NCDCTA Labor of Love...A Real Labor of Love

The NCDCTA Labor of Love show marked the end of this year's show season. With lack of money and schedule conflicts from my paralegal class at UNC, I don't really have time for another show. With that being said, I had to make this one count and boy did I work my tail off to do so!


This horse show was meant for experience since Buddy and I have already qualified for Sport Horse Nationals and GAIG/USDF Region 1 Championships. There was just one more goal to be obtained...the elusive USDF/Dover Saddlery AA Medal! All Season, I have come in 2nd in the Medal classes, narrowly missing this achievement each time. I wanted that Medal BAD!!! But I planned to make this a productive training weekend as well as a successful showing.


We arrived Friday around 2 and set-up pretty quickly because Lynn got a tack stall which most of her students ended up sharing. After settling in and checking-in at the show office, I decided to take Buddy for a hack/school in the covered and indoor arenas since that is where we would be competing. My light and stress-free ride did not really go as planned...Buddy was EXTREMELY tense and a little spooky in the indoor which lead to very difficult canter work including a concrete neck/mouth and dropping out of the canter regularly. With that came frustration, stopping, backing and head swinging, ugh!! I ended up getting off and checking his bridle just to make sure that nothing was majorly wrong.  Nothing was, so I worked on getting him soft on the ground then remounted and tried again. He seemed to relax enough to get through some canter work without fussing and did some nice counter canter loops as well, unfortunately the simples were still lacking but better than when we started. I decided to end it on a good note seeing as how we had early ride times on Saturday. Back to the stalls we went to get dinner and a bath for Buddy. Home was the next destination since ride times were mid-morning and Bud needed braiding.


I'm not gonna lie, the next morning I was a little nervous. I was praying that we would not go through the same warm-up we had had in the coliseum last night during the test. But I gathered my nerves trudged down to the barn and started the normal morning chores trying to be positive. I just have to add that I love showing in NC for many reasons but one of my favorites is that at most shows, you can get a nightwatch for your horse. Which means someone checks him multiple times a night, leaves little notes on the report card stapled to his stall and gives breakfast! But, I digress, the first class I was on my own for warm-up since it was 2-2. Warm-up was MUCH better, he was calm and soft and adjustable. We went into the test and completed a nice test with forward impulsion and some minor tweaks like softening his neck in the canter, 10m circles were a hair large and centerlines...ugh! But anyways, it was a successful test and the judge thought so too, a 65+% with a  1st place ribbon. I was stoked! What a great way to start the day! The 2-3 test was about an hour later and this time I had help from Lynn. Apparently, when I go into the warm-up I tend to forget how to ride my horse but I am quickly reminded what my purpose in the saddle is again (especially when Lynn is on the other end of the microphones!). We had the BEST warm-up I have EVER had on Buddy. He actually felt like a true 3rd level horse, eek! I went into the test feeling confident of our amazing work. Too bad Buddy had some other ideas. The ring that our second test was in was by the road and of course this weekend happened to be the first NC State game of the season, so the road was filled with game-goers, tail-gaters and "pre-gamers". Buddy immediately became super tight and lost all of the good juices we had gotten in the warm-up. The judge saw it and gave us a 61% with a 4th place. Not bad but not really what I was hoping for. Buddy was unbraided, bathed and put back in his stall in front of his fan...he was a happy camper. I spent the rest of the day with the other members of NSTC cheering on rides and listening to Lynn coach. Overall it was a fulfilling day. Everyone went to the barn party that evening and had a good time with some good laughs :)


The next day was the crucial day...Dover Medal class at 1PM! I was nervous, excited and focused...maybe too focused. I (Me! Can you believe it?) was very tight because of the pressure I was putting on myself and it showed in my riding. I had trouble keep him soft and loose and swinging. But Lynn kept trying to get me to get him to relax. She had to leave me early because she had another student in the ring at the same time who needed her more than I did. We went into the indoor to do our test (where we had had the bad warm-up on Friday) and started off pretty well, all until we got to the halt. Next was the back-up...I said back-up.....oh, for the love of pearl, I said BACK-UP!!!! That was what it looked like and there was no, zip, nadda back-up. I tried walking a few steps forward and tried again but it just was not happening and it kinda went downhill from there. The simples were done through the trot, the canter was tense and boy was he strong! I came out of the test very disappointed but the judge did stop me at the end of my test to tell me that "those things happen, just keep going and make up the points in the rest of the test". What a nice guy! Dad waited around for the score since I was the second to last one (and he loves to surprise me with my score/ribbon, always has!). I was not hopeful at all and became a tad mopey since I blew my chance at the Dover Medal but I was already planning ahead for my last test (at 4PM...UGH!). My dad came back with the test, I took the test from him and noticed the paper was funny. I opened the test and inside this is what I found:

HALLELUJAH! I actually managed to best my field of other amateurs to get this beauty!!! Granted the score was a 61% but Mr. Schmutz, the judge, was very positive and said overall the test wasn't bad except for the halt and to keep working! I was so excited I marched the test down to the warm-up where Lynn was schooling another student to show her. Needless to say, there was lots of smiling, hugging and squeeling :) I stayed to watch my barn-mates do their last rides but had to head back to get Buddy ready for his last ride. I went into this warm-up with confidence renewed that we could get through this. The warm-up was short and sweet to conserve the last bit of Buddy's energy and off we went into the test...to the ring beside the road. If I thought the first test was tight, boy was I going to be surprised at this one! Buddy managed to find a water drain next to the ring that he managed to miss in the  first test. Let's just say that was all he could think about and he was CONVINCED it was going to suck him up... 

Giraffe and Camel are what come to mind for that test! It makes me laugh now but I was just exhausted after the ride and I really couldn't be mad at him since we did get the medal. It was the end of the show and he was genuinely scared. On a good note, Kay Meredith LOVED him! She gave him some really super marks and comments, not so bad all in all even though the score was a 59%. Overall, not a bad way to end the show season!

The Raleigh Summer Sizzler...I mean...Dressage Show

Well, we officially got through another show! Granted this had to be one of the most uncomfortable shows to compete in because the heat was totally unrelenting, but we got it done! I really don't have much to complain about, I was done both days by 10AM with scores in hand by 10:30, not too shabby. Ok, onto the good stuff!

Upon our arrival on Friday, we (being my normal pit crew of me, mom, dad and the puppy) almost melted trying to get Buddy cool, comfortable and situated in his temporary weekend home while trying to set up the tack room. It was a sweltering 103 out! I felt bad for the poor hunter riders who had a show going on at the same time/same venue. Those girls looked miserable! Then the mind-boggling thing was that there were people schooling their horses in this heat. I mean I understand the hunter riders, they had to school they were competing on Friday. The dressage show didn't start until Saturday. And, I also understand that some horses need to get schooled at a show (to get energy out etc.) but come on, couldn't you do it in the morning or the evening when there is a less probable chance of you or your horse suffering heat stroke?!?! I just don't get people some time! Excuse my rambling...now back to the show! After everyone/thing was settled (i.e. Buddy had a bath/dinner and the tack room was show weekend ready), we headed back to Creedmoor to take care of the other ponies before turning in for the night.

Saturday morning came early since my first test was at 8:21. I was prepared to warm-up all by myself since this was for Second Level Test 2 and really just a practice run before the "important class". I was just putzing around the ring when to my surprise I heard a loud voice telling me to sit up and ride my horse rather than lolly-gagging around! Lynn had come early and was helping me out :) Nothing like having an early morning "where did you learn to ride?!?" lesson before my class! Apparently, I had completely forgotten how to warm my horse up that morning. Thank goodness for early coaching :) We really schooled the canter and got him up in his shoulders before I was called by the ring steward for my test. I went in and ROCKED that test. It was forward and uphill yet collected and I only had one tiny, itsy-bitsy problem. I completely forgot where the heck I was in the free-walk...oops! I wandered aimlessly in hopes the bell would ring or just by chance I would go the right way. Alas, I did not and the bell rang. Other than that it was a great test and Lynn was super proud of our start to the day. Unfortunately, our judge did not agree and gave us a sad 58%. We still managed 2nd place but I was rather discouraged by the score. But I chose to move on since I had another test to complete and another judge to try and impress!

The next test came rather quickly and again Lynn and I schooled the same keys things we had earlier that morning, uphill canter, slowing the shoulders, and the most important "KEEP MY REINS SHORTER!!!" It was time for the test and I made sure to read my test again so as not to have another mishap during the walk tour. I managed to complete the test without any errors but left my overall ability to ride a phenomenal test outside of the letter A...ugh! I got tired and lost my half-halt that kept Buddy engaged for the simple-changes and the counter-canter was ridiculously rushed. The judge this time was very fair and gave me a well deserved 60+% which put us in 5th place. I was less than .5% away from getting my last qualifying score that I need for the GAIG's...ugh again! Lynn and I discussed the game plan for the next morning in order to raise those scores to where they should be. The rest of the day was spent socializing with our neighbors Jim and Louis of Hounds Run Farm, watching Lynn schooling some of her other students and just enjoying the horse show atmosphere. We did need the occasional break in front of the fan seeing as how it was 102 on Saturday. In the evening I decided to talk to M & M Tack Shop about the dilemma I was having with my Trilogy Debbie McDonald Series Saddle, this ended with a full saddle flocking/adjustment/test ride of my updated saddle. And yes, it needed ALOT of work! It is still not perfect but definitely much better than where we started. Afterwards, Buddy got another bath, an apple and a kiss goodnight.


Sunday morning brought much cooler weather and a very determined me. I normally am not a superstitious person but I decided to bust out a necklace that was given to me by my maternal grandmother who was extremely supportive of my riding (she even helped my parents purchase DJ back in 2001). I asked her for a little extra help that morning! I was on my own for my first class since again it was only 2-2, my warm-up for 2-3. I was hoping that with the cooler weather I would have an upbeat slightly lofty Buddy to deal with, but to my regret I did not. I had cranky stiff Buddy that was not very pliable, bendable or even very ridable in warm-up. I was riding under my judge from the second test yesterday, so I wanted to prove to her we could really put in a much better test than yesterday. So in we went at 8:04, it was overall an accurate test but lacked pizzazz and decent half-halts. I was pleased but not overjoyed. The judge did notice that we had improved, Buddy and I received 1st place with a score of 63+%! She gave us the points where we deserved it and in other places dinged us for the mistakes. Overall, it was a fair assessment of a lack luster test. Lynn arrived in the middle of the test and saw exactly what we needed to jazz up the next test...


9:20 rolled around and we immediately went to work in order to unlock his hind legs. With a longer frame we checked right and left flexion and bend then progressed to leg-yield and half-pass in order to really get his hind end rockin' and rollin'. This made a HUGE difference in the quality of work for the second test. He became free and light and forward...yeehaw! We really buckled down on the simple changes and the counter-canter trying to make them softer, but quicker with a neck that resembled jell-o rather than concrete. It was time to go in and do my test. Little mistakes were made such as careening around my 10m canter circles (oops!) and 1 break in the second counter-canter half circle (doh!) but other than that I was extremely pleased with this test. It was definitely the best 2-3 I have ridden this season! This was a new judge and we seemed to impress her because not only did I get my GAIG qualifying score but I got it with a 65% and 2nd place in a BIG class! I was so excited it was ridiculous and so was Lynn :)


So, overall it was a great weekend. I got the scores I needed, placed in every class, met some new friends, fixed my screwy saddle, had bonding time with my wonderful gelding, got some great insight from my Trainer, spent quality time with the family and managed not to die of heat stroke in the process! Not bad if I do say so myself :) Until next time!

Finally...Another Post: Lessons

Jeez! It feels like I haven't posted anything in forever! Lots of things have happened since the horse show. Tick bites, allergic reactions, lost shoes, thunderstorms, and unbelievable heat waves have altered the boys work out schedules but with careful planning I have been able to do my best. I also lost a great friend of mine to an equestrian accident. Kay was one of my good friends from the horse show world. She will be dearly missed and I really can't say enough good things about her. But, I know that she is looking down from heaven at all of her loved ones and smiling because that's just the kind of person she was :)

RIP Kay Foy Culbertson Robertson

April 28, 1966 - June 6,2011

But this blog was not meant to be sad, instead it was meant to talk about lessons. Whether they be lessons in life, which Kay gave many of or just lessons in general, they are always helpful. Kay's greatest lessons to me were about looking on the bright side of life no matter what curve balls were thrown your way. She also enforced the open heart policy, being nice to everyone and accepting them for who they are. These are things I will always remember because of her.

In the horse world, I had a lesson yesterday...a riding lesson that is. It was my first one since the horse show in Pinehurst. I thought that even with my setbacks in May and June, I had been doing ok with keeping up with my "homework". Apparently, that was just it, I had done an "ok" job but now it was time to crank up the heat. Lynn said two important things that I can take away from my lesson: 1) I am a marshmallow and 2) if I want to win at Second Level I need a dressage horse not a half-arab pretending to be a dressage horse.

For the first point, I will admit I am a marshmallow. I have a squishy center that definitely needs some toning. Without the proper muscles (that which I am currently laking), I cannot keep up physically with Buddy's training especially if I want to help him progress up the levels. Granted I have spent the past couple of months dropping some weight but I have not spent the time strengthening my core. I have always been petite but after the move to NC I did pack on a little more and told myself I would start working out to fix that problem. It has been a year and 4 days since we moved here and I have not stepped foot in an exercise establishment. So, that is my goal for the next couple of weeks, to tone up a little before the Raleigh Summer Show.

The next point sounds a little prejudice against Arabs & Half-Arabs but trust me it was not meant to. It was meant in the sense that she wanted more than what would be acceptable at just the breed shows. Lynn wanted Buddy to sit and lift more than was originally required of him for him to be able to compete and win against the other horses at the open shows. Even though we have already done an open show and faired pretty well at this level, she wanted us to push for more so that instead of just doing fair we could top the class instead. That will be a goal until the next lesson in two weeks.

So with all of these lessons in mind, I will keep plugging along and try to implement all the lessons I have learned of late to keep improving! Until the next lesson :)

Dressage in the Sandhills

Well, my first open show of the season has come and gone....and it was a FABULOUS experience!!! To start the story a little earlier, let's begin the Saturday before the show when I threw Buddy in the trailer and trekked over to Chapel Hill for one last lesson with Lynn. It was really quiet at the farm since I was the only person having a lesson that day. We started with the usual warm up of flexing both sides and making sure I could talk to all the parts of his body. Something was just not right from the beginning, we were stopping every couple of strides and when I went to put my leg on, his sides were rock hard. He had pooped in the trailer and was eating hay when I opened the door so I doubted he was colicing, but I expressed my concern to Lynn and we took it a little easy in order to watch him. Unfortunately, easy was not really all that easy! We worked on regulating his trot, showing more in his travers, more fluidity in the turn on the haunch and then came the canter...what a disaster! He was so far behind my leg I ended getting a whip to keep him moving. We worked on collection with straightness, circles and then the simple changes. Usually, the lessons are 45 min., but on our easy work out we did an hour...jeez! Buddy and I were exhausted and I was completely disheartened. I felt unprepared for this show and honestly considered scrapping the whole thing, but it was paid for and we were going.

Over the week, my rides slowly improved. I body clipped him on Monday, had a less than pleasant ride on Tuesday (probably due to the new haircut), thunderstorms were held on Wednesday so no riding, and Thursday definitely had better moments. Friday was the big day, I packed the trailer loaded up the Boo and off we went to Southern Pines! We arrived right at the end of a pretty intense thunderstorm that had delayed the show for an hour and a half. Buddy was unloaded and settled in immediately into his new (well rather old stall, they were established in the 50's!) stall. We met Lynn and some of our new neighbors then went to the hotel to tuck in for the evening and get ready for the next day's classes. We did get to use a really cool service that I had not been exposed to at any of my other overnight shows...Overnight check-in was done by a lovely woman named Linda who during the course of the night would check in on your horses, refill water if needed, give more hay, put on/take off blankets, feed breakfast and call if your horse was acting peculiar, and all of this was $10 a night...what a wicked deal!!!

Saturday morning was rather uneventful, we said good morning to everyone, walked Buddy around the track since the show grounds at Pinehurst is actually a sulky track with a polo field in the middle. The show rings are set up along the outside of the track  and the warm-up on the other side of the track and the polo field. Buddy was also introduced to the golf course behind the barn, where there was a tee for one of the holes right behind his stall! Next was stall cleaning and then braiding for the first class at 11:11 (the wish time...I admit I did make a wish that the weekend would go well!). Buddy warmed-up like a champ and off we went to our first class Second Level Test 2. It started off a little sticky since the rings were a mucky from the rain the day before and because of the invisible ring monster in the corner near M, but other than that was a rather pleasant test. I was stoked when I saw that I had tied for first place but it was even better that I had tied with a woman who I used to board with and had taught me when I was a beginning student at Woodlawn Stables in Alexandria, VA. I lost the tie but still ended up second with a score 63%! My next test was around 2:45 and I had asked Lynn to coach since it was a GAIG qualifying class. We got out to the polo field about a half hour before my class, and she whipped my butt into shape...more collection, shorter reins, more shoulder-fore and plenty of half-halts. Buddy felt Fantastic!!! I went into the class and had a total brain fart :( The test went well but I somehow forgot most of the stuff Lynn had just worked so hard to hammer into my head, UGH! I finished and Lynn said that it went OK but to bring the camera my father had videoed my ride with to her trailer once I finished taking care of Buddy. I went back to the barn, untacked, washed Buddy down, and fed him dinner. Then Mom and I took the camera over to Lynn's trailer and plugged it up to her flat screen. We watched the test twice, the first time was for Lynn to commentate on every movement, the second was to see if I could do it to prove to her I knew what to fix. That was a great learning tool. I knew exactly what I needed to fix and had my homework to think about before doing the test again the next morning. Afterwards, we went to the office to pick up my score. I ended up in the bottom of my class but with a 64+%!!! First place had a 68% so we weren't too far off and I got my first score for the GAIGs :) We went back to the barn, tucked Buddy in for the night, set breakfast up for Linda to give and then went out into Southern Pines for a celebratory dinner!

Sunday morning came quickly since we had to pack up at the hotel and my ride time was earlier than yesterday. I had studied in the hotel room my three major bullet points and was ready at 8:30 for my warm-up ride with Lynn. Buddy felt AWESOME, unlike anything that I had ridden the week before, at the show or probably ever from him. I really felt like we belonged there! We walked into that ring and owned test 3. We showed our mediums with clear collection afterwards, shoulder-in to renvers were clear, the reinback was less tense, turn-on-the-haunches were marching, walking with done with purpose, simples were light and the counter canters were less rushed. We (me, mom, dad, and Lynn) were extremely pleased!! I couldn't wait to get my score but we went to get some breakfast and then headed to the show office. I went to the score board and my heart fell. Not only was I again at the bottom of my class but apparently this judge did not appreciate my ride at all and scored me a 59%. I felt like I had been beaten up, I read the comments and there were some good moments but overall she felt that we lacked the idea of true collection. Lynn did not think it was all that bad but could tell I was upset. Unfortunately, she had to leave right after in order to get home to teach her Sunday lessons. So I was on my own for the last class. It looked like it was going to rain so we packed everything early in order to be ready to leave after my rather late ride time of 3:42. Luckily, many competitors opted to scratch in order to get on the road early so I was able to move my ride time up. I went through the same motions from my warm-up that morning and was ready to ride test 2. Poor Buddy was exhausted and tried his best but was very slow and broke for a step in his counter canter. I praised him at the end and thanked him for being such a good boy this weekend. I ran back to the barn, cooled him off, put the tack and my show clothes in the trailer and then got Buddy on with his well earned Banana :) We parked the trailer with him in it to wait for my scores by the show office. It was only a couple minutes and I had my last score and ribbon in my hand. I came in second again just like the day before but unlike that morning, the score was much higher with a less than thrilling test (62.6%)....whatever! The comments were similar but the marks were higher. We left after that and Buddy was more than excited to see the barn when I opened the trailer door. He was such a good boy, I don't plan on getting on him until maybe Wednesday. It was a great show, with really good learning experiences, new and old friends were enjoyed, and great scores at Second level including a GAIG score. Not a bad start to the open show season...until next time!

First Show of the Season :)

It only took me two weeks to write this but at least I'm getting to it! So the first show of the season has officially been accomplished...let's do a quick run down:

Friday evening, we arrive at the Raleigh Hunt Complex (aka "the State Fairgrounds") and find our stalls with my friends Kay & Foy Robertson and the crew from Ginn Farm Dressage & Sporthorses. I was super excited to see my friends since I did not show at all last year and these guys, well girls, are an absolute blast at a show! The set-up proved to be a little difficult. The stalls are kind of a mess since they are like off-roading in a 10x10 area. Setting up a tack stall ended up being very creative ;) Buddy settled in right away and became quite attached to his neighbor Little Buddy (Kay's Pintabian gelding). Then it was back home for an early night since Saturday was supposed to start early with braiding and a bath.

Saturday morning did start early, but not as early as originally planned...something that anyone reading this should know is that every Arabian show I plan on going to (it happens every single time) rain is always in the forecast. Wouldn't you know it, it torrential rained the evening before making the rings not a total disaster but something that would not keep your show-ready pony very clean. So, I made the command decision to forgo the bath (something that I have NEVER done for a horse show, schooling or rated!) and just decided to take him for a long walk and braid him up for his 8 something AM ride time. Buddy was extremely relaxed for everything that morning so warm-up time came and all was going smoothly. First up was Second level test 3, the tougher of the two tests I signed up for. I met a couple more friends in the warm-up, did some chatting while stretching and proceeded with a leisurely warm-up. It came time for my test, I heard the whistle, went down the centerline and started my test. Unfortunately, I only got through the halt, salute, medium trot, shoulder in right, renver left, medium trot and the beginning of left shoulder-in transitioning over to renver before the horse in the ring next to us stepped on the chain ring and knocked over one of the wooden letters right next to me and Buddy. Needless to say, that was the end of poor Buddy's brain. I managed to get him back and continued on with the test as best as we could. The rest of the test was semi-accurate with only breaking in both counter canters which were extremely tight to begin with but we managed to finish. At the end of the test, the judge called me up to her stand to tell me that she got lost during my test and thought that overall Buddy did a great job for it being an already very difficult test without adding the incident that the younger horse. All of that ended with a 64+%!

The next test was only two hours later, I had hoped that this would give Buddy some time to forget what happened earlier that morning. Alas, it did not. The next test we were doing was much easier but he never let go of the tension he had acquired from the morning. It was again semi-accurate but lacked pizazz that he had originally shown before he lost his poor little brain. We also lost the function of a half-halt as well as our simples. For this class, we had the same judge as we did in the morning and she must have seen something promising because even with tension and plenty of "boo boos" we still earned a 61+%. I grabbed a blanket from the trailer since another terrible thunderstorm was in the works for the evening, tucked Buddy in and set off for home.

Sunday morning started very unpleasant. My allergies were in full swing and I could not see or breath without discomfort. Mom gave me 2 allergy pills which did not appear to be Benadryl but Oops! it was the CVS generic equivalent instead (this will become a problem later on in my story). So after meds and coffee were had, it was back to the Hunt Complex. It was another wet morning but I had some renewed hopes that it was a new day, new thought process, no more show nerves and overall it was going to be a great day with great tests. Nope, I was wrong. My very-drowsy allergy meds had started to kick in and getting ready to warm-up was remarkably difficult. After I finally got Buddy and myself ready to ride I was exhausted, how was I supposed to accomplish a Second level test like this?!?! Maybe Buddy would be sympathetic to my issues...again wrong. The tension was back and worse than ever. I had no strength to try and deal with his issues and all of my corrections were too late making me disrupt the next movement. I literally warmed-up until the car horn was honked in order to keep myself from exiting stage right off of Bud. We got the test done but man it was not pretty! Lots of hiccups including breaking again in the counter-canter, shallow travers and lazy simples. The new judge was very gracious with some encouraging compliments and a score of 60+%. After that ride I had to crash in the car for a nap because the "Benadryl wanna-be" was kicking my butt! Two hours later, I awoke very refreshed and ready to try again. I was thwarted one more time by the fates. For our last ride, I just had no horse left. Buddy had spent all of his energy being tense that I had nothing left at all for Second 3 which requires so much of the horse. It was depressing. We did a super short warm-up and went in for the test. It was just not something Buddy usually puts out in the show ring. We had the same judge from the morning who still had nice things to say about me and my black horse but she crucified us on more than one movement.

In conclusion, we got through the first one. We came home with four blues and High Point Second level so maybe it wasn't all bad :) Buddy and I had high and not so high points but we have run through the new tests in a relaxed environment and qualified for 1 class at Nationals so far. We have our homework and I have a lesson scheduled next weekend with Lynn before we leave for our next outting. This one will still be small but it has more pressure because it is a USDF show and I may be making an attempt to qualify for Regionals for the first time at 2nd level as an AA, eep! I'll be sure to keep this blog updated after my next lesson and of course after the horse show. Until next time!

Boot Camp Day 2 & 3: Plenty of "Ah-ha!" Moments

Granted I am writing this a couple days after the last day of boot camp, I have my reasons....I was exhausted!! I have been taking lessons for many years but I have not had the opportunity to do a cluster of lessons in one shot like I did this weekend. It was so worth it! Now onto the nitty gritty...

Day 2 
When I came back on Saturday morning, Buddy looked very well rested in his new stall. Bright eyed and bushy tailed, he called when I got out of the car (Yay! my horse still loves me even after I put him through the ringer). I was one of the first rides since the rider before me had to cancel her first lesson due to a severely pulled hamstring. It was cool but Buddy was fresh and ready to work. We used the same warm-up of making sure he was loose and swinging before testing out his bend-ability. He went right to work making my life slightly easier. Lynn had me start to put him together more and more with "core half-halts" in order to lift his shoulders. She also gave me two new weapons to use when he started to get stiff of tense due to the level of difficulty in the work:

The first tool was giving in to his bracing. During the transitions, I have formed an unfortunate habit of helping him brace in his head and neck in order to achieve roundness. I had to let this go during the exercise and not touch his face at all during transitions. It initially resulted in a high neck nose out transition but the back legs stayed active without disrupting the flow. When added with a slight massage of the rein (versus the steady and firm hold) our transitions did a 180 in look and effectiveness! Yippee!!

The second tool is called the "bending sliding" rein. This is merely keeping the current of your hand to his mouth alive with tiny half-halts coming from each rein in order to keep him soft and supple. It is mostly done with the upper body and you know your doing too much with your hands if the horse's nose starts wagging. This concept was not the easiest to me but when applied correctly I got great feedback from Buddy. I felt it was much easier in the canter although it was more difficult for him. Buddy was fantastic! He felt light and supple by the end and put in no arguments about the difficulty of things asked. I was so proud! He had worked so hard I was forced to give him a small bath but at least it had warmed-up enough by this time. Buddy spent the remainder of the day in the paddock outside his stall so he could watch Lynn's lessons for the rest of the day (another excellent learning experience for him ;) ).

Day 3
Today was the moment of judgement, could I put everything that I had learned this weekend together to make Buddy travel like the third level horse I wanted him to be. Again, Buddy showed no signs of distress in his new surroundings and had even taken a strong liking to his handsome neighbor across the aisle, Costello. On a quick side note, you have to love Mother Nature. She gives us warm and sunny the first two days and pouring rain yet still warm on Sunday. So now it was muggy and my glasses begin to fog...awesome! But we keep on trekking. We mount up in the rain but thank goodness for her covered arena! As soon as the warm-up started, I knew Buddy was starting to feel the work. He was not as supple or easily bendable. I eventually had to permanently implant my spur into his side to keep him moving forward. Along with this I had to remember my new position in the saddle with long loose legs, elbows closer to my ribs, core activated and pelvis more forward. Now I had to incorporate this without forcing Buddy into roundness during transitions, keep him bent and activated with my seat/core/legs and keep bending sliding at trot, canter, circles, leg-yield, half-pass and mediums...UGH!!! This was HARD!!! Buddy was tired, sore and grouchy! It felt absolutely awful and times and I would get frustrated when he dropped out or just stopped refusing to go forward (after watching the video though, it rode much worse than it looked). Lynn kept me cool and talked me through it reminding me to be sympathetic to him since this was still technically new and very hard on top of that. Boo also showed his frustration through multiple sneezing fits which ended up ripping the reins from my hands. At one point, she asked if I wanted to quit since he looked mentally fried but I said lets give him a minute and try one last time. It was just what we needed. I was able to regroup and picture the canter exactly how I wanted it while Buddy was able to take a mental breather. I collected myself and him asked for the canter and got the beautiful result of a lovely up transition, elevated shoulders, active hind legs and true collection. HUZZAH!!! With that we called it quits and lots of praise and a banana was had afterwards :)

Lynn was extremely pleased with the progress we made over the weekend and admitted that she threw quite a bit at us but we rose to the challenge. We have our homework and are going to work on it for the next month since the first show is just a couple of weeks away! The only thing I regret is that no pictures were taken during this experience...this just means I will have to take twice as many the next opportunity I have :) Until next time!

Boot Camp Day 1: Where did those muscles come from?!?

I really cannot express my excitement for this training excursion that I am doing this weekend! Today was the first day of what I have dubbed "boot camp" for me and Buddy. We traveled to my trainer's farm, North Star Training Center, to spend three days of training at her farm while she is home from Florida. I spent the entire morning cleaning tack and packing the trailer with all of the essentials that Buddy would need to stay in Chapel Hill (tack, feed, hay, blankets, etc). We left around 12:30 to get there about 45 min. before my first lesson. Unfortunately, the traffic gods were not in our favor today and dealt out very poor drivers the entire way there. With only 15 min. to get Boo tacked and warmed up I pulled him out of the trailer and threw the tack on. Our five minute warm-up was surprisingly relaxed, elastic, and pliable. This was definitely a plus for what was about to come!

The major focus of the weekend is going to be stretching both Buddy and I out. Stretching up and down became the newest addition to my mantra. In stretching down, I was to work on rotating my knee inward towards my saddle to help reinforce my half-halts and quit my lazy chair routine that I tend to get with my legs. This stretched all of the muscles in my thighs as well as some very hidden/dormant muscles all the way up into my groin...ouch! Stretching up entailed strengthening my core in order to sit up and get my bum more underneath me versus behind me. Describing it in words is hard but riding it is even more difficult!

Buddy's bend-ability was his focus which required tons of lateral bending with exercises of over- bending/outside half-halts to get him to really fill up the outside aids as well as half-pass/leg-yield/half-pass to make sure that it was working. This was done and both trot and canter. We started to wrap things up with some medium/extended trots to enforce the soft forward and back with true lengthening. My trainer had us finish with some much needed/deserved "bending" stretch downs...boy what a work-out! Buddy was an absolute star! He tried every step and didn't fuss or argue about the level of work at all. I was surprised and extremely pleased for such a rushed arrival and warm-up!

When the lesson was done, my dad (who is also my trailer chauffeur and camera man) helped me unpack the trailer and get Buddy settled in his new house for the weekend. Buddy has a large stall in the main barn with a (much larger than the one at home) automatic waterer, private patio (small attached paddock) that looks out into the covered arena and tomorrow will have access to his own grass paddock! What a lucky boy! His neighbor across the aisle is very handsome chestnut warmblood who seemed very interested in Buddy's arrival.

Tomorrow morning starts day 2 of the boot camp and I have taken my Advil since my "undeveloped core muscles" and quads were screaming by the time we started to drive home from NSTC. My lesson is at 10:15, meaning I have to be at the farm by 9:30 so it's up bright and early on a Saturday morning to do some serious learning and I'm completely stoked to do it :) Until tomorrow!