This photo about sums up what Ike thinks of this late winter/early spring snow and cold weather.  Pphhtthhbbbttt!  Just when he decided to start shedding his winter coat, Mother Nature decided to unleash the snow flakes.  How are we supposed to prepare for our upcoming shows when we are grounded by the crappy weather and I’m stuck at home shoveling the sidewalk?  I’d even foolishly loaded up the winter blankets to take them to be cleaned.  Guess I will hold onto them for a few more weeks…my poor car will just have to be perfumed with “eau de horse blanket” for a little longer.

The best thing about snow this time of year is that it doesn’t stick around for long.  Hopefully we will be back in the saddle again Tuesday afternoon when the temperatures return to the 50s.  My recent rides have reminded me how much work there is to get done before show season kicks into high gear.  I set high expectations for myself and Ike.  What can I say – I am a perfectionist at heart and it irks me to get a 6.0 or 6.5 when I know we are capable of 7.0’s and higher.  I’m pretty sure that the judge’s at the licensed show aren’t going to be giving away scores just because Ike is cute.

Our centerlines are still rusty.  We are in good shape until it is time to trot on after our halt.  If I’m not careful, Ike likes to giraffe his neck rather than staying soft in my hands.  “Look over there!  I think there is something I need to see.”  Ugh.  Then we wobble and bobble, and our straight line gets wavy.

Trot circles are okay as long as the rider doesn’t overbend Ike’s neck.  Canter circles are stronger than last year, but there are still days I worry that we might knock over a few rails of the arena.  If Ike gets a bit too forward, then it is debatable on whether or not we will down transition in the right place or just in the general vicinity.  If I half halt too loudly, we trot too early.  If my half halt is too quiet, then we bound along like Tigger for a few extra strides.  Either way we get nailed by the judge.  Boo hiss.  I’m still hoping that dressage scoring considers dropping the high and low scores like ice skating before calculating your final percentage.  Don’t think it is going to happen in the next month, so I’d better keep working.

No progress on show season grooming.  Perhaps that is something I can work on while Ike hides in his stall from the snow flakes.

Keep thinking warm spring thoughts!

So it is Sunday night and I really don’t have much to say.  Why?  Because somehow I have not been in the saddle since Friday.  Friday was an awesome day to ride.  Temperature was near 60 degrees and the sun was shining – one of those Goldilocks kind of days – not too hot and not too cold, but just right.  The weatherman told us that we were going to get snow Friday night into Saturday morning with snow showers all day Saturday.  I hear there was a dusting of snow north of us and some heavy snow showers south of us, but we received nothing.  Not a single flake.  I wish I could be that wrong at my job and still have a job.  Geez.  We did have cold rain Saturday morning and crazy cold winds today.

Am I becoming a bit of a Goldilocks in my old age?  I mean I could have ridden yesterday since it was just cloudy by the time I made it to the barn, but I opted to love on the boys and hand out treats instead…I could have layered up and ridden today, but opted to just hand walk Ike instead of wrestling with my tack and the stiff, cold leather.  Is it a bad thing to be a bit of a fair weather rider?  I’ve done my fair share of bad weather riding.  I’ve been mounted when it started snowing, sleeting and raining.  Been on my horse when the lightening started lighting up the sky.  Had the runny nose and tearing eyes from pollen or cold winds.  Had numb fingers and toes and chapped lips.  Almost suffered heat stroke in the middle of the summer.  I have decided that it is more than okay to be a weather wimp.

Before the cold weather returned, Ike and I had a great ride on Friday.  I love the rides where everything flows.  Transitions are easy.  There is no nagging to get the rhythm I want.  My half halts seemingly are given at the right moment.  I would like to say that Ike and I are starting to “get it.”  Instead of being a horse and a rider, we are partners.  What an amazing feeling that is.  We will continue to have our Goldilocks days where I do too much or too little when asking for an up transition or my half halt is more like a halt.  I will continue to wimp out on the really cold days, but I promise that this rider will continue, in spite of the weather, to swing her leg over Ike’s back to be the best she can be, runny nose and cold toes and all.

Today I finally had last week’s lesson, and for me, better late than never.  Ike and I require regular adult supervision to keep us on track and our reins at the correct length.  So glad that Ms. C does not migrate south for the winter – she might not be happy about it, but I know that I am so very thankful that Ike and I can keep up our lessons through the winter rather than scratching our heads wondering if we are making forward progress.  Our second show season kicks off in three months, so we really don’t have any time to waste.

After today’s lesson, I can assure you that our upward progress is stifled by my inadequacies as a rider – we have to claw our way up that ladder rung by rung.  Yes, it is true, poor Ike must tolerate my digressions in his quest for fame and fortune.  How will the boy ever make it to the Wellington Dressage Master’s competition when his owner is so easily distracted by a runny nose and cold fingers?  Ms. C and I discussed some of the rides while we did my lesson; she used them as a guide for my wayward skill set.  While they are a library of how to ride correctly, I could be the poor soul who they trot out to demonstrate what not to do.  One of these days I’m making it over that wall to the other side where the proficient riders live.

One of the discussions today was about rein length.  I marvel at riders who manage to keep a steady connection even while holding two sets of reins.  I feel like I am always adjusting the length and my contact is on again, off again.  My fear is that Ike will learn to tune out my fidgeting and we will be damned to Training Level purgatory.  Ms. C assures me that I am improving and that now that Ike is steadier and stronger, I won’t have to constantly grope for the right length which sends us down the chute and back to Intro Level.  Our sit trot work today proved that I can find the right length of rein when I set my mind to it.  Start on a trot circle to the left, establish the correct bend and flexion, and once things are stable, half halt, step to the right, and re-establish the new bend and flexion for a circle to the right.  Up the ladder we went…

We were half way up the ladder today when we took an unexpected detour down the Runaway Horse Chute.  Ms. C said she could almost see Ike planning to slide down that particular chute.  I bumped Ike with my legs to ask for just a bit more trot.  Ike took that opportunity to leap into the canter and before I could say “wh—-” we were off to the races.  Abandoning any finesse, I used the full body brace to gain control.  Phew!  That will get the blood flowing.  Of course we were at the bottom of the chute and back at Start.  Time to start over.

We abandoned all thoughts of canter and continued to work on our trot work as well as the suggestion of shoulder in.  Please Ike, could we just make it up one ladder successfully?  I will then take you back to the barn for the rest of your dinner.  That must have been good incentive because we ended our lesson on a positive note with the successful climb up the walk/trot ladder.  Ike’s walk was dynamite – the boy really should be able to pull at least an 8 on that walk.  Our transitions were peaceful in the up direction as well as in the down.  Ike even listened as we attempted shoulder in to the right and left.  His rider almost led them down the Overbending Chute, but Ms. C was there to save the day and prevent one final descent.

So many ladders to climb before show season kicks into high gear.  I am going to try my best to avoid any chutes that will send us back to Intro tests at schooling shows.  Ike says he is promising nothing.  He kind of liked that wild ride and isn’t certain why I don’t encourage more of that behavior.  I think he has been talking to his brother too much.

We head out this weekend for our first clinic of 2013!

You can’t get away from them – they are ubiquitous.  They are important for every gait, for every movement in a dressage test, and seem to take up a lot of space in my posts.  Ms. C spends hours patiently trying to ingrain the correct technique into my cranium.  They are my nemesis and a literally a pain in my shoulders on some days.  Master the technique, and you will find success and move up the levels.  Those who aren’t coordinated enough to perform them effectively are doomed to muddle around the lower levels for eternity.  I fear that I am the latter and poor Ike is doomed by his mother’s lack of coordination to perform a correct half halt.

To complicate things, I opted to purchase a young, green horse, so I am wholly responsible for Ike’s education.  He’d only been under saddle for 30 days when he arrived in Virginia, so I don’t think he knew a half halt from a flying change when he arrived.  The responsibility is mine for teaching Ike what a half halt is.  I do know that I don’t half halt often enough.  Sometimes when I do, Ike “overhears” the request and we go from trot to walk or canter to unbalanced trot…or maybe I overdo the request.  Perhaps it is a little of both?  In any case, half halts can stymie me like no other concept.  Did I squeeze too much with my fingers and not enough with my legs?  When I engaged my core, did I accidentally tip forward and confuse Ike as to what I want?  The madness of it all!!  And don’t get me started on timing my half halts!  Half a stride too late is oh too common.

Now I must say that Sir Ike must bear some of the burden on his shoulders.  Some days he softens nicely when I close my fingers for a half halt.  Other days the request is met with 50 pounds of resistance to the request, “no, I do not wish to do that today.”  Arrghhh!  Just do it Ike and let’s get on with the program. “No, I wish to be argumentative today and even get pissy to your leg as well.”  Thus is how our ride went today.  I would ask Ike to soften, he would resist.  I would repeat the request, he would resist.  I would then demand compliance with a very loud half halt, he would soften for a millisecond and then brace.  Ah the joys of working with a young, smart horse.  He obviously know what I want, but is just electing to not participate.  Out of a 40 minute ride, I had a relaxed and connected horse for maybe 15 total minutes.

Ike’s current mental state of “not today Mom, I’m too busy ignoring you” reminds me of my brother in his younger days.  He was tested for four years straight in elementary school for participation in the gifted program.  The teachers were stymied.  How is it possible that a smart boy continues to not do well on this test when he obviously has the intelligence?  My mother finally dragged the truth out of him….”I don’t answer all the questions on the test.  If I have to go to gifted class, I still have to make up the work I missed in the other class.  I don’t want to do the extra work.”  Oh.  Is Ike the equine version of my brother?  The smart kid who resists to avoid having to do extra work?

I certainly hope Mr. Smarty Pants gets over himself soon, my body needs a week of easy rides to recover.

Two more rides behind me this week.  We’ve already topped the ride count for the past two weeks combined and we still have the weekend to go.  It is nice to have the normal routine re-established and have the weather cooperate.  The cold hasn’t been too dreadful.  I was able to ride without having to resort to looking like Ralphie’s brother from A Christmas Story in order to stay warm. [Cue the small child in the snowsuit who can’t put his arms down…”You can put your arms down when you get to school.”]  Can I just say how hard it is to effectively half halt when you have warm puffy gloves encasing your fingers making them look like Italian sausages?

Yesterday I rode while Ms. C gave a lesson to another friend.  I focused on my work and tried to stay out of their way.  Ike wasn’t too squirrely, and we worked our way through the repertoire of walk, trot, canter, circles, leg yield, transitions, halts, shoulder in (attempts), and free walk.  I thought we had decent rhythm and tempo…and that is where I was wrong…

Today was our lesson.  Little did I realize that Ms. C’s laser sharp eyes did see some of our work yesterday.  She asked me how I thought my ride yesterday went.  Ooh.  “Well, it was not as challenging as some days, but I was happy with what we accomplished.”  Well, I learned that we were too quick in our trot work with too few half halts, not as through as we should be at the canter, i.e., more half halts, and our angles were off with our lateral work (read: half halt that outside rein to slow down that outside shoulder).  Darn those pesky things.  I think I’m doing things correctly only to find out that I’m not quite as effective as I think I am.  Crap.  Sigh.  Bummer.  Why don’t horses come with owner’s manuals so you know exactly how much to squeeze your fingers and legs to get the correct result?

Ms. C said that I am letting Ike choose the rhythm he wants to go – he needs to learn patience, wait for me, and I need to establish what I want.  If I keep letting him make the decisions on how to travel, then the choppy quick trot is what I’m teaching him is okay.  Ahh, light bulb moment.  It is a very good thing that I take weekly lessons to keep me on track.  Ike and I would still be careening around the arena without Ms. C’s close and very patient guidance to keep us moving in the right direction.  We spent most of the lesson working on my ability to half halt correctly no matter what gait we were in and thereby teaching Ike to be patient and wait for me to ask for more or less.  My homework for the weekend is clear…no puffy gloves, lots of half halts, and then some more half halts.  Ike’s homework is working on waiting for Mom’s aids…patience big boy, patience.

It looks like the colder temperatures are finally here to stay in the mid-Atlantic region.  While Ike has gained some weight and grown a respectable winter coat, I decided to offer him an added layer of protection from the elements.  I pulled out his emerald green, waterproof sheet from last year; it has no fill, but it isn’t quite cold enough for his medium weight blanket.  As a three-year old, he wore an 84 inch blanket.  Yes, that is right, a size 84…kept all fingers and toes crossed that it would fit and I would not have to scramble to find a new one.  As soon as I pulled it around his shoulders, you could see the material straining to fit around Ike’s the hulking deltoids.  Sigh.  Baby Huey continues to get pumped up or plumped up as the case may be.  Time to start shopping for a replacement.

My internet search for larger sized horse blankets found some interesting details: there are fewer choices once you move beyond 84 inch blankets.  Some websites have nothing sized above 84 inches.  There are a fair number of 86 inch style choices, but color selection is more limited – usually one choice.  Once you go above 86 inches, there are only a few companies that carry the circus-tent sizes.  Found one style called the Big Fella at Schneider’s (www.sstack.com).  Leave it to me to own a horse that needs special sizing.

Ike and I did manage to get in two rides over the New Year’s holiday weekend.  Two rides are better than no rides.  Ike continues to be grumpy during our warmup.  I try more walking, hovering in two-point at the trot, lots of walk/trot transitions with half halts that make my arms ache from the effort, and the only thing that consistently works is letting him canter.  Fine, Ike, if that will get you over your mood and make you more cooperative, so be it.  Canter politely for as long as you need.  All this winter time cantering is paying off – we are no longer freight training around the arena like a Great Dane puppy.  My knees are grateful that the fence is now keeping its distance.   We are also continuing to work on canter transitions using my seat rather than my leg backed up with the whip.  The whip has been a necessary tool this past year.  It continues to be useful for our lateral work, but it sure is nice to wean myself from needing it for canter transitions.  Forward progress…baby steps…except my baby needs a 86 inch blanket.