Trust Me...

The challenge has begun...

She's a natural!

I wanted to wait for some big, dramatic unveiling, but I just can't.  I'm too excited to share the journey!

We have been accepted to compete at Battle of the Breeds at Equifest Kansas in Wichita, KS in February!!

One of the six events is driving.

Guess what Fancy Pony hasn't done yet?

OK, I've ground driven her.  But it isn't the same.
Crupper?  She says, "I will clamp my tail until we get to work!!"
Blinders?  She says, "What the hell!  I can't see you!  I must turn around so I can see you!"

She was taking it all in stride until I asked her to walk off and she swung her butt instead, right into a gate which hit the metal door of the indoor arena.  Oops!

I learned to dance really fast so that when she spun looking for me, I stayed out of her sight.  Once she catches a glimmer of me, it's over.  I'm then left driving the pony from in front of her...  Not so good.

We are now up to trotting figure eights along the shirt side of the outdoor arena!  She seeks my outside rein in order to gauge how far to turn!  She can't see me, but she is trusting that I will not run her into anything!

I've even drug a loud, noisy, clobbering pole around on either side of her as I lead her (you know, from the side - where she can't see me or the pole!).

I think we're ready to learn how to pull!!
I wonder if any minions will be available at the barn tonight to play "dead weight" for me...

Blogger Gift Exchange!

I opened my gift exchange box with mounting excitement... I was ready for some purple horse brushes! I truly love purple. Especially the darker, royal purple shades!

I nearly squealed when I unwrapped this instead...

*****SQUEEEEE!*****

This hose nozzle really I'd the ultimate! We had one st a bath where I worked. It shuts of either direction. The best array of spray options is incredible! And I've had a use for every one of them! This is totally going in my show tote!!

There was a surprise just for the Fancy Pony! Oh, how she loves hrrnsome treats. She practically demands them after our rides. She just stands there, looking at you expectantly...

for the pretty pink pony!

The thing I am most excited to try is a thing I never even knew existed. It hadn't made it to a wish list...

photo bomb!

No, its not the cat. Torqure (aka Mr. Whiskers, aka T) has been around for a while and has a distinct knack for photobombing. Isn't he adorable? He even walks on a leash!

I digress. Back to the gifts!

Holy Cow!  Did you know about these??

Oh, man how awesome this sounds! It will run 6 to 12 hours depending on how much fluid you fill it with. THAT is beyond awesome!

It likely won't help keep my toes warm, but it will definitely help keep the post-ride chills at bay. The jhand warmers that you buy at the store are always so small. They can certainly only warm one hand at a time. I expect this will be like holding a mug of hot chocolate. Does it get any more delightful?

I almost teared up when I read the card. Us Reynaud's sisters are sticking together! Maybe I was feeling a little emotional that day...

Doesn't matter, though! It was a wonderful box of gifts, and I couldn't be more grateful. Now, I just need to work out my secret weapons for sub-30 degree temperatures, and I'll be in business!!

Already? I mean, Merry Christmas!

Time is flying by as I try to balance riding and holiday festivities.
I have been catching up on tack cleaning with all of this too-cold-to-ride weather!  I even got the borrowed saddle cleaned before returning it to it's proper owner!

Asmir, the kitten (just over a year old), has decided the weather is just fine (my app said it was 1 degree outside with a wind chill of -15), so she decided to practice her foxhunting at O-dark-30 as I prepared to leave for that abominable thing called work.  I would much rather be practicing for foxhunting, myself...  Maybe I can try some hilltopping before the season ends...



Tally Ho!

 She just might have a future riding sidesaddle!
I thought I was going to sneak a ride tonight (because yesterday's 19 degrees was not enticing me), but I realized that it is Christmas Eve (How did that sneak up on me so stealthily??) rather than "just Tuesday", and I have somewhere to be by 6:00 pm.  I wonder if I can still swing in a quick ride?
I wonder if the propsed high of 36 degrees will actually come to pass?
Perhaps I am completely delusional!
*sigh*
I probably will be missing my usual Tuesday night ride.  I guarantee I'll be missing my Wednesday ride, as hubby has plans for me to help cook all morning...  Family commitments...  All that jazz... (cue Chicago!)

I still owe you all a post about my blogger gift exchange gift, but I haven't had a chance to even take the pictures!

This winter weather is REALLY cutting into my riding time, and I'm not dealing well.  I suppose I'll just be looking forward to Thursday, and I'll catch up after the holidays!

Merry Christmas!

Solid at 2'6" - Commit to the mistake!

The first words I heard from my coach as I was warming up were, "Look at that pony's canter!"
Obviously, she was pleased with the gait that we were producing.  I was pleased, too!  We have been practicing, you see.  Because the Fancy Pony wants to go faster rather than wait and balance...  It's not that she is being beligerant, it's just that she doesn't know any better!

So, for the last week, I have been insisting that she balance around the turns.  This involves a concious effort on my part to sit up, sit back, and lift her shoulders with my inside leg.  Now, if we're just flatting, she really thinks, "Geez, lady.  What's the point?"  But, now that we are riding connected lines, she is realizing, "Wow, if I do this it makes my job way easier!"
We actually had some adjustability in our canter in warm-up!

I was feeling pretty darned accomplished, and I only jumped ahead of my horse once (I got excited, what can I say?).  Coach sent me around the course again (Which now included outside lines, diagonal lines, and bending lines!  Woo Hoo!) and said to me, "Remember, you are the decision maker.  If you make a decision, even if it is the wrong one, follow through and support it!  Don't drop her at the base of the fence."

You see, I feel like my horse knows better than I do if the long spot or the short spot will be better if we aren't going to arrive at the perfect spot.  So, I have (incorrectly) been giving a stride out and letting her tell me which will be more comfortable.  She doesn't always make the right choice, either, but she always gets us over the fence, and hardly ever knocks a rail.  I think she has had 3 knocked rails in the last year.  Maybe 4.  She is stupendously careful!  Because I have not been commiting to what I see, and leaving it open for discussion, she was feeling a little bit abandoned at the base of the fences.  That one instruction made a huge difference in my next round!  We rode the entire round like a hunter!  Coming to the dinky wall, she wanted the long spot.  She was commiting to it!  I sat up and sucked it in (never touched the reins) and she waited!

The most entertaining part of the ride, however, was the last course we did, where we rode a single fence, diagonal bending line, outside line, diagonal bending line, outside line.  The final outside line was new, and she was convince that we were done after the final bending line.  I bent her toward the final (new) line, and she was sleeping.  She just wanted to cruise (in balance, at least!) around the end and hang on the rail.  This last line comes up fast, especially if you don't come off of the rail at precisely the right moment.  And the first jump in the line is a very solid gate!  It was ugly, but I hauled her off of the rail, putting us on a bit of a diagonal approach to the gate.  I told her, "I don't care how ugly it is.  Get over and put yourself together!"  She zeroed in on the fence, hopped over it on the diagonal line that put us in the middle, landed straight and in line for the second fence, balanced, adjusted for a proper take-off, and jumped quietly and round over the final fence!  She was so with me, at that point, that I rode her around to the end of the ring, did a balanced transition to trot on a half circle, which put me on the centerline.  We trotted about 1/4 of the way down the centerline, and trotted right into a straight halt.  It was so lovely, I saluted like it was a dressage test!

As far as committing to the mistakes, Coach and I discussed some of the choices she would have made differently (as well as the choices that she whole-heartedly agreed with), and she didn't seem to have any issue with the reasoning for the decisions I made differently.

The show this weekend has now been cancelled to to imminent freezing rain and overall crummy weather, so we won't get to show off our newfound hunter skills yet.  On the upside, I recieved my Not-So-Secret Santa Blogger gift, and I will be making a whole seperate post about it because it is over the top, and I need your full attention for the gushing.
On the other up-side, I finally got mine together and packaged and SHIPPED (today, geez, I feel so behind!!), so it should reach its destination next week.  Hopefully before Christmas, but if not, definitely shortly after.  I sure hope she likes it!!

Special Note: I have it on good authority that we will start playing over small corner questions and skinnies and all manner of other fun things like that.  I can't wait to tell you guys what the Fancy Pony thinks about such mind-boggling questions!

Development -or- Can you hear me?

First of all, let me say this:
That Higher Standards soap is incredible!!

I finally got around to trying it out.  I bought the sample kit, so I have 3 small tubs of soap and a small tub of leather balm.  When it arrived, I had *just* finished cleaning a huge chunk of tack with traditional saddle soap and followed up with neatsfoot oil compound.  I didn’t have much to try the new stuff out on.  Then I realized exactly how rough my every day bridle was looking…  So, I brought it home to take it apart and scrub the snot out of it.
My husband decided he liked the smell of the lavender-vanilla the best, so I used that one.  Apparently, it smelled up the entire kitchen, because everyone commented about the nice smell, and all the animals came to check out what I was doing.  In fact, the kitten kept trying to lay down on my work space – never mind that I’m scrubbing leather!
The neatest thing was how clean this gets my leather!  My bridle looked brand new when I got done!  Now, my everyday bridle is the Plymouth bridle from Smart Pak.  It’s not like this is a super high quality bridle, but it isn’t junk, either.  I thought it was beginning to look worn, and I was thinking that I might actually need something else to set aside just for showing…  Yes, I show in the same tack I school in…  But after I finished cleaning with the Higher Standards saddle soap, I realized my bridle has tons of life left in it!  What I thought was wear and tear was just a very thin layer of very stubborn dirt or oil or crud or whatever that just hadn’t been coming off before!  I kept saying to myself: “OMG!  That’s just dirt??”
Since I do use this bridle every single day(which means it takes quite a bit of abuse from dust and dirt and sweat), I figured it would appreciate a little extra love, so I followed up with the leather balm once it was dry.  I love the feel of the leather balm!  I love how it melts and spreads evenly with just a little bit of wiping.  It really feels like chapstick for my leather!

My husband's favorite flavor, so far...

Listening...

More fun stuff

So, I tacked up the Fancy Pony and we headed down to the arena.  She was chill.  We walked around to warm up and she was stretchy and getting loose, just be-bopping on a long rein…  The horses out in the pasture started kicking it up…  She wanted to party a little, but she continued to walk like I asked…  on a long rein…  And someone working out of their trailer threw something out on the ground, and she used that as a perfect excuse for a sit-and-spin maneuver!  Then went back to walking on the long rein.  *sigh*
The pasture horses were really getting going now, and she desperately wanted to be a crazy beast with them, but she was trying her best to focus on what I was asking.  On a whim, I took advantage of the “want-to-go” in conjunction with the “want-to-please” and asked for trot.  I got the prancy trot.  Her tail was curled over her back, and I was riding the closest thing to passage that I have ridden in 15 years!  I could feel her sitting and pushing with every stride!  With a close of the thigh, she came back to walk.  With a close of the calf, she stepped right back into the collected trot!  Coil the spring, release the spring, coil the spring, release the spring…  I knew this was asking a lot from her, so after 4 or 5 short sets, we walked out a little more, with the relaxation I asked for…  I didn’t think she could maintain the balance if I lengthened that trot too much, but I hope she remembers that feeling when we start to shorten it again!
As a reward, I got off, took her bridle off, and let her party around the arena.  Her paddock just isn’t adequate for her to cut loose like that, and I know she needs to get it out of her system now and again.  I appreciate that she tells me when she needs it in such a constructive manner.  How does your horse communicate with you?

After removing her bridle, she still kept her head facing me, asking for permission, seeking instruction.  I pointed to the far end of the arena, raised my crop toward her hip, and she trotted off.  Then, she realized exactly what was going on, and leapt into a head long gallop, round and round and round the arena she went.  Snorting and blowing and partying…  Change direction, and again, she went round and round and round.  Blowing off steam, she galloped and cantered, and galloped again!  She took a few short trot breaks, then headed off to gallop some more!  She even did the race horse thing, where she switched to the “wrong” lead for the straight away and switched back to the “right” lead for the turns.  She is just so athletic!!

Finally, she had her fill, and she walked back up to me to be bridled and get down to work.  She was breathing pretty heavy, so we went back to our long walk.  When we started work in earnest, I focused on impulsion in the gaits.  When we got to the jumping, I didn’t jump ahead of my horse a single time!  Although I lost my left rein on that same outside line…  I wonder why that keeps happening?  It’s not like I lose the entire rein, I just end up with an extra 4 inches on the landing side of the second jump…  We only had one moment of rushing, but she came back to me little by little.  I think I used a little too much leg on the landing side of the jump before the turn.  Sometimes, I think she just mistakes speed for impulsion.  Perhaps the rushing comes when I lean forward too far on landing…  I’m still tuning in to all of my little undesirable quirks.  I think I also did a better job of keeping my shoulders up and not ducking down.  My internal monologue is coming right along.  Sit up…  Wait with the shoulders… Suck it in… Wait with the shoulders…

Not a bad ride for being a bit sickly!  It was a pretty short one, and we only jumped a little before it got dark enough that I felt we should stop.  All in all, I’m at a point where the size of the jump doesn’t matter to me.  I just point her and go!

Next, I think I want to elasticize our canter a little more…

For Want of Spring

While it was flipping cold outside, I was going stir crazy and failing to manage my Raynaud’s.  Now that it is beautiful outside (well, compared to the last couple weeks, anyway), I have a head cold.  Pardon me, while I pout.
***POUT***

we can pretend this is me pouting, right?

I'm going to a show Saturday.  A local hunter.jumper show.  Where we will happily go 2'3" and 2'6" with the intent of jumping bigger courses and absolutely no hope of ribbons.  I'm completely OK with that.  I really want to kick ass at Beginner Novice eventing in 2014.  So, while I really just want to drug up and do this:

seriously, any cat will do...

I will instead drag my happy self out to the barn and do my best to stay out of the Fancy Pony's way while we practice a quick bit of jumping.  Then, I will proceed home for the drugging and kitty-cuddling and general miserable-ality that goes along with being sick.
And my husband will never understand why I don't just stay home and rest...

Yippee! Courses!

You all may have picked up on this fact: I love grids!


Grids let me find my happy place… and stay there!

That also means that I lose a little something when I’m not in a grid, or if I haven’t warmed up in a grid. So, last night, there were no grids. There were courses!

I was trying to remember the last time we rode a course. Hunter Hack at the Fuzzy Show didn’t count, because it was only a line (and I botched it terribly). I’m pretty sure our last real courses were at our Starter schooling in June!

Read the recap of our first Starter event here!

But, we don’t need to practice courses to get better at courses… We just need to practice dressage!!

We have a hunter/jumper schooling show next weekend. (OMG! I can’t believe I still get to show about once a month and it’s the middle of winter!!) So, we got an eventers crash course in hunters. Which is great for me, because I’ve been trying to learn all I can about what makes a top hunter! I also liked that Coach didn’t say, “This is what the judge is looking for!” Instead she said, “This is what I want to see!”

Let’s face it, we’re riding eventers, not hunters. We have to start somewhere, so we must prioritize what we are showing off, here.

Warm-up:

“I want to see focused warm-up. Trot each fence both directions, then if you feel comfortable, start cantering some of them.”

I love warming up by trotting the jumps! Fancy Pony approaches relaxed and confident from the trot. Always. We establish quiet rhythm with trot. She never takes a long spot from the trot. The trot just plain sets us up for success. Kudos to me for already having and using this tool!

I also got the break down on how to show the warm-up circle, as well as how to use it to establish balance, pace, and rhythm.

ROUND 1a:

“I want to see the same rhythm before, after, and in between every fence! I want to see large, sweeping turns that use the entire arena! I want to see straight diagonals!”

Got it. Ride the rhythm. Connect the lines… Well, I needed to make bigger turns. And at the end of our first diagonal line, Fancy Pony wobbled because she wanted to swing around to take the second jump on the rail… This mare loves the jumpers questions! Angles? You bet! Roll back turns? Bring it on! Bending lines? She is all about it. Basic hunter pony courses? BORING!

On the up side, we did a pretty good job maintaining our consistent pace!

ROUND 1b:

outside line… diagonal line… big sweeping turn to my next outside line…. CHARGE!!! LAUNCH the cross-rail!

**Um, excuse me! I don’t care what size the fence is, we are not finishing this line and taking that jump from THIS disrespectful canter!!**

I think she was just excited, but there are more respectful (and safer!) ways to channel that excitement than galloping headlong over the jumps with no adjustability (or no brakes).

We tried that line set up again. This time, I felt like I had to nearly set her on her ass every other stride between the fences on the outside line, but at least she was listening.

ROUND 2a:

My half seat leaves something to be desired. I lean forward. Then, when we jump, I duck even further. If Coach yells at me to sit up, I fix it immediately! This will be an ongoing challenge until the new muscle memory is established. There is also the ongoing problem of my hands being stuck in my lap…

If I ride the entire time with my hands halfway up her neck, my elbows stay close and my hands follow her neck over the fence. I also sit up a little better. However, when I let me hands work between the fences in their normal position, they sometimes get stuck when I get to the jump. Fancy Pony, being the honest soul that she has become, jumps anyway. She just packs me over the fence and waits ever-so-patiently for me to figure it out.

So, my exercise was to keep my knuckles on her neck for the entire ride. Knuckles at the base of her neck as I ride between and around the fences, then slide the knuckles to half-way up her neck for the jump, then slide them back down to the base of her neck for the next flat stretch.



--ASIDE--

This entire lesson, I wasn’t so much focused on the jumps. I was focused on perfection between the jumps. Fancy Pony will jump the jump no matter how well or how poorly I set her up. My ultimate success lies on that 90% of the course that happens between the jumps, and I’ve known that for a while. I think this is part of the reason my hands get stuck in my lap… I’m still riding between the fences…

-- end aside --

So, I didn’t *actually* keep my knuckles in contact the entire time, but the point was well made, and my hands became more mobile at the appropriate times.

ROUND 4a (or something like that):

The fences went up when I wasn’t looking. That’s OK (I told myself), just keep riding your rhythm.

One… Two… One… Two… jump… Oh, crap! I lost 4 inches of my outside rein! …One… *gather, gather* …Two… Why can’t I get my rein together? …One… *tangle, gather* …jump… (never did get that outside rein back) …One… Two… One… finally get my reins together as I sweep around to take the diagonal line …Two… release …One… jump… *sigh* I had jumped ahead.

She could totally have run out on the second fence of the bigger line, but she stayed true and straight, even after the second fence when I still didn’t have my reins back. And the diagonal when I jumped ahead, she could have easily dumped me if she wanted. I can *FEEL* when I’m not right, which is an excellent start, but I really need to get more consistent.

This is where I save my horses legs and continue to visualize, feel, and internalize the memories of our best jumping efforts when I’m between rides or away from the barn.

Over a few of the courses, I had breaks to the trot because I asked her to come back to me with more gusto than I needed. I was cool with that after the galloping charge we had. I rode a few more connected lines, and I could really feel her adjustability between the fences.

And, there was one course where my chosen line took me over a random pole on the ground. My horse (who never acknowledges poles on the ground while also never kicking them) JUMPED the pole on the ground as if it were a 2’ fence!

All in all, I'm thrilled about our ability to work together better and better between the fences.  And I love that I don't actually have to worry about the jumping part!!