SO MUCH FUN!!!! In fact, fun enough it needs more exclamation marks!!!!!!!!!
hahaha yes the clinic today was excellent. The excitement and anxiety level over the last week has been pretty high, and there were some pretty nervous riders today -- but Waylon was quick to put everybody at ease.
I showed up at 7:30 to feed and found horses already fed and being turned out thanks to my superstar working student Rebecca (who doesn't officially start till 8 - how impressive is that? :) -- that gave Steph and I a little more time to bring jumps in and do some last second organizing. Waylon got here around 8 and we set fences and got everything set while the first group groomed and tacked up. Vic also came super-early and set up his video equipment -- and then spent the whole day filming for us! Woohoo! Thanks Vic :)
The first group is the entry level group -- this level is still learning to put their horses on the bit, and jumping about 2'9. Most of them will probably be showing this year -- I'm *really* looking forward to that :) Show season will be a blast! We had Emily on Bella, Chelsea on Lissy, Rowan on Jack, and Amy on Nick.
These riders did an awesome job. Lissy was *very* concerned about the scary camera in the corner of the ring but Chelsea stayed patient and kept trying and eventually got her going through like her normal self. hahaha was a ride and a half to get her there though! Awesome job Chels! And at the same time, our quiet little Nick decided having an experienced rider on him was a TON of fun and had a great time bucking and playing -- much to Amy's entertainment :) She rode it out, grinning the whole time, and the two of them worked beautifully together. Bella and Emily were all-round superstars. Occasionally a little speedy or cutting the odd corner, but in general very successful at every exercise. And Jack? Jack found his big-boy pants and was a complete pro. Didn't even blink at the scary camera - or anything else really! I was so proud of him! And his rider :)
The exercises in the group lessons involved shallow loops, canter cavelletii on a 20m circle, and gymnastics on the center line with a focus on rhythm and straightness. The exercises changed slightly depending on level of horses and riders, but all succeeded at some variation of them :)
The next group was full of next year's event team :) They're jumping 2' - 2'6" and working on basic flat work... We had Rebecca on Louis, Kennedy on Apollo and Kirby on Charlie. Rebecca did an awesome job with Louis -- she got the challenging left lead on the very first try! And, better than that, was able to replicate it. Woohoo. Louis gave Rebecca a few challenges -- first too slow, then too fast, then all sorts of crooked. And she dealt with every challenge so by the end she had him jumping calmly and correctly through the gymnastic AND the chute at the end. Pretty sure that ride had more cantering and jumping than Rebecca's ever done before, so she did a really awesome job. Kirby and Charlie had very similar challenges -- Charlie's got the great ability to be behind-the-leg AND going too fast. So there were moments that were in slow motion and moments that were zooming around. But soon she had him trotting into the line and jumping properly through. The only remaining challenge was *straight* -- that awful chute again *g* I loved the focus Waylon put on succeeding in *every* aspect of the exercise. Just getting through alive wasn't going to be acceptable, it had to be done correctly. Even if correctly took a few tries :) And with a completely different type of ride, Kennedy was working on getting Apollo to GO. hahaha he had his traditional disinterest in the left lead, but she did a great job getting him going and jumping like a pro-star! He met every distance properly in the canter, even landing on said left lead fairly regularly. Woohoo!
One of the things that made this class particularly interesting to watch was that Waylon got on BOTH Charlie and Louis. And while it's always a pleasure to watch a spectacular rider on any horse, what made this even better is that he was good about explaining what he was doing and why. He got Charlie to relax and go much softer, and started to get Louis travelling straighter :)
Following the two groups was a private lesson -- Steph and Sophie who are preparing for the * down in Florida next month did a lesson focused on improving Sophie's form over fences. Very cool to see the change in the horse from the start of the lesson to the end. The exercise involved a two stride combination (small vert to reasonably sized oxer) with a placing pole 9' out of the oxer. This was to help the rider ride forward and help the horse get in deep to the base of the fence. And it worked :)
Next we had a lunch break. Mmmmmm pizza... hahaha. I LOVED how many people were there -- riders, friends, family and auditors. I was *really* happy with the turnout and that everybody stuck around for most or all of the day. HUGE thanks to my wonderful parents for bringing lunch (and the hours of help preparing yesterday :) Made life much easier.
So while others were munching, I got Athena ready. Diane and I rode together and Athena was really good. Every time I get frustrated by how much work we still have to do, I have to think back to how she started. She was really a superstar -- the one thing I love about this mare is her attitude; she doesn't always know what she's doing, but she tries hard. The circle cavelletti were a definite challenge for her, but resulted in a significantly better canter - so that's a plus :) And I LOVED watching Diane and Ben; they seemed to be having so much fun.
Then the final group of the day was our 2' division. I was SO impressed by this whole group! Here we had Charlotte on Louis, Kassidy on Lissy, Emily on Nick, Brena on Bella, and Amy on Flora. So Amy is a very experienced rider, but Flora's very young and has only ever jumped a couple times. And it was incredible to watch the difference as Flora's confidence grew! From not sure how to trot over poles, to cantering calmly through three fences in a row and holding a straight line - brilliant! The other four riders are fairly novice and for most it was their first ever clinic! Woohoo! And they were awesome. Every one of those girls rode beautifully. Every one of them managed to get their horses jumping well on the straight line through the gymnastic and into the chute. Noticing the difference in these riders since the spring pretty much made my day :)
And afterwards - a great girl chat hanging out in the viewing lounge with everybody too tired to go home. It was an amazing day. I can't remember the last time I laughed so hard and I was so proud of all my students. You guys were amazing! Huge thanks to our awesome clinician Waylon! And just as importantly to Vic for videoing, Stephy for ring crew/photographing, Chelsea for ring crewing, Rebecca and Brena for taking care of the barn all day, and my incredible parents for all the help getting ready.
As to the next one? Spring -- we'll aim for an outdoor course jumping clinic just before show season starts :)
Are you a ghost?
Posted by
Lauren Cude Horsfall
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This is floating around facebook -- found it interesting. Found it even *more* interesting when I discovered it's actually true... So what have you missed out on today? Or better yet, what have you been lucky enough to experience?
----------------
A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that 1,100 people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.
Three minutes went by, and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace, and stopped for a few seconds, and then hurried up to meet his schedule.
A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping, and continued to walk.
A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.
The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried, but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally, the mother pushed hard, and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.
In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money, but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.
No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the most talented musicians in the world. He had just played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, on a violin worth $3.5 million dollars.
Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100.
This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste, and priorities of people. The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?
One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be:
If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?
-----------------
Article here: Pearls Before Breakfast
----------------
A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that 1,100 people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.
Three minutes went by, and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace, and stopped for a few seconds, and then hurried up to meet his schedule.
A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping, and continued to walk.
A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.
The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried, but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally, the mother pushed hard, and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.
In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money, but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.
No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the most talented musicians in the world. He had just played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, on a violin worth $3.5 million dollars.
Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100.
This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste, and priorities of people. The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?
One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be:
If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?
-----------------
Found this line from the actual article fairly disturbing: "Even at this accelerated pace, though, the fiddler's movements remain fluid and graceful; he seems so apart from his audience -- unseen, unheard, otherworldly -- that you find yourself thinking that he's not really there. A ghost.
Only then do you see it: He is the one who is real. They are the ghosts."
Bella Update
Posted by
Lauren Cude Horsfall
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So miss Bella's tests came back and it's all good. She's still not feeling %100, but WAY better than yesterday and should be back to her normal self in a couple of days :)
Highs and Lows
Posted by
Lauren Cude Horsfall
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(stolen from GRS blog)
Wow, so today was... interesting.
Let's see -- a few weeks ago Chelsea (one of my students) and I signed up for an indoor xc clinic with Ian Roberts that was to run today. Sweet. Expecting normal ride times, I arranged to have somebody in to take care of the horses so we could go play.
Then I found out our ride times -- we didn't even have to leave the barn till 1. Ok, so plan to leave at noon, meet there at 11. Which means I *could* actually do the barn myself, but since S had already booked off work to do it for me, I figured I'd A - sleep IN! Woohoo. And B - get some stuff done for next weekend's clinic. Sweet. Can't remember the last time I slept in, and can't imagine I'll get another chance for a while...
And then I got this wicked ear infection :( Booo. And was feeling sick. And just generally unhappy. And not sleeping because of all of the above. So instead I got up and went to a walk-in clinic. My sleep-in didn't happen and nothing got done for the clinic, but at least they gave me three different sets of drugs. And since none of them knock you out - I was still good to go.
BUT - I did get to the barn in time. Chelsea beat me there, but not by an insane amount :) So we got the truck all packed up and hooked up the trailer. Then time to load. Yikes. But Athena was actually fairly civil about it. S helped me with her and she got on on about the third try -- I'd say less than 5 minutes. And Lissy of course loaded like the saint she is. Good for Chelsea to learn with :)
Despite the weather, the drive up was fine. Although I have to admit I don't care for driving automatic. And I kept going for the clutch when I wanted to slow down -- since the break's in the same spot, it had the same effect, just a little harsher than necessary. *sigh*
We got there in plenty of time and unloaded the horses into their temporary homes. Being together, both mares settled very quickly. Chelsea and I went and watched a bit of the group before mine, and then went to get all our gear.
Brought Athena in -- really not sure what I'd get from her; I don't know her all that well yet AND she hasn't been ridden since Wednesday (whole me not feeling well thing). We were in a PT group, so I figured the jumps would all be small enough to be a non-issue regardless *g* She was her usual pushy self on the ground and a little anxious while I was getting ready to mount -- but once I was on she was great. Warmed up quietly and listening really well. Focus on controlling horse's stride length through body position. Since stride length is something we work a *lot* on, it was a good comfort thing for her to practice. But what I was thrilled with is how much MORE responsive she was than how she is at home. Totally dialed in to what I was asking her. Was pretty excited at that.
Was highly amused that the clinician took one look at her and just stopped and stared: "that horse has the longest forearms I've ever seen".... ummmm yeah, she's a bit conformationally challenged. "well, it's not necessarily a bad thing..." hahaha gotta love it.
We started jumping with a very basic gymnastic - trot poles to an x, that eventually became a 1-stride. Athena considered the poles carefully a couple times (to say she's not a fan of trot poles or cavelletti would be like saying a giraffe on crack is possibly not the epitomic dressage mount) but she managed it nicely each time.
Then we moved on to xc -- first trotting, then cantering over a little brush fence. Was a couple strides off a square turn, so accuracy counted. He also had us land both directions. I was super proud of Athena here because in each case she kept her balanced canter, landed and came back to me within two strides. That's pretty much a record for her *g* Leads are a non-issue, so the both directions wasn't a challenge. But I wasn't sure how the square turn in the canter would work. She impressed me though.
This was followed up with a basic control exercise. Two little coups - about 6 (?) strides apart (sorry - tired, memory failing...) Jump one, circle around some stuff, jump the second one. Athena was an absolute pro-star the first time. Like text-book perfect. Yeah, I'm still stunned. The second time was way less good :( Rider error in that I didn't create the correct quality of canter before approaching the first fence, so she landed discombobulated, swapped leads, broke to trot... all sorts of ugly really. Got it back together in time for the second fence, but I was disappointed in my ride to that one. However, it did reassure me that my thinking that she'll be an awesome schoolie once she has a few more miles under her is probably valid since her brain stayed put through that whole thing. hahaha she may be the first horse I've ridden since hs who'd tolerate a mistake like that >;-P
Then we introduced the ditch - which actually looked remarkably like a ditch, although in reality it was a black tarp framed with two logs. Athena couldn't care less -- this I was reasonably certain about since she showed me that when I schooled her at Grandview last summer. If anything, she doesn't have *enough* respect for them. But then, I don't intend her ever to go past training, so I'm not terribly concerned *g*
From the ditch we worked our way up to the coffin, which we had one true xc-get-er-done ride and all the rest were more traditional eq rides. hahaha I felt the get-er-done ride made up for the pathetic coups earlier. That was all kinds of "dealing with bad situations" riding. And it worked, because all the other efforts were no problem.
Then it was just a matter of putting several courses together. By the end Athena was *tired*. Like not willing to move tired. Poor girl. We sat out the last course because on the second last one she was telling me quite clearly she was done and she'd been so very amazing.
Now the jumps were all small -- it's possible one or two were pt height, but I'm not even convinced of that. But even still, I was really thrilled just with the simple fact that we could canter several courses, under control, balanced, hitting every stride, and holding reasonably straight lines. And that when she got tired and started to say no and I told her she had to do it anyways - she did it. Important to know what kind of heart your partner has when you're setting out on xc. And I was pretty happy with what I learned :)
So then it was Chelsea's turn. She and Lissy were doing PE, and it was their first outing together (possibly Chelsea's first outing ever? Not sure about that, def first with me though...) And you know what? They were absolute superstars. Properly turned out and ready on time. Stayed focused, paid attention, and rode well. I was really proud of them! As for what they did and how it felt and the lesson itself... Well that's Chelsea's story to tell :)
Then time to go home. Chelsea, who's loaded all of one horse ever on a trailer, is the only person available to help me load Athena. So I was a *little* concerned about how that might go... Remember that first time loading last summer? TWO HOURS later...? I certainly was. And now it was dark and bitterly cold to add to it. So my mare who doesn't load took one look at the trailer, hesitated for about half a second, and walked on perfectly straight, absolutely no problem. Did I mention how happy I was with her today? That was pretty well the perfect ending. Bring Lissy on and we were off.
Had a minor detour on the way home since I have no idea what Guelph Line is called way up north >;-P But I just picked a random road heading south and when we got to 7, was able to relocate us :) The rest of the drive was completely uneventful. Sweet.
Unload horses - all good. Bring them in the barn and someone's coughing. Like really coughing. Bella. Unload truck. Bella still coughing. Respiration way up. Looking at water but not drinking it. Very unhappy and lethargic. Very not good. And the way she's coughing and chewing as though she were eating but with never taking a bite had me very worried she was choking. Suddenly all the fun of the clinic is overshadowed. :(
Called the vet -- by the time he got there she wasn't coughing nearly as much but all the rest of the signs were still there. He tells me not choking but still a good thing I called as some weird respiratory issue. A couple signs didn't fit exactly as they should so he drew blood to have it tested. In the interim she got quite the cocktail of drugs... Antibiotics, broncodilator, and... I don't even recall what the third one was at the moment. Is that bad of me? Put it down to a very long day and trusting my vet. Have to say I did appreciate him telling me it WAS worth calling him though -- after-hours calls are always something I struggle with; I never want to disturb somebody's time off for what could well be my over-active imagination. And I was wrong - she wasn't choking. That she still needed his help, made it ok but it wasn't actually what I thought I was calling him for. Ah well. There's no way I could've left her there like that and there was nothing I could do for her at all, sooo... He'll be back to check on her tomorrow and let me know what, if anything, the blood test shows. Poor pony :( I really hope she's feeling better soon!
So yeah, started out the day with a people-doctor, ended with a pony-doctor. But the in-between was pretty amazing!
Wow, so today was... interesting.
Let's see -- a few weeks ago Chelsea (one of my students) and I signed up for an indoor xc clinic with Ian Roberts that was to run today. Sweet. Expecting normal ride times, I arranged to have somebody in to take care of the horses so we could go play.
Then I found out our ride times -- we didn't even have to leave the barn till 1. Ok, so plan to leave at noon, meet there at 11. Which means I *could* actually do the barn myself, but since S had already booked off work to do it for me, I figured I'd A - sleep IN! Woohoo. And B - get some stuff done for next weekend's clinic. Sweet. Can't remember the last time I slept in, and can't imagine I'll get another chance for a while...
And then I got this wicked ear infection :( Booo. And was feeling sick. And just generally unhappy. And not sleeping because of all of the above. So instead I got up and went to a walk-in clinic. My sleep-in didn't happen and nothing got done for the clinic, but at least they gave me three different sets of drugs. And since none of them knock you out - I was still good to go.
BUT - I did get to the barn in time. Chelsea beat me there, but not by an insane amount :) So we got the truck all packed up and hooked up the trailer. Then time to load. Yikes. But Athena was actually fairly civil about it. S helped me with her and she got on on about the third try -- I'd say less than 5 minutes. And Lissy of course loaded like the saint she is. Good for Chelsea to learn with :)
Despite the weather, the drive up was fine. Although I have to admit I don't care for driving automatic. And I kept going for the clutch when I wanted to slow down -- since the break's in the same spot, it had the same effect, just a little harsher than necessary. *sigh*
We got there in plenty of time and unloaded the horses into their temporary homes. Being together, both mares settled very quickly. Chelsea and I went and watched a bit of the group before mine, and then went to get all our gear.
Brought Athena in -- really not sure what I'd get from her; I don't know her all that well yet AND she hasn't been ridden since Wednesday (whole me not feeling well thing). We were in a PT group, so I figured the jumps would all be small enough to be a non-issue regardless *g* She was her usual pushy self on the ground and a little anxious while I was getting ready to mount -- but once I was on she was great. Warmed up quietly and listening really well. Focus on controlling horse's stride length through body position. Since stride length is something we work a *lot* on, it was a good comfort thing for her to practice. But what I was thrilled with is how much MORE responsive she was than how she is at home. Totally dialed in to what I was asking her. Was pretty excited at that.
Was highly amused that the clinician took one look at her and just stopped and stared: "that horse has the longest forearms I've ever seen".... ummmm yeah, she's a bit conformationally challenged. "well, it's not necessarily a bad thing..." hahaha gotta love it.
We started jumping with a very basic gymnastic - trot poles to an x, that eventually became a 1-stride. Athena considered the poles carefully a couple times (to say she's not a fan of trot poles or cavelletti would be like saying a giraffe on crack is possibly not the epitomic dressage mount) but she managed it nicely each time.
Then we moved on to xc -- first trotting, then cantering over a little brush fence. Was a couple strides off a square turn, so accuracy counted. He also had us land both directions. I was super proud of Athena here because in each case she kept her balanced canter, landed and came back to me within two strides. That's pretty much a record for her *g* Leads are a non-issue, so the both directions wasn't a challenge. But I wasn't sure how the square turn in the canter would work. She impressed me though.
This was followed up with a basic control exercise. Two little coups - about 6 (?) strides apart (sorry - tired, memory failing...) Jump one, circle around some stuff, jump the second one. Athena was an absolute pro-star the first time. Like text-book perfect. Yeah, I'm still stunned. The second time was way less good :( Rider error in that I didn't create the correct quality of canter before approaching the first fence, so she landed discombobulated, swapped leads, broke to trot... all sorts of ugly really. Got it back together in time for the second fence, but I was disappointed in my ride to that one. However, it did reassure me that my thinking that she'll be an awesome schoolie once she has a few more miles under her is probably valid since her brain stayed put through that whole thing. hahaha she may be the first horse I've ridden since hs who'd tolerate a mistake like that >;-P
Then we introduced the ditch - which actually looked remarkably like a ditch, although in reality it was a black tarp framed with two logs. Athena couldn't care less -- this I was reasonably certain about since she showed me that when I schooled her at Grandview last summer. If anything, she doesn't have *enough* respect for them. But then, I don't intend her ever to go past training, so I'm not terribly concerned *g*
From the ditch we worked our way up to the coffin, which we had one true xc-get-er-done ride and all the rest were more traditional eq rides. hahaha I felt the get-er-done ride made up for the pathetic coups earlier. That was all kinds of "dealing with bad situations" riding. And it worked, because all the other efforts were no problem.
Then it was just a matter of putting several courses together. By the end Athena was *tired*. Like not willing to move tired. Poor girl. We sat out the last course because on the second last one she was telling me quite clearly she was done and she'd been so very amazing.
Now the jumps were all small -- it's possible one or two were pt height, but I'm not even convinced of that. But even still, I was really thrilled just with the simple fact that we could canter several courses, under control, balanced, hitting every stride, and holding reasonably straight lines. And that when she got tired and started to say no and I told her she had to do it anyways - she did it. Important to know what kind of heart your partner has when you're setting out on xc. And I was pretty happy with what I learned :)
So then it was Chelsea's turn. She and Lissy were doing PE, and it was their first outing together (possibly Chelsea's first outing ever? Not sure about that, def first with me though...) And you know what? They were absolute superstars. Properly turned out and ready on time. Stayed focused, paid attention, and rode well. I was really proud of them! As for what they did and how it felt and the lesson itself... Well that's Chelsea's story to tell :)
Then time to go home. Chelsea, who's loaded all of one horse ever on a trailer, is the only person available to help me load Athena. So I was a *little* concerned about how that might go... Remember that first time loading last summer? TWO HOURS later...? I certainly was. And now it was dark and bitterly cold to add to it. So my mare who doesn't load took one look at the trailer, hesitated for about half a second, and walked on perfectly straight, absolutely no problem. Did I mention how happy I was with her today? That was pretty well the perfect ending. Bring Lissy on and we were off.
Had a minor detour on the way home since I have no idea what Guelph Line is called way up north >;-P But I just picked a random road heading south and when we got to 7, was able to relocate us :) The rest of the drive was completely uneventful. Sweet.
Unload horses - all good. Bring them in the barn and someone's coughing. Like really coughing. Bella. Unload truck. Bella still coughing. Respiration way up. Looking at water but not drinking it. Very unhappy and lethargic. Very not good. And the way she's coughing and chewing as though she were eating but with never taking a bite had me very worried she was choking. Suddenly all the fun of the clinic is overshadowed. :(
Called the vet -- by the time he got there she wasn't coughing nearly as much but all the rest of the signs were still there. He tells me not choking but still a good thing I called as some weird respiratory issue. A couple signs didn't fit exactly as they should so he drew blood to have it tested. In the interim she got quite the cocktail of drugs... Antibiotics, broncodilator, and... I don't even recall what the third one was at the moment. Is that bad of me? Put it down to a very long day and trusting my vet. Have to say I did appreciate him telling me it WAS worth calling him though -- after-hours calls are always something I struggle with; I never want to disturb somebody's time off for what could well be my over-active imagination. And I was wrong - she wasn't choking. That she still needed his help, made it ok but it wasn't actually what I thought I was calling him for. Ah well. There's no way I could've left her there like that and there was nothing I could do for her at all, sooo... He'll be back to check on her tomorrow and let me know what, if anything, the blood test shows. Poor pony :( I really hope she's feeling better soon!
So yeah, started out the day with a people-doctor, ended with a pony-doctor. But the in-between was pretty amazing!
What's in your bubble?
Posted by
Lauren Cude Horsfall
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So my alarm didn't go off this am. Not that I hit snooze, which I'm definitely often guilty of, it just didn't go off. Woke up in a mad panic - not sure even which day it was, and once I figured it out the panic grew greatly. But turns out while I was very late, was still early enough to get to the barn to feed in time. And panic does great things for waking you up faster :)
I've managed to go out to dinner with friends a few times in the last couple of weeks (yeah!) -- a tricky thing to organize since their lives tend to be as chaotic as mine. Had a blast both times, but the one thing I've discovered is my *entire* world has disintegrated to horses. Not that I don't love them - but I used to be able to carry on normal adult conversations on a variety of topics. I'm very much afraid of losing that skill. One of the very few down sides to my current career: for better or for worse, it's all encompassing. I swear I can actually feel my IQ dropping :( Booo. It's like my entire world has shrunk to a tiny bubble and I'm completely oblivious to everything outside it. Now admittedly, most of the time I *love* my bubble -- but I have to admit I do miss being a little more well-rounded. And everything I would generally do to fix this scenario takes time; the one thing I really don't have these days. I even got a university course to take -- but it came on dvd. So I can't ipod it while I'm doing stalls - I need my computer. Fail. Not even really writing much any more. Blog is sporadic at best and flash has disappeared almost entirely, at least partially because I've been fairly disappointed in my last couple... I read ridiculously fast, yet these days it takes forever to read a book -- cause I rarely have more than about 3 minutes to read (usually while my dinner heats up!) and news? hahaha yeah right. What's that? Unless it appears in my FB feed, I don't know about it... Thankfully I have fairly socially-conscious friends, so lots of relevant info *does* in-fact appear on my FB feed, but still - that's a very sad and fairly dodgy way of staying current.
Now that being said -- when I worked in the office, particularly the office I was working in, I got to work with tons of truly intelligent people in all different fields and was very up-to-date on the status of the world in general. Had regular academic type debates and all the usual PM business challenges and quite enjoyed doing so. AND I had evenings and weekends off. Well - theoretically anyways. And despite all that I have not even the *slightest* interest in going back. I miss the people and the conversations and the challenges, but I LOVE my bubble. I just sometimes wish it were a little bigger.
But someday the business will be just enough bigger that I can hire staff... And then maybe my bubble can re-inflate to a normal size :)
I've managed to go out to dinner with friends a few times in the last couple of weeks (yeah!) -- a tricky thing to organize since their lives tend to be as chaotic as mine. Had a blast both times, but the one thing I've discovered is my *entire* world has disintegrated to horses. Not that I don't love them - but I used to be able to carry on normal adult conversations on a variety of topics. I'm very much afraid of losing that skill. One of the very few down sides to my current career: for better or for worse, it's all encompassing. I swear I can actually feel my IQ dropping :( Booo. It's like my entire world has shrunk to a tiny bubble and I'm completely oblivious to everything outside it. Now admittedly, most of the time I *love* my bubble -- but I have to admit I do miss being a little more well-rounded. And everything I would generally do to fix this scenario takes time; the one thing I really don't have these days. I even got a university course to take -- but it came on dvd. So I can't ipod it while I'm doing stalls - I need my computer. Fail. Not even really writing much any more. Blog is sporadic at best and flash has disappeared almost entirely, at least partially because I've been fairly disappointed in my last couple... I read ridiculously fast, yet these days it takes forever to read a book -- cause I rarely have more than about 3 minutes to read (usually while my dinner heats up!) and news? hahaha yeah right. What's that? Unless it appears in my FB feed, I don't know about it... Thankfully I have fairly socially-conscious friends, so lots of relevant info *does* in-fact appear on my FB feed, but still - that's a very sad and fairly dodgy way of staying current.
Now that being said -- when I worked in the office, particularly the office I was working in, I got to work with tons of truly intelligent people in all different fields and was very up-to-date on the status of the world in general. Had regular academic type debates and all the usual PM business challenges and quite enjoyed doing so. AND I had evenings and weekends off. Well - theoretically anyways. And despite all that I have not even the *slightest* interest in going back. I miss the people and the conversations and the challenges, but I LOVE my bubble. I just sometimes wish it were a little bigger.
But someday the business will be just enough bigger that I can hire staff... And then maybe my bubble can re-inflate to a normal size :)
Superstar students!
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Lauren Cude Horsfall
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Another fun night tonight.
Amy broke her height record riding Nick; you should've seen how happy he was to be jumping BIG jumps for a change :) Lovely to watch.
Rowan had an extreme change going from riding Jack to riding Charlie in back-to-back lessons, AND had Charlie jumping quietly.
Emily had awesome dressage with Nick, while Katlyn was hugely more successful with Dixie over fences tonight.
For the entertainment portion of the evening -- Brena learned to deal with Bella in pony-mode. hahaha and she not only survived, but got her jumping under control.
Margaret got Louis through a triple, complete with reasonably large oxer at the end. This was followed by Emily getting him jumping straight and focused.
And Chelsea and Lissy seem to really have their jumping together now. Really good to see.
*Edited to add*
Stolen from Brena's Facebook: "I am completely fearless now; she erased all the "what ifs" with her buck, the "omgs" with her spins, and the 'holy sh*t' with her speed. Good pony." -- And *that* is the attitude that makes for an event rider :)
Amy broke her height record riding Nick; you should've seen how happy he was to be jumping BIG jumps for a change :) Lovely to watch.
Rowan had an extreme change going from riding Jack to riding Charlie in back-to-back lessons, AND had Charlie jumping quietly.
Emily had awesome dressage with Nick, while Katlyn was hugely more successful with Dixie over fences tonight.
For the entertainment portion of the evening -- Brena learned to deal with Bella in pony-mode. hahaha and she not only survived, but got her jumping under control.
Margaret got Louis through a triple, complete with reasonably large oxer at the end. This was followed by Emily getting him jumping straight and focused.
And Chelsea and Lissy seem to really have their jumping together now. Really good to see.
*Edited to add*
Stolen from Brena's Facebook: "I am completely fearless now; she erased all the "what ifs" with her buck, the "omgs" with her spins, and the 'holy sh*t' with her speed. Good pony." -- And *that* is the attitude that makes for an event rider :)
The supreme accomplishment is to blur the line between work and play. ~Arnold Toynbee
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Lauren Cude Horsfall
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Alright soooo tonight was one of those prime examples of why I don't work in an office any more :)
It didn't start out that way. I knew my day was going to be thoroughly interrupted by needing to go to the accountant (nothing tragic, but 2.5h by the time I drive there, sign stuff, and drive back again) so I knew I wasn't going to get to ride and that afternoon chores would be a little later than normal. Booo :( My *awesome* dad came and helped with morning chores, which meant everything I had to do as far as stalls etc was done before I left for said appointment. Sweet. Saved me probably 2h.
Ok all good. Get back, do afternoon chores, bring everybody in about 4:30 or so. Done by 5. Teach at 6, so not quite enough time to ride *sigh* but at least enough time to get some work done or chill for a bit. Realizing I didn't have my computer with me and I was very tired, I opted for the chill idea and Sasha and I ventured up to my beautiful new office. Tried to read a bit, but really couldn't get into it (rare for me - esp as I can't remember the last time I had a chance to sit and read). So about 5:30 I figured I'd head down since students should be there by now and I'd be social for a bit.
Get downstairs and nobody's there. Odd. Very odd. Some classes I wouldn't think anything of that, but my first Monday class is pretty eager. And then I clue in. They ride at SEVEN. I'm off by an hour. Sheesh. So I run through the list of things I could do - a ton of little "fix it" chores, pull some manes, organize some stuff, all the computer work I can't do w/o my computer *sigh*, or maybe even ride. Still quite sore from puppy class (really?!?!?) and cold and dopey and tired so riding less appealing. Ditto various chores for the same reason. Well maybe pull a mane or two.
And then I hear Denny's voice in my head. A little eerie actually; I often hear my various coach's voices when I'm *riding* but rarely the rest of the time. But Denny was big on horses as lifestyle. "To be the best you have to ride. Anything. Everything. Every chance you get." Basically it's too easy to be "too busy" or "too tired" or any number of other "toos" and soon enough you're not riding at all. Esp once you're running a farm and spending all your time at the barn anyways. I've definitely had trouble with that, so as I'm hearing his mini lecture in my head, I'm pulling my horse out of her stall. There's also the fact that show season is about four months away and we have about two years of work to do in that time. Ok, guess I'm riding.
So my neck wasn't hurting tooo much -- till I started riding *sigh*. Posting trot was absolutely BRUTAL. Sitting was actually better (yeah I'm surprised too). Only thing I can think of is my lower back was acting as a shock absorber for my neck. So I could sit but not post. But it was still very not good. And then I'm hearing Denny merged with a few others telling me "perfect practice makes perfect" - so basically if you're not going to do it right, don't do it at all. hmmmm tricky. Have to ride. Have to ride *right*. Physically incapable of riding right. Well... Ok then - w/u at the canter in 2-pt. Neck and back are steady and out of contact for that. Perfect. Do some forwards and backs -- very important for Athena at this stage. All good. Back to trot. Horrendous. Ok then, skip the trot altogether and work on lateral work in the walk. Perfect solution. All good.
It was a short ride, admittedly, but I DID ride and what we did was correct. So the voices in my head went back to sleep. And since I had a bit of time left I managed to at least make a good start on pulling one mane -- which revealed how upside-down this poor schooly really is *sigh* Ah well, 4 months remember? And I adore riding her, so now I've got an excuse to do so :)
Students arrived in plenty of time for their *actual* lesson time. hahaha and that first lesson was so much fun. Started out with Kennedy -- who has taught Apollo pretty much everything he knows and is *very* good at getting him going -- riding Louis. Louis who once-upon-a-time raced. Her slightly hot seat had Louis flying around the ring *g* While at the same time Lissy wasn't deigning to move at all. Sheesh.
By the end of the hour Kennedy had revised her riding amazingly and had Louis calmly trotting around over cavelletti, quite as can be. I was really impressed at that -- there aren't too many riders out there who can make that change that quickly. Esp when it involves letting GO of the reins when the horse is going too fast. Not an easy thing to do! Meanwhile, Chelsea got Lissy going really well. Cantered a PE sized course beautifully together -- even getting all their leads! And then in a gymnastic got to Chelsea's new height record, with Lis jumping like a superstar.
So to recap, we have the slow Louis tearing around at top speed, the speedy Lissy not willing to go anywhere, and Jack - the spooky baby - being the GOOD one. Perfect rhythm, never looking at Sasha or anything else exciting, all flying lead changes while jumping the course. Lovely to watch. He and Rowan should have fun this summer :)
So pretty high from that lesson, move on to the next., which continued the fun and games. It starte out with Meike getting absolutely fabulous dressage in the warm-up. Woohoo! Move onto jumping where Aileen put in textbook style gymnastics on Nick THREE TIMES in a row. Sweet. Once is luck, twice is a fluke, three means you've got it :) Kirby had a huge breakthrough with Charlie leading to a perfectly quiet hunter-like pace through the gymnastic (which he'd previously been attacking!) and a lovely rein-less halt on a straight line. I really kinda wish I had that one on video. Was truly sweet. And then Kassidy on Bella was jumping beautifully today so I let her go higher than she ever has before (two in one night - awesome!). Always very exciting :)
And of course in-between it all, playing with Sasha the Superpuppy :)
How many of you get to have this much fun at work?
It didn't start out that way. I knew my day was going to be thoroughly interrupted by needing to go to the accountant (nothing tragic, but 2.5h by the time I drive there, sign stuff, and drive back again) so I knew I wasn't going to get to ride and that afternoon chores would be a little later than normal. Booo :( My *awesome* dad came and helped with morning chores, which meant everything I had to do as far as stalls etc was done before I left for said appointment. Sweet. Saved me probably 2h.
Ok all good. Get back, do afternoon chores, bring everybody in about 4:30 or so. Done by 5. Teach at 6, so not quite enough time to ride *sigh* but at least enough time to get some work done or chill for a bit. Realizing I didn't have my computer with me and I was very tired, I opted for the chill idea and Sasha and I ventured up to my beautiful new office. Tried to read a bit, but really couldn't get into it (rare for me - esp as I can't remember the last time I had a chance to sit and read). So about 5:30 I figured I'd head down since students should be there by now and I'd be social for a bit.
Get downstairs and nobody's there. Odd. Very odd. Some classes I wouldn't think anything of that, but my first Monday class is pretty eager. And then I clue in. They ride at SEVEN. I'm off by an hour. Sheesh. So I run through the list of things I could do - a ton of little "fix it" chores, pull some manes, organize some stuff, all the computer work I can't do w/o my computer *sigh*, or maybe even ride. Still quite sore from puppy class (really?!?!?) and cold and dopey and tired so riding less appealing. Ditto various chores for the same reason. Well maybe pull a mane or two.
And then I hear Denny's voice in my head. A little eerie actually; I often hear my various coach's voices when I'm *riding* but rarely the rest of the time. But Denny was big on horses as lifestyle. "To be the best you have to ride. Anything. Everything. Every chance you get." Basically it's too easy to be "too busy" or "too tired" or any number of other "toos" and soon enough you're not riding at all. Esp once you're running a farm and spending all your time at the barn anyways. I've definitely had trouble with that, so as I'm hearing his mini lecture in my head, I'm pulling my horse out of her stall. There's also the fact that show season is about four months away and we have about two years of work to do in that time. Ok, guess I'm riding.
So my neck wasn't hurting tooo much -- till I started riding *sigh*. Posting trot was absolutely BRUTAL. Sitting was actually better (yeah I'm surprised too). Only thing I can think of is my lower back was acting as a shock absorber for my neck. So I could sit but not post. But it was still very not good. And then I'm hearing Denny merged with a few others telling me "perfect practice makes perfect" - so basically if you're not going to do it right, don't do it at all. hmmmm tricky. Have to ride. Have to ride *right*. Physically incapable of riding right. Well... Ok then - w/u at the canter in 2-pt. Neck and back are steady and out of contact for that. Perfect. Do some forwards and backs -- very important for Athena at this stage. All good. Back to trot. Horrendous. Ok then, skip the trot altogether and work on lateral work in the walk. Perfect solution. All good.
It was a short ride, admittedly, but I DID ride and what we did was correct. So the voices in my head went back to sleep. And since I had a bit of time left I managed to at least make a good start on pulling one mane -- which revealed how upside-down this poor schooly really is *sigh* Ah well, 4 months remember? And I adore riding her, so now I've got an excuse to do so :)
Students arrived in plenty of time for their *actual* lesson time. hahaha and that first lesson was so much fun. Started out with Kennedy -- who has taught Apollo pretty much everything he knows and is *very* good at getting him going -- riding Louis. Louis who once-upon-a-time raced. Her slightly hot seat had Louis flying around the ring *g* While at the same time Lissy wasn't deigning to move at all. Sheesh.
By the end of the hour Kennedy had revised her riding amazingly and had Louis calmly trotting around over cavelletti, quite as can be. I was really impressed at that -- there aren't too many riders out there who can make that change that quickly. Esp when it involves letting GO of the reins when the horse is going too fast. Not an easy thing to do! Meanwhile, Chelsea got Lissy going really well. Cantered a PE sized course beautifully together -- even getting all their leads! And then in a gymnastic got to Chelsea's new height record, with Lis jumping like a superstar.
So to recap, we have the slow Louis tearing around at top speed, the speedy Lissy not willing to go anywhere, and Jack - the spooky baby - being the GOOD one. Perfect rhythm, never looking at Sasha or anything else exciting, all flying lead changes while jumping the course. Lovely to watch. He and Rowan should have fun this summer :)
So pretty high from that lesson, move on to the next., which continued the fun and games. It starte out with Meike getting absolutely fabulous dressage in the warm-up. Woohoo! Move onto jumping where Aileen put in textbook style gymnastics on Nick THREE TIMES in a row. Sweet. Once is luck, twice is a fluke, three means you've got it :) Kirby had a huge breakthrough with Charlie leading to a perfectly quiet hunter-like pace through the gymnastic (which he'd previously been attacking!) and a lovely rein-less halt on a straight line. I really kinda wish I had that one on video. Was truly sweet. And then Kassidy on Bella was jumping beautifully today so I let her go higher than she ever has before (two in one night - awesome!). Always very exciting :)
And of course in-between it all, playing with Sasha the Superpuppy :)
How many of you get to have this much fun at work?
Play day :)
Posted by
Lauren Cude Horsfall
comments (1)
So still pretty sore today and not amused. By the time theory was over I was very cold, mostly sore, and not the least bit interested in riding. But I had arranged to ride both Athena and Lissy and Chelsea had come prepared to w/u Lis so I figured I should at least make an effort.
Got on Athena and all was ok at the walk. But when I started to trot by neck screamed. Booo :( Stupid puppy injury :( But by now I'm warmer and actually on, so not about to quit. Ok well easy solution - want to remain still on horseback, 2 point. Done and done. Any thought of proper dressage schooling abandoned for playing over fences. hahaha and I survived the ride and she was great and we both had fun. She also managed to make some turns that a month ago there's no way she could've made, so pretty happy about that. Had a couple minor disagreements, but nothing tragic. And in the end got some decent work from her. Pretty stoked about that.
Then did follow up and hop on Lissy for a bit -- that's all about strength building. Need to get her a bit more thoroughly through and strengthen her back so she'll be ready for show season this summer. Super willing little horse - riding her just makes me smile. She just keeps trying.
Anyways - always good to have a good ride when you didn't want to ride in the first place. Sort of reaffirms why we do this :)
Have to teach Sasha a trick for puppy class next week. No idea what to teach her. Everything I'm interested in is either too complicated or not suitable for class (ie - she's pretty good at "go teach" which means go to the arena from wherever we are, but that's not exactly going to work there!) She does *not* want to roll over. Does the weave between the legs thing reasonably well, but I don't want to put a whole lot of effort into that since she'll be too big soon. So hmmmmm.... Suggestions?
Got on Athena and all was ok at the walk. But when I started to trot by neck screamed. Booo :( Stupid puppy injury :( But by now I'm warmer and actually on, so not about to quit. Ok well easy solution - want to remain still on horseback, 2 point. Done and done. Any thought of proper dressage schooling abandoned for playing over fences. hahaha and I survived the ride and she was great and we both had fun. She also managed to make some turns that a month ago there's no way she could've made, so pretty happy about that. Had a couple minor disagreements, but nothing tragic. And in the end got some decent work from her. Pretty stoked about that.
Then did follow up and hop on Lissy for a bit -- that's all about strength building. Need to get her a bit more thoroughly through and strengthen her back so she'll be ready for show season this summer. Super willing little horse - riding her just makes me smile. She just keeps trying.
Anyways - always good to have a good ride when you didn't want to ride in the first place. Sort of reaffirms why we do this :)
Have to teach Sasha a trick for puppy class next week. No idea what to teach her. Everything I'm interested in is either too complicated or not suitable for class (ie - she's pretty good at "go teach" which means go to the arena from wherever we are, but that's not exactly going to work there!) She does *not* want to roll over. Does the weave between the legs thing reasonably well, but I don't want to put a whole lot of effort into that since she'll be too big soon. So hmmmmm.... Suggestions?
Exciting news!
Posted by
Lauren Cude Horsfall
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Waylon Roberts is coming to do a clinic for us!
Woohoo!!! Feb 19th... Anybody who wants to show this summer should seriously consider coming!
Clinic info here: http://graduateridingschool.com/waylon_clinic.html
Should be a blast :)
My goal in life is to be as good of a person my dog already thinks I am.
Posted by
Lauren Cude Horsfall
comments (2)
So Monday I managed to get myself bucked off my horse; minor difference of opinion. I lost. I won the next round. Nothing injured but my pride despite serious air time and gravity kicking in in a big way.
Then today I'm in puppy class, doing nothing but standing still and somehow managed to wrench my neck and make everything hurt. Moving, standing/sitting still, whatever. Thoroughly not amused. Sheesh.
But other than random injury for no apparent reason, puppy class went really well. No failing kindergarten for us today! Go Sasha :) hahaha it def helps to get there early and give her time to settle... But yeah, she was pretty pro today. And has been at the barn the last few days too :) Super Puppy!!!
Last night there was a video I wanted to watch but deemed it would make me to late and I should go to bed. All good right? Yeah - except then I ended up on FB *way* later than the vid would've kept me up *sigh* I should know better by now... Sheesh.
Then today I'm in puppy class, doing nothing but standing still and somehow managed to wrench my neck and make everything hurt. Moving, standing/sitting still, whatever. Thoroughly not amused. Sheesh.
But other than random injury for no apparent reason, puppy class went really well. No failing kindergarten for us today! Go Sasha :) hahaha it def helps to get there early and give her time to settle... But yeah, she was pretty pro today. And has been at the barn the last few days too :) Super Puppy!!!
Last night there was a video I wanted to watch but deemed it would make me to late and I should go to bed. All good right? Yeah - except then I ended up on FB *way* later than the vid would've kept me up *sigh* I should know better by now... Sheesh.
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