Monthly Archives for August 2012

You Are Not the Boss of Me!

So I am now certain that we have entered the rebellious teenaged years.  Every ride this week has included an attempt or two or three by Ike to control the gait at which we are traveling.  He opts for the Scooby Doo Scramble every time and also chooses to ignore my attempts to regain control.  This devil-may-care attitude is completely out of character for Ike which led to the certainty of my conclusion.  I fully expect him to put his hooves on his hips and scream, “you aren’t the boss of me!”  then stomp off to his stall and slam the stall door shut.  Of course, the top of the stall is open and I will be able to see him sulking in “his room” but he will have made his point.  I can only hope that this phase will pass quickly.  The schooling show this weekend will be fun if Ike decides to take this show on the road; I foresee low submission and harmony scores in the collectives…awesome.

I started my ride yesterday with walk-halt transitions and some one rein flexes for good measure.  I tried to set the tone quickly hoping that it would shut down any naughtiness.  Ha!  Was I ever wrong.  I thought I had lightening quick reflexes from riding Cigar for 7 years, but Ike managed to outwit my aids numerous times yesterday.  At one point I was pretty certain that we were going to either run through the fence or have to jump over it.  Somehow at the last second, I managed to pull Ike’s nose around enough to make a turn and avoid the collision.  Can I just say how strong the boy is when he gets that motor going.  Yikes!  There is a lot of power in his engine and the brakes need to be adjusted.  He even took advantage while I was attempting a free walk.  Boom!  We are careening down the long diagonal.  I can see the judge’s comment now – “impressive canter lengthening, but you were supposed to be walking, neck needs more stretch.”  Just like a frustrated parent, I tried to remain calm through the commotion.

Today we rode alone.  We had someone with us in the ring every other ride this week;  I also did not carry a whip to see if the behavior would stop.  Wrong.  Again I was lulled into a false sense of peace.  I was riding a three loop serpentine and was thinking to myself that all was back to normal…and then, Ike popped into canter before I could even think half halt.  Luckily I had good rein contact and was able to regain control and our trot within 5 strides.  Looped around again and the stinker again tried to bolt.  Finally, my reflexes were faster than his and I stopped the nonsense before it started…much like a parent waiting outside as their teenager tries to sneak out the window.  For the rest of the ride, Ike was an angel.  I’m certain that he will try again and fingers are crossed that I am on my toes and waiting outside that window.

My motto for the upcoming week:  Stay calm and ride on.

Happy Anniversary!

At 8:30 a.m. on August 10th of 2011, Ike emerged from the hauler’s trailer and stepped foot on Virginia soil for the very first time.  Moments later, he then stepped on my foot for the very first time.  Maybe it was his way of claiming me – much like a climber sticking his country’s flag at the peak of a mountain.  I was so nervous, but tried to hide the fact that I was.  My mind was racing.  “What have I done?  OMG, I own a horse that I’ve only met once before and ridden twice.  Eek!  He is only 3 years old.  Can I do this?  Did I make a mistake?  Will he like me?  Will he like Virginia?  The butterflies in my stomach are making me feel nauseous.  Oh my, I now own two horses.  Please let this all turn out well.”

It has been a year of firsts for Ike – he started wearing shoes, wore a blanket for the first time and tried to run from it, saw snow, had acupuncture, went to a dressage show and went down his first centerline, met a horse whisperer, earned his first blue ribbon, and lest we not forget, became the star of a blog.

We have come so far in our partnership and yet have so very far to go.  Our centerlines have gone from looking like sine curves to being dead-on, stick-straight lines.  We’ve learned how to have less explosive up transitions and we no longer run into brick walls in our down transitions.  Of course some of our canter transitions are still a bit exuberant, but at least the odds of running into the fence while cantering have diminished.   There is now a hint of a topline and muscling in his neck.  While he’s still learning to put the body parts together as one unit, Marmaduke still lingers just beneath the surface, Ike’s balance and self carriage have progressed.  A certain person who shall remain nameless to protect the guilty needs to continue her quest to be a better rider to help Ike become a better horse.  Ike is starting to lose the baby face in exchange for a more mature look; I might be biased, but boy is he a handsome devil.

Today’s celebration included Stud Muffins for Ike and all his friends.  Ike’s brother commemorated the day by trying to bite Ike on the butt as we walked by…such brotherly love.  We also celebrated with our weekly dressage lesson.  Ike must have been feeling overwhelmed on this momentous occasion because he decided to bolt during our warm up.  There was no impetus, just a quick flip of the switch and we were careening towards the fence.  A very direct inside rein was all I had to save us from the crash.  Ms. C had us do walk-halt transitions and one rein flexes until big man decided to tune in to the program.  We then progressed to walk-trot, trot-walk-halt transitions until Ike was fully on the aids.  Sometimes you have to go back to the basics to re-instill the past lessons.  Since there was no further disobedience, we moved on to canter.  The transitions were a bit noncommittal today.  Not sure if it is a balance issue or the timing of my aids since there were no problems with my rides earlier in the week.  Once in canter, Ike is much more honest and over his back.  In my humble, novice opinion, there is a really good canter in the boy.  I’m looking forward to the day when we both get our acts together.

Ike spent the remainder of his day contentedly munching late summer grass.  Looking forward to the year to come and our future centerline adventures.

Wellington Memories

                                                          Photo by High Time Photography

As Ike and I close in on one year in our partnership, I’ve been thinking back to the trip to Wellington, Florida last August.  Yes, I know, I know, who goes to Wellington in August?  Crazy people like me looking for a horse.

The trip of course included flying, which is never much fun anymore.  Ms. C and I decided to make the trek with only carry on luggage for fear that the luggage would go MIA in Atlanta and we’d be without our stuff.  Well it was definitely a challenge to fit everything into my suitcase and “one personal item.”  Not only did I have tall boots and a riding helmet (which is not carry on size luggage friendly in any way, shape, or form), I had my quart bag of toiletries (that fits next to nothing), regular clothing, riding clothes, a laptop, a camera, a video camera, all the cords for said electronics, and a notebook filled with information on potential horses.  Heaven only knows what airport security thought when my bags went through the scanner.  Probably a good thing I left the spurs at home; I’d probably still be sitting in the security office of the Richmond Airport.

Ms. C and I still reminisce about the tack stores in Wellington.  There was time to kill our second day, so what better way to spend it than poking around the mecca of horsey stores in Wellington.  We only dream of having so many stores with so many items here at home.  Stores with brands I’ve never seen and haven’t seen since.  Leather goods that make a rider’s heart flutter.  The boots in one store invoked instantaneous boot lust.  They were way too pretty to ever see the inside of the barn, and unfortunately, way too pricey for someone who was shopping for a horse.  I did spend an inordinate amount of time admiring them in the store.  I did manage to purchase some polo wraps, a shirt, and a bridle that all had to be mashed into the carry on bags as well.  I was half tempted to wear the bridle as a necklace and my helmet as a hat, but in this day of Instagram, I wisely chose not to go that route…my suitcase barely fit in the overhead.

If you’ve never been to Wellington and need a recommendation on a hotel – the Hampton Inn & Suites was fabulous.  No questionable linens or unexplained odors in this hotel.  Plenty of outlets for all my electronic devices.  No one looks at you funny when you walk around in riding gear.  They even had cookies at the front desk. 🙂 Never did see the pool, but really didn’t miss it.

One other observation about Wellington – there are some AMAZING homes, barns and arenas in that town.  And that is just what I could see from the road.  I doubt the owners would have welcomed us with open arms were we to have just popped out of our car for a “look-see.”

One of these days I’d love to head back to Wellington when the season is in full swing and swoon at the shiny horseflesh.  I read that Uthopia and Valegro (two of Great Britain’s gold-winning dressage mounts) will most likely go up for sale after the Olympics.  Maybe they will head across the pond and dazzle Florida audiences.  In my dreams, maybe Ike will dazzle them too.

Run, Ike, Run

                                                          Photo by High Time Photography

Let me start off by telling you that after I rode today, I checked under Ike’s tail to see if there was a fire.  Not smouldering embers, but huge, engulfing flames.  Alas, there was not, but you could have fooled me with the way the boy was acting today while under saddle.  “Let’s go, go, let’s go, let’s go faster.  What half halt?  Did you half halt? Run, Forest, Run.”

So there was no fire, and I’m not entirely certain why we were stuck in fifth gear today.  Yes, Ike has had two days off, but that is nothing new.  It was not noticeably cooler or less humid today.  It was in fact very muggy the entire time I rode.  His darling Lady was in the ring today with us, but she was as calm as could be.  A hawk was perched on the fence for half of our ride, but none of the other horses even gave it notice.  In any case, since Ike was in the mood to move, we worked on our trot and canter.

The trot today was not our best.  Too much forward with too little acknowledgment of my half halts translated to a trot that is too quick in its tempo – jack rabbit quick or perhaps jack hammer?  I tried sit trot to see if that might get Ike’s attention, but bouncing on concrete hurt, so I went back to rising.  Can you say no throughness or recycle of the energy?  The only music that would have meshed with our trot today would have been some head-shaking punk rock from a 1980’s group…The Clash came to mind as we motored around the arena.  And forget about stretch down trot.  My one attempt resulted in an exuberant canter transition as soon as I offered the reins forward.

Our trot was frequently interrupted by canter.  My half halt attempts to try to regulate the trot tempo were only half heard by Ike; ignore the squeeze of the reins, but hear the squeeze of the legs, “Oh, that means go faster!”  Selective hearing by the young man…oh, we must be hitting the male equine teenage years.  Subtlety was not to be had in my aids today to combat the deafness.  Full body bracing with the body angled backwards about 30 degrees, screaming “Slow down, Ike,” with a death grip on the reins was what it took for Baby Huey to hear my request to regain my trot.  Definitely not a pretty picture, but I just didn’t want him to think that he could make the decision on what we were going to do.

When it was time for canter, Ike was more than ready.  Circles were challenging and non-circular to start.  The long side of the arena was an open invitation to extend the canter.  Half halts that were half heard at the trot were blatantly ignored while cantering – maybe Ike thought that he was moving faster than the sound of my aids.  I’m pretty sure I stood up in my stirrups and did a full body half halt more than once.  When Ike would try to break to trot, I would say, “No way, Jose.  You wanted to go, now go.”  Even if it was just for another 5 strides, I made him wait for my request to trot.  By the end, our canter settled into a more normal tempo – less Marmaduke, more dressage horse.

Ike’s anniversary is only a few days away…guess I’d better get started on the party planning.

Low Key Weekend

Even though this is a blog about my young horse, I still can’t say that these are the “horse days of summer” when the saying is the “dog days of summer.”  It was another steamy and hot weekend which makes you want to laze about indoors.  The past few weekends have been busy with activities – traveling, packing, unpacking, horse show, getting ready for the horse show…this weekend there were no pressing events except for a relaxing Sunday lunch to celebrate my mother-in-law’s birthday.  It is nice to have a weekend that can play out on its own.

My ride yesterday was just like the whole weekend – low key.  It was nice that Ms. C, my friend M, and I were all able to ride together and enjoy each other’s company.  Yes, it was a low key ride, but Ike was still very forward.  That forwardness was most apparent in our canter work.  Half halt, half halt, HALF HALT!  And we were still very forward.  When Ike gets that forward and that deaf to my half halts, turning becomes a challenge.  Circles become ovals, and my knee comes perilously close to the fence.  Luckily, we never were in danger of running into the other horses.  Our down transitions were also not quite balanced, but impossible to do when your horse is ignoring your aids.

When we have the opportunity to ride together, we all use the opportunity to teach the horses to stand quietly with the others and to also learn that sometimes you have to leave everyone and work while they still get to chill.  That has been hard at times to teach, but it is a necessary lesson for the horses to learn.  Ike gets a bit cranky initially when leaving (it is hard to leave the girls), but it is short lived.  As I’ve said before, he is such a good soul that he really does try to be good.

Today was a day of rest.  The boys got love and cold apples.  As you can see, Ike enjoyed his day of rest.  Hopefully the horse flies decided to take the day off too.

Awe Inspiring

If you are a dressage enthusiast, then today was one of those days that made you go, “Wow!”  By the time the day was over, 30 of the Olympic riders had scores over 70% at Grand Prix and three were over the 80% mark.  Holy <horse poop>!!!  Can’t even imagine achieving 80% at any level let alone Grand Prix.  Thank goodness that so many magazines and companies are posting photos and information online and on Facebook.  Certainly not getting great coverage on television.  Had to resort to using my cell phone to be able to access the online videos in order to see some of the rides…way to go NBC.

Today was our weekly lesson.  Ms. C is trying to instill in me correct riding and training as well as what the correct movement/connection/throughness feels like.  Teaching feel is a tricky thing especially on a green horse.  We have glimpses of correctness, but just as quickly they are gone.  I have moments of proper position, and then it is gone and I’m again flapping like a chicken.  Ms. C has impeccable timing and will let me know when I’ve achieved the perfect moment, “there, did you feel that, you had it for the first three strides and then you threw it away.”  *^%$$* Rider error again.  Keeping the proper rein length is sometimes challenging for me.  Inattentiveness, sweaty gloves, loose fingers…I’ve got it all.  Ike has good reasons for his inability to maintain his position – he is young, he is still filling out and muscling up, and he is still learning what I want from him.  I could come up with excuses, but what is the point.  If I want to ever make it out of the lower levels, I’ve got to figure it out and learn to do things correctly.

Straightness was a problem to start, but once the rider guided him a bit more, Ike’s body parts stopped wiggling.  Ms. C worked with us on our transitions since that seemed to garner us the most comments from the judge at the last show.  We are the weakest in the comeback from free walk to medium walk, so that is where we spent a good amount of time.  Hmm, yet again, rider error in gathering the reins too slowly contributes to the problem.  So many problems to solve…  We also worked on our walk-trot and trot-walk transitions.  Ike starts to anticipate the trot and will hop into the trot.  No Ike, you must wait for me.  Found that Ike was stiffer on the right today and I really had to work to get the proper bend and flexion.  The right lead canter is also not as solid as the left because of the stiffness.  Ended the lesson working on a figure 8 at the trot;  we even had some successful sit trot on the circles.  The circles helped the stiffness to the right and finally, Ike unlocked that throatlatch area for some flexion.  Phew!

Olympic Dreams

So today was day one of the Olympic Dressage competition.  Finally, the nights of suffering through ping pong are over.  What gorgeous horses – I’d kill to have half the knowledge that the horses do and a tenth of what those competitors know.  Who among us wouldn’t love to have the opportunity to ride at the Olympics.  I would not even care if I was the rider in last place.  You could still say, “Ha ha, I rode in the Olympics and you didn’t” to pretty much everyone you know.  What a rush it must be to head down that centerline.  But then you’d remember that there were SEVEN judges watching your every move.  No place to hide and no mistake will go unnoticed.  There wouldn’t just be butterflies in my stomach, there would be a flock of hummingbirds with their razor-sharp beaks and tongues flitting about my innards.

I jokingly told a coworker the other day that I still had a shot at making a future Olympic team.  After all, Japan’s rider is 71 and did a fabulous job today.  I’ve still got 27 years to practice and train; Ike will be 31 by then and will have at least been told about the Grand Prix movements.  We could get our Olympic medal and our Dressage Foundation Century Ride ribbon at the same time.  The equestrian events are one of the few sports where you don’t “age out” by the time you are 25.  [As an aside, it would be interesting to compare the average age of the competitors in each event.  I bet the equestrian disciplines have one of the higher averages.]  Never mind that my skills are average at best and that riding is my hobby.  Truth be told, if Ike and I could qualify for the USDF Region 1 Championship at any level and place in the top ten so as to get one of the coveted neck ribbons, it would be just as awesome and a lot less expensive.

Yesterday was my barn-free day.  Not by choice, but by necessity.  Made sure to get to the barn today to see the boys.  Ike and his stablemates were in the barn when I arrived.  There was lots of bucket banging and whinnying when I walked into the barn.  Quite the cacophony.  Much like a celebrity walking the red carpet at the Oscars, “And the crowd goes wild as Alison draws closer.”  This crowd though doesn’t want an autograph or picture…they want snacks and an ear rub.

I quickly curried off the salt crust from Ike’s coat, checked his hooves, and tacked.  I was sweating profusely even before I placed a foot in the stirrup.  Fall can’t get here quick enough.  Ike must have taken care of his business before I rode today, because there was no awkward movement today.  His floaty, rhythmic trot was back.  I do like his trot and it only gets better as his balance and topline improve.  I can now sit his trot for short periods without his back stiffening (that bouncing on concrete feeling we all know and love).  Canter transitions were a bit exuberant today.  I did introduce the Training Level Test 3 concept of continuing the canter around the short end and onto the diagonal.  Surprisingly, Ike held his canter.  What a good boy.  Ike and I lasted 20 minutes before we withered.

Lesson tomorrow – need to stay sharp for the next show on the 18th.

But Mom, I Really Have to Go

My ride today just felt odd.  Have you ever been on your horse and although there is nothing screaming this is where the problem is, you know that your horse’s movement is just not right?  We’d be trucking along at the trot, but all of a sudden Ike would suck back and slow down.  I’d say go, and because he’s a fine fellow, he would go.  If I didn’t keep reminding him to go, he’s again suck back.  He would canter without a fuss in both directions and both leads felt solid.  The walk and free walk were normal, but just not as forward as other days.  What the heck was going on?!?

Well, I got my answer right after I turned Ike out in his paddock.  I had no sooner walked back to the barn and turned to wave goodbye, when I saw the boy parked out and peeing like a racehorse.  Ah, that is why he didn’t want to go.  Can’t say that I blame him.  When I really have to go but for whatever reason I have to wait, I squirm, cross my legs, and develop a really choppy stride as well.  (Hmm, that just might be TMI.)  Needless to say that I then felt bad for making him push on for 30 minutes.  Maybe I should teach him to ring bells to let me know he needs a potty break.

The next show entry has been mailed.  Going for Training Test 1 and Test 2 again on August 18th at the Virginia Dressage Association’s Chapter Challenge Show at beautiful Rose Mount Farm in Spotsylvania, VA (http://www.rosemountfarm.com/).  Very excited to represent my local chapter and hoping that Ike and I can have a repeat performance of last Sunday.

Also trying to decide what to do to celebrate Ike’s one year anniversary.  Ike would really like a screened in and fully covered paddock for protection from the bugs and elements, but we all know that isn’t happening…any suggestions?