Death Knell for Modern Eventing

Every time I open my mouth about eventing, I get bombarded with angry emotional tirades by people I don't even know (who frequently don't actually event, but are strangely emotionally attached to it) and every time, I swear I'll never do it again. But proving yet again that I might not be the smartest person on the internet, here I go.

the pinnacle of my "eventing"

I assume you all heard about the tragic passing of both an event rider and a horse in unrelated incidents at a US-based 3* last weekend. I'm not here to sit in judgement on specific incidents--by all accounts, the world is now short one amazing woman and a completely irreplaceable animal. There are a lot of articles circulating the internet about them right now--I think the best is this one, by a young woman who was deeply impacted by Phillipa.

No one with any sense is saying that either the rider or the horse was at fault and a lot of people with a lot of sense are fighting about how to fix the obvious and glaring problems. I don't have the answers and I'm definitely not here to chair a wholly-unqualified mob commission from my seat on the internet. Suffice to say, if you think you have the answers to fix a problem we can't quantify at this point, I also think you are an idiot.

That aside.

Eventing is digging it's own grave at an incredible rate right now. I've never evented above beginner novice and at this point in my life, it's unlikely to ever progress beyond that point. I cannot speak to what happens on course and that's not what this is about. I'm talking about the business model the USEA and PRO and modern American eventers have worked so hard to create. From a business perspective, this model is completely unsustainable.

Let's face it--eventing is the grass roots, common-man, Olympic-dreams sport in the way a pay-to-play discipline like show jumping or dressage can never be. International show jumping is populated with celebrities and billionaires. Want to go to the Olympics? Just drop 15mil on the literal nicest horse in the world, hire the best coach in the world, build the best facility in the world, and the competition will come to you. It's somewhat the same in dressage--all y'all rocking those $90 kastel sunshirts--do you know who Charlotte Jorst is? Facsinating story there.

good thing they're nice shirts

Eventing is the only FEI discipline in which a starry-eyed girl can buy a horse off the track for a few hundred dollars and make it to the elite upper levels. That is a beautiful thing, in a lot of ways.

But you know what it's not? A business model. That's why at the USEA convention, there are whole seminars on convincing rich people to be "owners" of upper level horses and allowing the real athletes to ride them. Of course, here's the thing--while a few people certainly own horses because they love horses and they love the sport and their version of collecting Breyer models is owning 7 horses at Rolex, that pool of people is very, VERY small.

For everyone else, they need to get something out of it. Obviously, eventing is a lot more dangerous than show jumping or dressage and requires a pretty specific personality type and a skill set that cannot be bought. That rules out most rich people who can afford to self-finance an international competition schedule. They themselves cannot compete at the top levels.

Ok, well what about event horses as an investment? I mean, Doug Payne sold Running Order and another horse (sob not over it) to not-figuratively buy the farm. I don't know or care how much money changed hands, but you'll notice even WFP hasn't taken that horse to a 4* since then. Of course he did almost metaphorically buy the farm last year, so who knows how that figures in.

What I'm getting at is this: according to this study commissioned by the FEI, one of the biggest indicators for a rotational fall (which is how people and horses die) is the age of the horse--meaning the Marilyn Little school of "ram em and jam em up the levels for a quick resale" is literally punching your ticket for a scary ass fall and if William Fox Pitt can't take a made 4* horse to a 4* event, well, then there really isn't a resale market for a 4* horse. Period. Eventing takes trust and a relationship between horse and rider and you can't buy that. Michael Jung makes his own--wonder why?

So essentially, an upper level event horse is rapidly becoming a dud as an investment. No matter how many times Visa tells you something is priceless, what that means in real terms is that it has no value. Can't sell it.

And if you can't sell it, you can't insure it. Insurance is a business and it runs on actuaries putting real values on things and then betting that the thing won't just fucking die at an event. Which they are doing. Right now.

Well that leaves an interesting conundrum, doesn't it? What's the incentive to own an un-saleable, un-insurable so-called "investment" in a high-risk sport?

There isn't one.

That leaves two options:

1) The moneybags would-be owners walk away from the sport--it drops out of the Olympics and off the public radar. Professionals struggle harder than ever to make it, course design naturally degenerates to the scary-ass stuff they jumped in olden times because there's no money to pay designers and build fancy fences and so on.

2) The sport makes serious changes in terms of safety and accessibility so that the Olympic buy-a-medal program remains a viable option. The risk is greatly reduced, the prices of horses jump up another few notches, the ability of the girl-on-her-ottb to make it to the top becomes less than zero. The purpose-bred $$$$$$$ horse dominates, the sport professionalizes to the point of being unrecognizable, and the Wellington eventing showcase is your new feature 4*. The sport you think you love no longer exists.

There are some appealing things about option 1--it's something Denny Emerson and Jimmy Wofford seem to advocate for, and obviously they've been around a while. There are some horse friendly outcomes in this and there is certainly an emotional appeal--you return the decision making to the horse people instead of handing it to the entertainers and accountants. There are also some really glaring drawbacks.

The first thing that comes to mind is simply the visibility--it's amazing how sports have to clean up when everyone starts looking. I think visibility is a huge part of horse and rider safety. If eventing were to drop off the map of the international scene, a lot of things could happen that otherwise wouldn't if there was more oversight. In addition, I really really don't understand all the people claiming that somehow going back to early-era eventing is a good idea. You think Vicarage Vee was terrifying? LOOK WHAT THEY USED TO DO. That's a nope. There is no question in my mind that with all it's drawbacks, the modern form of eventing is safer for horses and riders than whatever that horrifying bloodbath was.

So let's think about option 2. Money talks. Let's face it--dressage and showjumping, our equivalent international-level FEI-regulated events are essentially tests of which horse is the fanciest and most expensive, which means 99.999% of humanity cannot afford to compete. Obviously, horsemanship still plays in, but no one gets anywhere (on the international scene) with their OTTB. On the other hand, it's glamorous, fun to watch, and safe.

Moreover, there are also some horse friendly features to this model. Namely--horses stop dying in preventable ways. Public scrutiny is at a maximum and there is nowhere to hide a (metaphorical or real) body. The very real drawback is of course that when you can literally buy an Olympic medal, then you expect to and the welfare of the horse can be overlooked. Does this balance the increased scrutiny? Maybe?

Eventing is theoretically different because instead of being a fancy horse competition, it offered us the ability to test the sheer grit and heart of the horses and riders involved. The problem with that kind of test is failing it can mean death for horse and rider. We live in a safe, protected modern society that isn't comfortable with death and thinks that sacrificing good people and good horses on the altar of sport is disgusting bloodlust.

And frankly, I agree.

Modern eventing is going away. It cannot and should not survive.

What rises from it's ashes will be an interesting beast indeed.

Socially Awkward Equestrians United

non horsey people don't understand

Because I've met some of you, I know that I am not the only socially awkward equestrian out there. In fact, I'd be willing to bet that the reason most of us manage to blend in to non-horsey society at all is because we have online pony friends and blogs that let us scratch the itch so we can have occasional non-horsey conversations with co-workers and relatives and neighbors. 

But that still leaves us as a little socially awkward. 

For example: you possibly remember when I signed up for a dressage clinic at the fanciest barn in the area with a VERY BNT this spring. 

And then Courage wouldn't get on the trailer and I had to make this super-humiliating phone call (yes, AFTER introducing myself to the clinician while auditing) to say we weren't coming. 

Ahem. 

So I ran into the host trainer a few weeks back. She'd just hosted another clinic with said VERY BNT trainer that I was kindly invited to but was still too humiliated to show my face at. 

She says hello and is her usual super-polite self AND DIDN'T EVEN MENTION THE CLINIC and I'm all like "oh you just had another clinic. so sad it didn't fit into my work schedule so I couldn't come audit".

Which like.

Was a bald-faced lie. 

we do dressage better now

It didn't really fit into my work schedule, but that was 100% not the reason I wasn't there. I wasn't there because just thinking about it makes me want to sink through the floor and I hope that very kind gentleman who teaches the clinics forgets I ever existed. 

BUT WHY DID I BRING IT UP.

I don't know. Just awkward. 

cute Courage pic to cut the awkward a little

That's possibly almost as bad as the time I audited a Jimmy Wofford clinic. It was literally the week after he got turned down the the position of US Eventing coach, which was a basket he'd kind of put all his eggs in. Someone asked him about it and yeah, REALLY SORE SUBJECT. He did.not.want. to talk about it, which is fair. 

So all the riders go get ready. The friend I'm auditing with goes to get Jimmy coffee. It's just me and Jimmy Freaking Wofford, standing under the eaves of a house in the pouring rain. Side by side. 

And for the next 5 minutes, all I can think is "don't talk about the eventing coach position" and "don't say anything stupid that he might remember". 

So we stood there. You could cut the awkward with a Mack Truck. No knife required. To this day, I don't know what I could have said to him, because just thinking about the experience makes me so uncomfortable that I want to die. Oh, and yes, a trainer I rode with knew him and called him one time to ask about attending that clinic in another year. And he was like "please come. the people there are so weird".

same facility. no j wo.

And yeah, I know EXACTLY who he was talking about.

...which is why I'll probably never audit another  J Wo clinic. I bet he remembers. That was super weird. 

Ahem. 

So yes. Socially awkward. Any one else have a story to share? Please tell me I'm not alone.

Bridles Part 2: FUNCTION!!!

so many bridles!

Now that we've discussed bridle aesthetics (email your pictures!!), it's time to think about function. Some people do this the other way around and worry about function first... yeah, for most of us, that's overrated. Ha.

I am the one who took a horse to a clinic with an O'Connor-approved, very tack conscious clinician with my horse in a figure eight. When the clinician asked me what the figure eight did, I explained that it helps keep the horse's mouth closed and keeps them from crossing their jaw.

"But I didn't think your horse did any of those things," the clinician said.

"She doesn't. I think it looks cute and since it will have no action, it doesn't hurt anything."

So there you go. That's me in a nutshell.

THAT SAID. Look at the last part of the statement. I'm all for dressing your horse in pretty tack as long as the tack doesn't interfere with the way the horse goes. Let's look at some basic bridle designs and talk about why they're used and when they are or are not appropriate.

As modeled by Cuna

Plain cavessons:

This is about as basic as it gets. Some people get all nutty about never using a cavesson because they don't need one. I think that's silly if you're attempting to ride and show in an english discipline. They are required to show (most of the time) and they complete the look.

They are also super useful if you're out riding and a cheek piece breaks (been there) and they allow you to employ aids like a standing martingale or a flash.

The proper adjustment is to place the cavesson just below the cheek bone so that it doesn't rub, but is well clear of the airways. The picture has it just a hair high.

This is the correct design to use with a pelham or double bridle. A figure eight or flash can interfere with the action of the curb chain. As such, doubles don't come with flashes. It is trendy in the Eq ring to use a pelham with a figure eight, but it's also trendy to be an anorexic 17 year old there, so I wouldn't just blindly follow their lead.

plain cavesson with curb chain

Reasons to use them:
1) your horse hasn't demonstrated a need for anything else
2) your horse has a delicate face that would be overwhelmed by too many straps
3) you ride hunters and/or use a standing martingale
4) they are easy to find
5) you use a bit with a curb chain of any sort

Reasons not to use a plain cavesson:
1) your horse needs (or looks better in) something else

Interesting notes: If the cavesson has it's own hanger (as is standard on english bridles), we call it a cavesson. If the cavesson is on the same strap as the bit hang/cheek piece, we call it a noseband. This is more commonly seen on in-hand bridles for breed showing. Having it separate gives us a much greater ability to adjust it, while a noseband would be a cleaner look for a standard-size face. Trade offs.

Courage models the crank

Crank with a flash

The "crank" style is differentiated from the plain cavesson the strap under the jaw. Instead of a simple buckle, it's a long strap that's doubled back, allowing the horse's mouth to be "cranked" shut. This design is most commonly seen on dressage bridles, but it's showing up in other places as well.

Many people are opposed to cranks because they don't believe in forcing a horse to shut his mouth. However, like any tool, they are only as cruel as the hands that use them. A loosely-adjusted crank is no different than a loosely adjusted cavesson. A snug crank can support the jaw of a horse taking contact, just as the flash helps keep the bit stable in the horse's mouth.

A frequent misconception is that the flash serves to close the horse's mouth. Given the biomechanics of the horse's face, all the flash does is support the bit and keep the lips shut. Any closing action is done by the cavesson, which is much closer to the jaw.

A crank is frequently bigger and thicker than a cavesson. This isn't just styling--many cranks have a flash noseband attached. In order to work properly, the crank needs to be stable on the face so the flash doesn't pull it downward and allow it to interfere with the horse's breathing.

Courage in the flash--note his nostrils are unimpinged

The proper adjustment is the same as the cavesson--just below the cheek bones to prevent rubbing. This allows the flash to be in place without getting too low.

Reasons to use a crank/flash
1) your horse opens his mouth/plays with his lips and you want him to go through the phase without making it a training issue
2) you ride dressage and want "the look"
3) your horse has a plain face that needs some dressing up
4) you like buckles. lots and lots of buckles.
5) your trainer requested it

Reasons not to use a crank/flash
1) they are a PITA with a standing martingale
2) you ride hunters
3) your internet horse friends think it's mean and you're tired of explaining yourself

So cute 

 The Figure Eight

This style is primary seen on eventers and jumpers, but it's legal for all FEI disciplines including dressage (Sorry hunters. You guys have no fun.)

Much like the crank/flash combo, it can close the mouth while supporting the bit. Given the location that it acts on the horse's head, it is a little more effective than the crank flash. It's also a lot more distracting to look at.

Dressage riders prefer the crank/flash. Riding at speed usually calls for the most effective thing possible, hence the figure eight. Noted: Jimmy Wofford is known for saying that a flash is just an inefficient figure eight.

The design of the figure eight takes pressure off the side of the horse's face but still serves to hold the mouth shut and doesn't interfere with their breathing. If you've ever been run away with by a horse with it's mouth gaped open and it's head up in the air, you'll understand why this is a good idea. Noted: I absolutely agree that the mouth-gaping-run is a training problem. Jimmy Wofford will also point out that you have to live through the present in order to prove his point that every horse can be ridden in a cavesson with a snaffle.

30% crazier on Cuna

Also noted: until you've galloped XC on a horse that loves it (or ridden race horses or showjumped 3'6"+), don't bother getting snitty with me about training aids. The physics of speed have very little in common with the under-powered, unfit, behind-the leg-animal that we like to pretend our horses aren't. Tools are created for a reason. Use them as needed.

The proper adjustment of a figure eight is to have the ring ABOVE the cheek bone, but far enough below the eye that it doesn't interfere. This should allow the top of the figure eight to run over the facial bones without rubbing the cheek bones... if that makes any sense.

Reasons to use a figure eight:
1) you participate in a sport that requires quick reflexes or your horse isn't perfectly soft and on the bit all the time
2) your horse needs a little busyness to dress up a somewhat plain face
3) your trainer requested you use one
4) it's what you have available

Reasons not to use a figure eight:
1) your horse is for sale and you don't want him to look crazy
2) your horse has a busy face and needs less going on
3) you use a bit with a curb chain
4) you ride hunters

The Micklem Bridle

This funny piece showed up in the past couple of decades. It purports to be kinder to the horse by integrating the design of the horse's head and relieving pressure in common places.

A close look indicates that the pressure points are quite similar to a standard, well-fitted figure eight.

THAT SAID.

For some horses, this bridle works really, really well. It offers excellent bit stability and works well on certain faces. I've spent a bit of time with these bridles--it made no difference to my mare, but Courage was noticeably quieter in the contact with it than with his previous bridles. Coincidence? Maybe. It was enough of a difference to convince me to keep it around.

Fitting a micklem is a bit of a crap shoot. It's easy if your horse's head works well for the bridle. It's hard if it doesn't. Ultimately, you want the airways clear and the facial bones free of pressure. There are some youtube videos that are helpful, but horses' heads have a lot of variation and this bridle doesn't. Perhaps future models will address this? We'll see.

Reasons to use a micklem
1) your horse is very expressive with his face/itchy during/after riding or fussy about contact
2) you want to know what all the hype is about and they really aren't that expensive
3) you like being a little different (or a lot the same, depending on your barn)
4) you always want to try new things

Reasons not to use a Micklem
1) they are ugly as sin
2) the leather is nothing to write home about
3) your horse is fine in a normal bridle
4) you ride hunters

There's a basic rundown. I hope I've clarified the types of cavessons and bridles available and gone over their pros and cons in a way that makes sense to the average horse owner. This falls in to one of those things where if you're unsure and you ride in any sort of program, ask your trainer. They frequently have preferences and they generally have a very solid logic behind those preferences.

If you're a free wheeling ammy like me, then pick what's prettiest and have a ball!!

Please keep on emailing me your horse head/bridle photos to hakunamatata at gmail dot com! The reader input post will be lots of fun.

Time Off

Due to Izzy working harder than she had in probably 9 weeks at our jumping lesson, I gave her Saturday and Sunday off.

It was too nice of weather to not do any pony stuff, though, so I went and watched Nanakorobi Yaoki's lesson.

Yeah, for having a cheapie camera, I'd say I take pretty nice pictures.

Also... I may be about 8 inches taller than her, but look how long her leg is relative to mine. Sad when the universe is this unfair.

Ha!

Anyways, post lesson, we did pony baths. We got the mares show clean, if not quite George Morris clean. No worries--both of us are way too fat and poor to ride with GM ever anyways.

Shiny clean bay mare.

Then it was poor Ms. Izzy's turn. She hates water and baths of all varieties, so she was a little more challenging to deal with. Fortunately for her, it was roughly 1,000,000,000 degrees f outside, so the cold water didn't feel -that- bad.

Look how shiny!! She's still my fatty mare, but we're working on it.

Speaking of--Saturday was my birthday and Izzy had the day off. Instead of riding, I went for a six mile run with the fuzzies. Yes. Six. That means I actually can run my goal distance for this year, which is 10k. Now I just want to do it faster and more often.

We're so cute...

Poor mare has no idea that Jimmy's Wofford's gymnastics book is on it's way in the mail. Soon I will jump her legs off again.

Voice Inside My Head

In light of the fact that Izzy hasn't seen an XC jump since May last year, I thought I should try to approximate one for us to practice over on our jump day. Thankfully, I live in the land of cow horses and barrel racers, so 35 gallon drums are easy to find. I set two of them lengthwise on the ground, and then put a ground rail on either side to keep them in place. Basically, it's about the size of a 2'3"ish oxer.

(Not my horse or arena, but the best approximation google images could come up with for the obstacle I created.)

Since Izzy and I had issues with barrels last year and I am not the world's best and most confident rider, I decided to lunge her over the jump a couple of times before I tried to ride it. I let her warm up, then guided her in at a relaxed trot. She slammed on the brakes right in front of the barrels. I clucked, and she leaped over them. She galloped away, almost looking proud of herself. "Ok," I thought, "a couple more times to smooth it out and we're good to go."

Ha.

Izzy came around again. This time she slammed on the brakes a stride out and when I clucked to her, spun and galloped the other way. Grrr. Bad pony. I got her sorted out, and tried again. This was worse--about 20 feet out she halted, then without waiting, spun and galloped the other direction.

I wanted to kill her. Idiot pony.

Before I made another move, I heard Jimmy Wofford's voice ringing in my head, "She's not educated to the jump."

I grumbled back, "how can I make it any easier? It's barely two feet tall. Besides, she just needs to run around and settle and then we'll be fine."

Jimmy-in-my-head didn't argue as I watched her gallop madly in circles around me. "Obviously, I have her too fit," I told my internal Jimmy. "You always did say that this was a risk with lower level horses."

Internal Jimmy said nothing, but as I watched Izzy continue her mad gallop with sweat flying off her and lather building up, I realized my strategy of wearing her down while glaring at her was probably not going to work. Dammit, Jimmy was right.

I started asking Izzy for transitions. At first, it took a whole circle to get a downward transition, but gradually, she improved and seemed to calm down a little. "Ok Jimmy, how do I make this any easier?"

Nothing... but I did remember him talking about teaching a green horse to jump a liverpool at one of his clinics. Hm. Ground poles. I stood the outside barrel on it's rim, laid the inside one on it's side, and set two ground poles between them. I left my lunge whip on the ground, kept Izzy on a small circle, and had her trot over it both ways, several times. Ok. Cross rail. I used the barrels as standards and set a little x. Again, she trotted it both ways. Vertical comes next. This time, she cantered, but it stayed nice and relaxed.

Next logical step--oxer. Make the rails as wide as a barrel would be. She cantered in and jumped just fine. At this point, she's so wet with sweat that I don't even really want to touch her, so I'm trying to limit jumping efforts. Now, get the third barrel and put it under the oxer. This is our proving ground.

She didn't even bat an eye. Canter, canter, jump, and away we go. Calmly. Happily. Sweatily.

Here goes nothing... I laid all three barrels side by side, put the ground rails in place to keep them there, and sent her in.

Canter, canter, jump, canter. Good girl!!!

Internal Jimmy didn't even have to say anything. He knew he was right all along.

Another google images gem. Now that we've conquered the barrels, I want to try this.

Storm Pony

By the time I made it out to the barn yesterday, it was blowing about 40mph sideways. Also raining. Yay!

Izzy and I bundled up and trundled over to the indoor.

She is amazing. I almost can't stand how amazing she is.

She was super quiet on the lunge, but still sticky about her right lead. Chiro will be back out on Tuesday to address that.

We focused on incorporating variety instead of pandering to my desires for routine. As we walk away from the mounting block, Izzy was very much behind my leg and protesting forward motion in the walk, which she usually does. Instead of fighting with her about it, I asked for trot. Off we went. I'd set a trot pole, so we're trot down the long side in shoulder-in, then straighten just in time to go over the pole, then halt, then go into a 3 loop serpentine at the trot. Then canter.

It's pretty fun, really. She was very engaged in what we were doing and was even trying to guess what would come next, which means she's very interested in getting it right. We had some of the nicest forward, soft trot I've ever had on her, and then we stopped.

Best pony ever. I'm going to miss her this weekend, but I gues seeing J-Wo will make up for it. ;-)

More Equine Fun-ness

To clear up any confusion from the comments:

1) JIMMY WAS ROBBED!! I agree with Frizzle, Solo, and the rest of the smurfs.

2) It would be really funny to meet up with a blogger friend.

"Hi, I'm SprinklerBandit."

"I'm ManyMisadventures."

"Sup, yo."

I kid. I have met Denali's Mom (who is AWESOME) and that was a total blast. So, PNW peeps, you need to actually go to stuff. ;-)

3) Kennewick is not as dumpy as Pasco but it is more dumpy than Richland. None of the three are particularly desirable. That is the extent of my knowledge of the tri cities area.

On to the main topic for today. In my other life (the one where I actually am forced to talk about things not horse-related), I am a total book nerd. At a used book store, I ran across a copy of Solo Schooling by Wendy Jago. It ended up coming home with me, and I'll be honest: I'm intrigued by it. Ms. Jago is an NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) practitioner who focuses on coaching.

What I really want to talk about is the section of the book on motivation--both human and equine. She lists a continuum for each trait and says that horses may fall anywhere on the continuum. Here are some examples:

Preferred Information Chunk Size

Small ______________________Large

Likely characteristics of a small chunk horse

May get anxious when a lot is going on -- can become overwhelmed. May seem more secure when he can grasp or do things step by step.

Likely characteristics of a large chunk horse

Gets the idea quickly. Anticipates routines from slight indicators (whether in the stable or the school). May over-anticipate and not 'listen'. May 'guess'.

Yeah, Izzy falls hard on the large chunk side of the equation.

Direction of Motivation

Towards_____________________Away From

Likely characteristics of a 'towards' horse

Will 'have a go'. Tends to be bold in approach, forward going, and enthusiastic. May be overbold or careless. May enjoy new experiences or situations and be curious about them rather than alarmed. Will like praise and may not respond well to being corrected.

Likely characteristics of an 'away from' horse

When in doubt, will flee. May be easily distracted or intimidated by new or unknown things and experiences. Becomes anxious when he 'gets things wrong'. Responds to disapproval and is fearful of punishment. May be easily cowed, by bossy humans or other horses. May need reassurance. Careful.

Ask yourself if your horse is drawn towards carrots or driven by sticks.

Izzy is well in the left-hand side of this column. She loves trying new stuff. She is intensely motivated by food and praise and isn't super worried about me being upset with her.

Method of Approach

Options___________________Procedures

Likely Characteristics of an Options Horse

Tolerates new experiences, new situations, new tasks well. Is curious about new things. Not bothered by changes of routine. May get bored easily and when bored, may get stroppy or switch off. May be rather 'gung ho'.

Likely characteristics of a Procedures Horse

Dislikes change in routines. Learns routines easily and repeats them, sometimes without being asked. Has a good memory for something once learned. May be anxious about change. Accurate and precise.

Options is definitely Izzy's style. It's not that she falls 'somewhere on the continuum'; that is her. All the way.

Source of Reference

Internal_________________External

Likely characteristics of an internally (self-) referenced horse

Can be bold, courageous, and fun. May not always listen to his rider. Not easily influenced by praise or correction. Can be willful or stubborn. Wants to do what he wants to do, when he wants to do it. May tend to argue with his rider. Can be cheeky or pushy. May be dominant in the field among herd of friends. Has clear likes and dislikes.<--This is my horse in a nutshell.

Likely characteristics of an externally (others-) referenced horse

Likes to please. Hates being told off. May be less dominant or even bullied in the herd and tends to regard his rider as though he or she were a superior horse. Can be passive and will switch off rather than rebelling. Needs a lead from his rider. Likes to know what's wanted so he can get things right.

Anyone else seeing Izzy as a firmly self-referenced creature? Haha, yeah, me too.

There is a ton more in this book and lots about interpreting the rider, but it's basically pointing out one main thing: Izzy and I are complete polar opposites on pretty much every element of the scale. It's incredibly useful for me to be able to read through this and see us so clearly. This week, I've been riding her with that in mind, and I think it's really helping. I knew she wasn't stuck on routines and got bored easily, but now I have a framework in which to put that information.

Instead of working on something over and over with her, which I tend to do, because I like small chunks of information and methodical progress, I'm switching things up. Walk. Halt. Turn on the forehand. Trot. Halt. Back. Trot. Shoulder-in. Circle. Halt. Haunch turn. She's so much more engaged and interested and it's good for me to stretch my comfort zones.

So, all in all, very useful book. Along with the character traits, it lists training recommendations, personal stories to illustrate information, and lots more I've just barely gotten into yet.

Inevitable

Let's just be clear. I am not a crazy slap-happy person. I am a generally cheerful and optimistic person, but like all other people, I have my moments.

Some moments are inexplicable. Some are easily explained by this:

Yeah. Back zip paddock boots=HATE.

Specifically, I bought these boots about a year and a half ago. They never fit right, but they cost $25 online, and that was all I really had to spend anyways. For the first few months, they were even waterproof, which was nice.

They are not any more. Also, my toes about get rubbed raw because the front doesn't fit. Also, the ankles are too narrow for me, so it's nearly impossible to zip them over winter breeches. Or any breeches. Or even zip them at all, since the zippers are ripping out. Grrr. You might notice that I have also worn the heels down a tich. I didn't take a picture of the fronts, but they're worse. The stitching is gone and the leather is cracking and separating.

In fact, last night the left boot decided it would only zip halfway up even after the requisite 5 or 10 minutes of struggling with it. "Fine," I thought. I just snapped the top and put my half chap over it.

Every time my foot moved, the dumb boot unzipped a little bit more. GRRRR. HATE. BAD STUPID BOOT.

Anyways... I'm very much looking forward to Friday. I have pilates in the morning, then I'm going straight to the tack store. They are having a big huge sale and I have a $10 off coupon. I really, really hope they have something in my size to replace the bad stupid boots with. Also, I want a nice body brush for Izzy. Maybe a pair of reins. And we'll see what else is there.

Ahem. After the sale, I probably have to go to work (booo), then off to the barn to ride, then (get this) I AM GOING TO A JIMMY WOFFORD CLINIC!!! YAY!!

It's in Kennewick, WA. Dump of a town, but Tulip Springs is worth checking out.

ETA: I am auditing Jimmy's clinic. No way I have the $$ to ride in it. There's a reason I waited for a tack sale to buy new paddock boots.

Also, hooray new blog header made by one of my lovely readers. She is one of four people who have ridden Izzy since I got her. (Does that make her a little foolhardy? Probably.)

The Woff part 2

It's cold and windy outside. Izzy is feeling much better, so instead of love-y and snuggling, she was nutty this morning. Grrr. Instead of writing about how frustrating it was, I bring you part two of the Jimmy Wofford clinic.

In the morning lecture, we again followed a Q & A format. Here are some of the main points:

Horse Size
The optimum size for maximum athletic performance is 15.3-16.1 (you will all note that Izzy is 16.0). Optimal conformation is built uphill with a normal-to-long back, straight legs, and a good mind. There is an excellent article on conformation and durability by Col. Chamberlain.

The reason this conformation is desirable is that for most riders, it is far easier to put a long-backed horse together than it is to loosen a short backed horse. Lucinda Green would disagree, but she's hardly a normal rider. Bigger horses break down more easily and are more difficult to ride. There are more prone to health problems such as roaring. The short format event is even more intense than the old long formats. The last two minutes of XC are pretty much anaerobic exercise, and a well-conditioned smaller horse does better at it (at advanced levels).

As always, Jimmy loves his TBs. If a horse can't be a TB, he wants it to be at least half. He likes draft crosses, as long as the draft is several generations removed. With rare exceptions, half-draft horses are just too big and cumbersome to be really good at eventing. Again, here we're talking about Intermediate and up, I think. He doesn't care as much at the lower levels.

Helmet Zipline
During the showjumping for the prelim/training group, Jimmy had the riders do a combination while pretending to have a zipline attached to their heads. This was because horses jump in an arc, which is 180 degrees. They are only going forward for one of those degrees. The horse needs the rider's mechanics to be correct in order to perform at it's best. The zipline exercise gets the rider up and allows the horse to work underneath them.

The Galloping Seat
Apparently, there are nuts running around teaching people to straighten their legs when galloping. This is bunk. Bend your knees to absorb the impact on the movement. Horses do not run a flat line. They must make constant shallow arcs over the ground, so they go up and they come down. If your knees are straight, you force the horse to lift your entire weight with every stride.

Unorthodox Riders (I'm looking at you, P. Dutton)
Yes, they're out there and they ride at high levels. Yes, it is frustrating to be an instructor and have your students watch them. They get away with this because they have such an incredible sense of timing and balance and where the horse needs them to be.

Remind your students that they do not have those natural advantages. Direct them towards riders with excellent basics like William Fox Pitt and Pippa Funnell.

Remember, it's better for you to learn the hard way then be naturally good.

Positions
We did a long section on the different riding positions within the disciplines and how they related to the terrain. It was fascinating. It's also largely illustrated in my notebook, which means to actually explain it, I'd need to either become a paint whiz or use a scanner. Let me know if you care enough to see it all.

Basically, don't follow fads in positions; they are just exaggerations of reality. All you really need are a vertical stirrup leather (in relation to the ground) and a straight line from the elbow to the bit.

Posting at the Canter
This is a bad habit. To correct it, put a glove under your butt and keep it there. Or put your reins in your outside hand and your inside hand on the cantle under your butt. You will learn to relax your back and sit.

Dressage
There are three things you need to know about riding dressage
1) Have a good position
2) Have a good position
3) Have a good position
That's all there is to it. ;-)

Distances to Fences
Don't worry about distances yet. Also, don't tell your students to not worry about distances. That's like saying, "Don't think about a white horse standing on a hill." Obviously, you have to think about it. Instead of stressing over distance, focus on rhythm. Use gymnastics with related distances to get both horse and rider used to the proper distance.

The horse will learn faster than the rider will. For the rider to start learning (when they're well along), have them ride a gymnastic with a specific distance, say three strides. Have them say, "Land. One, two, three" in rhythm with the horse. When riders start to understand distances, they always want to move up for the long stride. Teach them that a long three is the same as a short four, which is probably preferable.

And here's Jimmy favorite quote for the weekend: "And adventure is what happens after things start going wrong."

Izzy the Incredible

Izzy and I had another lesson today. It was fabulous. (Sorry. I'm out of school, out of work, and the weather is nice outside. My life is fabulous.)

We did our first little tiny jumping course over trot poles, cross rails, and a fun little vertical (that was on a related distance to one of the crossrails!) Big stuff for us. My jumping position and confidence is a bit better because I got my old girl out yesterday and jumped a few little things. That was super fun.

Izzy trotted over everything like it was nothing. I just had to focus on keeping the rhythm and keeping her straight while staying out of her way. She came in to the cross rail on the line, landed cantering, and headed for the next jump. I went, "Oh crap she's never cantered a jump before she can't do this" and gave a big half halt. We had a rub on the tony vertical. Cathy pointed out that it was my fault. I should have just let her canter and keep the rhythm and she would have been fine.

Whoops. Minus 1 point for messing up my poor horse.

I kept thinking about what Jimmy said. "If you want your horse to jump like a pony hunter, you need to ride like a child." That means stay out of their way and go with them. Don't try to fix stuff. Just hang on.

And magically, when I can do that, it goes really well.

The Woff

(As an aside: Izzy and I had a wonderful ride today. She did one spook/rear thing that I rode her through and she was really, really good after that. Win in the dressage saddle!!)

Jimmy Wofford Clinic 3/6/10-3/7/10 @ Tulip Springs Farm

Let me just say that I was SOOO psyched to go to this clinic. Jimmy Wofford is to eventing what George Morris is to showjumping. (I read both their columns in Practical Horseman, and since the columns are next to each other, I imagine they're friends.) We came in Friday night and stayed at a hotel, then were off bright and early the next morning to find the farm. That ended up being a bit of a project... we somehow had the wrong address, but we'd left in plenty of time and ended up in the right place.

The clinic kicked off with a one-hour lecture. As a former college student and soon-to-be grad student, let me just say how refreshing it was to listen to a lecture I was actually interested in. I scribbled down notes because I wanted to remember, not because I wanted to know them for a test.

Jimmy looks exactly like he does in Practical Horseman. He's not one of those "take-a-photo-when-I-was-pretty-and-now-I'm-old" types. He's just very down to earth and very intelligent. We could have been friends, if I wasn't so intimidated by who he was and if he actually lived you know, on this side of the country. He doesn't really like to give long lectures; he had us ask questions and he inserted mini-lectures as he saw fit. On day one, we covered several interesting topics.

--Punishment for refusing a jump
According to Jimmy, it is a rider's responsibility to make sure a horse is educated about a jump before the rider ever punishes the horse for not jumping. If the horse does understand, it is important to punish "briefly, sharply, and savagely, but never sustained". However, if the horse is not educated about a certain style of jump, then instead of punishing, break it down. Take the most basic elements of the jump and slowly build it up. He also mentioned that this sort of thing is time confusing because it's so individual, so he probably wouldn't be doing any of it in the clinic. (Fortunately, it wasn't necessary.)

--See change as progress
Jimmy pointed out that too many people have a specific issue with a horse, say refusing for example. They work and work at it, and then the horse rushes the jump. Instead of being frustrated about this, Jimmy pointed out that this is progress. It isn't exactly waht you wanted, but it's a step in the right direction.

--Riding Position
There is no correct riding position in eventing, particularly the jumping phases. There is just what is happening right now and where you need to be to be most effective.

--Conditioning
Although he laid out a very specific conditioning regime in his book and went over it with us, Jimmy stressed that he really doesn't want lower-level horses to be too fit. It's a bad thing if they're stronger and hotter than their riders. Oh, and he defines training level as "lower". Just so you know. He did recommend a rotation schedule for training purposes, though. It looks like this, broken down by days.
1) Dressage
2) Showjumping
3) Dressage
4) Canter/conditioning
5) repeat above cycle
He warned us to be careful of a day off, because this schedule will get the horse very fit and then they'll get "fizzy". (Fizzy Izzy as a show name, anyone?) 40-45 minutes of dressage is plenty. Don't attempt something you can't deal with in that amount of time or you'll just be frustrating your horse.

Interval training gets horses really fit, but it has the potential to break them down if it's not very carefully maintained. be aware that as you condition, your horse and his issues will change. Remember, change is progress.

--Winning
He let us in on an eventing secret. There is a way to win every single event you attend. It's simple, really. Just win the dressage, have no faults on cross country, and go clean show jumping. Why is that so hard?

--Bitting and gadgets
Horses run away in three ways.
1) They invert. To deal with this, use a bit with a curb chain to bring the head down.
2) They pull. Think thick corrugated surface like a waterford. Don't use thin bits! They will cut the horse's mouth, and that kind of cut never really heals. Can you spell bit issue?
3) They pull down. This is what gag bits are designed for. They lift the horse's head. Always ride with a snaffle rein so you have something to go back to.

All things considered though, gadgets like the bits above just mask problems. Try to ride without them in lessons and clinics so you can improve your horse. Obviously though, you have to live through the short term to make it to the long term. Stay safe, but always try to be training your horse so you don't need the gadget.

--Jumping
A perfect jump is a perfect half circle. It has never been done. Instead, focus on this: approach, jump, land, and depart, all at the same speed. The underlying theme is balance. A balanced horse will jump well. Rhythm allows us to hear the balance of the horse, which is why it's so critical. If The Woff and George Morris stand side by side and watch a jump in which the horse canters up, jumps, lands and departs at the same speed, Jimmy assures us he will say, "Good!" and Mr. Morris will say, "No. No. No, Jimmy. Her hairnet was wrong."

Adjustability in a horse presupposes that the rider has good timing. Timing takes years and years and lots of gymnastics to develop. Focus on rhythm instead. Timing is important, but not yet. Basically, if your horse needs to be that accurate to a small jump, you have the wrong horse. And, if you've been admiring the pony hunters lately, remember this: to get your horse to jump like a pony, you need to ride like a child. That is, forward, not pulling, and going with them.

That was the lecture from day one. I'll get day two next time.

In the mean time, here are a couple pictures from the showjumping, which was day one.

I so want this horse. He's a 16.3 1/2 Selle Argentine (Selle Fancais/ Argentine thoroughbred) who is an amazing athlete. GORGEOUS!!

Here is my one picture of Jimmy and the beginner novice riders. After the first few rounds of show jumping, I realized that I know none of these people and I'm not a great photographer. I'd be better served just by listening than by taking pictures.

Some important notes from showjumping:
Look at the top rail of a vertical, the front rail of an oxer, the back rail of a triple bar and the center rail of a hogsback when approaching to see what the horse sees. When the rail disappears, it's time to jump.
Count your rhythm up to the fence to feel. Count afterward to maintain. Several riders froze on the last stride and didn't count. Jimmy pointed out that when they quit counting, they quit doing anything. Instead, they needed to force themselves to ride the last stride just like they'd ridden the others. This is extremely important because of the technical demands of modern courses. They're basically one huge related distance.

And that's pretty much day one. It was fun to watch. (I so, so want to ride next year. Here's hoping we'll be ready and have $$)

Oh My

Izzy and I had another lesson today. I almost feel rushed; I've gone so long without lessons that having one a week means I don't have unlimited time to practice and perfect in between. Still, it's a good thing. We need all the help we can get.

I've learned that Izzy does much better if she gets to blow off a little steam before we settle in a work, so I've started just letting her go w/t/c both directions on a loose rein before I ask her to balance on come on the bit. This kind of lets her look around and get the willies out and then our ride is smoother. I thought that was why we were lunging, but I guess not. If she was living out in a pasture, I'd just give up lunging entirely.

Anyways. The lesson went well. We were more focused on jumping this week, so we skipped over the shoulder in and leg yielding so she didn't wear out too early. It was too cold and frozen to ride outside, so we were back in the Bubble of Doom. Cathy set the jump up on center line, which was fine except that the bubble is only about 20m wide. My turns to get into the jump had to be precariously tight. That ended up causing a problem because I couldn't get Izzy straight quickly enough before the jump and she ran out.

Fortunately, Cathy is pretty experienced with young horses and jumping (which is why we're doing so many lessons), so she just had me walk in on a straight line and halt in front of the jump. I patted Izzy and talked to her to de-escalate the situation, and then we were back on track. It's things like this that make me so glad we're with Cathy. I can see the temptation to just get Izzy going and ignore how tense she was, but once she understood that the jump didn't need to make her nervous, she settled right in. We had several lovely efforts.

Our biggest problem was me. I kept wanting to "help" Izzy over the fence, which resulted in me being ahead of her and in the way. Cathy (and Jimmy's ghost) kept saying, "Sit back and let her figure it out." When I did sit back and push the reins forward, she jumped very nicely and we were done.

I have one other problem: now that I have two beautiful saddles, I want to ride in both of them. I guess I'm doomed to riding two horses a day now. ;-)

Ahhh

The Jimmy Wofford clinic was amazing. I took copious notes, so I'll try to write a summary post of it this week. The only problem with the clinic was that Izzy wasn't there with me (and isn't a jumper yet), so I have the jumping bug in the worst way and there's nothing I can do. Ack!

A quick rehash of my weekend: Izzy was psycho on Friday. She was so bad (in the bubble) that I didn't even get on. I just lunged her at a gallop until she would stand still for 10 seconds. Seriously. It took like an hour. I was so irritated with her that I didn't mind leaving her for two days on my horsey extravaganza. Then the clinic.

Fortunately, while I was gone, Cathy turned Izzy out with her half-sister and they had a wonderful time together. This is good for Izzy's turnout future because she can finally be with someone, so Cathy doesn't have to turn her out alone and waste precious pasture time. This must have made Izzy happy, because she wasn't mad at me for leaving her for TWO WHOLE DAYS when I came out this morning. She met me at the gate, then was fine to tack up. She was forward but quiet on the lunge, and amazing under saddle.

What a good girl. I had plenty of time after that, so I started the massive project that is pulling Izzy's mane. It was very long and thick. Now it's about 6" long and less thick. Hopefully after another session or two, it will be back to being respectable. Izzy is one of those wonderful horses who actually can't feel it when I pull her mane, so she's very quiet and nice about it. She's also good about clippers.

My saddle is supposed to come today. EEEEE!!! So exciting.

Did I mention my life is awesome?