We are Ready to Dance in a Seinfeld Episode

005

Nine days.  Nine.  N-I-N-E.  That is how many days there were in between my lesson last week and my lesson this week.  Work, New Orleans, and Norovirus keep me out of the saddle on the days sandwiched between my lessons.  Let me just say that I cannot be out of the saddle that long and expect any sort of decent performance.  I felt like Elaine in the Seinfeld episode where she thinks she is dancing well at a party but looks like a hot mess on the dance floor.  My aids were not coordinated, reins were too long, legs were in the wrong place, and my weight seemed to sway from side to side and always be in the wrong place.

Ike tried testing the waters during our warm up.  “Hmm, Mom has been away for a few days, can I get away with snatching the reins from her hands?”  Ms. C made us stay at walk and stabilize our connection before we were allowed to trot.  On a normal day, Ike and I sync up after just a couple of minutes.  It was 15 minutes and counting and Ike and I were still having discussions…No, Ike, you may not snatch the reins from my hands.  My reflexes were a bit slow, so big boy would get the best of me and Ms. C would fuss that I was a day late and a dollar short.  Grrr.  I hate when I know what I need to do, but for whatever reason, cannot execute appropriately.  Can I blame it on my weakened state from the virus?  Or am I just a goober who can’t get her act together after being out of the saddle for a few days?  Sadly, the goober answer is closest to the truth whether I like it or not.

We also struggled to find our rhythm with the trot.  Again, cue the Elaine video where the movement and the music are nowhere close to being in the same neighborhood, oh heck, they might not even be in the same state.  It didn’t seem to matter if I tried sitting the trot or posting.  I half halted until my carpal started flaring, and we were still a quarter beat off from a solid rhythm.  Ms. C kept telling me to change my posting rhythm and half halt to get Ike to wait for me.  Excellent in theory, usually sufficient in practice, but today we couldn’t even meet expectations.  Another Grrr moment.

Our best work for the day came in our canter work and then in our lateral work.  Go figure.  This is typically where we struggle.  We nailed our canter transitions even without me carrying a whip.  Yea!  Starting to ask for canter with just my seat rather than seat+leg+whip.  Do we always get it?  Nope, but Ike tries and today we succeeded.  It is something we need to master since I don’t want to have to carry the whip as a crutch forever.  We also had success with our leg yield and shoulder in today while tracking in both directions.  Yes, the left is easier than the right, but the right is coming along.  Ike is strong enough and balanced enough to start schooling lateral movements.  This time last year, we would have run into the fence had I asked for a leg yield.

Things are starting to fall into place.  Hoping we come out of winter even stronger as a pair and at least capable of establishing a rhythm.  Patience, Alison, patience.  All in due time, after all, no one masters all the dance steps in a day.

The Big Easy Kicks My Butt

NO Carriage

You might have noticed that there have been no blog updates for a few days…that is because I was in New Orleans (Nawlins according to the locals) with my girlfriend who was receiving her Bronze Medal at the USDF Gala.  Yes, she received her medal; no, I did not make it to the gala to actually see her receive it.  Grr.

Sigh, it was soon after the photo was taken of me, our carriage driver Dave, and his mule Mother-In-Law (best @ss in town he told us during our tour) that I started to feel bad.  [As an aside, if you are ever in NO, look for the purple carriage with the driver wearing the purple suit and the mule wearing the purple flowers.  Dave was quite the story-teller and it was a great way to see the French Quarter.]  Well anyway, I started sweating and feeling dizzy.  My friend and I popped into a local eatery to get something to eat and drink – I was hoping it was just hunger pains…ha, wishful thinking, I was so wrong.  It was the start of a nasty stomach bug.  It sought vengeance against all the fabulous food I had consumed.  ByeBye gooey nachos, goodbye french toast, goodbye delicious dinner at Emeril’s NOLA restaurant;  parting was such agony.  I spent the remainder of the day getting to know the plumbing of the hotel.  I so hoped for a miracle recovery, but it was not to be.  My girlfriend looked stunning in her Calvin Klein dress and Mardi Gras mask.  I was so very sad that I didn’t get to wear my party attire and celebrate my friend’s accomplishment.

By some odd stroke of luck, we flew home without incident.  I feel certain that both air crews and all passengers would be thankful had they known my story. And thank goodness this time when I was away, there were no emergency vet calls.  Ms. C did ride Ike for me two times.  For both rides he was a gentleman – no runaway freight train moments…I guess he saves those for me.  Both times he had to be disciplined for trying to snatch the reins during warmup.  She mentioned that the shoulder in is still awkward but believes that once he learns the concept, his lateral movement is going to be pretty good.  She is pleased with how far we have come in the past year.  Just hope that Ike and I both stay healthy so that we too can someday say we have our USDF Bronze Medal.

BTW, do you know how Santa gets around in the Big Easy?  Sleigh and reindeer?  Heck no, he rides in a pirogue pulled by alligators!

Alligators

It Is All About the Shoulders

019The lesson of the week?  Control the shoulders to control the horse.  Seems simple enough, but try telling that to Ike’s right shoulder and my aching arms.  Ike’s right shoulder is rather pushy.  It is the shoulder you would want with you while fighting the crowds at Black Friday sale.  It regularly bulldozers through my leg and attempts to direct our movement.  It is responsible for us drifting out while on a circle to the left or causing a death spiral while circling to the right.  Because of this, Ms. C had us work on shoulder control during our lesson this week.

After we worked through Ike’s warm-up crankiness, we began the lesson with trot circles to the left with normal left flexion.  Despite my best effort with my outside rein, that pushy right shoulder kept moving in its own trajectory.  Hmm, I tried shifting my weight to the left.  It was soooo tempting to overuse my inside rein but I resisted temptation.  That right shoulder resisted submission.  Clever Ms. C had me slightly counter flex Ike to the right and really step down into my left stirrup.  We rode 3-4 circles in this counterflexion, easily fed off onto a circle to the right, and then when we circled back to the left, we resumed normal left flexion.  The benefit to this exercise I discovered is that it helped Ike stand up on that right shoulder by shifting his weight to the inside.  And a lightbulb moment for me…my overuse of my inside rein can actually cause Ike to fall onto that right shoulder and exacerbate the problem.  Oh.  Crap, rider error again.

The lesson also included schooling or attempting to school shoulder in tracking to the left and to the right.  The photo with this post is our attempt at shoulder in to the left.  It is actually the easier direction since that right shoulder gets to lead the way.  As you can see, we are nowhere near where we should be, but I think it is an okay attempt for a gangly four-year old horse.  Tracking right is harder and I mean it is exhausting.  That right shoulder does not want to yield, “thanks, but no thanks” it seems to say.  To overcome this struggle, we have found that it sometimes helps to leg yield for three to four steps and then half halt the front end to stop the lateral movement.  Some of our best shoulder in right steps come after this exercise.  You do what you have to do to teach the concept.

We do have our struggles, but compared to where we were at this time last fall, we are succeeding and progressing.  We are seeing less and less Marmaduke; some days we can even make a passable go at being a dressage team.  Any bets on where we will be next December??

Psst, Hey You. Yeah, You.

003Shhh, be very, very quiet.  Mom doesn’t know that I’ve got her laptop or maybe she does know, and I’m going to be in big trouble tomorrow for dribbling water and grain all over the keyboard while I type.  She is a little OCD about those kind of things.  I like having a snack while I share my thoughts on the latest goings on around the barn.  Snacks help get the creative juices flowing.

The “trailer riding” season is supposedly over for the year.  I’m told that when the weather turns cold that Mom and the other people who go to horse shows hibernate for the winter or they go to Florida to prance in the show rings down there.  Pretty sure that we aren’t headed south for the winter, but right now, there really isn’t any reason to leave Virginia.  It has been in the 60s the past few days and today it made it to 70 degrees.  It was really warm with my fuzzy winter coat.  Mom gave me the day off today since I’ve been busy the past 5 days.  I like days like these.  She still comes to the barn to see me and my dirty brother.  She is a walking treat dispenser on non-riding days.  You get snacks for just giving her a little bit of attention.  Cigar and I have her so well trained.  Good Mom.

Everyone tells me that I’m starting to fill out and develop a topline.  Not sure what that means or where it is.  It appears to mean that Mom has permission to bounce on my back while I trot rather than doing that up-and-down thing.  She is doing a better job at bouncing, but still needs to relax her hips a bit more and get a little deeper in the saddle.  I make sure to let her know when she needs to stop bouncing.

Mom and Ms. C have still been fussing at me when I yank on the reins.  Such meanies for not letting me have any fun at all.  I do know that if I am quick enough with my head toss, I can pull Mom off-balance or even pull the reins out of her hands.  She is not amused by these antics.  She continues to also frown on my “extended canters” while we are working.  A boy just needs to blow off steam now and again.  Not sure why I can’t do it with Mom on board.

I guess I’d better try to behave since I don’t want to be on the naughty list with Cigar.  I have to say though, for a horse that always seems to be on the naughty list, he does seem to have the life of Riley…he still gets fed really well, he doesn’t have to do any work and spends his days amusing himself in his paddock, and even after he tries to bite Mom while she grooms him, she still gives him a hug and a treat.  Ha, ha, what he doesn’t know is that I get three treats when I do a good job.  Going to try to do a really good job tomorrow at my lesson and go for the whole pocketful. 🙂

Hitchcock and His Birds Have Nothing on Us

001So before we dive into my thoughts on our latest tune up with Ms. C and my other rides this week, I first need to discuss our avian friends who have befriended Ike.  They look like sparrows.  If you ask me to get more specific, I will have to say that they are brown and white sparrows that have decided that my horse makes a great target.  I have checked Ike’s back when I groomed him this week and could not find a bull’s-eye, but I have found copious amounts of bird poo all over his coat.  Ugh.  None of the other horses in Ike’s barn appear to have this problem.  The birds seem to like Ike’s stall – perhaps it is the blend of his food or the fact that he is a slob and tosses grain everywhere…a veritable avian smorgasbord.  It could be worse – at least we aren’t overrun by mice.

I had my own “bird incident” earlier this evening.  I give you permission to laugh now…We have a 3 foot tall white crane carved out of driftwood that stands in our dining room.  Found him at the Ocrafolk Festival on Ocracoke Island in North Carolina.  He usually stands quietly in his corner, but today as I bent over while vacuuming, he “attacked” me.  Got me right in the corner of my left eye.  Pretty sure I will have a black and blue eye in the morning.  Going to be really pretty.

Bird issues aside, Ike and I have had some pretty good rides this week.  As the weather has turned colder, Ike has decided to be a bit cranky to my legs during warm up.  Lots of walk/trot and trot/walk transitions until he settles into the work.  The transitions seem to help him focus.  Yesterday we spent most of our ride working on transitions between walk and trot.  Walk from one letter to the next, ask for trot, trot to the second letter, walk again, change direction and start over.  I did most of the work in sit trot.  Yeah for me – there is a glimmer of hope that I will master that skill.  I also focused on letting go of my inside rein death grip.  I had someone reply to me that when they start to pull on the inside rein, they tell themselves to go to their inside leg.  I decided to test that for myself and it really did seem to help.  I’m going to have to make a conscious effort to let go until it becomes second nature.  Any idea how long that takes?

After a crazy work week and conflicting schedules, Ms. C and I finally fit my weekly tune up in this afternoon.  Ike was a bit frazzled today.  Instead of just walk/trot transitions for warm up, Ms. C had us do trot/walk/almost halt/back up and then trot on.  At first Ike wasn’t quite sure what we were asking, but smart boy that he is quickly caught onto the game.  It is another great tool to have in the tool box when you need to get your horse in front of your leg and focused.  Our walk/trot work was good, but I could still tell Ike was on edge.  Not sure whether it was the kids on the four-wheelers or just because it was one of those days, but we had to abandon the thought of canter pretty quickly.  Ike busted out a canter at the beginning and that just seemed to stoke the fire.  Once we redirected his attention and I half halted until my arms ached, Ike did demonstrate a faaah-buuulll-ous collected trot.  Ms. C told me to remember the feeling – it is where we want to go.  We then worked on shoulder-fore and shoulder in since Ms. C was there to help me with the positioning.  We struggle tracking right.  Ike’s right shoulder is so dominant and it felt like a 50-pound weight in my right rein.  Ms. C came over and offered ground assistance to help me release the “block” in Ike’s neck.  It makes a huge difference when she helps from the ground.  We finally had a few successful moments to the right.  Tracking left was a breeze.  Such a shame that dressage tests want you to be proficient in both directions.

Glad this week is done.  Time to soak my aching muscles in the hot tub.  At least there shouldn’t be any birds out tonight.

We’ve Been Slimed

This photo was taken at the beginning of my ride, so there is no “drooly slime” on Ike’s mouth.  Ike, however, is very good at producing large quantities of slime in a short amount of time – it makes me think that he might be part Mastiff.  He is also very adept at flinging the pendulous drool at the closest target.  Ms. C was the recipient during our lesson the other day, and I have been the lucky one for my three rides this weekend.  With one flick of his gynormous head, drool flies through the air to land on the saddle, my boots, his own legs and chest, and my chest.  And once our ride is done?  I have to be on guard or “THWACK!”  I am knocked off-balance as Ike decides that now is a good time to wipe his face on my head/arm/back/chest…whatever happens to be the closest.  Not cool.  A klutz like myself is easily toppled with the slightest nudge.  Ike also grazed my face which under normal circumstances would have just irked me, but since at the ripe old age of 43 I had braces put on, became a painful reminder that I need to always pay attention or face a bloody lip again.

Bloody lip aside, I have enjoyed my rides this past week.  Riding is a great way to get away from the hustle and bustle of the start of the holiday season.  In my lesson on Wednesday, Ms. C reinforced the concepts that I worked on at the clinic.  Stop overbending Ike’s neck, establish and keep a better inside leg to outside rein connection, and let go with my inside rein.  The sad part is, I can see when another rider is overbending their horse’s neck and using too much inside rein, but put me on my horse, and all bets are off.  That inside rein is like a crutch that I just can’t let go.  When someone is on the ground reminding me, sure, I can listen and do it.  When riding alone, that inside hand creeps tighter and tighter and next thing you know, Ike’s long neck is curled like the letter C and that outside shoulder is falling where it may.

During my last three rides I have honestly tried to keep Ike straighter and more through.  Throughness can still be tough when Big Boy gets a bit strong in the hand.  Cold and windy days are especially challenging.  Add a tractor, a pickup truck, and a golf cart and throughness is next to impossible.  I persevere and we have fleeting moments.  In between, there is head wagging, nose in the air, and ducking behind vertical.  All normal evasions, but Ms. C reminds me that it is my job to show and teach Ike where I want him to be.  I keep trying and I think there is some success.  I beam with pride when I feel the connection.  Those “Ah-ha” moments are becoming more frequent, and I even smile while covered in slime.

Gobble Gobble (Turkey Speak for Happy Thanksgiving!)

As 2012 winds down and we head into the madness of the holiday season, Thanksgiving is a great day to take stock in all I have to be grateful for during the past 11 months.

I am grateful that my husband reintroduced me to horses for Christmas 2004.  If you had told me then that I’d now own 2 horses along with all their paraphernalia and a horse trailer, I’d have laughed and said you were out of your mind.  Both of my equine buddies are special and deserve all that I am able to do for them.  Don’t believe them when they say that they are neglected and hungry.

It has been said before, but it is worth repeating – I have the best husband.  He is my chauffeur, my boot wiper, the pooper scooper, and my best cheerleader.  He is the test retriever and ribbon presenter.  We try our best to make him proud.  I can only hope the day will come when we can participate in the GAIGs and hopefully be part of the mounted awards ceremony.  I would love to present that ribbon to my husband since it would be just as much his as it would be mine…I would of course hope that he’d let me keep it with the rest of the ribbon collection. 🙂

I can’t say enough about the people I’ve met through my horses.  No matter what are lives are like away from the barn, the love and near insanity our horses bring to our lives binds us together.  Where else can you get sweaty and smelly, get covered in dust, dirt, slime, and god knows what else, but still have a smile on your face.  During our lesson today in fact, Ike flung some mouth slime at Ms. C and it hit her in the face.   She delicately wiped it off and then patted Ike with her now slimy hand and told him what a nice boy he was.  You have got to be a true horsewoman to take that in stride and not miss a beat.

I can only hope that my horses are grateful for their station in life.  They don’t have to worry about running through an auction pen with keen eyes watching their every move.  They need not worry about what happens if no one bids on them…there is no question that there will be a meal to fill their bellies twice a day, good quality hay, and plenty of fresh water in which to dunk that hay.  I am a walking treat dispenser filled with peppermints, carrots and horse treats.  They know they are loved and they are safe for the rest of their lives.

Ike and I would be lost without our lifeline packaged as a 5’3″ dynamo we call Ms. C.  I’ve been to clinics and stared at numerous judges as we head down centerline, but it is Ms. C who has molded us and imparted her wealth of knowledge on us.  Ms. C will patiently explain a concept to us, and explain it again, and again until it finally sinks into this thick skull.  She is selfless and generous and one of my dearest friends.  I am indebted to her and grateful that she is an integral part of my life.

May you all have a blessed and wonderful holiday with your families and friends.

The One With the Really Sweaty Horse and Rider

It might be November, but Ike and I managed to get so sweaty (and I’m assuming a bit stinky) at our clinic that on the drive home, my husband insisted that I wait in the truck while he us grabbed something to drink at the local Valero. Hmm, maybe I dressed a bit too warmly for the occasion.  I had forgotten that we’d be working in an indoor arena which effectively blocks the wind and stays a bit warmer than the ambient temperature outdoors.  I wore my FITS winter riding pants, my Mountain Horse winter boots, 3 tops and my Horseware Ireland wool sweater.  (Note to self:  Remember this combination if I need to sweat off a few pounds in record time.)  Ike is not clipped since we ride outdoors in the winter, I don’t want to have to play “guess which blanket to put on the horse” every day, and let’s face it, I’m too lazy to clip.  So yet again, we looked nothing like the winter riders in all the horsey mail order catalogs I regularly receive.

All our sweaty efforts were worth it.  We attended another clinic with Rebecca Langwost-Barlow.  Overall, she is very pleased with Ike’s progress.  Can you guess who needs the most work in our team of two?  Yes, you guessed correctly.  It is me.  Shocking.  I still like to overuse my inside rein which overbends Ike’s neck.  When I do think I’m straightening his neck, I end up throwing away my contact and leave Ike to decide how things are going to go.  It doesn’t matter what gait we are traveling.  I also have a tendency to cross my outside rein over Ike’s neck trying to correct what I’ve done with my inside rein.  Arrrrghhh!  What mayhem I create for myself.  I then get so hung up on what my hands are doing that I forget to effectively use my legs, and my shoulders start to shrug as they tense.  Becky kept after me the entire lesson just as Ms. C does – these ladies know how to drag the best out of Ike and me.  While working on the left lead canter, she even resorted to having me hold my SOS strap with my right hand while she told me when to half halt.  It took a few minutes, but I finally figured it out.  Ike leaned in on my inside leg a lot less and, surprise, surprise, his neck was straight.  I think I actually turned him using my outside rein and leg rather than pulling with my inside rein.  We then achieved similar success with the right lead canter.  Cool.  Nice to find out that the SOS strap can save me in other ways.

This was most likely our last outing for 2012.  The holidays are upon us and I’ll be sweating the details to get everything done on time.  Maybe I should wear my riding attire as I shop, wrap, and bake, and sweat off those extra Christmas cookies…

We Need More Time to Acclimatize

Ike and I are looking for a free ride to somewhere warm.  If possible we will need free boarding, food, and living quarters for the duration of our stay.  My parents have a condo in Florida, but Ike would be a bit cramped in their guest room.  I’m also figuring that the upstairs neighbors would begin to complain after a day or two of Ike in residence.  Where did our nice weather go???  I rode in summer clothes on Monday with a high temperature of 77 degrees.  Yesterday, I had on winter riding pants, winter boots and multiple layers.  48 degrees was the high.  After only 30 minutes, my ears were numb, my nose was running, and eyes were tearing.  Supermodel material…not.

Oh how I wish we could have a gradual transition from summer to fall to winter.  It seems that Virginia weather is bipolar.  It swings from one extreme to the other on a whim.  Wouldn’t it be nice to have a few weeks in the mid-60’s then a gradual drop to more winter-like temperatures.  And the wind could give us a break as well.  It really gets the nose flowing and I routinely forget to stuff tissues in my gloves, so my gloves or shirt become the unwitting recipient of the nasal offerings.  Such a pretty picture don’t you think?  You never see the rider’s in Smartpak or Dover with runny noses.  I’m so jealous.

So let’s just say that I’m a fair-weather loving rider.  I suffer through the summer heat and struggle in the cold of winter.  Half halting is a challenge when your fingers are non-responsive and bloodless.  My Raynaud’s Syndrome can make winter riding challenging.  I’ve lost count of the days that I had to stop what I was doing, and sit in my car holding my hands in front of the vents while waiting for the circulation to return.  Winter gloves do little to help.  It is what it is and I just don’t ride on the coldest days.

While my two rides this week were extremes in the weather, Ike was consistent between the two rides.  He continues to amaze me with his capacity to learn.  His strength, stamina, and balance are ten times what they were this time last year.  My Florida boy has obviously acclimated to his Virginia home.

Quality vs. Quantity

As I’ve progressed through life, as many people before me have also discovered, that it is better to have fewer, but better quality things over lots of cheap crap that won’t last the year.  The better quality stuff also stands the test of time and the rigors of daily barn use.  I tried the “pleather” tall boots about six years ago.  If they had only been used once a week, they would have probably have been just fine and stuck around for a while.  They departed this world and into the bowels of the local landfill after only six months.  What can I say, Bigfoot is hard on her shoes.  Interestingly enough, my pricier Ariat leather tall boots have been with me for over 5 years now and still look fabulous even with regular use.  I am definitely getting my money’s worth out of them.

I’m also learning that the same holds true for training a young horse.  Even with fewer days of work and shorter time spans when working, you can see positive progress IF the time is used wisely.  (Cue the wise old owl.)  And lets face it, most of us have to work full-time to support our equine obsession, and we have families, and a house to take care of, and all the other To-Do’s in our lives.  I can’t spend all day every day with my horses.  My barn time is limited, so I’ve got to make the most of the time I do get in the saddle.  Ms. C also keeps me focused and is always reminding me that Ike will only be as good as I am.  If I space out while riding and paddle around in a half-hearted trot, then we aren’t really accomplishing anything with our training.  If I mount with a game plan in mind, and keep myself focused, then we can accomplish a lot in a 30 minute ride.

And probably like many others out there, I do my best riding while under close scrutiny of my trainer.  Am I right?  There is no wasted time during my lesson.  It is most definitely high quality saddle time.  Got my weekly lesson in today since it was a day off for me.  Since show season is over, we’ve stopped schooling the test movements and are focusing on getting Ike through and really using his back.  There is also quite a bit of time spent making me a better rider.  I’ve got to work on the timing of my half halts if I ever hope to progress beyond First Level.  Luckily for me, Ms. C is a patient woman.  She is also generous with her verbal instructions – it is almost like she is riding the horse and performing the aids herself.  If I’m struggling to figure out which aids to use and when, she will call out the sequence as if she was calling a dressage test, “Squeeze outside rein, put you inside leg at the girth, relax your shoulders, look up, half halt, half halt again, remember to release after you half halt (oh, yeah, oops).”  Those verbal instructions plus her saying, “Do you feel that?  Do you feel what you have right now?”  Um, yeah, sure.  “That is your 8 trot.  That trot is through; Ike is coming up and out of his withers and you are recycling the energy.”  Okay, I think I’ve got it.  Then we take a break, and then Ms. C tells me to try to recreate what we had.  Sigh, sometimes I nail it and sometimes I struggle.

Ike’s work was spot on today and I didn’t do too badly either.  Fewer struggles today which always makes me happy, but  almost all days at the barn are days to smile.  Love that quality barn time with my equine partner.