On Learning

Part the First

Following the Tik Maynard clinic, I've been doing groundwork with Courage a couple times a week. It's nothing earth shattering. The first few days he was rock solid, then we tried it on a cool, windy, definitely-fall sort of day and he was HYPER reactive and just sort of edgy.

obv need  polos for groundwork

It was really interesting--he presented a lot of the same issues I see under saddle, complete with flailing, leaping, and checking out. We took lots of breaks. He gave lots of releases. By the time I was ready to hop on, I had a calm, focused horse and a very excellent ride.

Part the Second

I'm taking a pilates class. It's all about controlled movement and engaged core muscles. We've started doing some harder exercises lately, which is interesting. In the last session, the teacher asked me to hold my balance with my core and move one limb without shifting weight/balance to compensate for it. I understood what she said and I watched other students do it fairly easily.

And I couldn't.

Could.

Not.

judgmental corgi not impressed

The teacher came over to help me with it and even showed me which muscles needed to contract to make the move happen, and academically, I knew what she was saying. I just. Lacked the capacity to make my body do that thing on that day. We finally settled for me doing a lesser version of the exercise with the idea that I'll practice a lot at home.

Huh.

I love when things are connected, so it was really fantastic to experience that. (Still haven't mastered it. Give me time).

half foamy. i'll take it.

Sure was nice that the teacher was kind, understanding, and clear in her instructions. It would have sucked if she got mad and tried to punish me for trying, huh?

Learning is a fascinating thing.

The Nightmare Before Halloween (?)

If you follow me on social media (aka are not a cave troll EMMA), you probably saw this beautiful, beautiful picture last week. 

all the pretties

I've never had much in grey before, but I was clicking around the Riding Warehouse site (danger Will Robinson) and I found that the Noble Outfitters cowl neck shirt I've wanted forever. I try not to buy black shirts because I normally buy blue (or blue) everything, so I got it in grey. But that was only $27! And free shipping at $50! 

So then I looked at Roeckl gloves and they had black, dark brown, light tan, and grey. I didn't want the first two colors because my biggest problem with gloves is losing them and I have nothing tan but omg there's a grey shirt in my cart! 

And of course, now that I had two grey things, there were visions of this perfect dressage queen outfit dancing in my head. All I need was grey polos. I already have a black pad with grey trim! And black bridles! And omg my iridescent stirrups would be the perfect color pop. Found some grey polos, chucked them in the cart, got a $10 off coupon, and waited 48 hours for my prizes to show up. 

When they did, I noticed that the polos were labelled "grey ombre", which seemed cool. Ombre is super in right now I think (isn't it?). In my head, they were going to be gorgeous--a subtle fade from black to grey up the leg. Omg. Can you even? I cannot. 

Cough.

And I promptly skipped out to the barn to put them on. Which was when I found out that for no very good reason, the "ombre" was simply a 12" pattern of black to greyish... and when you wrap it...

nooooooooo

You get a freaking Tim Burton zebra, not an understated-but-edgy, deeply sophisticated interpretation of traditional dressage style.

Yeah I'll say it again. Tim. Burton. Zebra. 

It was horrifying. It was also dusk, so I thought maybe if I threw him on the lunge and took pictures, the god-awful stripes would sort of blend into a uniform steel grey or something. 

I took a gorgeous silhouetted shot of Courage cantering past the sunset, and yeah, all I can see is his freaking zebra legs.

still nope

I tried to hold off making a decision on them, but the next day when I came out the the barn and had to choose between neatly-rolled TBZ grey polos and re-rolling a gross, dirty brownish set of supposedly white polos that needed a wash desperately, I didn't even hesitate. And I was at the barn alone with no one to impress.

he's embarrassed

So uh. It's a good thing Alyssa is a Tim Burton fan because these are definitely not staying in the collection. 

Pimp My Saddle Pad: An SB Blog Non-Crafty How-To

If you have a boring saddle pad that just needs a little kick to become awesome but you have the craft skills and finesse of a drunken elephant even while sober, then we are on the same page. Emma and Olivia and Amanda and Monica and co are always writing these how tos for mind-blowingly complex projects that involve 1) artistic ability 2) having random arting supplies on hand so the damn thing doesn't cost an arm and a leg and 3) an awful lot of time/motivation.

needs spice!

Let me assure you. This project requires none of those things. Which is good because the list of craft supplies I own is basically scissors and super glue. And I don't know where the glue is.

Without further ado, here is a step-by-step process to pimp your saddle pad.

1) Get some wine.

I forgot to photograph this step. Hopefully you already have the wine. If not, perhaps instead of a craft how-to, you need to reevaluate most of your life choices.

2) Have some awesome friends give you some super cool iron-on patches. This saves on $ big time. I didn't have to pick anything or buy anything. It's great. No choices. No arting.

EB Racing pride!! 

3) Ask husband (/roomie/cat/whoever you live with who knows these things) if you have an iron. Ideally, they will then locate it for you to shut you up because no one wants to dig through this mess, even especially with said wine.

nope

4) Plug in iron. This step is actually way harder than it sounds. I mean, sure you know how to use an electrical outlet (that's the place where you charge your phone), but some irons have all kinds of complicated shit on them. Hint: the shit is to distract you. You don't need to put water in anything. Probably a light should turn on.

4b) It's critically important at this stage that whomever helped you find the iron and any associated pets either leave the room or faithfully and reliably promise to be well behaved. If the iron is working, things are about to get dangerous.

judgmental corgi probably needs a patch

5) Decide where the patches will go on your saddle pad. It's also helpful to already have the pad washed. If it's not, you can kinda just dab up the loose hairs on it with duct tape. No judgement here.

duct tape: now also a craft supply!

hint: do not iron patch to the board while hubs is watching.

6) Determine if the iron is hot. Careful, this is another hard step. If the iron is hot and you touch it, you might get a painful burn. I used a meat thermometer and am proudly burn-free. Let me know if you think of a better solution.

#burnfreebitches

6b) This step may take several tries if you're impatient like me. Just try to avoid the ER trip from burning yourself. That seems like a non-ideal (if predictable) outcome of a craft project.

7a) Once iron is hot, set it on top of the patch positioned where you want it on the saddle pad and let it make the sticky part stick. This step takes a while. Also I like to wiggle the iron around a little just so I don't accidentally make burn marks on the pad.

7b)It's a pretty bad idea I think to touch the patch once the definitely hot iron has been sitting on it for a while, so if you still have the meat thermometer out, you might want to poke the patch with it a few times  to see if it's stuck down.

7c)If the pad starts smoking, throw your wine on it to extinguish any flames and then pour another glass to celebrate your now multi-colored pad.

look ma no hands!

When it seems pretty stuck down, maybe go around the edges with the tip once or twice just to be sure.

8) That's it. You're done. Stay fabulous!

love it.

8b) Make sure you turn the iron off. Don't try to wrap the cord up around your iron until it's fully cooled unless you are trying to intentionally destroy the iron in a wine-fueled rage. You can either repeatedly test it with the meat thermometer or just leave it til tomorrow and hope husband/roomie/pets/social services think that it should be put away and handle that part for you.

too busy admiring handiwork

 And hey! If you completed this DIY without a trip to the ER or unplanned arrival by the fire department, then... you actually might have more craft skills than me. Happy crafting!

Sinead Halpin & Tik Maynard Clinic Write Up

I had the good fortune to audit a clinic put on by Sinead and her husband Tik this past weekend. They taught at separate arenas in the same facility. I managed to catch several sessions with each and I'll write them up separately.

this is a video still from a video i took, so i'm stealing it

First, Sinead:

She is great. 

Oh you wanted more?

Ok here's what I love about Sinead: she has an amazing ability to read a horse and rider in about 3.5 seconds and then give them very specific feedback on how to improve. She's kind, encouraging, and dead on. I saw nary a tear or a frown and lots of people had ground breaking experiences even in long-term partnerships with established squabbles. I never saw a horse look overfaced or a rider look afraid and I saw lots of good riders get better. If I had a horse that jumped, 10/10 I would ride with her no questions asked. 

Things I did not love about Sinead: um.... really reaching here, but I generally avoided standing next to her because she's freaking gorgeous and I'm just a dumpy old adult ammy who didn't need any contrast there. She was mega nice though and even took a selfie with us after the end of a long day teaching. 

apologies to Alyssa's face

And Tik:

Going in to this clinic, I heard Tik was doing some sort of groundwork thing (?) and I'd watched his winning freestyle from last year's Thoroughbred makeover competition. It was cool, but presented me the same basic problem that I see in most things like that: it has no utility. I don't want to ride around with no bridle. I'm not competing in the "follow the leader" olympics, and frankly, I don't have a horse that would excel in the makeover context so like... good for you? 

i both staged and took this photo, so i stole it from lindsey

But. Give the man a chance, right? 

I attended his lecture Friday evening before the riding started. When I arrived, he was talking about Pat Parelli and Clinton Anderson and Tom Dorrance and Jonathan Fields and again, good for them and they are certainly capable of affecting good change with horses, but all of those people live(d) in the western world, and so ultimately what they're getting horses to do is not something I'm super interested in. Besides, while I've never so much as dabbled in the natural horsemanship/western world, I have come up around a bevy of excellent horsemen in the english world. So? 

But here's the thing: when I attended the Mustang Makeover this summer, I realized that all these 100-days-off-the-range horses were doing something my horse simply was not capable of. He couldn't stay with me for a simple dressage test at a show with minimal distractions and here these semi-broke feral horses with no history in front of crowds performed well. I wanted something from that, but again, I have no interest in riding my horse into the back of a truck or shooting guns off his back or riding over a teeter totter (all actually things that happened). Like... nice idea, but not super useful to me. 

did want this horse. Alyssa said no. Bank account sided with her.

And then Tik moved on from talking about the showmen of the natural horsemanship world and said something that gave him my 100% full attention. It was along the lines of "If I had to quit riding tomorrow, but could still work with horses from the ground, that would ok because I'm less interested in technique and more interested in the philosophy of how a horse learns." 

BAM. Hello. Now we're speaking a language I want to learn. 

He went on to explain a simple progression: As horse lovers, we start by learning riding technique from our trainers. Then we try to incorporate theory. As we improve and ride on our own, we develop instinct to deal with situations. Many people stall out there, which is fine but the next step is the philosophy of training. Asking no longer "how", but now "why" and understanding how to motivate horses. 

After all, as he pointed out, "People tend to confuse motivation with intelligence. Your horse isn't stupid. He's just not interested in trying for you." And also, "The better communicator you are, the less motivating you have to do." 

tell me more

The next morning was all that and more. 

As he worked with different people and their horses, he continued the conversation. He talked about always starting from a point of success for the horse--catch them doing something right, if you will. He explained using your body language to communicate with horses. This wasn't super new information to me until he added the part about where you place your line of direction. 

excellent paint graphic by me

It made so much sense--he was having handlers do #6 to get their horses to back away from them with progressively less stimuli, but then when he asked them to walk up and pet their horses, the animals shied away. Why? Because horses aren't afraid of predators. They're afraid of predatory behavior. When the handlers learned to use #5 to approach their horse and arc their line of direction so it was not through the horse, they stood solid. (Also changing body language obv). 

But this wasn't a how-to of simple natural horsemanship techniques. He summed it up very well when he used the term "thinking laterally". Humans tend to think in linear terms. This, then that. Horses don't usually. So if you try this, but don't get to that, you need to be mentally flexible and think laterally. What are other approaches? How can you break this down in steps that your horse will understand? 

There was another exercise--asking a horse to trot in a small circle around it's handler, keeping it's shoulder about 4' away. The lead line was short enough to encourage that, then the handler held a stick at hip height to keep the horse from encroaching on the space. This was a moment of truth for a lot of pairs. The exercise itself wasn't really the point--there is no prize for trotting tiny circles. The exercise was 1) to highlight problem areas in handling and 2) to teach the horse how to learn. 

Problem areas were simply--many handlers gave ground to the horse and back up, allowing the horse to push them around the space. Horses frequently overreacted to the sight/feel of the stick. Most of the horses had one side that was ok and then had meltdowns about the other side. 

we tried it later at home

There was so much going on here--the handler needed to be very, very clear with their body language what they wanted the horse to do. It was critical that they kept stepping towards the horse. This made the circle bigger so it wasn't hard on the horses, but it also established who was pushing who out of whose space. They had to really figure out their line of direction--obviously if you push straight into the horse, it blows sideways (if it's even listening to you), so you needed to establish your space and step in the direction you wanted to go.

As the horses learned, Tik emphasized that at the beginning, there needed to be no right or wrong answer. First they just needed to be rewarded (with a release of pressure/break/treat/whatever) for trying, then gradually you could introduce a harder answer and an easier answer. Basically, don't punish the try especially as the horse begins to learn. You want them to work with you, not fear you. 

basically the bible for this horse omg

This exercise also introduced the idea of the same stimuli meaning multiple things. He'd alternate holding the stick at steady hip height to keep the horse away and setting it on the horse's back/neck/withers and asking the horse to ignore it. Again, a question of communication and trust. 

As Tik explained it, he's not doing groundwork for groundwork's sake. What he wants is to work with a horse until he gets what he calls "the look"--not just licking and chewing, but the horse giving him an intelligent look saying "we're here together. What are we doing next?"

If you never do groundwork again after that moment, that's fine. You always need to feel like you can get that expression if you need to though--that's what tells us the horse is mentally with us. That trust is what everything else is built on. It's not about the follow-the-leader olympics--it's about becoming the leader that your horse looks to so that you can progress together.

plus adorable

What I loved most about learning from Tik Maynard as a clinician was his emphasis on learning how a horse learns and then using lateral thinking to teach the horse in a way he can understand. As an under saddle clinician, he was fine, but his abilities to understand the way a horse thinks and encourage his students to be mentally flexible was where he really shone. 

I didn't sign up for this clinic because I thought it was all jumping, but now that I've watched, let me assure you, Courage will be first in line for a session with Tik next time we get a chance. 

PS He also highly recommended books by Mark Rashid, who is basically my horse training idol, so that was awesome.

PPS I apologize if this is drivel--my mind is still pretty blown and I'm severely sleep deprived while writing it.

Mattes V. Ogilvy: the Great Euro Cut Pad Showdown

I've been making good life choices lately--I scored a deal on Ogilvy profile pads (my favorite!) but they came in the Eurocut design. That's... fine? I've never had Eurocut pads, but they're designed to flatter smaller, thinner horses with less heft in the waist area (if you know what I mean), and that definitely describes Courage.

But before I'd even been able to try out my new pads properly, I also snagged ANOTHER deal on a Mattes Eurocut dressage pad.

So I went from 0 to 3 Eurocut pads in less than a week and still haven't quite established how I feel about the look. But hey! Let's compare these two manufacturers as long as we have the same pads of the same age.

THE LOOK

First off, let's just look at what a Eurocut pad is.

ogilvy

mattes

It's pretty simple--the back of the pad sweeps up a little, which creates the illusion of depth on a smaller horse. Plus it looks cool. I think probably the looks cool part. That's definitely why I bought them. Plus sales. Mostly sales.

THE MATERIAL

Here's the part I am the most intrigued by. I swear by my ogilvy pads. I'm unconvinced by their half pads, but their baby pads and profile pads? Damn. Unbeatable. Thin enough to wash well, thick enough to hold their shape, contoured enough to keep pressure off the withers and classy enough to look good. They're basically amazing.

But then I found Mattes.

mattes left, ogilvy right

 This is the Mattes flannel pad side by side with the ogilvy profile pad. They are a similar thickness. The mattes is heavier--it's triple-layered flannel with very tight quilts. Per the salesman I talked to, the idea is that the flannel rubs against itself (like double-layered socks) instead of on the horse and the tighter quilts make for less motion, but also increase the cost of production. Also per salesman, Europeans believe that foam tends to be hotter, so the flannel is supposed to be a more horse-friendly option.

The ogilvy doesn't have "large" quilts, but you can definitely see the quality difference here. The ogilvy is still nice (and really, I should have compared the undersides too), but it's just more economically put together. It is foam-filled, which seems congruous with the memory foam half pad they also sell. The ogilvy is a very nice pad, don't get me wrong. It just doesn't offer quite the same luxury feeling that the mattes does.

This is reflected in the price. While I didn't pay full price for either, the Mattes runs $95 new and is rarely on sale and the Ogilvy is around $58 new and never on sale. Both manufacturers offer full custom options for no extra charge, which is brilliant.

Mattes also offers an option for foam inside the pad--I passed on this. It made the pad thicker than I like and I was told that the foam expands and contracts during the washing process which harms the longevity of the pad by loosening the stitching in the quilt.

THE SHAPE

Obviously, both pads are Eurocut, but there is variation within that style. I took a couple of shots with them laid side by side.

mattes in front, ogilvy behind

They are both definitely contoured for wither relief which is a big deal to me. I ride thoroughbreds with big withers who are deeply sensitive. Both do the job--I mildly prefer the mattes in a head-to head because the angle at the top is a little more severe and it doesn't slid down at all. The ogilvy is still perfectly serviceable in this area. Also, this is a pretty personal thing--if your horse/saddle are shaped differently than mine, you might have different results.

The cut is different through the pad too. The Mattes is a large and the ogilvy is a regular (I think?). Pad sizing is confusing. Regardless, they both go under my 18" dressage saddle no trouble. You can see they're similar in length across the top.

ogilvy on top, mattes on the bottom

The ogilvy fans out a bit-- if you go back to the top of this review, you'll see that it has a bit more rounded cut in the back. The mattes falls pretty much straight down. The mattes is maybe 1-2" narrower because of that, but then it's maybe an inch or two longer in the drop. These are pretty minor differences. I think they both look fine on my saddle, but if you're fitting a pony-sized critter, inches can matter.

THE USAGE

Herein lies the rub. (ahaha! I am HI larious). How do they hold up? There are plenty of people who advocate for things like $50 gloves instead of $10 gloves because they last longer. (I'd be convinced except I lose my $10 gloves well before they wear out so your argument is invalid).

my oldest ogilvy dressage pad

Obviously, the ogilvy is the "budget" option*. It clocks in at $58 US and can be had with free shipping if you try a little. They are also carried in VERY OCCASIONAL stores and while that is brilliant, it is also unexpected. Almost no one just stocks dressage ogilvy pads and those who do are apparently haters of fun colors. Unless you count navy. (Not really).

does navy scream "edgy" to you? no. it does not.

The Mattes comes roaring in at $95+, which makes it a pretty big splurge, even with a kickass sale. Mattes is pretty ubiquitous in the dressage world and somewhat easier to come by, though I will confess as a new DQ and fledging linen collector, I haven't looked for these specific pads in as many places. Maybe all DQs only order custom? Don't know.

does he look "fuller" here?

I will say that I've put hard workouts on both pads and they have done the job. They stay put without the use of extraneous straps. (I will will run my billets through a loop. I cut wither straps off. That is all.) I haven't had any rubbing or issues.

seriously i have so many new pads right now that i don't have riding pics in all of them

The mattes presumably costs more because it will last longer. To that I say, we will see. I've had my oldest ogilvy pad about two years at this point and it's going strong. I use it constantly and wash it regularly (SOMEONE can't function with a dirty pad). I will say if you want a more luxurious feel straight out of the package, the Mattes definitely is a bit more high-end feeling, but until it's survived two years+ of daily abuse, I'm not sure what to expect.

I still don't really know what I think of the whole Euro-cut thing. It doesn't offend me, but is it the latest greats thing for C? We will see. I'm actually less interested in the shape and more interested in putting lots of use on all the pads to see what stands up. At last! A luxury argument I can get behind.

*I know, I know. So much money for linen!

Houston, We Have a Problem

It's a real serious problem too.

teeny dog is on the case

See, Courage started his trainer rides last week. I got a ride report on one and I got to watch the other. They were fine. He didn't magically turn into a confirmed third level packer (dammit). He wasn't so much brilliant as solid. He tried hard, he learned, he tried pushing trainer's buttons because sometimes you just gotta live the asshole life.

Whatever. It's great.

So basically, I put a nice ride on him Monday, then trainer rode Tuesday when I wasn't there, then I toodled with him Wednesday, and I watched trainer ride Thursday. That means I hadn't really "ridden" since trainer rides started until I tried to ride him Friday.

TRIED.

and OMG trainer broke my horse.

And not in the way that I expected. See, I wanted to get on and make sure he didn't think asshole life was a thing that was ok. He'd been a little naughty about his right lead, so we were going to do a bunch of right lead canter go get that shit SORTED OUT.

Except not.

Because wtf all of a sudden C is like "bitch please. you want canter? you have to sit up and hold the contact and keep your leg on and use your seat in the magical dressage way and THEN I WILL THINK ABOUT IT."

he's a diva. what can i say?

Dude. Horse. I have trained you to half ass it for three years now and we both know that if I sort of tip forward and throw away the contact and maybe take my leg off, that OBVIOUSLY means canter.

Except not anymore.

Now he has STANDARDS and EXPECTATIONS and I actually have to ride. Which BY THE WAY, is freakishly hard and not my norm. It was so hard I even bitched about it to my friends.

said friends not overly sympathetic

You don't mess around with ass cramps, ok?

I'm not sure I'm ok with this development.

Photo Perfection: Pro Edition

I am relatively public about my equine life and I get lots of feedback from people I've never met on the internet. Most of it is positive, some of it is weird, and some of it is super shitty. But I'm the one that chose to be public.

identity concealed to protect innocent parties

If you follow Courage Has Opinions on instagram, you've probably recognized fellow bloggers and their horses on there. Those shots were all sent to me to become memes and are used with the direct permission of the featured riders of the horses. (And if you want to be featured, definitely send along a fail. It keeps me pretty entertained).

Courtesy of Confessions of a Dressage Barbie

Those riders have something in common: they're not professionals. They don't have a special image to maintain. They aren't selling their skills to the equine public. There are certainly the rare pros who are ok with fail pictures, but most of those specialize in green horses with green moments and their market understands that green things happen. (Not all. Most.)

But that's just it: I CAN feature fail photos because I don't have anything riding on this. Pun somewhat intended. I don't get paid more or less or gain or lose clients because of anything to do with horses, but that is 100% the case with a professional. They are their business and the images of them that circulate the internet can definitely haunt them.

As a blogger, I try to be very upfront with the equine professionals I've worked with--my blog is about me and my horse. Period. I don't snitch on clients, I don't share gossip, and I most certainly don't run professionals through the mud without very, very, VERY good reason (seriously two years later that post is still getting comments). Now that Courage is in training with a professional (omg!), there are some different factors at play.

me in the irons

I have trusted Courage's training to my trainer and the work she is doing is not up for internet dissection. Period. I'm not quite sure how I'm going to handle this on the blog--I've very happy with the progress he's making. I'm very confident in my trainer's abilities and I love her way with horses.

But she didn't sign up to get attacked by the clown wagon and I DO NOT want there to be an assumption that if you ride a blogger's horse, you go on the internet. Her agreement is with me and Courage and that's all.

clown wagon represent!

So as I decide how to process and share (or not) this next section of our relationship, help me out. What are you standards for sharing pictures/media  of a professional on your horse? On their horse? What is their assumption of privacy? How do you chose to represent those in the equine industry on your personal blog or social media?

First Day of School

We did some last minute school shopping. 

#regretnothing

Cleaned all the tack, rolled all the polos, and picked up the things we weren't using anymore.

clean pads stacked where the jump saddle used to go

Tidied up the tack trunk.

#dqstatus

I even recruited Lindsey to come out and take some last minute back-to-school photos.

so fancy!

I can't be at the barn for all our trainer rides, which I think is better--I trust my trainer and I want her to get to know C without me hovering or coloring her experience (well, sometimes) (and possibly I'm stalking my phone for an update). I'm also trying to use my (gasp!) barn-less days to do some personal development. I restarted pilates and my making some hopefully-sustainable life cahnges to allow me to be a better rider for Courage.

ooooo canter!

We're in the cool place of needing training rides not because Courage is wild and crazy and hard to deal with, but because he's doing awesome and ready to move on. Really excited to see where this phase takes us.