Tag Archives for equestrian sports

She Didn’t Stick the Landing…

"Um, Mom, why are you laying in the stonedust? I was trying to save us both."

“Um, Mom, why are you laying in the stone dust? I was trying to save us both.”

So, Ms. C sometimes watches Ike gallop and buck his way around his paddock; she’s also said that she hopes that he never does that while I’m in the saddle, “You are doomed if he does.” Well, she was right.

Had not been in the saddle but for a few minutes when all hell broke loose.  Mr. D happened to see the entire event unfold.  The vulture that had been sunning himself decided to take flight.  Ike decided he was a flying boogie man and went from walk to gallop like a racehorse.  He bucked once, and I was okay…it was the second one that got me. I attempted a front flip with a half twist dismount. I did not stick the landing. Landed hard on my left hip. Also managed to twist my right ankle. My pride is also a bit broken.

Mr. D grabbed Ike and put him in his stall. He then brought the tractor to the ring and I hitched a ride in the bucket (thankfully, no photos of my newest mount).

After 3 hours in the emergency room, I learned that all my years of drinking milk have paid off. Nothing is broken, but boy am I going to be sore. Bring on the muscle relaxers and Aleve. Cannot wait to see the bruising.

BTW, the funniest moment in the hospital came when a bunch of stone dust fell out of my pants…bet they don’t see that every day!

Time to rest! Alison

Help Wanted

help wanted

The sign is perpetually up for every horse organization, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.  There is always something that needs to be done or that we’d like to have done, but the question remains, “Who is going to do it?!”  We all look around the room at each other, names are bantered about, and then reluctantly, one of those present in the room agrees to take on the task on top of everything else they’ve agreed to do.  The Pareto Principle is in full bloom; the principle that says that 80% of the work is done by 20% of the people.

Yes, yes, everyone knows all about the frontline volunteers at the shows.  The scribes, the runners, the stewards, and even the scorers who are tucked away in some windowless room.  We need those volunteers for certain, but I am going to ask that you consider volunteering on the other side of the organization as well.  If you are a competitor who maintains a busy show schedule, then this will be right up your alley.  You can get in your volunteer time in the dead of winter when the rings are frozen or at night after dinner when your horse(s) are tucked away for the evening.

How you ask?  I will share with you how your talents can shine at both the local and state levels.

I’ve just completed my first year and beginning my second year as a chapter representative for the Virginia Dressage Association.   When I began my dressage obsession, I had no clue about the intensive volunteer need for the sport.  I have a new found respect for those people who work tirelessly year round to keep the organization running smoothly.  The Board (President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, and all the chapter representatives) meets via conference call once a month.  Don’t worry, the calls start at 8:00 p.m., so most horse tasks for the day are done.

I’m also gearing up for my first full term as my chapter’s secretary.  I pinch hit for the end of last year after our secretary moved out of state.  Our meetings are once a month also in the evening to accommodate those who work, go to school, and have families to feed.  It is a smaller chapter, so there are times we do struggle to fill the empty spots and most of us tend to wear more than one hat.

Are you a type-A personality with good organizational skills?  Then we want you to help organize clinics – potential clinicians need to be contacted (this is your chance to get your favorite clinician lined up), a host facility found, rider application reviewed, schedules made, travel arrangements completed…You can also consider being the membership chairperson and keep all the member information organized.

Are you a people person and can you herd cats?  Volunteer Coordinator is right up your alley!   Help rally the troops to fill all those vital positions at the shows and clinics.  Don’t limit yourself to just club members.  I found that horse friends from other disciplines were more than willing to help out in a pinch.  Sometimes they became dressage devotees after spending the day watching talented horses and riders perform their tests.

Are you a legal type?  You can put that legal mind to work to draft contracts for judges, clinicians, and venues.  You can review insurance documents (sadly, no show or clinic can be held without it these days) to insure that the club has adequate coverage.  How about helping your club become a 501(c)3 organization or updating their bylaws?

Can you summarize the conversations of 10 people all talking at the same time?  Come be a secretary with me!  You attend monthly meetings and then type up the meeting notes for the newsletter.  You will need to summon all those skills you learned in elementary school on how to write a summary.

Do you have marketing skills?  Licensed shows and the big regional competitions are not inexpensive endeavors.  Show fees just scratch the surface at covering the costs.  Sponsorships help clubs make a profit for all their hard work.  There are all the usual suspects of big equine supply companies, but don’t be afraid to approach non-traditional sponsors.  But many local businesses that you frequent will sponsor a class.  VADA was able to get Lladro (http://www.lladro.com/) to sponsor some FEI high point awards at our fall show last year.  All it takes is the time to write the emails or make the phone calls.

Do you like to be in the driver’s seat?  How about being the President of your club?  You can help revitalize the club and decide where the group should be headed for the future.

Are you an English major with wicked good language skills?  Newsletter editor is the position for you.   Or if you prefer something without a monthly deadline, how about updating the club’s handbook?  You know you like looking for misspellings and typos…just admit it.

Are you a good writer?  The newsletter isn’t going to write itself. 🙂  Consider writing a witty piece about your horse or share some show results with fellow club members.  We can all find our tiny voice inside that has something to say.  (Some of us have voices that are a bit more boisterous than others.)

Can you balance your checkbook to the penny every month?  Then you are the chosen one to manage the club’s money as the treasurer.  You can also insure that your club doesn’t end up on the wrong side of the IRS.

Are you the hostess with the “mostest”?  That annual club awards banquet needs you to insure that we have more than 20 bags of chips and a 2 liter of soda as refreshments.

Calling all shoppers!  Clubs need someone to select the ribbons and prizes for shows and year-end awards.  You can spend hours browsing online to find the best deal and the coolest stuff that club members will squeal over when they receive it.  Best of all, you get to spend money that isn’t coming out of your pocket.

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Phew!  Who knew that there was so much to do to keep an all volunteer organization running smoothly.  Like I said, I honestly had no idea when I began my dressage hobby in 2005 that things could be so involved.  I was too worried about understanding what a half halt was and not knocking over the arena rails.  I have come to believe that it is our obligation as competitors and enthusiasts to give back to the sport we love.  We would not have places to go and things to do without dedicated volunteers.  Even events like the World Equestrian Games rely on volunteers to pull off the biggest equestrian event on the planet.  Equestrian sports can’t grow without people stepping up to keep things running.  So the only question that remains is, what will you do for the sport that you love?

Reasons to Hate Winter and Be a Snow Bird in Welliworld

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In case you have been wondering why things have been so silent about Ike’s adventures, it is because we have not had any saddle time since January 1.  Yes, that is right, the 1st.  “But why Alison, why have you been so unproductive?  You have to master the Ten Commandments According to George before show season.”

Well, let me fill you in on the past nine days…which will clearly explain why I hate winter and why I need to win the lottery so that I can afford to flee to Welliworld and warmer temperatures. [In case you aren’t aware, Wellington, Florida is like Disney World for dressage lovers in the winter.]

Ike had his teeth floated on January 2nd.  They had last been done in May 2012.  Now before you accuse me of being negligent, he had not needed them done until now.  Yes, I got lucky with a horse who does not need dental work every 6 months.  That same day, since he was sedated, he also got his sheath cleaned…he frowns upon any attempts at touching the area without the help of drugs.  I gave him the rest of the day off to chill since I know how my mouth feels after the hygienist has been scraping and probing around my gumline.

Anyhoo, January 3rd brought snow and ice to the mid-Atlantic region – not any appreciable snow amounts, but enough to send Virginians into a blind panic to buy bread and milk and toilet paper in large quantities (those in the north must get a good chuckle out of us.).  Those of us without indoor arenas stare out the window and frown.  January 4th and 5th were saddle-free days because the chilly temperatures froze the arena to the hardness of concrete and prevented any snow melt.  January 5th also brought in some more rain.  Why not?!  More insult to injury.

January 6th dawned with another morning of rain.  Seriously??  Luckily by afternoon when I was done working, the rain had stopped.  Finally, I thought, I can hop on Ike for a ride.  Even if the footing was a little sloppy, I could at least do walk and some trot….or so I thought.  Got Ike tacked up quickly and headed to the arena while there was still daylight.  We started walking to warm up and all felt fine.  I knew something was off as soon as Ike made half a stride of trot.  Almost felt like he hopped with the hind end, like a runner pulling up with a strained hamstring.  Luckily, Ms. C was jin the barn and she came out to watch.  There were some good strides tracking right, but left was definitely off.  Ike went back in his stall where he had some Surpass rubbed on his hamstring and some Bute added to dinner.  Since Ike was sound on January 1st for my last ride, that leaves cavorting with his brother as the number one suspected reason that he was off.  Rumor has it that they can cause quite the commotion when they start the gelding play over the hotwire fencing.  I perish to think about the damage to themselves and the farm that they could cause if they were to share a paddock.

Well since Ike was having some rest time, I wasn’t too upset about the whole Polar Vortex/record-setting cold that settled into the area January 7th and 8th and re-froze the ground  It also turned my hands into white, bloodless extremities.  Can’t really half halt, groom, secure buckles, or pick hooves efficiently when you can’t move or feel your fingers.  It was definitely cold here, but after seeing some of the negative temperature values around the country, I don’t feel that we have too much to complain about.

January 9th – Ike was still not quite right.  Vet has been called and scheduled.  Thankfully he just had his routine adjustment, so we have an excellent baseline for reference.  So much for my goal of saving some cash; we can start next month.

January 10th – freezing rain in the morning followed by more rain in the afternoon.  Small pools have formed in the far end of the arena.  I managed to find the only patch of ice in the area and had the sidewalk viciously attacked my knee.  My knee is a wimp.  Tylenol is a good thing.  Where is the leftover ice melt?

Looks like more rain for tomorrow the 11th.  We can start working next week.

Wish me luck with the lottery.  I just know that my numbers are going to come in!

The Ten Commandments According to George

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George Morris that is.  His status in the horse world is such that he can almost be referenced by only his first name…much like Beyoncé or Madonna.  I was able to watch about 30 minutes of the George Morris Horsemaster Training Session Day 2 video on the USEF Network this morning.  In that short time span, I was able to glean the 10 commandments according to George.  They are true no matter what discipline to want to claim allegiance to – dressage, eventing, hunters, jumpers, western, or happy horse owner/rider.

1) Half halt, half halt.

2) The horse must travel and stop uphill.

3) Inside Leg to Outside Rein.

4) Invite the horse to self carriage.

5) Keep contact and ride it from behind.

6) The horse must listen to the hand.

7) The rider must give a little.

8) The horse must stretch over the back.

9) Half Halt.  Yes, it is that important.

10) Regulation of stride and straightness of the horse is the responsibility of the hands.

So there you have it.  When I read this list, I see Charlotte riding Valegro in their stunning musical freestyle.  They make it look effortless even though we all know it is not.  They are the embodiment of these concepts and what we should all strive to achieve.  This could also be my list of goals for the new year.  If I can master these skills, everything else will fall into place:  qualifying for the Region 1 BLM Championships at First Level, qualifying for the USDF Region 1 Championships at First Level, and earning my First Level scores needed towards my USDF Bronze Medal.

So I’ve got 364 more days this year.  Time to get started!

Happy New Year!

Blinded By The Light aka The Sun

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The holiday respite is over, and Ike and I hit the saddle with a lesson with Ms. C on Friday after Christmas.  Headed out to the barn after my work day was over, which meant that I only had about two hours of sunlight to work with before the sun made its decent below the horizon.  The sun sat low in the sky for most of the lesson which made for rather blinding moments when you headed towards the west end of the arena.  The inability to see frazzled Ike a bit – I suppose the natural instinct of a prey animal is to be cautious in situations where the predator could be lurking.  When I say that Ike was frazzled, I mean that he was wound up like a wind-up toy ready to “boing” at any moment.

To try and get some quality work in spite of the blinding conditions, we first avoided the far end of the arena and then worked on some lateral exercises.  Why fight a battle that wasn’t necessary?  The lateral exercises helped to diffuse the tenseness by forcing Ike and I to concentrate.  Since the lateral work is still relatively new to Ike’s repertoire, I still have to think about what aides to give and when to give them.  Big boy has to focus on what I’m asking and then attempt to comply with my request.  If you saw our video from our last lesson, you know that we still have alignment issues with leg yield.  We also struggle with our shoulder in position…too much neck bend, shoulders too straight, hind end not stepping up and under enough…the usual issues everyone has.

In our lesson this week, the exercise was to leg yield nose-to-rail, straighten across the arena, and then perform shoulder in down the other long side.  Thank goodness that we had Ms. C there to remind me when we were headed out of alignment.  Sometimes I can tell, but other times, I’m a bit clueless.  I also had to be willing to trust Ike and push my hands forward – challenging to do when you are riding a very large, very tense horse who is ready to exhibit his best flight reflex.  But wow, when I did trust Ike and allow Ike to move, Ike’s leg yield was dynamite.  Ms. C said to remember that feeling since that movement will earn us an 8 from any judge.  Awesome.  Our shoulder in was adequate, but still not show worthy.

After our successful lateral work, we decided to give canter a go.  Yikes!  I was riding Scooby Doo.  Ms. C hollered as a careened past her that Ike was running through my hands and asked if I could slow him down.  Umm, no, I cannot.  I tried my best to sit back, sit deep, and half halt, but Ike just scoffed at me.  When I finally gained control, Ms. C had us halt and try some halt-canter transitions.  So, Ike, if you insist on this crazy forward canter work, then we will redirect your focus and make you use the power for good.  Big boy did surprisingly well at this exercise even though this was his first go at these transitions.  Our canter-halt transitions were not as successful as the up transitions, but thankfully we did not fall flat on our faces.

We ended our lesson with a feeble attempt at a stretch down trot.  Not a big surprise that there was not much stretch and Ike was a bit too quick.  By this time, the sun was almost down behind the trees and his buddy was calling for him from the barn.  Time to call it quits for the day.  While the sun was setting on our lesson, the future is looking bright for Ike!

A Spring-like Lesson in December

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Here we are 5 days away from Christmas, but it sure doesn’t feel like it outside.  Heat Miser has decided to push his brother Cold Miser out of the state for the time being.  By the end of the weekend, temperatures will be close to the 70-degree mark.  Crazy!  If we were further south, I’d buy it, but I was enjoying some riding without the sweaty hair and smelly riding helmet.

My fabulous husband gave me a very nice video camera and tripod for my birthday a few weeks ago.  For years I have been trying to use my Flip Video Camera or the video option on my digital camera to capture video of my rides.  These required Ms. C to hold them, follow my movement, and keep Ike and I in the frame all while trying to instruct.  We had some limited success, but it really wasn’t the best solution.  This new video camera mounts to the tripod and it will actually stay ON and continue recording until Ms. C turns it off.  [My camera was notorious for turning itself off after two or three minutes of recording, so we really didn’t get to see much of the lesson.]  Ms. C is actually able to watch Ike and I and instruct and it is all captured on video.  🙂  I reviewed the lesson this evening and seeing what was happening while Ms. C provided input was definitely helpful to this visual learner.

Today’s lesson was tough.  I spent most of the lesson in sit trot while trying to follow Ms. C’s detailed instructions on riding Ike with the proper flexion and body alignment while on a circle.  The concept sounds so simple, but in practice it is very technical and challenging…plus trying to maintain my seat in sit trot just added to the ongoing conversation with myself (relax your butt, shoulders down and back, long leg, stop pinching with your knees, fingers closed, breathe, half halt, oops too late on that half halt…) all while trying to execute Ms. C’s instructions.  Ike is still young and trying to learn where all his body parts are supposed to be at any given moment.  He might know what I want him to do, but that doesn’t mean that his hulking body cooperates all the time.  Perhaps it is also my lack of eye/hand coordination that contributes to the challenge.  Watching the video was a definite plus in cementing what the proper movement should look like.  The true test will come tomorrow when I try to reproduce what we achieved today.

We also worked on some walk-canter transitions which were not as crisp as I would like.  Since it has been a while since we schooled them, it really shouldn’t come as a surprise that they need some work.  Note to self to add that to our wintertime homework list.

After our canter work, it was time for leg yield and some trot lengthening.  Ike and I had laid off the schooling of lengthenings in recent weeks due to the slippery footing.  Before this odd heat wave, we had some very cold nights, some light snow, some ice and rain which made the arena footing a bit slick.  You know it is bad when your horse loses his hind end while just doing your trot warm up on light contact.  Today the footing was just right, so we took advantage of the day and schooled our lateral work and our trot lengthenings.  I’m sharing with you a snippet of today’s video footage.  Yes, I know that we are not always perfectly aligned with our leg yields – the hind end gets ahead of the rest of the body and sometimes it gets left behind.    Yes, I know we still need better push over Ike’s back for our lengthenings.  I need to do a better job with my half halts to rebalance Ike, but I thought I’d let you see where we are with our schooling.  Are we perfect?  Nope, but I’m perfectly happy with where we are and where we are going!

Enjoy the show:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0ttSZnl1Ik

alison

How To Take a Holiday Photo of Your Horse

Santa hat success!

Santa hat success!

Supplies Needed:  One Santa hat, One pound of peppermints – wrappers removed, One camera, Infinite patience.

Step One, Day One – Locate the Santa hat.  If you are anything like me, you stuffed it into a box/bag/tack box after Christmas last year and swore that you would remember where you put it.  Ha ha.  Finally find said Santa hat and realize that it is now too dark outside for photos.  Put Santa hat back in tack box for another day.

Step One, Day Two – Arrive at barn earlier prepared to take photos.  Remove wrappers from the peppermints and stuff them into your pocket.  Grab Santa hat and camera and head out to retrieve horse.

Step Two, Day Two- Give horse a peppermint to gain trust.  Show Santa hat to horse.

"Hmm, this is an unimpressive treat."

“You want me to do ‘what’ with this thing?”

Step Three, Day Two – Let horse grab hat.  Watch Santa hat fall into the mud.

"You really don't expect me to wear this, do you?"

“You really don’t expect me to wear this, do you?”

Step Four, Day Two – Retrieve hat from mud.  Mutter expletives under breath while trying to clean Santa hat and spy horse passing judgment on this holiday activity.

"Don't you have anything better to do with your time?"

“Don’t you have anything better to do with your time?”

Step Five, Day Two – Attempt to place Santa hat on horse’s head with one hand while holding camera with the other.  Horse transforms into a giraffe.  Growl at horse and wish you had a third hand to grab a peppermint from your pocket.

Step Six, Day Two – Put Santa hat and camera in one hand and grab a peppermint with the other.  Get horse to lower head by offering peppermint and quickly shuffle hat into the same hand for second attempt at placing over horse’s ear.  Hat falls to ground.  Return to barn defeated.

Poor Santa hat, no love from Ike.

Poor Santa hat, no love from Ike.

Step One, Day Three – Reach into pocket and remove one large sticky, lint-covered glob of peppermints that you forgot were there.  Remove wrappers from new handful of mints and retrieve horse.  Groom and tack horse.  Grab Santa hat and camera and bring horse outside.

Step Two, Day Three – Attempt to place Santa hat on horse’s head; the giraffe returns.  Bribe horse with a large handful of mints and sneak Santa hat over ear.

Step Three, Day Three – Quickly grab camera and ask horse to look at you.  Horse blatantly ignores your request.  Take a photo anyway.

"I refuse to acknowledge you. This is mortifying."

“I refuse to acknowledge you. This is mortifying.”

Step Four, Day Three – Pick Santa hat up from ground when horse flicks ear.  Give up any further photo attempts in order to ride.  Give horse remaining mints to prevent further pocket stickiness.  Remind yourself to wash your jacket.

Step One, Day Four – Wear dirty jacket to barn.  Place mints in other pocket since the first pocket is now stuck closed.

Step Two, Day Four – Groom horse and put saddle on.

Step Three, Day Four – Grab bridle and Santa hat in one hand.  Place 10 mints in the other hand.  While horse is munching, sneak bit into mouth and Santa hat on ear under the bridle.

Step Four, Day Four – Squeal with excitement that the Santa hat is on horse’s head.

Step Five, Day Four – Grab camera and walk outside with horse.  When horse is distracted by a bird, take photos as quickly as possible praying that one is blog worthy.

Step Six, Day Four – Put camera away and ride horse while he is wearing Santa hat and you wear a silly grin.

Step Seven, Day Four – Give horse big hug and remaining peppermints and thank him for not killing you.

"You will pay dearly for this embarrassment."

“You will pay dearly for this embarrassment.”

Ike Has a Few Things To Say

Sporting my new blanket!

Sporting my new blanket!

Howdy Everyone!  Mom has a lot going on right now, so I thought I’d step up and fill you in on how things are going at the barn in recent days.  You might as well hear things directly from the horse’s mouth rather than Mom’s sanitized version with her slanted point of view.

I have to say that I am liking the weather of late.  All this cold wind and cold temperatures and rain and ice mean that I don’t have to do much except be a horse and play with my brother.  Mom is a weather wimp.  She says that I am one too, but I would like it to be known that I was out in the sleet this morning while she hid in the house.  Oh, yeah, wait, she made it out to the barn long enough to pat my head and give me two Stud Muffins.  Only two?!!  Doesn’t she know that two is really nothing more than an amuse-bouche?  Not amused, but I did forgive her because when I did return to the barn, she had put an Uncle Jimmy’s Licky Snack in the holder.  Clever woman remembered to put the top on the holder this time.  Darn her!  It takes a lot more work to eat it with the lid.  I can finish it off in about two nights without the lid…

As you can see, I managed to get a new blanket for the winter.  I told her in the spring that she should go ahead and order me a new one, but, Noooooo, silly woman waited until the cold weather had already arrived this winter.  She actually tried to convince me and herself that I could get by with the 84 inch size.  I quickly pointed out that it wasn’t going to work and the blanket would look more like a scarf all scrunched up above my shoulders.  I hear they went to a happy home so I won’t have to suffer the embarrassment of wearing too small clothing.

I’ve been working hard under saddle to learn what I need to know to be a dressage horse.  There are all sorts of new words and movements they are making me do.  I even tried a walk pirouette last week.  Mom and Ms. C are also teaching me how to move sideways and forward at the same time.  Phew, it is hard to move that way.  They have had me do it at the walk and trot and even a little in canter.  I am very tired after those lessons.  Ms. C told me that I’m starting to look like a horse.  What?  What did I look like before?  A big dog?  Maybe it has something to do with my old blankets no longer fitting.

This growing stuff is awesome.  I keep growing and working hard; Ms. C keeps handing me treats while Mom keeps buying me new stuff.  Score!  So far I have amassed a new bridle, a couple of new bits, a turnout sheet, a medium weight blanket, new saddle pads, and some new polo wraps this year.  Best part is that Christmas is just a few weeks away!  I’m hoping for a new saddle (Humph, I have to use my brother’s stinky old saddle!) and a new boot to hang in my stall.  I like to play with the boot at night and it is the penthouse suite for the local mouse population.  It is close by my feed bowl, so it is convenient to dining.  Had to interview some new tenants recently though, since the old one went on a date with the barn cat and never came home.

I’m still very happy in Virginia with my family.  I am very thankful that I have the family that I do and have a nice barn to call my home.  Mom takes very good care of me even if she is stingy with treats sometimes.  I get to go to a bunch of new places during the warmer months where I’ve overheard people tell Dad how happy they are that Mom has a horse like me to ride.  That makes me try really hard to be good, but I still get scared sometimes at the new places.  I hope that doesn’t make me get in trouble.  I asked my older brother about that to see if he had any insight.  He told me not to worry; he says that Mom will be our Mom forever.  I think knowing that is the best Christmas gift of all.

Ike

Finally, We Are in Motion Again – In a Sideways Direction

Ike sporting his new yellow polo wraps

Ike sporting his new yellow polo wraps

Ike and I had a bit of a hiatus from work this week.  Or I guess it would be better stated that Ike had a hiatus from work this week while I had a hiatus from riding.  Skipped a day because of the bitter cold and my hands were frozen from fiddling with Ike’s too small winter blankets.  Missed a day because of my job that pays for my fun hobby.  Sat idly by and watched the rain/sleet/wet snow fall for two days (thanks Mother Nature).  Spent Thanksgiving cooking, eating, and spending time with my family.  So finally today, the sun was out, I had a day off from work, and it was time to get my butt back in the saddle with a lesson from Ms. C.

As you can see in today’s picture, Ike wore his new yellow polo wraps.  Ms. C tried to convince me to buy some a few weeks ago, but I balked for fear that Ike would look like a giant bumblebee.  I finally ordered some when I ordered the big and husky sized sheet and blanket.  We unveiled them today at our lesson and I have to say that he does look pretty good in yellow.  I should have listened to Ms. C at the tack store…just like I do during our lessons.  Lesson learned.

Today’s lesson was all about our lateral work.  It is time to start strengthening our sideways motion since it becomes more important once you move beyond Training Level.  Yes!  It is finally time to move beyond Training Level.  Luckily Ike showed us that he is indeed ready for the more demanding work.  The question is:  Am I ready?  I hope so.

We started off with the simple turn on the forehand.  At least, it should be easy.  Turn the hind quarters around the front.  I picked up contact with the reins, placed my weight in the appropriate foot and lightly touched Ike’s side.  Hmm, Ike demonstrated side pass, backing, circles, and some yet-to-be-named movements.  Every once in a while, Ms. C would note when we had a step or two that qualified as a turn on the forehand.  Note to self – add turn on the forehand to our winter homework list.

Next up was leg yield in both directions.  Ike is going to have a dynamite leg yield once the two of us can coordinate my aids with his movement.  I need to learn to keep the boy’s body in the proper alignment.  It is easy for me to correct the alignment when Ike’s shoulders start to get ahead of the hindquarters.  But Alison, can you tell when you’ve let the hindquarters take the lead?  Umm, nope.  Not so much.  Perhaps I need a rear view mirror.  At least for now I have Ms. C to correct our position.  I was proud that we did do well with the exercise of leg yield, to straight line, then back to leg yield.  Phew, all our time spent schooling straightness is paying off.  Patience, young grasshopper, patience.

We then moved on to shoulder in on the short ends to trot lengthening on the long side to collect the trot onto a small circle.  While this tested Ike’s ability, it definitely tested my ability to execute a proper half halt, keep Ike properly aligned on a circle, achieve shoulder in without over bending the giraffe neck, then straightening Ike before asking for a lengthening.  Having been a Training Level rider for most of my dressage career, I’ve not had to execute quick transitions or be as on point with my aids.  This is all very new to me and somewhat overwhelming.  More wintertime homework – less cruise control, more precision driving.

Our canter work today was less Scooby Doo, but still not where it needs to be for First Level.  Improving the canter was already on the homework list, so it will continue to be there for the foreseeable future.  Wax on, wax off, grasshopper.

It is so very exciting to see and feel Ike progressing in his training.  It is tempting to blast ahead and keep asking for more and more.  It is so very hard not to get greedy.  But as I have learned during my equine adventures, continue to be patient and listen to my dear friend and trainer Ms. C.  Our day will come and it will be worth the wait.