A Whimsical Adventure, Take II

My sister came out to the barn on Sunday. We'll call her B. Here are a few facts about her for those of you not acquainted.
1) She's not at all horsey
2) She hates getting dirty
3) She's always perfectly turned out
4) She's quite athletic
5) She's pretty game

I figured I would let her meet Cuna, throw some tack on him, do a little arena flatwork, and if all went according to plan, let her hop on and take him around at the walk for a few laps. In light of that plan, I had her sign a release form in the tackroom before we went to see Cuna.

Stephanie walked in and asked if my sister was riding. Before I could explain my detailed and easy plan, she suggested that B hop on one of our other old broke horses and ride with me. I thought it over for like two seconds and thought, "With two old, broke horses on a warm, sunny day on a fairly strenuous trail, what could possibly go wrong?"

We grabbed tack for two horses and headed out. I convinced the western trainer to come with us on a horse she was working.

All was going well. The western horse was jigging and pretty up, but since the horses' collective age was like 60, we dubbed it the 'geriatric trail ride' and went with it.

Right after we took this picture, the trail went up. And up. And then up more. I figured the difficulty of it would back off the jigging horse and Cuna and the other oldie would continue chilling.

I was wrong.


The western horse did back off, but my sister's mount all of a sudden got an idea. He tried to pass Cuna, who was blazing the trail. One thing: Cuna was a -very- successful racehorse. One of his quirks is that he must ALWAYS lead. ALWAYS. This hadn't been a problem at all until B's horse picked up a quick trot and darted past us at a wide spot in the trail.

All of a sudden, I have two big problems.
1) My non-horsey sister is on an out of control horse.
2) Cuna is losing his mind.

Obviously, galloping up behind B is a terrible idea. Unfortunately, Cuna became completely obsessed with it. I shouted instructions to B as Cuna cantered in place and tossed his head and pogo-ed around the mountainside. She got her horse stopped, and we caught up. I instructer her to put her horse's nose in Cuna's tail. After all, last Sunday we had a 4 year old bouncing off his butt for 90 minutes and he didn't care at all.

Problem: the four year old wasn't blowing like a racehorse and biting him in the butt constantly.

Ok, I think. We just need to blow off a little steam and wear the horses out. Let's just pick up a nice trot and let the horses work against the hill instead of fight with us.

An excellent idea, right?

Of course, Cuna thinks the race has begun. B's horse isn't going to take that sitting down. Western pony has no idea what's going on. I manage to keep Cuna contained to a REALLY BOUNCY canter, but realize that blowing off steam for him is going to be more than B can really handle, brave and balanced or not.

We finally (tenuously) crest the big hill, but we're still a mile from home. The terrain has leveled out enough that it doesn't contain B's horse naturally behind Cuna anymore. B's horse takes off trotting. The western trainer and I coach B into circling around. We stop and stand and let them settle. Every time we try to make forward progress, B's horse takes off trotting. She's been game up to this point, but I can see cracks in the veneer--it's starting to get scary for her.

I didn't have a brilliant idea. I didn't even have a good one. All I could think was, "let's get B back to the barn without getting her hurt or more scared. She really didn't sign up for this."

As I'm thinking this, Cuna is prancing in place and tossing his head like a loony. OMG IT'S RACE TIME is all his brain is comprehending. Needless to say, that's not helping B's horse a whole lot.

As if on cue, the western trainer has B ride up next to her. She leans over, takes B's rein, and starts ponying B's horse. Almost instantly, B's horse relaxes. Cuna does not. He alternately prances and jigs, leading the way down the mountain while furiously tossing his head. THE RACE HASN'T HAPPENED YET!!!! In my brief glimpses back, I notice that the western trainer is not only ponying B's horse, she is managing her own mount with on hand, which includes keeping the mare's rear end pointed away from the gelding. Nicely done.

We make it back to the barn on schedule, with everyone still in the saddle. Cuna is completely lathered. The other two horses are fine.

Happy birthday B!

Preparation

In light of the fact that I keep thinking I'll give Cuna tomorrow off and have subsequently ridden like 10 days in a row, I arbitrarily decided that he could have today off. Thankfully, he didn't seem too upset especially since his peppermint supply was recently restocked.

He'll be back in action again tomorrow. After all, we have finally rounded up a bridle that I think I won't hate, have a bit on it's way in the mail, and are going to test ride a loaner saddle. Exciting times!

Rest assured, the wondermare is not forgotten. She was ridden by one of Stephanie's younger (and less experienced) students yesterday, and the girl really liked her, so I guess that means she was good. Stephanie rode her today in preparation for another showing tomorrow. I'd say cross your fingers, but I don't seem to gain any special blogger luck from that. Anyways. I will have her all clean and tidied up. I'll probably have to get pictures...

Tack Review #3: Five Star Tack Magnolia Bridle

Izzymare modeling the stunning Five Star Tack Magnolia Bridle.

Basic info:

MSRP: This style of this bridle is not available anymore. As I recall, the original price was around $300 for the bridle less reins.

What I paid: $120 on tacktrader.com

General description: Available in black leather with (gorgeous) white contrast stitching, this bridle was distinctive for two reasons. First off the silver star on the browband, second the padded but flat and 1.5" wide cavesson. There are double keepers for all the straps, a lovely padded crank, and elegant nickel buckles.

My relationship to this product: I saw a few pictures on the Five Star Tack facebook page and was immediately smitten: this was the bridle I needed to have. I scoured the internet and scored the only used on available for Izzy the big-headed Oldenburg mare. I had it for just over a year and used it frequently.

Pros:

Style!-the Magnolia Bridle is traditional enough looking that it doesn't totally stand out and look stupid, but modern and classy enough that a close examination shows a ton of little details.

Leather quality-as with all the Five Star Tack products I have encountered, the leather quality is second to none. Soft, strong, pliable. I was very careful cleaning this bridle because I didn't want to muddy the gleam on the cavesson or darken the stitches.

Sizing-Izzy wore a horse size reliably, but when the only available bridle was oversize, we went with it. I had to punch an extra hole or two, but it fit her beautifully. It's not that the sizing runs small--just that it's flexible enough for a desperate tack whore to put her horse into.

Resale-ability-I mentioned to a friend that I was going to sell it. I had a committed buyer the next morning, willing to pay me what I paid for it. If I'd held out, maybe I could have made money. ;-)

Cons:

Style-this is a very big, very noticeable bridle. It makes an impression. It is not for the refined head at all ever for any reason, as Cuna demonstrates here.

Crank-I like the padding that cranks provide. The crank on this bridle was a little weird, in that when it was properly adjusted, the strap would go almost into the bit ring. Maybe it was because the size wasn't quite perfect, but it seemed like a design flaw.

An official company image.

All in all, I loved this bridle and was sad to part with it. I would definitely recommend it to anyone shopping for a big, classy horse.

Tack Whore Heaven: Saddle Trying Day

I think Cuna will lodge a formal objection if I make him play dress up any more this week. I mean, today was really above and beyond for a horse that just isn't in to having his picture taken.

Of course, at this point you're saying, "But SB, you've owned that bridle for years, those reins for months, the breastcollar for quite a while, and the saddle pads for years.

Then you look at the saddle. Hm... something's different. It's longer and more elegant and browner...

Browner indeed. The CWD rep sent Stephanie a couple of CWD dressage saddles for us to play with. Conveniently, they sent the 18" in brown. I think y'all know how much I love classy brown tack on a chestnut, and I just happen to be riding a chestnut right now.

I wheedled my way into test riding the saddle (that I can never afford) on Cuna (who will never be a dressage horse). It was so cool. It was comfy and perfect balanced. I had to let my stirrups out two holes because it put me in such a good position. I didn't totally love the long block in the front, but it sure was nice for keeping me in the right place.

And a shot of Cuna and I in the saddle. Not terribly flattering, but let's face it: there is very little flattering about anything related to myself, Cuna, and dressage. ;-) Just how it is, folks.

We had another fancy loaner saddle on a different horse, and the three of us (Stephanie, myself, and another client) played musical horses while trying everything out. Conclusion: I LOVE the brown saddle seat, twist, and flap, but I want the block off of the less glamorous black saddle.

Addendum: Even a ridiculously fancy saddle does not turn Cuna into the sort of horse that does dressage enough to merit that kind of saddle. Not even when Stephanie rides him. Not even for 10 seconds.

Trust and Confidence

Ever since I started riding Cuna, I realized that jumping didn't have to be terrifying. In fact, it is safe to say that I have actually had fun jumping him on -several- occasions. That's why it's so frustrating for me to see that we were on the schedule for a lesson today and feel mind-numbingly afraid. Again.

There is no reason on earth to feel this way. Logically, I should not. Cuna is a good, solid horse. He will take care of me. Stephanie is a good, insightful instructor. She will not ask me to do more than I can. Yeah, Izzy and I had problems, but that's over now. Besides, one time Stephanie asked me what it was that Izzy did that scared me so much. I couldn't point to a single moment anywhere in my riding time on her when she did something categorically bad and scary. Looking back, I think that was Steph's point, but the issue stands.

Every time I thought about jumping this morning, I felt nervous and sick. I didn't want to do it. I knew Cuna could do it. I knew he'd get me through it. I trust him to go, rationally. It isn't a rational fear anymore and I think that's what bothers me. I am now dealing with the ingrained emotions that have built up over the past few years and that is freaking hard.

When I point a horse at a jump, I do not trust it to go. In my mind, the approach is one thing, the jump something completely unrelated and dangerous. I can ride really well to the base of the jump, and then just freeze and not function. Izzy dealt with the problem by stopping, generally. I mean, it was a fair response--all of a sudden she had zero input from me and she was entirely too smart and green to just do my job and hers because it was fun.

Cuna isn't like that. He has jumped so many fences in his life that my input is really not that important. He likes it if I ride to the base of the jump and give him some direction, but if I don't, he can handle that. As long as I stay out of his face, he doesn't care a lot what I do on top. He doesn't demand accuracy over 2'6" fences. He's so freaking big that he doesn't even really jump that much over 2'6" fences.

Today I got him deep to the base of a 2'6" oxer. I freaked out because somehow in my mind in that brief second before takeoff, I thought he was going to coil like a spring and then bascule over it like a 4' working hunter and totally jump me out of the tack. The exercise was a one stride angled jump to another angled jump. I had already expressed my opinion that it wasn't really possible, but I proceeded to pull an even harder angle in one stride so I could get out of jumping the next fence.

Here's the kicker: even as I did that, I could feel that the second fence would have been fine. Yeah, it wasn't the best distance I ever found, but Cuna is a big guy with a big stride, and it would have been FINE to jump the second fence. Later I pulled him out of a two stride (crossrail to oxer) because I just couldn't mentally take it. Both times I rode like I meant to do it all along, so I wasn't training him to run out, but I just couldn't seem to get my crap together.

Poor Cuna. His rider really is a crazy person.

I finally got my head on straight. The beauty of the exercises today was that they were extremely technical (2 stride bending line, say what?) so I had to really focus on my line and pace and direction and balance and a more limited amount of time to spend freaking out as the lesson progressed.

I know that the only way to overcome this mentality at this point is to just motor through. I am riding the right horse with the right instructor. I need to be able to ride through the fear and have a good experience, over and over, in order to build a new understanding. Trusting my horse to build my confidence is incredibly hard.

PS For those who asked, Izzy was lovely for her trial ride Saturday, but it was not a good match. There is another test ride this weekend.

PPS Furthermore, I call Cuna the "old man" because he is 19.

Beautiful Faces

A picture of the pony mare from last summer.

As I think we can all agree, Cuna is completely adorable.

He is also completely opposite of Izzy in head type. She's big and bold with strong lines. He's more delicate and refined, with a small muzzle. His face is easily overpowered by the big, padded stuff that looks so striking on Izzy.

I think this picture says it all...

Anyways. The point is, I am now rabidly bridle shopping for Cuna. I love big, padded monocrowns and fancy stitching. He looks HORRIBLE in anything like that. Not a little bad. No, HORRIBLE.

Fortunately, I am actually at a barn with other eventers at the moment, so we do have a lot of different stuff to play with. Here's Cuna wearing a much more refined bridle that we borrowed to try out.

It looks so much better.

We then took it for a test ride--he and I led the way on a long trail ride with another lady and her spaztastic four year old who hasn't been out much. The young guy would come charging up behind us or nip at Cuna or spook at something silly, and the old man didn't even flick an ear.

Even today, I had a rather dramatic ride on another horse. I am fine, but I felt pretty rattled. I just hopped on Cuna next and had a great ride, knowing that even on his wild days, the most he does is take a quick step. He is so good for me. :-) Hopefully, I'm good for him too. After all, he has a huge supply of peppermints and a personal tack whore to make sure he's always looking sharp.

Making Magic

I decided to buckle down and actually do a little dressage (ha! as if) on Cuna today. I mean, I can definitely see in our jumping lessons how we need work on balance and lengthening/shortening and moving off my legs.

He may stick his little nose out like a pony, but he can certainly be convinced to do that in balance.

Of course, one of the dynamics of working in a busy barn is that when you have to clean every single piece of tack you use, you frequently are creative about figuring out what exactly you are going to use.

I used this bit on Cuna in a jumping lesson a week ago, and it was nothing short of comical. Plastic bits are silly, in his opinion, and perfectly easy to run through.

However, the dirty bridle in his size had this bit on it today. I figured it wouldn't matter too much because we weren't jumping, and off we went.

WOW.

It may be a terrible bit for jumping, but Cuna went so ridiculously well today that I'm thinking it may become our go-to bit for dressage. I mean, it didn't turn him into Izzy by any means, but as long as I focused on riding him like the Titanic (long and slow) instead of a pirate ship (short and quick), he did quite well. We had flexion, a little bit of bend, and even tiny leg yields. He was willing to go forward into the contact and we got some nice trot work and even a little decent canter.

Huh. I did not expect that at all. What's more, he was actually a little lighter on his forehand today than usual. Generally I get off after a session on the flat and feel like my arms are dead from carrying so much weight. Not so today.

I wonder if it's because of the bit, the improving weather, my improving riding, or the fact that I can now put my hair up under my helmet (hey, I'm proud of that accomplishment).

I don't know, but as we went back to the barn at an out-of-control gallop, I had a smile on my face.

PS Someone is trying out the pony mare tomorrow. Please pray to your respective deities on our behalves.

Riding the Pony Mare

I rode Izzy for the first time since she came back to the barn today.

I've been wondering what it would feel like, how I would feel, how it would affect me. Because of that, I was actually quite glad when she was on my list for today.

She was spooky and nervous coming down to the arena. I tightened the girth and got on with spurs, but without a whip. (Gasp! Riding Izzy whipless!!)

We started at the walk. First we did lots of tiny-looped serpentines, establishing forward and bend. I did miss a horse that could bend. Then we transitioned into leg yields both directions, followed quickly by shoulder in both directions. The mare was forward, on my aids, and quite responsive. Not going to lie, that was super fun.

We took advantage of a lesson student wanting to hack out and went for a short walk in the hills. Izzy mostly minded her manners, but was very looky and at one point tried her favorite trick which is running backwards and spinning. I kicked her forward and called her something flattering like "you stupid cow".

When we came back to the arena, I picked up the canter. We lengthened and shortened and did perfect flying changes on cue all around the arena. We dropped to the trot in a nice, balanced transition and did trot/halts to get her more solid into the contact and pushing from her hind end. We did more lateral work--Izzy was so balanced and responsive that I had to tell myself to stop riding her instead of push for some accomplishment to finish on.

Things I have to kick, grunt, and strain to get on Cuna (like a balanced trot), are so natural to Izzy that I don't even have to ask for it. Balanced? She always is. Rhythmic? Of course. Flexible? Naturally. On the bit? She's built there. It was super fun for me to remember all the things I love about her. Even in the short amount of time that she's been gone or with other riders, I have improved. My confidence has grown, my technique is better, and I'm more comfortable in the saddle.

That said, Izzy had several moments where she reminded me that she is quick, short coupled, and a little bitchy. I love her and she's fun to ride, but it would take less than a week of me trying to force it again to land me squarely where I started out: scared and overmounted.

Cuna isn't glamorous, pretty, and well bred like Izzy. He isn't perfectly built. He isn't fun to do dressage on, but step by step, he's rebuilding my confidence. For that, I completely adore him.

PS Someone please buy the pony mare. She is going to be awesome in the right hands. SEND ME PICTURES!!!

Riding Outside

The outdoor arenas were finally dry enough to use today. I saddled up Cuna, mounted in the barn aisle from my tack trunk, rode down the the arena, made two laps at a walk, and realized that I had zero ambition to do anything that could be done in an arena.

So we left. There is a section of trail that gradually slopes up an incline for about half a mile and is sandy enough to ride on even when it's wet out. We headed up there at a trot.

Cuna was pretty hilarious about the whole thing--on Monday when we did pictures, I'd canter him up to Ellie and then stop. Clearly, he thought we were doing pictures again, because he stopped where Ellie was standing, and then about every ten yards after that. It wasn't naughty. It was more like he was trying to out think me. I kicked on and rode him to the top of the dry-ish section.

We turned around, walked down, and then trotted up again. Clearly, Cuna now understood the drill. His ears went forward and his energy level went up. We charged up the hill. I let him stretch his neck out and work through his back while I focused on staying balanced over him without resting my hands on his neck.

The walk down was doing a good job of letting Cuna catch his breathe, but he was pretty hot and sweaty. I haven't done really any hill work with him because he was always just going to be here for a few weeks and I didn't see the point. Not so anymore.

Then we cantered up. THIS IS AWESOME. The old man totally knew what was going on at this point. He picked up a big, forward canter, pricked his ears up, and just rolled on up the hill. He was in the zone. Racehorse-turned-event-horse brain was activated.

It came to an end all too soon. He was a little foamy and I needed to get back to work.

Peppermints please.

I hate to sound like a broken record, but Cuna is just so much fun for me--I am getting to do all kinds of things I couldn't do before. I mean yeah, he isn't a dressage horse and so arena flatwork is not that exciting. On the other hand, he is a pro over fences, on the trail, and running around. I don't have to worry about what he's going to do and his silliness just makes me laugh instead of scaring me.

Still Ambulatory

The lesson went down this morning.

The pictures went up last night (I KNOW!!! OMG!!!)

So, despite the fact that it is currently blowing wind and snow and overcast, I give you happy, sunny pictures of the lovely (but cold) day we had yesterday.

Glamour/conformation shot of Cuna. He's about a mile long and has zero hind end angulation. That said, he has a big butt, a nice shoulder, a heart of gold, and an adorable face.

These conformational traits come into play under saddle. He's hard to put together, likes to stick his little nose out like a pony, and has a neck like a giraffe. He's also remarkably balanced and mobile for a big, old horse, despite being completely inflexible.

Just pretend there is snow blowing into the indoor, and you'll basically be picturing the scene of my lesson today. We started off in a completely logical manner for one of Stephanie's lessons. She walked into the arena, and said, "Ok, ten minutes of trot, starting now. Do the first five in two point."

The perils of riding with a lesson buddy who is on a fitness kick... (some idiot with my initials may have mentioned to Stephanie later in the day that she needed to work without stirrups. Kick that person.)

So we did five minutes of circles and serpentines in two point, then got a minute or two of posting trot, then started another five minute set of two point. The math-y side of me wants to point out that this is clearly more than 10 minutes, but since Cuna and I both need fitness work, I didn't say anything.

On to the easy part! There were two verticals set at 45 degree angles to each other.

First we did them on the long turns, L lead to blue and R lead to green. We had to be able to count when we were 5 strides out from each jump. I was consistently between 3 and 6, so I guess that's good, lol.

Then we had to do the verticals off the short angles--R to the green and L to the blue. Also while counting. It is weird to be on the rail, not pointed at the jump, and know you're five out. TURNING!!!

We were doing this over cross rails, then 2'3"ish verticals, then Steph jacked them up like two holes. I had a brief moment of heart failure, but once I was on course, I didn't have time to think about the height. I had to get Cuna balanced and straight and there and he worried about the jumps and it was wonderful.

Then we had to connect the two. That's right. Three stride bending line between two massively large verticals. (Ok, there were 2'9". Looks big to me.)

Cuna's all "Omg rider insane. Will save ass as per usual".

The first time was not pretty. I got crooked to the first jump, rode poorly between the two, and somehow overcompensated myself into a worse second jump. Seriously. I have no idea how it's possible to screw up that much in that short of a distance. Cuna saved me like the saint he is, and we regrouped.

This time we were just as bad. I got him to the second jump so that he was nearly parallel to it. He jumped it because he is awesome, but that makes a 2'9" vertical ride like a 3' xc table, which is really not the right idea. At all.

Stephanie gave me some pointers about being "perpendicular to the face" and "opening my inside rein" and "putting my leg on" (who ever heard of these things?) and we tried again.

Success!! Two most excellent jumps on a line that is as bent as a non-bending horse gets. Of course, I was so focused on not screwing up fence two that I sort of forgot about riding after it and we were pretty close to the rail. Cuna went left. I pulled right, he nearly spun around, and I nearly flew off. Thanks to many minutes of two point and keeping my weight in my feet, I managed to find the middle and not take a header into the fence. Whew.

We definitely ended on a good note. (Picture from previous day of sunshine and happiness).

Cuna hadn't really broken a sweat. I was barely hanging on and I had two more horses to ride.

I'm still ambulatory, so that's good news.

All photos of awesomeness taken by the estimable Ellie of Cedes of Change. Tacky jump diagram by me.