Today’s post has yet another movie reference.  After enjoying some barn time this morning and then spending most of the afternoon water proofing the deck (yippee for me), my husband and I rotted in the A/C and watched Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.  It is the installment where Indiana and his father played by Sean Connery go in search of The Holy Grail.  In one of the final scenes, the Holy Grail has to be chosen from a miriad of choices.  The elderly knight tells Indiana and the Nazis to “Choose wisely.”  The Nazi chose the flashy gold Chalice and was told after his body aged, “he chose poorly.”  The Holy Grail was actually the plainest of all the choices, but was the one that offered eternal life.

I tell that story to tell the story of selecting Ike as my next dressage mount.  I spent countless hours combing the internet looking at available horses.  Virginia Equestrian (http://www.virginiaequestrian.com), Warmbloods for Sale (http://warmbloods-for-sale.com/), Dressage Star (http://www.dressagestar.com), and various private farm website were trolled looking for a horse that would meet my needs and my budget.  It was overwhelming and I hadn’t even left the house or put a foot in a stirrup.  Make the wrong choice, and I end up with a horse whose trot I cannot sit or a horse that is too much for my meager skill set.  I also wanted sanity, yes, sanity was a very important attribute.  My trainer knew of a sales barn in Wellington, Florida after finding one of her horses there.  Berktold Dressage (http://www.berktolddressage.com/) ended up being the perfect place for me to find a horse.  I had four horses to try that all were close to meeting my criteria.  Two were knocked out of the running because poor Flash’s trot had so much movement that I could not even do a decent rising trot; Gloria was a phenomenal mare, but I would have been overfaced with her powerful movement.  The two remaining choices were Ike and a mare named Dona.  Both were sane and rideable.  Dona had proven show experience.  Ike had only been under saddle for 4 weeks or so when I rode him, but there was just something about him that I liked.  Well, you already know who I picked.

Our ride today was 40 minutes of goodness.  We did some practice tests and schooled haunches in and a tiny bit of leg yield to help Ike get his weight in the correct place for canter.  I have a video that will need some editing since it is almost 10 minutes long and I’m not always in the frame.  I started the filming before I mounted and left the camera sitting on the fence for the first part of my ride.

It could be said that for dressage riders, reaching the FEI levels could be considered The Holy Grail.  It is what we all wish we could do at least once before retiring from the sport.  While I may never get there with Ike, and he might not be the flashiest mover or the horse with the most chrome, the longer Ike is part of the family, the more I realize that I “Chose Wisely.”

Hi Mom, I’m waiting for you.  Silly boy was waiting in his stall when I arrived today.  He made it outside for a few hours this morning before he decided that it was time for sanctuary.  The upside to a horse that likes to be in his stall?  He was clean and grooming was simple.  I have to say that I wouldn’t mind a little mud right now because that would mean it had rained.  The ground is already hard as well…not a good sign for the summer to come.

No bad luck while under saddle today.  Ike was again spot on with his work.  Have I mentioned that he is a good boy?  Ms. C’s son was kind enough to shoot a short video of part of our ride: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOBR0mmaBrA&feature=youtu.be  As you can see, we got our right lead canter on the first try – you just have to squint through the dust.  I watched our canter video from February again and I do believe that there is better balance.   The only bad luck is that I’m wearing the same fleece pullover that I was wearing in the February video.  What can I say, it is comfortable and has pockets.  Pockets are the key.

My bad luck today occurred out of the saddle.  I forgot the battery to the camera (it was in the charger back home) and had to retrieve my phone out of the car to take this photo.  I know, it goes against my rule of no cell phones, but the camera feature came to the rescue today.  I also forgot the air mattress for Ms. C to borrow.

15 days to go.  Guess we need to get that mane pulled and the goat hairs trimmed.

I cannot say enough good things about Ike’s personality.  He might have a moody day like yesterday, who doesn’t, but he is a kind and gentle soul and you can see it in his eyes.  He maintains the relaxed and happy eye whether we are grooming or under saddle.  Ike wants to please which is a refreshing change from his brother.

Our ride today was top notch.  I always like to try to repeat the lesson from the day before to see if I can recreate the feeling without Ms. C’s direction.  We might not have had all the flexion and bend that we needed, but overall I was pleased with today’s effort.  In my humble opinion, Ike’s canter was show worthy today – he could have even have done well in a Training Level test.  The left lead was again balanced and rhythmic.  Drumroll please…….so was the right lead!  Why today and not yesterday?  Because we are still three years old for another 18 days and we just can’t make all the body parts work in unison each and every ride.  As we build muscle memory, oh heck, we need the muscle first, then we will get more consistent.

As I left today, Ike was contentedly eating his hay with that happy look in his eyes.  Isn’t is a great time when all is quiet in the barn except for the munching sounds from happy horses?  As much as he enjoys his hay, Ike always takes a moment to quietly bid me goodbye.

Horses are world class communicators.  Anyone who has spent time with horses knows.  While some are very vocal with whinnies, nickers, and squeals, others are relatively quiet.  All are masters of non-verbal communication.  A squinty eye with pinned back ears – I am not happy with what you are doing!  Eyes wide and unblinking with ears perked forward – danger, danger Will Robinson!

Ike is the tall, silent type.  I can count on two fingers the number of times he has whinnied in my presence.  He relies more on facial expressions and ear movement to let me know his feelings and boy, was he in a mood today.  Not his best photo but you can see the ‘tude.  Maybe it was because he didn’t get to see me yesterday?  Perhaps I did not doll out the treats fast enough or give him all the attention.  Most likely, it was close to dinner time and I made him wait until after our lesson was over.  Lots of ear pinning and head swinging every time I was in his sight line.  A handful of oats tamed the beast while I tacked.

It was not an ideal spring day to have a lesson.  In fact, it felt more like early March with temperatures in the high 40s and windy.  The clouds were out as well and produced some spinkles while we rode (so no new undersaddle photos to share).  With less than 3 weeks until the debut, we need the practice and you never know what the weather will do on show day.  Ike was feeling fresh so he was very much in front of my leg.  He has had a tendency to pop into the trot if I use too much leg – even with a suggestion of trot today he was popping up.  Do over!  Do over!  We were finally in sync at the trot; the down transitions, which used to be like running into a brick wall, now flow up and into the bridle.  Progress.  Centerlines could not have been better.  I thought we were communicating well…

Then it was time for canter.  The left lead was balanced and controlled and Ike got it on the first try.  The right lead, well, ah, you see, {patience, patience, patience} we were a bit of a hot mess.  Poor Ike was disunited in our first attempts, left lead behind, right lead in the front.  All I can say is that it felt like a was riding a 8 month old Great Dane puppy with legs flailing every which way.  You could tell that he was trying so hard to do what I asked, but he just couldn’t get all the body parts aligned at the right time.  Time to regroup.  I had to ask myself if I was being clear in my request.  Back to trot to gain some confidence, down the long side, half halt, step into the right stirrup, feed off onto a circle, squeeze the rein, rock the right hip, left leg slightly back, and TA DA!  Success.  Not nearly as balanced as the left, but we all have our better sides.

We ended the lesson introducing the concept of a walk pirouette to the right to help Ike shift his weight to the inside hind.  Well, it is a work in progress.  One good step and then out swings the hind end.  We try again.  Alison, where is your weight?  Shift to correct place, two more good steps and we are done.  Note to self – I must communicate at the right moment and in the correct way for Ike to succeed.

Back in the saddle tomorrow.  18 days.

Yesterday was our weekly lesson.  I can honestly say that my trainer is one of my best friends and has probably forgotten more about horses that I will ever hope to learn.  She keeps us on task and knows just how to bring out the best in both of us.  Too bad I cannot shrink her enough to hide in a pocket as I ride my tests.  It is evident by the photos that we need the constant reminders by the fabulous Ms. C to find our happy place.

We continue to work on our rhythm and relaxation; Ike was much less of a freight train during the lesson.  Ike and I are also searching for straightness between the reins and my legs and for the still elusive connection and recycle of the energy.  There are fleeting moments where we achieve that goal, but then the moment is gone and one body part or another has moved into another time zone.  Ms. C says it is all part of the process as Ike learns to find his balance, and I learn how to help him find it and maintain it.

We work a lot at the walk and trot.  If we can’t maintain our straightness and throughness going slower, we have absolutely no chance at the canter.  I have to think like a metronome while trotting, one, two, one, two, one, two.  I think I’ve got it, and then, oops, I don’t prepare Ike well enough to feed off onto a circle.  We then look tense and choppy.  Sigh, rider error! Thank you for playing, please try again.  [What, did you think I’d post one of those photos??]

Wouldn’t it be nice if you could have “do overs” during a dressage test?  Think about it, at golf tournaments, golfers can purchase mulligan tickets so when your ball ends up in the creek for the second time, you can whip out that ticket and try again to hit terra firma with no penalty strokes.  You won’t see mulligans at the Masters this weekend (I bet Rory wished he had that ticket when he ended up in the drink), but every fun golf tournament I’ve ever attended offered this fabulous option. I think USEF and USDF should consider allowing riders to purchase similar tickets, then when you blow a movement, you can stop and cry “DO OVER!” and retry.  Show managers, think of the money to be earned!  Sign me up!

Since I doubt mulligans will be an option by the end of the month, we will continue to practice.  Twenty three days to go.