johns, on the promise of a nice local event, and great showers. Then, Cha Cha needed a run after his Galway escapade, Page needed a run with me on board, and I heard that the course was nice for babies, so I threw Aileen Christensen's horse, Isis, into the mix (she's for sale and needs to start amassing a show record), and decided to ride Coco in the pre-comp! Suddenly, I was riding 1/10th of the horses I anticipated being at the show. With the addition of Marley (doing her first training), Grace, Hannah, Summer, and Gabby (doing her first event), our group was really rather huge! Luckily, I had Aileen and Suzi Curtis along to groom- they out-did themselves, and I'm very spoiled now! Lani also came to coach, so really, I had four to ride and two to coach, which was relatively do-able.
The day before we left, Lani's mare came up a bit off, so we decided to leave her home until she could get a visit from the vet, so I was down to three to ride. The trailers pulled out at 4am on thursday morning, and immediately, Lani called in with brake trouble... Crisis #1. They got it sorted, and we were only half an hour or so late to pick up Summer. On the side of the road. In the dark. The drive was easy, and as soon as Coco discovered that she wasn't going to be able to get off the trailer just because she wanted to and going thru the window wasn't REALLY an option, all the horses traveled really well. We arrived in St. John's, AZ and unloaded the horses into fairly nice stalls, with slightly questionable gates for silly baby ponies with attitudes. Up went the fancy schmancy Thunder Mountain stall guards, the Kimball ranch banner, and the Schleese Saddlery banner. Damn, but we looked pretty good! I went to unhook the trailer and... nothing. No battery at all. No lights, no pump, no electric jack. Crisis #2. I think the rough roads the last 50 or so miles jiggled some connection loose. Those who know me know I'm not completely un-handy, but I try to avoid messing around with things that can either blow up or electrocute me. I wiggled and jiggled wires and batteries, to no avail, and we resigned ourselves to having to start the generator every time we wanted to turn on a light.
Friday morning I schooled Cha Cha (who was MUCH improved from Galway), Coco (who was darling, and really very good for her first out), Isis (who did some nice dressage work), and Bob, Hannah's horse (who benefits from regular tune-ups). The event is small and the organizers want everyone to have a successful weekend, so they offer schooling jumping rounds on Friday. I rode both Isis and Coco over fences, and all the girls schooled as well. Summer schooled Jake on the flat, and he (in keeping with the Thunder Mountain theme of the day) was really good. By the afternoon, the wind was picking up, with strong winds and cold temps forecasted for Saturday. We got our first (and ultimately only) look at the courses at 3pm, and after 6 rides, 5 course walks, and helping multiple riders, I was ready to partake of the admittedly wonderful showers and eat some of Aileen's excellent tortellini for dinner.
5am rolled around all too soon, and Lani, Suzi, and Aileen, had fed and done stalls before I managed to drag myself out of bed. I was planning on riding Cha Cha at 6:30am, before his 8am dressage test. As we sat in the trailer eating breakfast, it started to blow. Then it started to snow. A lot. Sideways. Yuck. I ditched the first ride, and we got Cha Cha braided. Technically, Lani got Cha Cha braided. And Coco. I don't think I touched a mane all weekend except to keep myself from falling off! I was on at 7:15, warming up with a blanket on Cha Cha. He was wonderful, the most relaxed he's ever been, and I was thrilled with his test. Part of the ring did blow over while we were doing our test, my helmet was completely white, and at one point, my stock tie blew up from inside my jacket (bad Pony Clubber- I didn't pin the ends down), but I had a rideable, forward, connected horse, and I couldn't have been happier. Suzi and Aileen took care of Cha Cha, and I retreated to the trailer to try and thaw out my feet, and put on several more layers, including long underwear under my breeches. Next up was Marley, who did a respectable test in difficult conditions in her first Training level start. In between rides, I walked the show jumping course in preparation for my 12:00 ride. Or, I walked the wreckage of the show jumping course- the fences simply wouldn't stay up in the wind. By 10:30 am, the wind chill was 15 F, and still snowing intermittently. Brrrrr. The organizers and officials decided to run show jumping immediately before XC on Sunday. It is great when events can be flexible and really try to make it all work in spite of challenging conditions.
The weather got more and more windy, and the horses got sillier and sillier. Summer did an admirable job with Jake, who was tight as a tick and could easily have launched into orbit at any time. Isis was really quite good, and much better in the ring than in the warm-up. She finished the day in 2nd place! I decided not to ride Coco- she's young, hot, and reactive, and nothing good was going to come of pushing her to compete in such terrible weather. The president of the ground jury and organizers agreed to let me do all three phases on Sunday, so off we all went to the showers (heavenly!) and the competitors party, which would have been amazing if everyone hadn't been so cold. The peach cobbler was a thing of beauty, and with full stomachs, the furnace cranked in the trailer, and cozy ponies, we all hit the sack at 8pm!
Sunday morning we (and by we, I mean EVERYONE except me!) had a packing extravaganza. We had considered driving home monday, but frankly, and through no fault of the organizers or officials, we couldn't wait to get out of frozen Arizona. Cha Cha did his show jumping at 8am- he was much better at the end than in the beginning, and I felt like I really ironed our some of the kinks from Galway two weeks prior. Cross country was fantastic- I had total control (hurrah!) and it was a great last run before the CCI* at Colorado in June. I felt like I could have easily put my foot down and made time, and he galloped in much better balance than he has previously. In keeping with the cold weather theme, I rode in two long underwear tops, my vest, a soft shell jacket, and my airvest- finally warm! Marley had a good first training, and Summer managed to get a VERY spooky Jake around- he didn't learn anything this weekend, but she did a super job of not having him go a bit downhill in tough conditions. Isis was a bit wobbly in the show jumping, but redeemed herself on cross country, where I would have put a kid on her! She was really fantastic, and got better as she went along. Hannah, Grace, and Gabby all had good goes, and Hannah was rewarded for all her hard work with a 2nd place!
Coco got lunged twice, and I got on her with the idea to jump the pre-comp sj course and then withdraw her. And... she was a ding-dong! Summer ended up leading me around the show jumping arena, which was far more educational for her than me kicking her around a 2 foot course while she was so tense. She did manage to spook/rear/spin enough in the parking lot that I half bailed, half fell- she was spooking at... wait for it.... a pick-up truck. Terrifying. Just being there, schooling on friday and doing a jumping round, and trailering was a huge education for her. I have no doubt that she will be a fierce competitor some day, but it wasn't to be this weekend.
We hit the road ASAP, and Summer drove for several hours while I slept. After dropping off Summer and then Aileen (who had an 8am final monday morning- talk about dedication!), Suzi and I made it to my apartment at 1:30am. Of course, I'd drunk a cup of super caffeinated coffee, so I lay awake for an hour or so. Too much excitement in frozen Arizona, I guess...
The day before we left, Lani's mare came up a bit off, so we decided to leave her home until she could get a visit from the vet, so I was down to three to ride. The trailers pulled out at 4am on thursday morning, and immediately, Lani called in with brake trouble... Crisis #1. They got it sorted, and we were only half an hour or so late to pick up Summer. On the side of the road. In the dark. The drive was easy, and as soon as Coco discovered that she wasn't going to be able to get off the trailer just because she wanted to and going thru the window wasn't REALLY an option, all the horses traveled really well. We arrived in St. John's, AZ and unloaded the horses into fairly nice stalls, with slightly questionable gates for silly baby ponies with attitudes. Up went the fancy schmancy Thunder Mountain stall guards, the Kimball ranch banner, and the Schleese Saddlery banner. Damn, but we looked pretty good! I went to unhook the trailer and... nothing. No battery at all. No lights, no pump, no electric jack. Crisis #2. I think the rough roads the last 50 or so miles jiggled some connection loose. Those who know me know I'm not completely un-handy, but I try to avoid messing around with things that can either blow up or electrocute me. I wiggled and jiggled wires and batteries, to no avail, and we resigned ourselves to having to start the generator every time we wanted to turn on a light.
Friday morning I schooled Cha Cha (who was MUCH improved from Galway), Coco (who was darling, and really very good for her first out), Isis (who did some nice dressage work), and Bob, Hannah's horse (who benefits from regular tune-ups). The event is small and the organizers want everyone to have a successful weekend, so they offer schooling jumping rounds on Friday. I rode both Isis and Coco over fences, and all the girls schooled as well. Summer schooled Jake on the flat, and he (in keeping with the Thunder Mountain theme of the day) was really good. By the afternoon, the wind was picking up, with strong winds and cold temps forecasted for Saturday. We got our first (and ultimately only) look at the courses at 3pm, and after 6 rides, 5 course walks, and helping multiple riders, I was ready to partake of the admittedly wonderful showers and eat some of Aileen's excellent tortellini for dinner.
5am rolled around all too soon, and Lani, Suzi, and Aileen, had fed and done stalls before I managed to drag myself out of bed. I was planning on riding Cha Cha at 6:30am, before his 8am dressage test. As we sat in the trailer eating breakfast, it started to blow. Then it started to snow. A lot. Sideways. Yuck. I ditched the first ride, and we got Cha Cha braided. Technically, Lani got Cha Cha braided. And Coco. I don't think I touched a mane all weekend except to keep myself from falling off! I was on at 7:15, warming up with a blanket on Cha Cha. He was wonderful, the most relaxed he's ever been, and I was thrilled with his test. Part of the ring did blow over while we were doing our test, my helmet was completely white, and at one point, my stock tie blew up from inside my jacket (bad Pony Clubber- I didn't pin the ends down), but I had a rideable, forward, connected horse, and I couldn't have been happier. Suzi and Aileen took care of Cha Cha, and I retreated to the trailer to try and thaw out my feet, and put on several more layers, including long underwear under my breeches. Next up was Marley, who did a respectable test in difficult conditions in her first Training level start. In between rides, I walked the show jumping course in preparation for my 12:00 ride. Or, I walked the wreckage of the show jumping course- the fences simply wouldn't stay up in the wind. By 10:30 am, the wind chill was 15 F, and still snowing intermittently. Brrrrr. The organizers and officials decided to run show jumping immediately before XC on Sunday. It is great when events can be flexible and really try to make it all work in spite of challenging conditions.
The weather got more and more windy, and the horses got sillier and sillier. Summer did an admirable job with Jake, who was tight as a tick and could easily have launched into orbit at any time. Isis was really quite good, and much better in the ring than in the warm-up. She finished the day in 2nd place! I decided not to ride Coco- she's young, hot, and reactive, and nothing good was going to come of pushing her to compete in such terrible weather. The president of the ground jury and organizers agreed to let me do all three phases on Sunday, so off we all went to the showers (heavenly!) and the competitors party, which would have been amazing if everyone hadn't been so cold. The peach cobbler was a thing of beauty, and with full stomachs, the furnace cranked in the trailer, and cozy ponies, we all hit the sack at 8pm!
Sunday morning we (and by we, I mean EVERYONE except me!) had a packing extravaganza. We had considered driving home monday, but frankly, and through no fault of the organizers or officials, we couldn't wait to get out of frozen Arizona. Cha Cha did his show jumping at 8am- he was much better at the end than in the beginning, and I felt like I really ironed our some of the kinks from Galway two weeks prior. Cross country was fantastic- I had total control (hurrah!) and it was a great last run before the CCI* at Colorado in June. I felt like I could have easily put my foot down and made time, and he galloped in much better balance than he has previously. In keeping with the cold weather theme, I rode in two long underwear tops, my vest, a soft shell jacket, and my airvest- finally warm! Marley had a good first training, and Summer managed to get a VERY spooky Jake around- he didn't learn anything this weekend, but she did a super job of not having him go a bit downhill in tough conditions. Isis was a bit wobbly in the show jumping, but redeemed herself on cross country, where I would have put a kid on her! She was really fantastic, and got better as she went along. Hannah, Grace, and Gabby all had good goes, and Hannah was rewarded for all her hard work with a 2nd place!
Coco got lunged twice, and I got on her with the idea to jump the pre-comp sj course and then withdraw her. And... she was a ding-dong! Summer ended up leading me around the show jumping arena, which was far more educational for her than me kicking her around a 2 foot course while she was so tense. She did manage to spook/rear/spin enough in the parking lot that I half bailed, half fell- she was spooking at... wait for it.... a pick-up truck. Terrifying. Just being there, schooling on friday and doing a jumping round, and trailering was a huge education for her. I have no doubt that she will be a fierce competitor some day, but it wasn't to be this weekend.
We hit the road ASAP, and Summer drove for several hours while I slept. After dropping off Summer and then Aileen (who had an 8am final monday morning- talk about dedication!), Suzi and I made it to my apartment at 1:30am. Of course, I'd drunk a cup of super caffeinated coffee, so I lay awake for an hour or so. Too much excitement in frozen Arizona, I guess...
Friday, April 6, 2012
TGIF!
What a week! We drove home from Galway on Monday, leaving southern california just before 4am, with four horses, three people, and the dog. Leaving that early does have the advantage of avoiding almost all of the bad traffic, but it also means I don't get a cup of coffee until I stop for fuel in Barstow, two hours into the drive... What a way to start the week! To make things worse, we had terrible winds, and at one point I was stuck doing 50 mph, despite having the pedal to the floor!
Thankfully, the weekend itself had been relativley successful. Cha Cha was a wild man on thursday, nearly unloading me twice when I rode him in the morning. I rode him again in the afternoon, and he was much better, although still very full of himself. I had a 10:30 dressage ride, and Lani had a 8:40 dressage ride, so I got Cha Cha out friday morning at 7am as soon as I had him braided. His first ride was quite tense, and I ended up spending the entire time trying to get him more supple. He went back to the barns while I warmed Lani up, and then I got on him again. Much better! He then went back to the barns AGAIN for a final polish, and I got on him 15 minutes before my test. Success! He was very good, and scored a 30!
Saturday he was back to being a wild beast, and towed me around cross country like a Mac truck. Bad boy, Cha Cha. We jumped clear (and he was brilliant to all the hard things), but picked up 12.6 time due to the wrestling match we had to have 20 strides out from each fence. Sunday was a bit of the same, so its back to some good gymnastics work and placing rails for him this week. I can't be too annoyed with him, however. He hadn't galloped or jumped properly since Twin due to an abscess, and he was truly feeling very good and enthusiastic. Hopefully, I can get the rideablity sorted out so we can move up to intermediate this summer.
So, I arrived home Monday evening, and subsequently spent all day tuesday cleaning up my parents pasture and moving some of the old boys to their house. I didn't do my grocery shopping, I didn't do laundry, I didn't get my taxes together for my Thursday tax appointment. I DID manage to catch Sarge, although I realized when I got to the field he was living in, I hadn't remembered to bring a halter with me... I rigged one out of a set of roping reins and loaded him up in the trailer and brought him home. He won't let me anywhere near him now, but mom reports that he is letting her pet him. Hopefully, I'll be able to catch him in time to get his shots, etc.
By wednesday, I still didn't have any food in the house and ate frozen yogurt for breakfast and ice cream for dinner (healthy, huh?), and remembered at 8pm that I had a 11:30 tax appointment on thursday, after my 9am lesson, and feeding the horses at mom's. ARRRGH!!! Luckily, I managed to get it all together, taught, fed, got to the tax appointment, got back to teach two lessons and ride four horses, and realized I had forgotten to pick up a bit I'm going to try on Cha Cha when I was down in Salt Lake. Mom to the rescue, she picked it up for me! I finally got to the grocery store last night at 9pm, so now I have real food in the house (which is good, because I'm out of ice cream.) Today brings some lessons, 5 horses to ride, and a trip to Salt Lake to gallop Cha Cha. Its snowing. Damn it!
Thankfully, the weekend itself had been relativley successful. Cha Cha was a wild man on thursday, nearly unloading me twice when I rode him in the morning. I rode him again in the afternoon, and he was much better, although still very full of himself. I had a 10:30 dressage ride, and Lani had a 8:40 dressage ride, so I got Cha Cha out friday morning at 7am as soon as I had him braided. His first ride was quite tense, and I ended up spending the entire time trying to get him more supple. He went back to the barns while I warmed Lani up, and then I got on him again. Much better! He then went back to the barns AGAIN for a final polish, and I got on him 15 minutes before my test. Success! He was very good, and scored a 30!
Saturday he was back to being a wild beast, and towed me around cross country like a Mac truck. Bad boy, Cha Cha. We jumped clear (and he was brilliant to all the hard things), but picked up 12.6 time due to the wrestling match we had to have 20 strides out from each fence. Sunday was a bit of the same, so its back to some good gymnastics work and placing rails for him this week. I can't be too annoyed with him, however. He hadn't galloped or jumped properly since Twin due to an abscess, and he was truly feeling very good and enthusiastic. Hopefully, I can get the rideablity sorted out so we can move up to intermediate this summer.
So, I arrived home Monday evening, and subsequently spent all day tuesday cleaning up my parents pasture and moving some of the old boys to their house. I didn't do my grocery shopping, I didn't do laundry, I didn't get my taxes together for my Thursday tax appointment. I DID manage to catch Sarge, although I realized when I got to the field he was living in, I hadn't remembered to bring a halter with me... I rigged one out of a set of roping reins and loaded him up in the trailer and brought him home. He won't let me anywhere near him now, but mom reports that he is letting her pet him. Hopefully, I'll be able to catch him in time to get his shots, etc.
By wednesday, I still didn't have any food in the house and ate frozen yogurt for breakfast and ice cream for dinner (healthy, huh?), and remembered at 8pm that I had a 11:30 tax appointment on thursday, after my 9am lesson, and feeding the horses at mom's. ARRRGH!!! Luckily, I managed to get it all together, taught, fed, got to the tax appointment, got back to teach two lessons and ride four horses, and realized I had forgotten to pick up a bit I'm going to try on Cha Cha when I was down in Salt Lake. Mom to the rescue, she picked it up for me! I finally got to the grocery store last night at 9pm, so now I have real food in the house (which is good, because I'm out of ice cream.) Today brings some lessons, 5 horses to ride, and a trip to Salt Lake to gallop Cha Cha. Its snowing. Damn it!
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Things that make the business run
I'm a pretty lucky person. Make that a very lucky person. I get to do a job I love, surrounded by amazing people and wonderful animals. All day, every day. Yeah, sometimes its not quite all fun, like yesterday, when I did my last gallop before Galway in a full on, white out blizzard. Or when my horse is lame (as he was after Twin Rivers, when he popped a huge abscess which kept him out of work for a week). Or when I spend over 12 hours at the barn, riding, cleaning, grooming, riding, and riding, until I'm so tired I forego dinner altogether and fall asleep on the couch. But for every time I'm feeling overwhelmed or harried or exhausted, I can name at least three times that my friends, family, and clients have stepped up to help me out.
The lead up to this trip to Galway has not been nearly as smooth as I would have liked. Between the lame horse, a crammed teaching schedule, the winter that finally came, causing said teaching schedule to become even more wild, cross country schooling, and a clinic with Alfredo Hernandez, I was just toeing the line which divides moderate insanity from utter chaos. Then, I plugged my trailer into my truck to drive to the car wash on Sunday. No trailer brakes. I did have a flashing red light on my brake controller, and when I used the manual trailer brake lever, I did actually have brakes, although the computer didn't think so. Uh-oh. I called the trailer repair guy first thing on Monday morning and made an appointment for that day. I arranged for Steph to pick me up and take me back to the barn. I put the dog in the car, and fired up the truck. Bingo. Brakes. I called the trailer guy back and we decided to try it again later and see if it was still working. He rightly (and honestly!) pointed out that he couldn't fix what wasn't broken. Crisis averted.
But, yesterday was supposed to be Cha Cha's final (and only- stupid abscess!) gallop before Galway. He's finally feeling very fit and no longer looking like a prelim Thelwell, and I was loath to miss another gallop. But... It was blizzarding. Seriously. And windy enough in the valley to blow rain gutters off of houses. I can do canter sets in the indoor, but we'd set up the dressage arena on Sunday, and I'd need to take most of it down in order to make the corners, and even then, its a very controlled canter, and not really very beneficial from a fitness standpoint. The footing in the outdoor was surprisingly good, in spite of the moisture, and the ring is much bigger, and therefor more suitable for a more serious canter work-out. Brian, our wonderful barn manager agreed to harrow the outdoor for me in the blinding, driving snow. So, Cha Cha did his gallop, and recovered very quickly, so I'm thinking he hasn't lost too much in the way of fitness due to his unplanned layoff.
Today was predictably the craziest of all. I started teaching at 9am, and went pretty much straight through until 2pm. Plus, I had several horses to ride before leaving for the weekend, and the trailer wasn't loaded. Lani came up and spent the day, and did the lions share of the work, loading hay, bedding the trailer, adding feed, loading tack, and trunks, and grain, and blankets... Plus, she cleaned and vacuumed the living quarters! What a gal!
So now I'm getting ready to head to bed, after going out to dinner with my mom. I'm just waiting on my last load of laundry to finish drying so I can finish packing. Oh, and I'm waiting for Lani to get here to spend the night before our 3am wake-up. She had a family party to get to, on top of everything else. Oh, and she's stopping by the grocery store on the way up- because, like most of the people I'm lucky enough to have in my life, she's awesome like that!
The lead up to this trip to Galway has not been nearly as smooth as I would have liked. Between the lame horse, a crammed teaching schedule, the winter that finally came, causing said teaching schedule to become even more wild, cross country schooling, and a clinic with Alfredo Hernandez, I was just toeing the line which divides moderate insanity from utter chaos. Then, I plugged my trailer into my truck to drive to the car wash on Sunday. No trailer brakes. I did have a flashing red light on my brake controller, and when I used the manual trailer brake lever, I did actually have brakes, although the computer didn't think so. Uh-oh. I called the trailer repair guy first thing on Monday morning and made an appointment for that day. I arranged for Steph to pick me up and take me back to the barn. I put the dog in the car, and fired up the truck. Bingo. Brakes. I called the trailer guy back and we decided to try it again later and see if it was still working. He rightly (and honestly!) pointed out that he couldn't fix what wasn't broken. Crisis averted.
But, yesterday was supposed to be Cha Cha's final (and only- stupid abscess!) gallop before Galway. He's finally feeling very fit and no longer looking like a prelim Thelwell, and I was loath to miss another gallop. But... It was blizzarding. Seriously. And windy enough in the valley to blow rain gutters off of houses. I can do canter sets in the indoor, but we'd set up the dressage arena on Sunday, and I'd need to take most of it down in order to make the corners, and even then, its a very controlled canter, and not really very beneficial from a fitness standpoint. The footing in the outdoor was surprisingly good, in spite of the moisture, and the ring is much bigger, and therefor more suitable for a more serious canter work-out. Brian, our wonderful barn manager agreed to harrow the outdoor for me in the blinding, driving snow. So, Cha Cha did his gallop, and recovered very quickly, so I'm thinking he hasn't lost too much in the way of fitness due to his unplanned layoff.
Today was predictably the craziest of all. I started teaching at 9am, and went pretty much straight through until 2pm. Plus, I had several horses to ride before leaving for the weekend, and the trailer wasn't loaded. Lani came up and spent the day, and did the lions share of the work, loading hay, bedding the trailer, adding feed, loading tack, and trunks, and grain, and blankets... Plus, she cleaned and vacuumed the living quarters! What a gal!
So now I'm getting ready to head to bed, after going out to dinner with my mom. I'm just waiting on my last load of laundry to finish drying so I can finish packing. Oh, and I'm waiting for Lani to get here to spend the night before our 3am wake-up. She had a family party to get to, on top of everything else. Oh, and she's stopping by the grocery store on the way up- because, like most of the people I'm lucky enough to have in my life, she's awesome like that!
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