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!
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Friday, March 4, 2011
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!
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!
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
February in a nutshell
February was an interesting month...between snow, rain, lessons, ambulance rides, and doctor's appointments and crazy wildlife, it's been a little chaotic! Snow and rain are a total bummer when it comes to riding. Especially because the construction of the covered arena does not start until summer/fall, my riding is primarily done in a grass arena or a hilly paddock for conditioning. But them's the breaks! Mother nature is a fickle one and I don't want to make her any more lethal than she already is, so I accept her forecasts and work hard to work around her.
My lesson from Lynn happened at the beginning of the month when she made her first trip up from FL. The glory of the half-halt and the uphill canter were our focus and though it was not easy, great moments were definitely had! More to come later about our next set of lessons and future show plans.
The ambulance ride was not for me but for my father. To make a long story (12 hours in the Duke University ER) short, there were 3 trips to Durham, lunch in their fantastic cafeteria, 3 EKGs, 1 CAT scan, 1 MRI and 1 spinal tap that resulted in the procedure being repeated 3x because they had trouble getting to my dad's spinal fluid ending with 0 idea on what caused him to be there in the first place...Oi! What a day! But I do have to say, the doctors and all of the staff were fantastic! They were kind and gentle with dad but quick with results and showed real concern when listening to our questions and opinions.
Doctor's appointments came for me when I started experiencing back of the head headaches that were affecting me during the day and made riding very uncomfortable. It was eventually concluded that I had either a migraine/muscle pull that ticked off one of the lymph nodes in the back of my head which was causing my rather irritating headaches. After a shot of "super anti-inflammatory" and some lovely muscle relaxers that did much more that relax my muscles, I am back with fewer headaches, less neck pain and most importantly back in the saddle!
As far as the wildlife goes...it's as I stated previously, they are crazy! First, (something which I wish I had pictures of) our neighbor's 4 miniature donkeys and mountain goat got loose from their contained area and were making a field trip up to my barn. Rounding them up was a sight to be seen! In the end, everyone was returned to their appropriate living quarters and I can now add "donkey wrangler" to my equine resume! Next, our Russian ducks have decided to live between two ponds during the day which made everyone nervous thinking that they left permanently or worse had been killed due to our next wildlife problem. A fox has setup shop in one of the corners of the farm. He is quiet and shy but has a bum leg. Every once in awhile, I will see him laying down in the corner of the dirt paddock while the horses are out. It doesn't give me the warm fuzzies but I have come to the conclusion that he is just doing this for company, but I'll have to keep an eye on it. We are also overpopulated with vultures due to a deer that died on near the pond. Although they don't necessarily cause any problems they choose to leap into flight every time Khakie and I are on a trail ride...the poor guy is starting to get a complex! Last but not least is our newest inhabitant. Yesterday, I saw him/her moving through the back 5 acres (aka the hill arena) and boy was this sucker HUGE! Now, I love me some turtles but there was no way I was getting too close to this one! He/She is now residing in our pond and I think we may be in store for more of her kind and less of the ducklings this Spring :(
Now for current news...This weekend, Buddy and I are taking a training adventure down to Lynn's farm for 3 days of training. I think I will be completely exhausted by the end but I'm hoping to have a couple of break-throughs during this time. I am going to try and write everyday with it like a training journal and hopefully include some more pictures too! We have to start getting into show shape since the first one is the second week in April (eep!). Well, until next time!
My lesson from Lynn happened at the beginning of the month when she made her first trip up from FL. The glory of the half-halt and the uphill canter were our focus and though it was not easy, great moments were definitely had! More to come later about our next set of lessons and future show plans.
The ambulance ride was not for me but for my father. To make a long story (12 hours in the Duke University ER) short, there were 3 trips to Durham, lunch in their fantastic cafeteria, 3 EKGs, 1 CAT scan, 1 MRI and 1 spinal tap that resulted in the procedure being repeated 3x because they had trouble getting to my dad's spinal fluid ending with 0 idea on what caused him to be there in the first place...Oi! What a day! But I do have to say, the doctors and all of the staff were fantastic! They were kind and gentle with dad but quick with results and showed real concern when listening to our questions and opinions.
Doctor's appointments came for me when I started experiencing back of the head headaches that were affecting me during the day and made riding very uncomfortable. It was eventually concluded that I had either a migraine/muscle pull that ticked off one of the lymph nodes in the back of my head which was causing my rather irritating headaches. After a shot of "super anti-inflammatory" and some lovely muscle relaxers that did much more that relax my muscles, I am back with fewer headaches, less neck pain and most importantly back in the saddle!
As far as the wildlife goes...it's as I stated previously, they are crazy! First, (something which I wish I had pictures of) our neighbor's 4 miniature donkeys and mountain goat got loose from their contained area and were making a field trip up to my barn. Rounding them up was a sight to be seen! In the end, everyone was returned to their appropriate living quarters and I can now add "donkey wrangler" to my equine resume! Next, our Russian ducks have decided to live between two ponds during the day which made everyone nervous thinking that they left permanently or worse had been killed due to our next wildlife problem. A fox has setup shop in one of the corners of the farm. He is quiet and shy but has a bum leg. Every once in awhile, I will see him laying down in the corner of the dirt paddock while the horses are out. It doesn't give me the warm fuzzies but I have come to the conclusion that he is just doing this for company, but I'll have to keep an eye on it. We are also overpopulated with vultures due to a deer that died on near the pond. Although they don't necessarily cause any problems they choose to leap into flight every time Khakie and I are on a trail ride...the poor guy is starting to get a complex! Last but not least is our newest inhabitant. Yesterday, I saw him/her moving through the back 5 acres (aka the hill arena) and boy was this sucker HUGE! Now, I love me some turtles but there was no way I was getting too close to this one! He/She is now residing in our pond and I think we may be in store for more of her kind and less of the ducklings this Spring :(
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| Here is the closest picture I could get of super turtle! |
Sunday, January 16, 2011
The Gaited Dressage Wonder
I think today, I'm going to take a minute to talk about a horse that does not belong to me but I have been riding for the last couple of years. Although, I have been schooled and competed in saddleseat, it is not my first choice of discipline. But Khakie (aka KO, blonde pony, Khakie-man, turd etc.) is a different case. Due to his up and down health over the last four-five years from multiple illnesses, it is crucial that Khakie gets exercise six days a week. His mother, a close friend of the family, is a super busy business woman and needs help keeping him exercised. So, here's where I come in! Khakie had solid gaited training when I first started riding him and I got better at understanding his gaits/cues with time and the help of a gaited trainer. When the sicknesses came, there was lots of rehabbing done which meant starting from the beginning and helping him learn some of my cues as well. This is how its been for years. His mother has also branched out a bit with some driving lessons for her and KO and she asked me to do a little dressage with him just to keep his mind busy. That was all I needed to hear! First came the figures which was not all that easy dealing with a horse who has only ever gone straight in his entire riding career. Next came the laterals: leg-yields, shoulder-fore & shoulder-in. He was not all that enthusiastic with travers, but we're getting there. Walk pirouettes are really coming along and boy is he a champ at backing! My favorite thing thus far though is definitely the canter. Poor Khakie! Many times this horse has attempted cantering under saddle with different riders...me, a Saddlebred trainer, a TWH trainer, an eventer, a dressage professional, etc.and each time the outcome was very similar to that of a crab, legs moving rapidly sideways/diagonally/semi-straight. It was not comfortable or pretty to look at, so for awhile we ditched the idea. But since moving to NC and currently lacking a ring, I have had to get rather creative in my riding. We have a 5 acre open lot at the back of the property which is currently not in use so I have claimed it as my "hill arena" and only dry place to ride after rain/snow. With this I have been able to help in Khakie's cantering dilemma. After 6 months, Khakie can officially and confidently canter straight on the correct lead and perform 20m circles with ump and enthusiasm, HUZZAH! Now we still have our days where he acts like the red-head w/ blonde hair that he is with his little fiery temper but those are far and few. He goes to work trying to attempt whatever tasks I put in front of him being gaited or dressage and because of his quick thinking picks them up with ease. It makes me proud that a horse I have learned on can still learn from me and be good at it too even though it is not very conventional to his breed. Move over Warmbloods and Arabs, Khakie's hot on your tails!
Although this is not a lovely picture of him under saddle being the gaited dressage phenom that he is...it shows that Khakie is still very good at something, taking naps in the mud!
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Happy New Year!
First blog of the new year...Yay! Well, let me start with Happy New Year! I hope anyone reading this had a safe and fun night last night bringing in 2011. Unfortunately, that was not the case for me and my mom. Although we did not suffer any safety issues so to speak, our way of bringing in the "New Year" was far less than happy :( Since moving to NC, we have learned many new things about our new neighbors including that there is no such thing as a leash law with dogs, no one feels the need to lock their car/house, and there is always reason to carry a gun! But one thing we were not aware of was the annual lighting of fireworks at private shindigs in the hours leading up to the actual event of the New Year celebration. Needless to say, the horses did not handle the festivities all that well. To make my story short, we spent from 6:00pm to 12:20 in the barn blasting the local pop station to drown out the "works", hand walking in the barn aisle, and feeding Hilton Herballs (perfect sugar free cookies to feed in occassions like these!) until the fireworks ceased and the air was no longer filled with smoke. We got home around 12:30 and promptly crashed, only recognizing the holiday the next morning. At least today we were together as a family, relaxed most of the day and ate a fantastic meal to top it off! Not too bad ;) As a plus, my dad also gifted me and my mother with tickets to the Broadway production of The Lion King at the Durham Performing Arts Center (DPAC) this month....I cannot wait, sooo excited!!!
Enough of last night, now to the good stuff: New Years Resolution and Goals! I have decided that I am not breaking things down into specific goals for me or my ponies but instead just general goals that I hope to be reasonably attainable and not just in my riding life but in my personal life as well. Enjoy reading them and maybe as time goes on and if you keep reading (lets hope you do ;)) you can watch...er, read that I accomplish a majority of them!
Resolution/Goals for 2011
Enough of last night, now to the good stuff: New Years Resolution and Goals! I have decided that I am not breaking things down into specific goals for me or my ponies but instead just general goals that I hope to be reasonably attainable and not just in my riding life but in my personal life as well. Enjoy reading them and maybe as time goes on and if you keep reading (lets hope you do ;)) you can watch...er, read that I accomplish a majority of them!
Resolution/Goals for 2011
- Finish the requirements for my Bronze Medal
- Qualify for the USDF/GAIG Region 1 Championships and Arabian/Half-Arabian Sport Horse Nationals in whatever level I choose to compete at this year
- Continue going to lessons, clinics, and any other form of continuing my education in dressage
- To keep improving myself with every ride on every horse by maintaining patience and an open mind
- Lose 15lbs to fit into my beautiful new show coat
- Generally be healthier with food (portion control) and exercise (actually doing some besides riding!)
- Go to a play/concert - currently scheduled for January 19th
- Enjoy more activities with my family
- Finish at least 10 books this year
- Get a new job that will help better support my love of the big 4-legged beasties :)
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Happy Holidays!
I wanted to post this yesterday, but I just kinda ran out of steam and time :) Wanted to wish everyone a safe and Happy Holiday Season from me and "the boys"!
Note: this picture was taken on Christmas Eve before we were blasted with 8 inches of snow! It features the "Nice" Buddy, "Naughty" Khakie and "Bah Humbug" DJ
Note: this picture was taken on Christmas Eve before we were blasted with 8 inches of snow! It features the "Nice" Buddy, "Naughty" Khakie and "Bah Humbug" DJ
Thursday, December 9, 2010
First Snowfall
OK, I know I posted on here that I moved to NC and not ME! But seriously, our highs for the past couple of days have been in the mid 30's and into the teens at night...I am so not ready for that yet! It's only the beginning of December! We did get about 2 inches of snow last Saturday which marked the boys' first snow in NC. I did manage to snag a quick picture :)
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