Hello Again,
As we’re closing into finishing out February of 2012 (where did all the time go?!), I’ve decided that I need to pick myself up and begin the process of blogging again.
Officially I’m starting over (Spring is a great time to do that, right??). I believe with the onset of Facebook, I just figured that was the best way for my friends and family to follow my horsey progress and adventures. However, as I have chosen to take a hiatus from FaceBook, my plans are to start over here.
At the moment there are so MANY things going on, I simply cannot update everything in this blog today. Suffice it to say, I plan on giving a little history to fill in this 2 YEAR GAP, and then hopefully blogging forward as we continue on our journey!
Till then, -- Happy Riding everyone!
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
The One with Potions, and Pollen, and Ponies, Oh My!
I never thought I’d say it. Spring is awful. And gross.
The world is YELLOW – Which is just SO wrong! The world shouldn’t be yellow – it should be GREEN!! Green - like new, fresh grass coming up for the first time. Green - like leaves starting to peer out on trees. Green - like the feel of new life.
NOT yellow.
Go ahead. Stand outside for only a few moments, and you will start to glean a nice yellow shimmer. It’s like the trees are up-chucking pollen everywhere. I am officially grossed out.
Which leads me to my next dilemma: Is it possible to have your horse on too many supplements?
I find myself doing a lot of research into the physical well-being of my horse. Hours, days, and weeks later, I find that this has culminated in a veritable store house of supplements. And yes, I can defend EVERY single one of them. This does NOT, however, negate the fact that my horse almost appears to be eating more supplements than feed.
Lots of people say Arabs are low maintenance. Well, I’m here to say officially: NOT really. Apparently for this lovely little fact to have ANY merit, they must be situated ONLY in the climate of their birth. Unfortunately, the low country of South Carolina is a FAR cry from the ridiculously arid dessert of Arabia.
Case in point: This winter my poor pony has undergone the most drastic of coat changes. Not only has he grown in the most wretchedly thick, short haired (yet, not warm!), winter coat, he also has found a way to ingrain every bit of skin/coat fungus possible. On top of that mixture, add in a heaping case of bad grass allergies and stir vigorously. Your end result will be a sufficiently puffy, miserable, red-headed pony.
Basically, he’s as pitiful as a pony can be. Staring at his dull coat marred by various bald spots, with swollen face and legs just makes me want to cry. Hence, my desperate search for a cure.
I am sure the service reps at SmartPak want to kill me. I have updated, changed, removed, and added all sorts of supplements to Sudi’s standard order over the past two months; I’m making even myself dizzy! On top of that, the vet has prescribed antihistamines and antibiotics to my frenzy.
Thankfully my pony is a good sport. He probably thinks I’m a hypochondriac, but I have a good defense! I’ll just blame it on the allergy meds!
Happy Riding! I sincerely hope you’re enjoying spring more than we are!
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
The One where I Venture out to Wadmalaw Island
So this whole bad economy thing is really throwing a huge damper on the amount of horsey fun I can have. Well…Ok – that might be a bit dramatic. It’s not really THAT true (although it IS a liiiittle). Honestly, it’s just making me dig into the deep crevices of my creativeness and come up with fun stuff to do, - and perhaps also make a few more sacrifices than I’d really like.
Yes, with the state of things, we are ALL making sacrifices. And honestly, most of us REAL horse people have no problem when it comes to sacrificing some of our extraneous needs for those of our beloved ponies. After all – they deserve it right? Right?...Well maybe… Ok so they might not ALWAYS deserve it (and some of them are even a bit on the ungrateful end if we are really honest with ourselves). But we love to pamper them anyway! So maybe there IS something behind all those people that call us crazy!
So in my low-funds-dilemma, I opted to go WATCH a dressage clinic this past weekend – in lieu of actually riding in it. The clinic was being held at Elite-Equines on Wadmalaw Island, SC. While I was bummed that I couldn’t work on specific issues with my pony, it was a great experience (and a fun trip with a friend). Funny enough, it was with the same woman, Amy McElroy, that judged the horse trail at Paradise! She also is the trainer for MY trainer there – Laurens Bissell.
I’m definitely glad I went as I garnered a couple tidbits to help with my forthcoming dressage tests/competitions. I have rolled them into some other thoughts I’ve had, and I’m going to put them all in an article of sorts that I”ll post later. And aren’t you lucky that I’ll share them with you??? And for FREE! :-D You just don’t get any more monetarily conservative than that! :-D
Yes, with the state of things, we are ALL making sacrifices. And honestly, most of us REAL horse people have no problem when it comes to sacrificing some of our extraneous needs for those of our beloved ponies. After all – they deserve it right? Right?...Well maybe… Ok so they might not ALWAYS deserve it (and some of them are even a bit on the ungrateful end if we are really honest with ourselves). But we love to pamper them anyway! So maybe there IS something behind all those people that call us crazy!
So in my low-funds-dilemma, I opted to go WATCH a dressage clinic this past weekend – in lieu of actually riding in it. The clinic was being held at Elite-Equines on Wadmalaw Island, SC. While I was bummed that I couldn’t work on specific issues with my pony, it was a great experience (and a fun trip with a friend). Funny enough, it was with the same woman, Amy McElroy, that judged the horse trail at Paradise! She also is the trainer for MY trainer there – Laurens Bissell.
I’m definitely glad I went as I garnered a couple tidbits to help with my forthcoming dressage tests/competitions. I have rolled them into some other thoughts I’ve had, and I’m going to put them all in an article of sorts that I”ll post later. And aren’t you lucky that I’ll share them with you??? And for FREE! :-D You just don’t get any more monetarily conservative than that! :-D
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
The One with Us in Paradise
Aaaah! Welcome to the first day of Fall – my absolute FAVORITE time of year. It’s a break from serious showing, and the awning of glorious trail rides, brisk hunter paces, and invigorating cross country schooling. The horses are frisky, and I finally have a legit reason for bundling up in sweaters and scarves.
Unfortunately - *yawn!!!* <-- This is about all I have been able to accomplish since we came back from the Paradise Horse Trials.
Heading into the weekend, the forecast was filled with Rain, Rain – and oh yeah – more rain!! In fact, our neighboring states of Georgia and Tennessee are flooding from all the rain. I was probably more than a little worried about it.
I took Friday off from work so that Tammy, Hailey, Caley, and I could make sure we headed up to Aiken early on in the day. We needed to exercise the horses some before we walked the XC course. And what do you know? Beautiful blue skies garnished our entire trip!
For this event, we were not stabling on the grounds, but at Buckleigh Farms – a Polo facility about a mile down the road from Paradise. After stopping for a quick lunch break for Chinese in Bamburg, we finally made it to Buckleigh around 2 PM.
The farm was exactly what one might imagine a race facility to look like. Large fields, and tall, dark barns. The grounds actually were pretty lovely. There was a beautiful polo field with a track around the circumference, a covered dressage arena, a regular dressage arena, and a jumping arena. The barn, however, was very dark, and not well ventilated. I have to say our guys were really not fans of it, and they were a bit nervous about the whole situation.
After getting the stalls set up we exercised the horses for a bit. All three were a bit “up”, and I was somewhat concerned as I’ve really never noticed this much anxiety coming from Sudi before at an event. Bunny was even more talkative than normal.
I was however excited that Sudi’s dressage was coming along so nicely. His canter transitions were really getting lovely – although his increased sensitivity to my aids made him a little anxious. After our rides, we packed the ponies in their stalls, fed them dinner, and then headed over to Paradise for our check in and XC walk.
Laurens Bissell, our trainer and help for show day, met us on the course for our walks. Wow! Talk about not being used to hills!! My rather rolling course was filled with beautiful logs, small coops, and mini-tiger traps. All inviting. And all decorated with horse eating flowers. *sigh* I knew the flowers would be an issue, but Laurens really helped me work through a lot of it mentally. Eventually we left, and I was at least semi-confidant. :-)
That evening we all met up at O’Charley’s for dinner and probably too much laughing. J Amazingly enough, we all managed to wrap up dinner, take showers and be in bed by 10:30! I think we’re actually starting to get the hang of this showing stuff.
Saturday morning we all got up at 5:45, hit breakfast and then headed over to Buckleigh to feed the ponies and haul over to Paradise. Sadly it did not seem like they slept nearly as well as we did. I could tell Sudi had not laid down – which is very rare for him. He usually always manages to get comfy and secure enough to sleep at night. Halara was also off her food, and having a MAJOR pity part. It was pretty sad actually watching the big black mare act so beside herself!
We managed to pretty quickly muck out our stalls, pack up, and leave. Paradise was only a mile down the road, so we got there within moments. The grounds were bubbly and brimming with excitement. The energy at shows is amazing to me – I love it! And the best part? There wasn’t a cloud in the sky! We were in for a lovely, albeit rather warm, day.
Braiding was a bit of an adventure with Sudi, but somehow (with Tammy’s help!) I managed to squeeze in just over 30 braids. He was such a good sport for being tied to the trailer for the greater part of the day.
Once I started riding, my day went into high gear, and it’s really mostly a blur now. Our dressage warm up started rocky, with Sudi screaming his head off to Halara and Bunny. Eventually he gathered himself, realizing that I wasn’t going to quit pestering him until he did, and then our warm up really got fabulous. Laurens helped me get him into a really nice frame where he was very uphill and had beautiful transitions. I loved it!
Unfortunately, once we got into the dressage arena, we found the scary horse eating flowered pots. All of a sudden, my fabulous horse reminded me that he is YES – an Arabian. We made it through the test, where he blew off my half halts and decided spooking at the flowers was a better idea. *sigh* Despite our spooks and early transitions, we managed to scrape out with a 40 – placing us in 4th. Not too bad for our first dressage test with Canter work!
We moved on to Stadium – which much to my dismay – had NO cross rails!! Laurens was VERY confidant in us though, and helped us through a beautiful warm up. I made it onto the course and headed for the first jump. I could feel him sucking back, so I tapped him with my crop, sat back and clucked to the jump. He jumped HUGE, but somehow he didn’t completely unseat me. I aimed him for the second jump but didn’t have enough time to gather my wits to ride him as effectively, and he stopped. I whapped him hard with the crop, and he rocketed over it. After that, I was able to really ride him forward for the rest of the course without ANY stops!! I was SO proud of him. I have to admit – Stadium took a LOT of energy out of me. I am such a wimp!
We eventually made it over to XC where I feel like I rode completely ineffectively. I was out of energy and unable to ride Sudi as forwardly as he needed. So we had LOTS of stops before jumps, and then ridiculous hops. (The pictures are really ridiculous! Hehe) Sudi seemed to love the galloping part, but I could really tell that he was tired as he was leaning pretty heavily on my hands going down the hills. I literally had to stand up and lean back in my stirrups to help balance us. But we made it.
The jump judges were a bit brutal – handing us 60 points for refusals (not sure where we got them all actually as I only noticed one REAL refusal from him) and only a few time penalties. We ended up last due to the refusal points, but I was still thrilled to have made it through the event without being eliminated! :-D Sudi came away from XC feeling proud of himself too – exactly what I wanted. I, however, came away from XC feeling like I wanted to collapse. Not exactly what I wanted – so I’ll have to work on that some more!
Tammy and Hailey also had great rides, although neither of them placed either. However we were all elated to have ridden well and completed the event. All in all – it was definitely a positive experience!
Now that we’re back home, Sudi and the girls are enjoying their week off from riding with lots of pampering and treats. As for our future plans, I’m planning on taking some jumping lessons with Laurens, going to another CT at Jasmine, and attending Mullet Hall’s Harvest Fest again.
Lots of fabulous fall plans! Like I said - this is really the BEST time of year!
Unfortunately - *yawn!!!* <-- This is about all I have been able to accomplish since we came back from the Paradise Horse Trials.
Heading into the weekend, the forecast was filled with Rain, Rain – and oh yeah – more rain!! In fact, our neighboring states of Georgia and Tennessee are flooding from all the rain. I was probably more than a little worried about it.
I took Friday off from work so that Tammy, Hailey, Caley, and I could make sure we headed up to Aiken early on in the day. We needed to exercise the horses some before we walked the XC course. And what do you know? Beautiful blue skies garnished our entire trip!
For this event, we were not stabling on the grounds, but at Buckleigh Farms – a Polo facility about a mile down the road from Paradise. After stopping for a quick lunch break for Chinese in Bamburg, we finally made it to Buckleigh around 2 PM.
The farm was exactly what one might imagine a race facility to look like. Large fields, and tall, dark barns. The grounds actually were pretty lovely. There was a beautiful polo field with a track around the circumference, a covered dressage arena, a regular dressage arena, and a jumping arena. The barn, however, was very dark, and not well ventilated. I have to say our guys were really not fans of it, and they were a bit nervous about the whole situation.
After getting the stalls set up we exercised the horses for a bit. All three were a bit “up”, and I was somewhat concerned as I’ve really never noticed this much anxiety coming from Sudi before at an event. Bunny was even more talkative than normal.
I was however excited that Sudi’s dressage was coming along so nicely. His canter transitions were really getting lovely – although his increased sensitivity to my aids made him a little anxious. After our rides, we packed the ponies in their stalls, fed them dinner, and then headed over to Paradise for our check in and XC walk.
Laurens Bissell, our trainer and help for show day, met us on the course for our walks. Wow! Talk about not being used to hills!! My rather rolling course was filled with beautiful logs, small coops, and mini-tiger traps. All inviting. And all decorated with horse eating flowers. *sigh* I knew the flowers would be an issue, but Laurens really helped me work through a lot of it mentally. Eventually we left, and I was at least semi-confidant. :-)
That evening we all met up at O’Charley’s for dinner and probably too much laughing. J Amazingly enough, we all managed to wrap up dinner, take showers and be in bed by 10:30! I think we’re actually starting to get the hang of this showing stuff.
Saturday morning we all got up at 5:45, hit breakfast and then headed over to Buckleigh to feed the ponies and haul over to Paradise. Sadly it did not seem like they slept nearly as well as we did. I could tell Sudi had not laid down – which is very rare for him. He usually always manages to get comfy and secure enough to sleep at night. Halara was also off her food, and having a MAJOR pity part. It was pretty sad actually watching the big black mare act so beside herself!
We managed to pretty quickly muck out our stalls, pack up, and leave. Paradise was only a mile down the road, so we got there within moments. The grounds were bubbly and brimming with excitement. The energy at shows is amazing to me – I love it! And the best part? There wasn’t a cloud in the sky! We were in for a lovely, albeit rather warm, day.
Braiding was a bit of an adventure with Sudi, but somehow (with Tammy’s help!) I managed to squeeze in just over 30 braids. He was such a good sport for being tied to the trailer for the greater part of the day.
Once I started riding, my day went into high gear, and it’s really mostly a blur now. Our dressage warm up started rocky, with Sudi screaming his head off to Halara and Bunny. Eventually he gathered himself, realizing that I wasn’t going to quit pestering him until he did, and then our warm up really got fabulous. Laurens helped me get him into a really nice frame where he was very uphill and had beautiful transitions. I loved it!
Unfortunately, once we got into the dressage arena, we found the scary horse eating flowered pots. All of a sudden, my fabulous horse reminded me that he is YES – an Arabian. We made it through the test, where he blew off my half halts and decided spooking at the flowers was a better idea. *sigh* Despite our spooks and early transitions, we managed to scrape out with a 40 – placing us in 4th. Not too bad for our first dressage test with Canter work!
We moved on to Stadium – which much to my dismay – had NO cross rails!! Laurens was VERY confidant in us though, and helped us through a beautiful warm up. I made it onto the course and headed for the first jump. I could feel him sucking back, so I tapped him with my crop, sat back and clucked to the jump. He jumped HUGE, but somehow he didn’t completely unseat me. I aimed him for the second jump but didn’t have enough time to gather my wits to ride him as effectively, and he stopped. I whapped him hard with the crop, and he rocketed over it. After that, I was able to really ride him forward for the rest of the course without ANY stops!! I was SO proud of him. I have to admit – Stadium took a LOT of energy out of me. I am such a wimp!
We eventually made it over to XC where I feel like I rode completely ineffectively. I was out of energy and unable to ride Sudi as forwardly as he needed. So we had LOTS of stops before jumps, and then ridiculous hops. (The pictures are really ridiculous! Hehe) Sudi seemed to love the galloping part, but I could really tell that he was tired as he was leaning pretty heavily on my hands going down the hills. I literally had to stand up and lean back in my stirrups to help balance us. But we made it.
The jump judges were a bit brutal – handing us 60 points for refusals (not sure where we got them all actually as I only noticed one REAL refusal from him) and only a few time penalties. We ended up last due to the refusal points, but I was still thrilled to have made it through the event without being eliminated! :-D Sudi came away from XC feeling proud of himself too – exactly what I wanted. I, however, came away from XC feeling like I wanted to collapse. Not exactly what I wanted – so I’ll have to work on that some more!
Tammy and Hailey also had great rides, although neither of them placed either. However we were all elated to have ridden well and completed the event. All in all – it was definitely a positive experience!
Now that we’re back home, Sudi and the girls are enjoying their week off from riding with lots of pampering and treats. As for our future plans, I’m planning on taking some jumping lessons with Laurens, going to another CT at Jasmine, and attending Mullet Hall’s Harvest Fest again.
Lots of fabulous fall plans! Like I said - this is really the BEST time of year!
Monday, September 14, 2009
The One where I Reboot and Restart
The horse world. It’s crazy really. I simply can’t think of a sport that can go from exhilarating to heart wrenching and back again so quickly! So many amazing aspects; so many gut wrenching disappointments. But perhaps that’s not only the horse world. Perhaps that’s just life?
Again – I’ve been remiss in my blogging. So much has happened – both good and bad. But, our barn has come to be SUCH a team lately. We’ve all had our up’s and down’s, but we’ve also GROWN so much! Obviously not all relationships are faultless, but what I LOVE about us lately is the way we are learning to work through our difficulties and not give up. That’s what makes a place/family great.
So to start - we’ve had some amazing successes lately!:
1. Most recently, Traveler’s Crossing hosted a fantastic ride-a-test dressage clinic with clinician Susan Selvey. I have to say that Tammy and I worked really diligently (and sometimes painstakingly) hard at pulling this off, and I think we made a FANTASTIC team. I managed to pull together all of the administrative aspects, and she fixed up the grounds beautifully. We had perfect weather, and all of us put in great rides. Susan even commented that the place looked and ran like a rated event – I don’t think we could have had a higher compliment!!
2. Since my last blog where Sudi finally learned how to GO, I have taken Sudi to two shows (one a horse trial, and another a CT), and Sudi’s dressage scores have just sky rocketed (Upper 60’s for you dressage folk, or lower 30’s for you eventers). I’m thrilled beyond words (not quite a good thing for a blog!) He is so amazingly consistent now, and he really, really tries SO hard for me. After every test I’m so overwhelmed, I just can’t not hug him.
One of the things I’ve discovered about Sudi is that he really dislikes not understanding a concept. And I think part of that is because he wants to please me so much. He wants to do the right thing, and when he doesn’t get it – he “acts out.” And - now that he is starting to understand the dressage work, he is SUCH a show off. What a pony. :-D
3. Sudi is figuring out how to jump!! Aha! Finally! I doubted this day would ever come honestly. However, as I mentioned above, when my faith was faltering, my friends were right there to help and encourage me. (That’s what they’re for, right?)
It was an inevitable conclusion. I eventually got to the point where I said: I am not a good enough rider to get Sudi through this. And I wasn’t being too hard on myself. -- It was the truth, and it was hard to admit. That is NOT to say, however, that I am not a RESOURCEFUL and DETERMINED rider. Because THAT, I am. Giving up on this wasn’t an option for me.
So, I took Tammy up on her offer to ride Sudi for me and see what they could accomplish. And they were wonderful! She was able to provide Sudi what I was not: encouragement (faith in him) without punishment. And he was forward, and he went over the jumps – as if there was not an option not to. And he was so proud of himself!!
While this was a great development for Sudi – it was also hard not be disappointed in the fact that I couldn’t get him there myself. I am working through it however, and with Tammy’s encouragement (and that of some other fabulous trainers), I am getting there. I am a work in progress, but it’s good – because Sudi and I are getting there together. We both still manage to do things that wreck our trust in each other, but we’re learning how to work through them.
Our last XC schooling together was such a breakthrough for us. Laurens Bissel was our coach up there at Paradise Farms in Aiken, and she connected with me so well – understanding my fears, and working me through them. It was amazing, and I was able to finally give Sudi the confidant ride he needed.
On one of our trips up to Southern Pines, we stopped at a tack shop, and I broke down and bought a much needed black belt – which I use for both riding and life in general. As we got back into the truck to leave, I pulled the belt out of the bag to look at it, and I noticed an inscription on the inside. It’s now my theme with Sudi: “Courage is trusting your horse to get you there.” It was a perfect fit.
~
These past few blog-less months have given me quite of bit of time to marinate. And one of the conclusions I’ve come to is a bit like that Miley Cyrus song (trying not to gag here that I’m writing this!): “The Climb.”
It’s great to reach your goals, and achievements are wonderful (especially when there are pretty ribbons involved!). But all those reached goals, trophies and ribbons are empty and meaningless if you don’t remember the road you’ve taken to get there.
I’ve often wondered at the almost sense of “loss” I feel when I’ve reached my goal. Like something has ended. I should be elated that I reached this point for which I’ve been working so hard. But at the same time, I’m also saying “goodbye” to those experiences and memories I’ve cultivated along the way. Those memories – the good and the bad – are what make the moment of achievement. Without them, those achievements would seem lifeless.
It’s a good reminder of why I used to blog, and why I need to do it more. Because I don’t want to ever forget the things that matter and those moments that changed and shaped me as a rider and person.
Until I blog again - Happy riding!
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
The One with Go
I had a very close friend in college for whom English was something along the lines of her fourth or fifth learned language. I was a bit envious on that note as other languages have ALWAYS been a struggle for me. However, every once in a while, we would stumble upon a concept that she simply did not understand until I went through a thorough explanation – hopefully full of words she understood. At that point in time, her eyes would light up with realization, and we would both laugh knowing that we were finally sharing the same thoughts.
Every once in a while a rider will have the delightful, and most likely unexpected, experience of a break through. Another bridge of communication has been constructed, and you and your horse are speaking your developing language more clearly.
I love these moments. They are what I ride for!
In an effort to control my expenses, I’ve cut back on my lessons even more. And with work picking up some, and getting over a body wrenching cold, I’ve slacked off in continuing the literary side of my education as well. I would love to tell you this has had NO affect on my riding whatsoever, but sadly, as we all know, this is definitely NOT the case. I know I needed to save some pennies and get help again.
I’d finally gotten to the point with Sudi where our dressage was getting better, and he was actively seeking the bridle and contact. However, he was still NOT nearly responsive enough to my seat nor could I seem to get him off his forehand. I felt like we were elephants tromping around our circles, hoof beats reverberating throughout the back acreage of the farm. Needless to say this was also clearly affecting our canter departs, and I was finding myself contorting my body is all manners of ways just to get him to go. Again – not effective!!
I knew when I got to my lesson Monday that I had clear goals. We were GOING to get him to GO! when I asked nicely. We were also going to get off the forehand. We were also going to canter when I asked (correctly!) and we were also going to get the correct lead. I ALSO knew it was all the same problem (80% of which stemmed from me!)
Susan, who is always so nice about it, picked up our problem immediately. I was accepting too little of him. My expectations have to be MUCH higher (Is this a problem with ALL mothers??? – we want to love our children for who they are…but maybe we should have been pushing them just a bit harder? Asking them to live up to slightly higher expectations? Hmm). Since I had allowed Sudi to get away with such non-responsiveness, we had to work on re-sensitizing him.
Poor Sudi didn’t know what him. Litterally. There he was, just standing there (one of his favorites). I asked him to move, and he was slowly deliberating as to if this was even a good idea when… WHAM! Susan had taken the dressage whip harshly to his butt. He jumped up in attention, but still wasn’t moving quickly enough for us. WHAM! WHAM! That got him going. I allowed him to pick up a canter since that was at least forward, and we circled and came back to her to try again. (I now understand why Tammy’s mare Bunny, the head mare at the farm, gets so frustrated with Sudi! She basically has to beat him up to get him to move!) Unfortunately the second time he was AGAIN non responsive. We repeated the exercise twice more until it actually seemed to compute. (Is this a red-head thing??!) The good news though, is that eventually all I had to do was rock my seat forward, and OFF he went into a trot!
The exercise, painful as it was to watch, did end up working. Even more amazingly, this new found impulsion got him off his forehand! I couldn’t have been happier. I actually had a trot I could do a half-halt with! The improvement in his gait alone was phenomenal. I could not have been happier. I felt like I finally had a horse I could DO dressage with. Our canter work was even amazing – he felt like a horse!
My hope now is that this “Forward Thinking” will continue on through our rides this week. The cynic in me wants to think he is going to need some work, but the new “mom” in me KNOWS that he’s going to get it! (At least he better! Haha) Onward and upward and definitely more forward…
Every once in a while a rider will have the delightful, and most likely unexpected, experience of a break through. Another bridge of communication has been constructed, and you and your horse are speaking your developing language more clearly.
I love these moments. They are what I ride for!
In an effort to control my expenses, I’ve cut back on my lessons even more. And with work picking up some, and getting over a body wrenching cold, I’ve slacked off in continuing the literary side of my education as well. I would love to tell you this has had NO affect on my riding whatsoever, but sadly, as we all know, this is definitely NOT the case. I know I needed to save some pennies and get help again.
I’d finally gotten to the point with Sudi where our dressage was getting better, and he was actively seeking the bridle and contact. However, he was still NOT nearly responsive enough to my seat nor could I seem to get him off his forehand. I felt like we were elephants tromping around our circles, hoof beats reverberating throughout the back acreage of the farm. Needless to say this was also clearly affecting our canter departs, and I was finding myself contorting my body is all manners of ways just to get him to go. Again – not effective!!
I knew when I got to my lesson Monday that I had clear goals. We were GOING to get him to GO! when I asked nicely. We were also going to get off the forehand. We were also going to canter when I asked (correctly!) and we were also going to get the correct lead. I ALSO knew it was all the same problem (80% of which stemmed from me!)
Susan, who is always so nice about it, picked up our problem immediately. I was accepting too little of him. My expectations have to be MUCH higher (Is this a problem with ALL mothers??? – we want to love our children for who they are…but maybe we should have been pushing them just a bit harder? Asking them to live up to slightly higher expectations? Hmm). Since I had allowed Sudi to get away with such non-responsiveness, we had to work on re-sensitizing him.
Poor Sudi didn’t know what him. Litterally. There he was, just standing there (one of his favorites). I asked him to move, and he was slowly deliberating as to if this was even a good idea when… WHAM! Susan had taken the dressage whip harshly to his butt. He jumped up in attention, but still wasn’t moving quickly enough for us. WHAM! WHAM! That got him going. I allowed him to pick up a canter since that was at least forward, and we circled and came back to her to try again. (I now understand why Tammy’s mare Bunny, the head mare at the farm, gets so frustrated with Sudi! She basically has to beat him up to get him to move!) Unfortunately the second time he was AGAIN non responsive. We repeated the exercise twice more until it actually seemed to compute. (Is this a red-head thing??!) The good news though, is that eventually all I had to do was rock my seat forward, and OFF he went into a trot!
The exercise, painful as it was to watch, did end up working. Even more amazingly, this new found impulsion got him off his forehand! I couldn’t have been happier. I actually had a trot I could do a half-halt with! The improvement in his gait alone was phenomenal. I could not have been happier. I felt like I finally had a horse I could DO dressage with. Our canter work was even amazing – he felt like a horse!
My hope now is that this “Forward Thinking” will continue on through our rides this week. The cynic in me wants to think he is going to need some work, but the new “mom” in me KNOWS that he’s going to get it! (At least he better! Haha) Onward and upward and definitely more forward…
Monday, May 11, 2009
The One with the Much Remorse
It’s funny really. The longer you procrastinate on something, the harder it is to actually get it done.
I go throughout my days and many various activities with interesting blog topics popping into my head; none of which I would be lacking for filler. But it always pops up. That big elephant just standing there - blinking at me from the middle of the room. He’s a powerful elephant – able to zap all my blogging energy with a single blink.
So, let’s face it. These past weeks have been fairly difficult. There’s only so much emotional turmoil you can deal with really before it starts affecting you in some way or another. Unfortunately, the only outlet I could really let ANY of this affect me is here on my blog. It is thought that writing can cleanse the soul. Once your thoughts are down on paper (or in this case, cyberspace), they are free – no longer captivated to your mind. And so, that here is my goal, in what I can only imagine to be a fairly lengthy blog.
Let me start though at about exactly one month ago, when into this world came Ontario vom Rappenhoff!!! After many, many excruciating hours of waiting and watching, Bunny went into labor on April 10, 2009. Her labor lasted most of the day, but her water just wouldn’t break. Later on that evening, the vet decided to come out and induce her. This ended up being a really good thing. As it turns out, Ontario was facing the right direction, however he was upside down! Dr. Miller labored away for about thirty minutes and we soon saw the darling little striped face of Ontario.
This was my VERY first birth that I’ve seen, and it was a little bit traumatic. However, mother and baby are doing fantastically!! From day one he has been just precocious! Bunny is very protective about him, but each day he just grows by LEAPS and bounds! He is very balanced already, and we have some GREAT plans of taking him along to Devon as he matures and becomes the outstanding dressage stud I know he will be!
Halara’s pregnancy did unfortunately not turn out so well. After Ontario was born, we expected Harper to just pop right out. Another week went by with nothing. She was not even producing milk. As she passed her year mark, we all sighed with worry and waited for the vets to make some sort of call as to which direction we should go.
Looking back, it’s hard to say where everything started going wrong. There are so many answers that I’m not sure any of us want to even look for yet. The short of the story though is that the vets decided to induce Halara, but the baby was just not quite ready to be born (despite his large size!). The birth was very traumatic, and the following days even more so as everyone at Traveler’s Crossing (and even a past boarder Laura!) rallied together to help this baby make it. Despite Tammy’s best efforts though, he did not, and we miss him horribly! Halara is also no longer able to be bred as the pregnancy/birth did not treat her very kindly. She is recovering well though – physically and emotionally – and will be back to work shortly.
And just when all of us started to take a breath and move on, Lila, Tammy and David’s little Papillion was hit and killed on their farm (very much by accident!) The evening Lila died I rather felt my life spinning. I searched for the pain in my heart that I knew would start pounding again, but it was gone. It was like I was already numb from the current pain. It’s a scary place to be. Surrounded by so much loss. Even now, I wish I could somehow go back and find some other words to say, but my mind still goes blank. Just searching. I know it’s my body way of going into survival mode and protecting me against the horrendous pain I first experienced many years back. I have this memory of being a child, hopping on my bed sobbing, and just praying that God would hold me and tell me everything would be OK. And He never failed. Everything did always end up being OK. Getting to that point again though can be hard, but if I’ve learned ANYTHING through my life, it’s that God is faithful. All the time.
After the death of Harper, Jazzie and her family ended up leaving Traveler’s Crossing. I’m sure this is probably for the best – even though we miss them!! I think that it can be good for all of us to leave the place of such hard memories sometimes. It gives us a chance to heal. I think we all need that chance for a bit.
Things around the farm are slowly returning to normal. Willa has also gone back to Erinne on Wadmalaw Island as her time with Tammy is up. I wish them both the best of luck as well in their futures! Willa is definitely a special little mare!
Sudi and Kehbir have had a bit of a break with all the turmoil going on. I’ve focused a lot on helping Sudi heal his body some. Amelia has come out several times helping to alleviate some of the tension and tight spots he develops (sometimes from his conformation or from falling out in the field etc...silly Arab!), and he seems to be feeling so much better. When I ride, he is much more supple and able to come through and use his back (finally!). We are planning on moving up to actually riding some Training level dressage tests!!! I’m thrilled.
Kehbir and my mom are doing well. They had a great lesson this past weekend, and we have more over Memorial Day weekend hopefully. It's really neat to see them progressing!
So there it is. My hard month in just a few paragraphs. Having written it out, I don’t feel like I’ve done it enough justice, but so be it. I’m closing the door and moving on.
Before I end, I want to add one more disheartening anecdote. This past weekend up at Jersey Fresh we lost another great horse. Phillip Dutton and his horse Bailey Wick had a horrible accident going XC, and Bailey Wick did not make it. My condolences go out to Phillip and the owners of that GREAT horse. My heart cries out for this sport. I pray we can find a way to change it for the better and soon! We simply cannot accept these losses…They are just too great!
Promising to be diligent and back to our regularly scheduled happy posting!
I go throughout my days and many various activities with interesting blog topics popping into my head; none of which I would be lacking for filler. But it always pops up. That big elephant just standing there - blinking at me from the middle of the room. He’s a powerful elephant – able to zap all my blogging energy with a single blink.
So, let’s face it. These past weeks have been fairly difficult. There’s only so much emotional turmoil you can deal with really before it starts affecting you in some way or another. Unfortunately, the only outlet I could really let ANY of this affect me is here on my blog. It is thought that writing can cleanse the soul. Once your thoughts are down on paper (or in this case, cyberspace), they are free – no longer captivated to your mind. And so, that here is my goal, in what I can only imagine to be a fairly lengthy blog.
Let me start though at about exactly one month ago, when into this world came Ontario vom Rappenhoff!!! After many, many excruciating hours of waiting and watching, Bunny went into labor on April 10, 2009. Her labor lasted most of the day, but her water just wouldn’t break. Later on that evening, the vet decided to come out and induce her. This ended up being a really good thing. As it turns out, Ontario was facing the right direction, however he was upside down! Dr. Miller labored away for about thirty minutes and we soon saw the darling little striped face of Ontario.
This was my VERY first birth that I’ve seen, and it was a little bit traumatic. However, mother and baby are doing fantastically!! From day one he has been just precocious! Bunny is very protective about him, but each day he just grows by LEAPS and bounds! He is very balanced already, and we have some GREAT plans of taking him along to Devon as he matures and becomes the outstanding dressage stud I know he will be!
Halara’s pregnancy did unfortunately not turn out so well. After Ontario was born, we expected Harper to just pop right out. Another week went by with nothing. She was not even producing milk. As she passed her year mark, we all sighed with worry and waited for the vets to make some sort of call as to which direction we should go.
Looking back, it’s hard to say where everything started going wrong. There are so many answers that I’m not sure any of us want to even look for yet. The short of the story though is that the vets decided to induce Halara, but the baby was just not quite ready to be born (despite his large size!). The birth was very traumatic, and the following days even more so as everyone at Traveler’s Crossing (and even a past boarder Laura!) rallied together to help this baby make it. Despite Tammy’s best efforts though, he did not, and we miss him horribly! Halara is also no longer able to be bred as the pregnancy/birth did not treat her very kindly. She is recovering well though – physically and emotionally – and will be back to work shortly.
And just when all of us started to take a breath and move on, Lila, Tammy and David’s little Papillion was hit and killed on their farm (very much by accident!) The evening Lila died I rather felt my life spinning. I searched for the pain in my heart that I knew would start pounding again, but it was gone. It was like I was already numb from the current pain. It’s a scary place to be. Surrounded by so much loss. Even now, I wish I could somehow go back and find some other words to say, but my mind still goes blank. Just searching. I know it’s my body way of going into survival mode and protecting me against the horrendous pain I first experienced many years back. I have this memory of being a child, hopping on my bed sobbing, and just praying that God would hold me and tell me everything would be OK. And He never failed. Everything did always end up being OK. Getting to that point again though can be hard, but if I’ve learned ANYTHING through my life, it’s that God is faithful. All the time.
After the death of Harper, Jazzie and her family ended up leaving Traveler’s Crossing. I’m sure this is probably for the best – even though we miss them!! I think that it can be good for all of us to leave the place of such hard memories sometimes. It gives us a chance to heal. I think we all need that chance for a bit.
Things around the farm are slowly returning to normal. Willa has also gone back to Erinne on Wadmalaw Island as her time with Tammy is up. I wish them both the best of luck as well in their futures! Willa is definitely a special little mare!
Sudi and Kehbir have had a bit of a break with all the turmoil going on. I’ve focused a lot on helping Sudi heal his body some. Amelia has come out several times helping to alleviate some of the tension and tight spots he develops (sometimes from his conformation or from falling out in the field etc...silly Arab!), and he seems to be feeling so much better. When I ride, he is much more supple and able to come through and use his back (finally!). We are planning on moving up to actually riding some Training level dressage tests!!! I’m thrilled.
Kehbir and my mom are doing well. They had a great lesson this past weekend, and we have more over Memorial Day weekend hopefully. It's really neat to see them progressing!
So there it is. My hard month in just a few paragraphs. Having written it out, I don’t feel like I’ve done it enough justice, but so be it. I’m closing the door and moving on.
Before I end, I want to add one more disheartening anecdote. This past weekend up at Jersey Fresh we lost another great horse. Phillip Dutton and his horse Bailey Wick had a horrible accident going XC, and Bailey Wick did not make it. My condolences go out to Phillip and the owners of that GREAT horse. My heart cries out for this sport. I pray we can find a way to change it for the better and soon! We simply cannot accept these losses…They are just too great!
Promising to be diligent and back to our regularly scheduled happy posting!
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