Tapping Out

We've done it. 

I have Courage reliably(ish) schooling first level. He's starting to feel like a trained horse when I ride him and more often than not, I can talk him out of his worst shenanigans.

You know what that means?

Uncharted waters.

See, I've never ridden past (or at, really) first level. I haven't had weekly lessons since I was a kid. I've never had a horse in professional training.

I have taken Courage as far as I can on my own, which means now I need help. I'm fortunate enough this month that I can afford to stick him in half training with our (amazing) trainer for September.

That's right folks--for the first time in my life, I'm a paying client with a horse in training. We can do a mix of rides and lessons and I'm not sure what exactly it's going to look like, BUT the important thing is that both Courage and I can advance our training together.

Omg. High roller status here.

2015 Goal Wrap Up!

Some of you set monthly goals, and I think that's cool. I set annual goals, because that's about all I can keep up with. It's late enough in the year and we have nothing else planned in the way of clinics or shows or accomplishments, so let's take a look at the goals I set for this year and how we measured up.

1) Compete at two dressage shows (schooling shows count) with Courage. Me riding. Don't care what level. Complete test and stay in the ring.

SUCCESS!! We knocked this one out of the park, I think. We did the schooling dressage show, the GMO rated dressage show, and then at least 1-2 more schooling shows. As of this writing, we have completed 6 different USDF tests in the show arena this year. Damn son. That is a lot of memorizing.\\

2) Attend two jumping shows with Courage. Don't have to compete. Do have to hack around warm up.

Oh you BET YOUR ASS I'm counting this. We did 3 (count 'em) event derbies. I do not even care that they were over ground poles. I rode in jump tack and it was in a field. Success.

this was not an event derby, but it's cute

3) Comfortably jump around a 2'6" course at home, including oxers and spooky fill.

This did not happen. We did haul to our old barn and jump around a 2' course with oxers and fill (or maybe just fill) at the end of the summer, so that's like 50% success, right? I give myself half credit.

4) Pop over the occasional 3' (or better) single. 

Nope. Did not happen. This goal was contingent on #3 being a thing and while a very big part of me wants to set a grid in the indoor just so we can say we did this, that's probably not a responsible idea. The point isn't to do it once and be terrified--the point was to develop consistency and push ourselves. We did that, but not with fences.

5) Get out on the trails. Courage is brave and willing. I want him comfortable solo and in groups.

Big, fat fail on this one. My barn is land locked and I don't have a trailer. We tried to schedule trail rides twice, but neither one worked out for various reasons. I do need to be more consistent about this--I like horses to understand it's a big world so that the little sandbox never looks like it's going to eat them. This needs to be improved.

We did hack in the fields a lot this summer and Courage learned to walk over the tiny ditch without running backwards and spinning, but that doesn't really count.



6) Ride bitless. I dunno. Just want to try it and have an english hackmore, so might as well.

CHECK. This we did a few times. Nothing too exciting, but that's the point. We toodled and it was fun. We used the mechancial hack I bought for no reason and had a good time.

7) Take 1-2 lessons a month so I'm not just stalling out without help.

SUCCESS. This has been a game changer for us this year. I am really, really good at doing homework, but I need consistent eyes on the ground to tell me what homework to do as I learn a whole new feel for a whole new discipline.

8) Travel to one out of state show to see either upper level eventing or grand prix showjumping.

SUCCESS!! I attended the Evergreen Classic to watch Grand Prix jumpers with a friend and it was super fun. This is definitely something I want to build on in the future--high performance in any discipline is inspiring.

Reach Goals: 

9) Jump double clear around a stadium course at 2' or better in a show.

No. We re-directed mid year sometime and decided to be dressage queens instead of jumpers/eventers. If you look at #3, you'll realize that we jumped around a 2' course at "not our home barn", but it had very little in common with a show. This didn't happen and won't happen this year.

10) Score 65% or better on a training level dressage test.

SUCCESS!! We rocked a 67% on training 2 at the GMO-recognized show and equaled that on training 3 at our last schooling show (which was also our first attempt at training 3).

And Bonus Goal:

11) Ride in either of the H/J shows at the end of the summer.

Fail. In fairness, I was helping organize these shows and the second one that we might have been ready to hack around at was the same weekend as our last event derby. I couldn't do everything, so I opted to not do this.

you haven't seen this picture in a while

Thoughts

I'm beginning to wonder if any year goes the way we think it will--I started the year as a jumper rider looking to do a little dressage and ended it as a dressage rider who likes to jump a little on the side. I'm really looking forward to setting next year's goals--dressage is a whole new world for us and there are some exciting opportunities I want to pursue.

Looking back, this year had some very high highs and some very low lows. I was THISCLOSE to selling Courage in May, but we got it together and went on to win the first tri color of my riding career. On paper, we may not be the most successful team out there, but our progress was huge on a personal level.

Goals met=6.5/11.

Testing Boundaries

It was bound to happen sometime.

I made it to the barn in the late afternoon. It was perfect fall weather--sunny and warm with a cool breeze blowing and gorgeous colors just starting to appear.

Courage met me at the gate of his field and dozed off in the cross ties. All was well until I put him out on the line for his once-weekly lunge. He walked and trotted, but when I asked him to canter, he had a mini explosion. Hm.

This pony would never be naughty

Not a huge deal--cantering on the line is still new for him and I'm not crazy about lunging. I take him back to basics that he's comfortable with--walk/halt/walk/trot stuff and he moves well enough. It's the same in the opposite direction. He isn't taking pressure well, even when he's the one applying the pressure.

Still. He looks happy enough, so I put the line away and hop on. After some initial silliness, he stands to be mounted. Then he's leaning through both shoulders and tuning me out and not moving off my leg and giraffing around looking at things that never usually bother him.

Well, that's enough of that. It's time to step it up. I start by insisting that he goes straight. I keep that contact, regardless of whether he giraffes or roots. I push him forward, and wouldn't you know, he gives me some of the nicest work I've ever gotten. We do walk/trot transitions on serpentines and I insist that he hold his line without falling in. He's still a little looky/spooky.

Arena time

I want to just call it a day in the arena, but I refuse to create that same fear I had with Izzy. I will not let myself be confined by the imaginary safety of arena walls when I'm on a perfectly nice horse.

So I open the gate from his back and ride to the field. The water tank is tipped over. He takes a step back.

No. Not on my watch. Izzy did that and I hated it every time.

I kick him forward. He can stop and have a look, but there is no backwards movement allowed. After a few seconds, I ride him past the offending tank and he keeps it together.

Hacking around the field with airplane ears a month ago

We're just walking a lap around the field. The wind is whipping through the trees on the far edge of the field now, but he's never been a spooky one. I'm caught completely off guard as he leaps forward. I catch him with my hands, but then he pogos straight upward. Shit! I hear my instructor in the back of my head, "Give him a place to go. Kick him forward. Give him something to do."

Forward march! Trot on. He's behind my leg, but it's the thought that counts... Shit! We pogo again. This time he's light in the front end. High on the list of things I hate. "KICK HIM FORWARD," shouts my remembered instructor.

Right. Forward.

He tries to leap again, but I'm ready this time. "You can do all those things you just did in the arena out here," I inform Courage. "Ain't nobody got time for this." I push him forward, hold the contact, and insist that he go absolutely straight. I don't take behind my leg for an answer and I insist on quality transitions.

And wouldn't you know, he responded. When he relaxed, I walked him back into the arena and let him stand while I patted them. Then I thought "I don't want this to be his safe place."

So I rode him back into the field. We stood in the scary place on a loose rein and I patted his neck, then slid off his side.

As we walked back to the barn, side by side, the BO says, "You did get off intentionally, didn't you?"

Yes. Yes I did.

It was still a perfect fall day. Courage was testing his boundaries with me, and it went well. He learned about me, I learned about him, and everybody came away with a positive experience.

Training Wheels Come Off

When I first started riding Courage, I was just so thrilled that he was quiet and easy that I didn't get too worked up about his way of going. Then he got his first trainer ride.We decided that he needed to go in a martingale for the foreseeable future. It wasn't a long term solution, but his default was a giraffe impression and he had no concept of giving to the bit. 

So for the past six weeks, we've worked hard on contact. I tend to be lackadaisical about it, but I really do want him to grow a topline, so I'm trying to be better. 

And he looks cute doing it

We've progressed in leaps and bounds--he's actually started to offer some really nice stretch and figure out what I'm looking for. He's also learning to move off my leg and go (sort of) straight. 

Demonstrating a very nice stretch

That said, every time redheadlins watched me ride, she'd tell me to take more contact before releasing--basically, I wasn't giving Courage enough of a difference to understand what the question was. I thought that was weird. It certainly felt different to me. 

And then she hit upon the problem--I like really light contact and I was getting it from the martingale. When I thought I was just holding a little bit, he didn't feel a thing. Oops. 

So today, we took a big step forward. I took the martingale off the breastcollar. It accomplished it's purpose--C-rage no longer carries his head among the clouds and I have the security of knowing that I don't need it's additional leverage to handle him. 

The whole feel was completely different. Don't get me wrong--the martingale served a very useful purpose and I may very well pull it out again if I feel the need, but we've taken another step forward. I had the most purposeful and interesting ride today--I made some progress I am really excited to build on. We even started working on cleaning up our walk/trot transitions, which are something of a hot mess. 

I was going to do more, but our favorite trainer was around and some fun baby jumps were set up and THERE ARE PICTURES, but I need to get them from someone else's phone. Sheesh. Are all baby horses this much fun? 

Jumping day!

Irie's mom and I set an actual course of jumps today. Yay! Before, we'd just set three different jumps side-by-side, which was ok for doing them individually, but wasn't conducive to much else. I'll have to take pictures, since some of the jumps are pretty fun. We have a sort-of skinny, lattice standards, a plank jump, a double rail, and of course the barrels. We even set a small combination. It's not super hard, but it demands just a little more than what we did before.

And then I got Izzy out. She decided to have a nutty day, so we did about 10 minutes of walking and bending to get her relaxed and focused. She trotted ok and we worked on bending, shortening, lengthening, and transitions with some leg yields thrown in for good measure. So far, so good. She seemed to be settling. Then we cantered. Izzy just galloped down the long side, then would shorten up for the turn. Going right, it took about 5 laps around the arena to get her to be reasonable about her speed and paying attention. It only took about two the other way. ;-) Smart girl.

We warmed up over the little skinny crossrail. Izzy was more interested in the fact that the new configuration of the jumps meant she had to use different parts of the arena than she was in the jump itself. This is why I like to jump with a friend; not only can they give feedback, but the person not jumping can set jumps. When she could stay straight to the cross rail, jump it, then stay steady afterwards, we moved on to the next challenge: a plank jump set as a vertical.

0.0

I didn't know what to expect with that. Izzy had plank phobia earlier this spring, but we worked through it, and then she hadn't seen a plank until today. Apparently, she also wasn't all that excited about it. I kept her straight, put leg on, and put myself just a hair behind the motion in case she decided to stop or leap or whatever. She jumped it like she'd done it a thousand times. Yay pony mare!

Next, we set out sights on the combination. It's set as a two stride for a moving horse jumping 2'6" or better jumps, which makes it a comfortable three stride for someone trotting in over 2' verticals. The approach was a tough short, which meant I had to be extra careful about keeping Izzy straight and prepared. We trotted in, hopped over the first one, then she canter nicely out over the second. YAY PONY MARE! We did it once more to correct the minor issue of her not picking her front toes up over the second jump and she was as good as gold.

Instead of pushing for more, I hopped off and let her be done. She was really cute. I turned her loose in the arena to roll and she kept coming up to Irie's mom (who rode Cassie) and I, trying to get treats.

To finish off the day, I loaded her in the trailer (attached to a truck) several times. We just got on, stood there, turned around, stopped, and got off about three times. Wednesday we're going to try to load her with another horse on the trailer.

It's encouraging to see some progress with her. I've been mulling over the idea of selling her and buying a Halfie because Irie's mom has so much fun with him (as did I, when I rode him). Basically, Izzy and I have had a tempestuous relationship this year and sometimes I'm tired of it and just want something less talented but easier to deal with. After talking it over with Irie's mom, I've decided to stick it out a while longer. She is making progress. I've stayer with her through the worst of it. Realistically, the horse I want is Izzy in a year or two, which I'll never, ever be able to afford. I need to hang in there and things will get better.

I do need a bit of feedback, though. When I do dressage with Izzy, she's loving and steady and whatnot. When we're jumping, she's forever pushing her head up in upward transitions. Should I just keep doing more dressage to work on it, not worry about it, or (gasp! a gadget!!) use a running martingale? Any thoughts?

Brand New Saddle

I would post a picture, but, typical of me, I forgot to bring anything like a camera out to the barn with me. Whoops.

Anyways, it came late Thursday night, exactly as described. It's an older Ansur KonKlusion, which is their eventing model. It's treeless, but it does have a gullet of sorts. The new model can be seen here: Here's a picture that the seller sent me:

It's a bit darker right now because I very thoroughly cleaned and oiled it last night before I went to bed. The scuff marks are mostly gone, but some things are just a part of an old saddle and that's why we love them. For those of you who are adamantly opposed to Ansur business practices, this one was actually made in the Peter's Tack era. (For the record: I am neither for nor against their business practices. I just like their saddles.)

It definitely feels different than the Classic I was riding. The Classic looks something like this. A Classic is basically a glorified bareback pad. There is no gullet. You sit on on (or into, I guess) the horse. Horses for the most part seem to really like them. I guess I'm so used to it that I didn't really think about gullets and spine clearance on Ansurs. Here's a picture of my best friend riding Cassie in a Classic:

It was one of Cassie's first rides this spring and my friend hadn't been on in over a year, so they look pretty good considering. The KonKlusion (or KK) has a seat to it and almost a twist. Maybe the newer models do have a twist; I'm not wealthy enough to find out. It's a bit more secure feeling than the Classic, but it sure was different.

At any rate, I'm unfamiliar with gulleted but treeless saddles. When I put the new one on Izzy this morning, it looked like the pommel was going to rub her, so I put a little wedge pad underneath it. That kept the pommel off her withers, but after I'd ridden for a while, the gullet was right down on her. So... I don't know. It wasn't hurting or pinching, because her head goes straight up in the air when something hurts. All Ansur saddles are built on the same basic Flex Core, and the Classic sits on the horse's back directly, so maybe it's ok? Still, it seems like a gulleted saddle ought to have gullet clearance.

If that's true, there are various pads made specifically for this purpose. They're kind of spendy, but maybe I can find one used. You'd be surprised what a little dedicated searching can turn up. ;-) Still, if it's not bothering her, is it a problem? I don't know.

In other training news, the weather changed this weekend while I was gone. That always gets the horses a little excited, and as such, Izzy was pretty distracted when I was riding her. When I asked her to move off my left leg and she wouldn't and then I made her, she threw a fit, complete with a nice buck and a lunge forward. After that, we finished out the day by doing lots of bending left and right with little leg yields. We didn't canter because I want to know more about the saddle issue before going much further.

Izzy Has Spoken -- The great saddle search con't

Let me preface this by saying that I am very familiar with treeless saddles. My instructor has owned the same one for at least ten years. Thus, I know they hold up well even when used hard, because she rides multiple horses a day, pretty much every day in that saddle. I've done quite a few hours in that saddle. It's the only saddle that Cassie, my old mare, will go in. Ellie, a red Hanoverian mare I used to ride, was also partial to it.

All that said, though, I really wanted a treed saddle. I like the extra side-to-side stability. I like to look conventional. There are some truly beautiful treed saddles out there. The thing with treed saddles is that you have to fit them to a particular horse. The the horse changes. Then you need a new saddle.

Anyways, I ran across a treeless saddle that was the same brand as Cathy's, but made for jumping instead of dressage. I've never ridden Izzy in a treeless saddle, so before placing a bid, I tried her in Cathy's saddle this morning.

*Crickets*

Yeah... I'm inclined to say something more along the lines of "Omg, the pony trained itself." She was incredible. She was reaching down to the bit, stretching through her topline, and pushing off her hind end. It was like riding a dressage horse, albeit with no lateral flexion just yet. I'm still in somewhat of a state of awe.

So that's that. We're getting a treeless. At this point, I'd be a fool to settle for anything else. I don't want the dressage model, but I also don't exactly have the budget for this: http://ansursaddle.com/konklusion.html

Anyone want to donate to the "Make Izzy a Happy Pony" fund? Really, tell me if you do. ;-) Also, tell me if you find one used.

Indoors?

I went and checked out the other boarding facility today. It's a little smaller than I expected, but I like it. There are only 10-15 horses, instead of 25. The owner/manager is very nice and thorough. She appreciates the smallness of what she has, and isn't interested in having tons of boarders because she likes the quiet and lack of stress she has now.

We're pretty much set to go. I was quite happy with it, and she said she likes to keep a few pens open, so she should have space for us in the winter. She's totally fine with me wanting to be there for just a few months, and is cool with letting me use my own trainer/farrier/vet.

I'm quite happy. As for coming back to our current barn in March or April, that shouldn't be a problem. I figure that I'll just keep working for Cathy through the winter, so she'll have the same amount of help with one less horse to feed. Win-win.

Speaking of Cathy (she's my trainer), she rode Miss Izzy today. She was having an uncharacteristically unscheduled day, so I asked her to. It was educational. We talked about where Izzy is at. I thought we were behind because I'm really not pushing her. I got her in February, rode for the first time in March, kinda laid off in April, and have been working her very regularly in June and July. As you're probably aware, she still has trouble lunging and we just started cantering. Cathy actually thinks we're doing fine. She has several horses in training right now that just take longer. You can't rush them. Ironically, I think they're all related to Izzy, too. It's her dad's side kicking in. Her mother learns much faster.

So anyways. I tacked up Izzy and lunged her. Cathy rode her, and had pretty much the same problems that I do with her. It was nice to know that. I think it means I'm doing ok. Basically, though, Cathy said that I need to let her get away with less. When she puts up a fuss, I need to make her keep working instead of backing off to avoid conflict.

Nothing like a horse that challenges our character weaknesses...

Transitioning

We did lots of transitions again today. I have to focus pretty hard with her because (like her mother) she likes to pull me forward when we do downward transitions. I petted her and told her she was a good girl after a nice transition, and let her stand and think after a halt. I think it helped. She's no longer the horse that absolutely doesn't respond to aids. Instead, I just squeeze my legs and off we go.

So much better.

I went to the tack store today to get myself some new breeches. I only ever have one pair and I buy a new one about every 2-3 years, roughly the same time the old pair has holes in the leg, crotch, or both. The jumping boots I was coveting were still there, so I bought them, too... She doesn't even jump yet. I don't know if she'll like it or be good at it, but they were half the normal price and exactly what I wanted. I couldn't get a better price online, and yes, Brent will shake his head at me. Anytime I have to justify something like this, he knows I didn't necessarily need it. Oh well.

Progress

It's nice when I can actually see progress. Izzy didn't want to work hard this morning, but again, I was using what we worked on in our lesson and it went well. She resisted a little bit by trying to not go forward, but eventually, we did trot.

Also, the gnats have been bothering her when we ride, so today, I got her a cool little ear net thing to wear. She'll look like a big, fancy show jumper, except for the part about being trained. I also ordered a brass nameplate for the back of my saddle, to cover the part where someone else used to have one. We're getting all classy.

On top of all that, another boarder offered to give me a pair of black beeches. I'm kind of excited... I've never had any color other than tan. Oh, and Michelle and I are going to get our ponies all cleaned up and take pictures tomorrow. Watch for those when I get access to a computer again. I haven't replaced the power cord on my laptop since my beagle at it a few months ago.

Professionals

I know several people who I will not name that have within the past couple of years decided to become "professional" horse people. Now don't get me wrong; I definitely believe that if you've invested blood, sweat, and tears into a career with horses, and have spent time training with good trainers, doing what you want to do professionally and you now have lots of practical experience and want to help bring students and horses along, that's a good thing. Obviously, not everyone's background is going to look the same. So let's say you want to teach Hunter/Jumper riders and horses. In my book, that means you took lots of hunter jumper lessons. You showed hunter/jumpers successfully on the local level. You graduated from the local level and traveled in your region, still showing as an amateur. Now get this: you worked under a nationally-renowned trainer and showed successfully for let's say a year.

At this point, you may not be national trainer quality. You're almost certainly not. In fact, if you were, I would probably lose all faith in national-level trainers. But at this point, in my mind, you could come back to the local level and start coaching your students up through the levels while riding and training horses yourself.

The point is, you need to have done SOMETHING. I know horses are expensive. I know Idaho isn't frequented by many english riders of renown. If you're young and/or have the capability, get off your butt and go do something. I don't mean go to a local schooling show, though that is a start. If you expect me to respect you as a person and I trainer, I have to believe that you can do something and have done something worth while.

The people I was speaking of earlier now promote themselves as equine professionals, yet their only claim to anything is "I re-trained an ex-racehorse". Whoop de freaking doo. I did that too. I have over a decade of experience with horses from the ground up. I have successfully showed locally in H/J, eventing, dressage, and 4-H. I have started numerous young horses for my trained (who did do something before going pro), and she used to have me ride problem horses for her back before I started college. I AM NOT A PROFESSIONAL. I know that. Just because I have some of the basic groundwork does not make me qualified. I'm getting to the "do something" stage. Maybe I'll go there. Maybe I won't. If I don't, I will not be setting up a shingle claiming that I'm qualified because I retrained an exracehorse. Even if I do, I'm not sure it's a job I'd want. I love horses, and I don't want to change that.


And on a related note:

Colored horse equipment.

I'm not talking about nylon halters and leads. I mean colored boots, colored wraps, colored pads, colored saddles, all that crap. While I'm not a fan of it, I do have some. When I was eventing, I bought royal blue splint boots and a royal blue saddle blanket for Cassie. That's the extent of it. I would like to upgrade the boots, but I'm not sure which direction Izzy will go yet, so it doesn't make sense to buy her anything sport-specific yet and they still work ok.

Seriously though, people. Show some respect for your sport. If you've spent any time reading the estimable Mr. George Morris, you will perfectly comprehend my position. These glaring colors distract from the turnout of the horse, look and are tacky, and have no place in english riding. When I see grown women riding around with zebra polo wraps IN A DRESSAGE CLINIC, all I can think is how completely out of place and classless it is.

Oh, and did I mention that zebra polo queen is pretending to be professional now? It rankles me.

I don't think I can do justice to my disgust today. Next time, maybe I'll talk about those co-dependent students who drive me up the wall.

Starting With a Little History

Isadora, "Izzy", is my first horse to really own. She's the first daughter of the lovely TB mare I leased for years and showed in everything. Her father is the Oldenburg Stallion Impressario. I acquired her this February, the result of a trade. I board her out with her mother, as I don't have the space to keep her at home.

She's 6 this summer, but you wouldn't know it be looking at her. Her first owner took her away to a different barn and visited her twice in 5 years. That is actually a blessing in diguise. The mare did receive some training by a cowboy in this period, but it was only 60 days when she was 4 or 5 and she was never taken out of a roundpen.

When her former owner brought her back to our barn, Izzy began to learn some really fun little games. She would rear and strike and act crazy, and her owner would scream and run away. Many of our fellow boarders were introduced to her by helping her owner chase her around the barn as she spooked and bolted. Riding was out of the question, as was lunging, leading, picking up her feet, or anything else she didn't want you to do.

This was the state I acquired her in. I had seen her and admired her, but never attempted to handle her in any way. I didn't want to bond with someone else's horse.

On Sunday, February 1st, I traded Izzy's owner a baby horse I had rights to in exchange for this supposed train wreck of a horse. It was an incredible day.

The first few months I had her were mostly filled with hours of somewhat frustrating groundwork. She had to be convinced, gently but firmly, that she had to do things my way. No more rearing and bolting; now she had to go to work. I finally began to ride her in April, after teaching her to stand, pick up her feet, load in a trailer, lunge quietly, and accept both saddle and bridle without fussing.

I began to ride her more seriously (more than just mounting and dismounting) in May, after school got out. We've taken everything very slowly, because we're building the foundation that all her future training will be built on. Now, however, we're finally ready to start moving forward.