Monthly Archives for February 2017

Ike Is Entering the NFL Draft 

Cigar likes to taunt his “little” brother

You heard it here first!  Ike has decided to forego his remaining years of eligibility in dressage and enter the NFL draft.  He believes his skills will impress recruiters for defensive tackle or for the offensive line. He is like a 3-for-1 deal considering he weighs close to 1500 pounds.
Ike came to this conclusion after body checking me into the shavings in his stall today.  In his defense he was trying to avoid the Jaws-like behavior of his brother as I was leading him back to his stall.  I had the reins in my right hand, and typically Ike walks peacefully behind me and into his stall. In his panic to avoid the gnawing teeth of Cigar,  he forged forward…seemingly forgetting that I was in front of him.  

Somehow my left foot ended up under his right hoof (yeah, there was a scuffle and I am not sure how I ended up facing Ike). His knee connected with mine and I ended up sprawled in the shavings in his stall. I was on the ground before he removed his hoof from my foot.  I screamed obscenities admonishing him to not step on any other body parts as I attempted to roll towards the wall and away from the advancing brown mass. Images of casts and external fixation (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/External_fixation) flashed through my mind.  I now know what it must feel like to have a offensive lineman hit you with all his might; it is not something I would do every Sunday. Miraculously Ike tiptoed around my arms and legs avoiding any further damage.  He turned and gave me the ” What the heck?!” look once he was safely out of his brother’s reach. 

I realized pretty quickly that there was no serious damage. The end of my boot has a permanent dent. My pride was also a bit bruised. I dusted the shavings off my head, hobbled out of the stall, and finished putting away my tack.  

Ike said to let the recruiters know that he doesn’t need pads or a helmet. He is pretty sure his skull is hard enough. He is hoping for Tampa Bay or Miami to avoid the colder winters. He is looking for representation if anyone has a recommendation.  

Alison

p.s. I am sore and might lose a toenail. There is also a colorful bruise forming on my knee…

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%$&*# Groundhog

ike-in-double-bridle-1

Thus far, we have been fortunate to have a mild winter with plenty of opportunities to keep our horses in regular training.  That being said, we still have to make it through February and the beginning of March before we can say we are done with the misery of frozen fingers and toes.  And all we can hope is that the groundhog is wrong in his prediction for 6 more weeks of winter.  Too bad my hound dog Holly is no longer with us…she would be able to convince the groundhog to change his tune.

Our Third Level progress has been slow but steady.  We can’t seem to break out of our tortoise mode.  Rabbits we are not.  Since neither Ike nor I have ever schooled nor competed at this level, poor Ms. C has the difficult task of training us simultaneously.  And, for the most part, I am the one holding back our progress.

I manage to stifle Ike’s trot and canter half pass.  Every once in a while, I manage to align his body just right and we flow across the arena.  I get all excited and giddy like a schoolgirl, but when asked to do it again….well, we hobble across the arena looking like a ginormous wooden puppet.  It seems that I cannot grasp the concept that the shoulders must start the movement.  I prefer to let the haunch take the lead.  Yes, yes, it is wrong but I just can’t seem to help myself!  I promise to keep practicing since I know there is a great half pass in the big man.

The extended gaits are still rather elusive.  I am happy to report that finally we are beginning to have a decent medium trot.  A real one, not a “horse just goes faster” medium.  I guess it just took some time for Ike’s strength to develop.  It also helps that on the cold and blustery days, Ike wants to go forward, so we use that to our advantage.

And I know you must be curious about our flying changes, since that is the make or break for Third Level.  Let’s just say that they are a work in progress.  Some days we nail them in both directions.  Some days Ike’s hind end doesn’t get the message to do anything so we get disunited.  Some days Ike ignores me and we careen around with an ugly countercanter.  And then other days, Ike anticipates them and they are textbook perfect when he does it without my interference.  Sigh…  We did have one amazing day where we had solid changes and countercanter all in one training session.  I’m trying not to get too excited about that day since it is about as frequent as a blue moon.

The spring schedules and prize lists are starting to pop up in my newsfeed and on websites.  Not sure what the year will shape up to be, but we are aiming for a Fix-a-Test clinic at the end of March.  Based on the outcome of that, we will make some decisions about our spring show schedule.

alison

p.s. For those of you who are wondering about Cigar, he continues to improve.  There are still some proudflesh scabs that we are combating, but my old man is back to his normal, grumpy, independent self.  And yes, he is filthy!!