*taken from Lauren's Dragons blog*
Alright so... Had a jump school at 8am this morn... hahaha alright, only time available must make the best of it.
So anyway -- tack up while Sienna's munching her hay and then take thoroughly annoyed horse out to the sandring to w/u. "Ummm HELLO?!?!? It's Breakfast time. Did you miss the memo??? Sheesh." Fortunately after a few disgruntled calls to her friends still in the barn, C settled down to the whole work concept. Warm-up went reasonably well -- helps that she was at least a little tired from the last few days (finally!) Just as I was starting to wonder if my coach was going to arrive, I lost C's attention rather dramatically -- sure enough, coach had just walked into the ring n I was totally oblivious :) Says to me "I was watching you warmup while I was stuck in traffic over there" hahaha gotta love being on a main road eh?
One of the first comments "so she's really skinny..." *sigh* gave the background n then things were ok. Yes I know she's skinny, I'm doing everything I can to fix that. Man I wish *I* had that problem!!!! >;-P Anyways - HAVE to get more weight on her but running out of ideas.... Suggestions??? Currently on F&F, Finishing Touch, Oil, BeatPulp, hay cubes, grass, and all the hay she can eat (which is basically all day). Any one of those items should fatten her up, yet still *sigh* She's been thoroughly wormed and her teeth are fine. She IS still gaining, so I guess it's just a process...
Lesson was very much split half and half between flat and jumping. Totally kewl w/ that. What I was very impressed by was that the flat was *dressage* -- as in long leg, get her back up, bend, straight, solid through transitions, etc etc etc. As opposed to w/t/c around the ring to w/u muscles to jump. It was very much a lesson in itself. AND even better -- it was a lesson that followed very much along the same basic things my DQ coach focuses on. Can't remember the last time I had a j coach and a dr coach who actually agree w/ each other! hahaha not exactly the same of course, n obviously not as in-depth as in my actual dr lessons, but basic premise the same and, much to dr coach's amusement, jump coach says "you need to do more dressage to build her strength". hahaha yeah like I haven't been hearing that forever. N, for the record, we DO do dr fairly regularly. I may mutter about it *g* but it DOES happen. hahaha And again, focus on relaxation first (yeah! "without that you have nothing to work with") and from that rhythm, suppleness, contact (hmmmm any of this sounding familiar?). And very close attention to the million and one ways my horse can evade being straight. hahaha man I miss the mirrors! And yes I can feel it (C's not exactly subtle in her evasions!), but it's just so much easier to be able to see.
Anyways -- got some reasonable w/t transitions (they're starting to get more consistent), n while t/c *is* getting better, it's still in the "please don't watch this" stage of things. hahaha ah well -- have a month to fix that. No problem >;-P Really.
So then (now that as far as C's concerned she's finished her quota of work for the day!) we could begin jumping. 1 fence, np. 1 fence w/ a pole in front of it? Still np. Then the games began :) As we worked our way up to two and then three fences in a row -- w/ all sorts of poles in the middle and on landing. He feels the rushing/hollowness I was concerned about is entirely due to lack of strength -- which is why one fence at a time it's not a problem. Hard to put muscle on a too-skinny TB. Anyways -- jumping was some work on my own position and mostly just letting her figure it out. Obviously she's never seen anything like this in her life, but he built it up slowly so it was all good. Some hesitation at times but she gave everything a good shot. Had a tired pony by the end of it! Coach tried to give her a mint and she wouldn't have anything to do w/ it *g* Very poor PR Miss C! hahaha "awwww she doesn't like me." Sheesh. ah well. I do know she doesn't like those kind of mints though -- yes I *would* have a horse who differentiates between what kind of mints she eats! Chestnut TB mare remember? >;-P
Anyways -- basic assessment was horse has good natural movement, albeit a little "TB-downhill" but workable. Great attitude and work ethic. No strength and underweight (no surprise w/ either of those). Good basic form over fences but no real idea of where to put her legs *g* hahaha so there is hope :) Not too bad for my 1$ pony eh?
Killing 30 seconds
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Lauren Cude Horsfall
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So the wheel of death, hoofprint game, and random speedbumps did their job. Pony jumped around beautifully afterwards.
Loving summer! Hating that the air con doesn't work @ work. Brutal. If I'm going to be hot, I'd just assume be outside!
Fun lesson teaching last night. Hopefully even better tonight.
Def time to go ride!
Cheers.
Loving summer! Hating that the air con doesn't work @ work. Brutal. If I'm going to be hot, I'd just assume be outside!
Fun lesson teaching last night. Hopefully even better tonight.
Def time to go ride!
Cheers.
In summer, the song sings itself. ~William Carlos Williams
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First Sammy's run of the year yesterday! Woohoo :) That means it's summer :) From snowsuit to summer in one day -- not half bad.
Had a ride n a half yesterday. C (as I've been told I should spell Sienna's "short" name, since that's how I pronounce it :) was ummmm enthusiastic... Yeah that's the right word. Not even really high or spinny just *really* wanted to run... N if running included flying over a few fences, so much the better! Rode, and I mean *rode* for an hour n a quarter. Normal 20 min w/u but then pretty well all the rest wavered between extended-canter and hand-gallop which would be fine on XC -- less good in the stad ring. She was jumping a little hollow which concerns me since she's never been caught in the mouth so there's no reason for it, but I think it's prob cause she was going so freakin fast! When I finally got her back to a nice show jump canter and could keep her balanced, she jumped properly. I figure that means there's hope. Will be lots of poles and possibly a wheel of death involved in today's exercises in hopes of reestablishing some basics b4 our jump school on Fri.
On the plus side -- she did her first in-and-out. And while it wasn't entirely graceful, she did accomplish it and wasn't toooooo frazzled by it.
On the down side -- I rode all winter w/ Denny and was never sore the next day. ONE serious ride on Sienna toasted me entirely. N the longer I sit at my desk the more stiff I'm getting. Clearly need to go muck some stalls or something.
GRS XC schools @ Gorstella on Sat am and Checkmate on Sun pm; if anybody has any interest in joining in, let me know!
Another ROM field trip @ work this morn :) Always fun. N learned some kewl photoshop tricks from my boss that will I'm sure be put to good use this summer *g* Down side to the field trip is being outside, seeing how amazing it is out and having to come back IN. Boooo on that!
Had a ride n a half yesterday. C (as I've been told I should spell Sienna's "short" name, since that's how I pronounce it :) was ummmm enthusiastic... Yeah that's the right word. Not even really high or spinny just *really* wanted to run... N if running included flying over a few fences, so much the better! Rode, and I mean *rode* for an hour n a quarter. Normal 20 min w/u but then pretty well all the rest wavered between extended-canter and hand-gallop which would be fine on XC -- less good in the stad ring. She was jumping a little hollow which concerns me since she's never been caught in the mouth so there's no reason for it, but I think it's prob cause she was going so freakin fast! When I finally got her back to a nice show jump canter and could keep her balanced, she jumped properly. I figure that means there's hope. Will be lots of poles and possibly a wheel of death involved in today's exercises in hopes of reestablishing some basics b4 our jump school on Fri.
On the plus side -- she did her first in-and-out. And while it wasn't entirely graceful, she did accomplish it and wasn't toooooo frazzled by it.
On the down side -- I rode all winter w/ Denny and was never sore the next day. ONE serious ride on Sienna toasted me entirely. N the longer I sit at my desk the more stiff I'm getting. Clearly need to go muck some stalls or something.
GRS XC schools @ Gorstella on Sat am and Checkmate on Sun pm; if anybody has any interest in joining in, let me know!
Another ROM field trip @ work this morn :) Always fun. N learned some kewl photoshop tricks from my boss that will I'm sure be put to good use this summer *g* Down side to the field trip is being outside, seeing how amazing it is out and having to come back IN. Boooo on that!
Caledon Clinic
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So it was an interesting horse-related weekend :)
Saturday is well covered in the entry below about Sienna's first show -- hahaha really don't feel the need to retype that here! Suffice to say, it was a blast! Sunday I went to look at a new horse for a client, that I really wasn't expecting much of. Well I'll tell ya, you can't lose when you go in with that attitude cause you're either proven right or pleasantly surprised. N I was thrilled. Horse was a rescue, so I was expecting what I see of so many rescues. But this one, besides obviously being well loved and cared for (this I DID expect because his owners are amazing people and have had him long enough to make a difference) has clearly had excellent training somewhere along the way AND enjoys being worked AND is entirely appropriate for the student I was searching for. And if she doesn't want to ride him, I will >;-P hahaha all he needs is some fitness and we're set! Summer plans continue to come together :)
Monday of the long-weekend I was coaching at the Caledon Clinic. 15 dressage lessons. Absolutely insane. But credit to the organizers, from a clinician point-of-view it was well organized (even scheduled breaks) and they fed us a great lunch :) hahaha yeah it's the little things that count. Somebody even brought me out water about the time I was starting to lose my voice. hahahha and I had amazing scribes for the day (thanks Suzanne and Fran!). Generally it was a really great day.
There's a bit of a different art to being a clinician from being a coach. Coaching you get to know your students well and you teach primarily for the long term -- have goals and set out to meet them, and you can take the time to develop skills in order and know exactly what's there and what needs to be there. In a clinic, that luxury doesn't exist. You need to be able to evaluate, quickly, what one thing needs to be fixed AND make it happen -- without any knowledge of horse or rider. There are great coaches who are not particularly good clinicians, and great clinicians who aren't as good at the long-term-regular-coach thing. Most can do both to some degree cause there is of course a huge degree of overlap, but I have definitely met both extremes before hahaha
Lessons at this clinic are half-hour -- they ride the test, you fix something, they ride the test again. So in the first three minutes you have to analyze and isolate the key thing that's holding them back from the next level (whether literally the next level or the move from middle-of-the-pack to top). Then you have 20-25mins (depending how fast they rode their first test) to make a noticeable difference. I love this challenge. Levels PE-T, which is, of course, my preferred audience to begin with. Had several who were close-but-not-quite on the bit who managed to make the leap to actually there, which is always amazing. Was pretty thrilled at that. As were they *g* Had one who I wish I'd had another 15min w/... Got her *almost* there -- n she was absolutely thrilled w/ almost cause I guess it's much closer than she's ever been, but I wanted to give her the chance to feel what *really* there is so she'd be able to recognize it when it happens again *g* Ah well, client was happy and organizers were happy cause I didn't put their schedule all out of whack sobeit. That one I even ate up the "2nd test" time cause it was more important to try and get that extra few mins in than to ride a second test. hahaha but like I said, she was thrilled so that's what counts. A few whose challenge was chilling out their horses (and their riders!) -- they all had significant difference by the end, so that's always good. Only one that was really not ready to be in the ring -- but the rider was aware of this and did the best she could w/ what she was sitting on, so there's definitely something to be said for that. A good example of the right attitude for riding -- she just kept trying and never lost her patience. Anyways -- was a long day, but once it warmed up the weather was gorgeous, n it was great to get to see everybody who I haven't seen in entirely too long!!! Even if not for very long :)
XC schools @ Gorstella and Checkmate this weekend! Should be a blast. Give me a call if you want to come! Could also use a photographer for either day if anybody's got nothing better to do :)
Cheers!
Saturday is well covered in the entry below about Sienna's first show -- hahaha really don't feel the need to retype that here! Suffice to say, it was a blast! Sunday I went to look at a new horse for a client, that I really wasn't expecting much of. Well I'll tell ya, you can't lose when you go in with that attitude cause you're either proven right or pleasantly surprised. N I was thrilled. Horse was a rescue, so I was expecting what I see of so many rescues. But this one, besides obviously being well loved and cared for (this I DID expect because his owners are amazing people and have had him long enough to make a difference) has clearly had excellent training somewhere along the way AND enjoys being worked AND is entirely appropriate for the student I was searching for. And if she doesn't want to ride him, I will >;-P hahaha all he needs is some fitness and we're set! Summer plans continue to come together :)
Monday of the long-weekend I was coaching at the Caledon Clinic. 15 dressage lessons. Absolutely insane. But credit to the organizers, from a clinician point-of-view it was well organized (even scheduled breaks) and they fed us a great lunch :) hahaha yeah it's the little things that count. Somebody even brought me out water about the time I was starting to lose my voice. hahahha and I had amazing scribes for the day (thanks Suzanne and Fran!). Generally it was a really great day.
There's a bit of a different art to being a clinician from being a coach. Coaching you get to know your students well and you teach primarily for the long term -- have goals and set out to meet them, and you can take the time to develop skills in order and know exactly what's there and what needs to be there. In a clinic, that luxury doesn't exist. You need to be able to evaluate, quickly, what one thing needs to be fixed AND make it happen -- without any knowledge of horse or rider. There are great coaches who are not particularly good clinicians, and great clinicians who aren't as good at the long-term-regular-coach thing. Most can do both to some degree cause there is of course a huge degree of overlap, but I have definitely met both extremes before hahaha
Lessons at this clinic are half-hour -- they ride the test, you fix something, they ride the test again. So in the first three minutes you have to analyze and isolate the key thing that's holding them back from the next level (whether literally the next level or the move from middle-of-the-pack to top). Then you have 20-25mins (depending how fast they rode their first test) to make a noticeable difference. I love this challenge. Levels PE-T, which is, of course, my preferred audience to begin with. Had several who were close-but-not-quite on the bit who managed to make the leap to actually there, which is always amazing. Was pretty thrilled at that. As were they *g* Had one who I wish I'd had another 15min w/... Got her *almost* there -- n she was absolutely thrilled w/ almost cause I guess it's much closer than she's ever been, but I wanted to give her the chance to feel what *really* there is so she'd be able to recognize it when it happens again *g* Ah well, client was happy and organizers were happy cause I didn't put their schedule all out of whack sobeit. That one I even ate up the "2nd test" time cause it was more important to try and get that extra few mins in than to ride a second test. hahaha but like I said, she was thrilled so that's what counts. A few whose challenge was chilling out their horses (and their riders!) -- they all had significant difference by the end, so that's always good. Only one that was really not ready to be in the ring -- but the rider was aware of this and did the best she could w/ what she was sitting on, so there's definitely something to be said for that. A good example of the right attitude for riding -- she just kept trying and never lost her patience. Anyways -- was a long day, but once it warmed up the weather was gorgeous, n it was great to get to see everybody who I haven't seen in entirely too long!!! Even if not for very long :)
XC schools @ Gorstella and Checkmate this weekend! Should be a blast. Give me a call if you want to come! Could also use a photographer for either day if anybody's got nothing better to do :)
Cheers!
Fun and games in the pouring rain :)
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Lauren Cude Horsfall
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Took Sienna to Foggy River for the CT today. Kerri came with me (woohoo!) to make life *way* easier – even though we had to leave @ like 5:30 this am. In a rather impressive thunder storm. Ick.
Got there and organized w/ time to spare – which of course I promptly wasted thinking “I have lots of time”. Hahaha classic eh? Ah well.
Miss Si was a little high coming off the trailer and a little thoroughly annoyed when the torrential rain hit just as I finished tacking her up for dressage; fortunately it stopped before I actually had to do anything. Hahaha w/u ring was on grass and a little slick. N she was still reasonably high. So we ran around at trot a bit – got so that half way around the ring was beautiful and the other half was on speed. At that point it was time to head over to the actual ring where she was really good about chilling on the hill between the w/u ring and the dressage ring… Walking around the dressage ring we had a serious look at the very scary letters, and hugely ADD when she discovered horses in the paddock off one side of the ring. Hahaha Fortunately for me the judge was in a truck – and Si is entirely traffic proof. No scary judge’s booth involved! Phew!
Down the centre line “X Halt through Walk” Walk. Please walk. Walk NOW. Ok skip walk and Halt. Stopping *is* required. Now would be *really* good. We’re almost out of centre line… hahaha eventually we did halt, but it was definitely a whole lot closer to G than X. hahaha oops. Turns out the breaks weren’t entirely functional yet. Somewhere along the way she decided that C was “home” so throughout the test any time we were going towards C she accelerated and any time we went away from C she was absolutely lovely. Circles were *almost* round. Missed one transition cause I neglected to actually memorize the test before going in. hahaha kinda ran out of time, so made it up as I went along. I knew transition was either at A or K so we went half way between the two and figured it’d be put down to either “too late” or “too early” not actually off-course *g* Slightly less than professional perhaps but what can ya do eh? N yeah I got nailed for it, but deservedly so. Mostly though, it was not bad as far as “first tests” go. There were definite “inattentive” moments but there were also good moments. My objectives of “stay on” and “don’t get eliminated” were both achieved *g* Overall I was pretty happy. Beat out Zel’s first test :) hahaha although I’m pretty sure Zel beat us today (not overall but her rider lost a ton of points on a technicality and I suspect w/o that they would’ve placed significantly higher). Comments (other than the rider-is-an-idiot – umm that’d be my translation of “work on accuracy”) were mostly positive or “too-fast” hahaha Classic eh?
So after dressage we went for a little hack down to the stadium ring (happy to say she went through the “water obstacle” on the way w/o any hesitation. Hahaha we wandered around there for a bit and then I hopped off and let her graze so that coming there when we actually had to would be a good thing *g* Hung out for a bit, socialized with random people, visited w/ Zelli’s new owners, etc etc. Then it was time for stad. The course was really nice – long wide turns (good for the footing), small fences but tons of variety so she’d see some of everything. The footing in the w/u was brutal (and I was half way through the first class of the day – by end of day might’ve been scary), but this may have saved us because Sienna’s self-preservation kept her from galloping away (I was missing my standing martingale!). We were jumping a *little* quickly over the w/u fences but she couldn’t go far before the footing would convince her to slow down a touch. Hahaha I really wasn’t sure what to expect from her actually on course. We took the long route to the judge to salute – she was totally kewl w/ us doing that too, which added to making it a good experience. And then we started. There was some hesitation to the first fence, but I convinced her “over” was a good idea, and after that she was a complete pro. Easiest round I’ve had in years. We trotted some and cantered some depending mostly on how she was feeling at any given moment (which means really we cantered towards home and trotted away – clearly have to work on this nappiness issue before the jumps get too much bigger, but for today it was not even on the scale of things to worry about. Priorities people!) One or two fences were a *little* higher than technically necessary, but mostly she was an old pro.
Was highly amused that the last jump had stop signs on it :) hahaha And the XC course had a 40km/h road sign on it.
A second round was offered to everybody but I turned it down – cause really, there was nothing more I could’ve asked for :) And in the end, a *very* kind dressage judge coupled w/ a clear round lead to 2nd place! Woohoo! For her first show ever! Hahaha not half bad eh?
So yeah, Sienna was a superstar. And I was thrilled.
Got there and organized w/ time to spare – which of course I promptly wasted thinking “I have lots of time”. Hahaha classic eh? Ah well.
Miss Si was a little high coming off the trailer and a little thoroughly annoyed when the torrential rain hit just as I finished tacking her up for dressage; fortunately it stopped before I actually had to do anything. Hahaha w/u ring was on grass and a little slick. N she was still reasonably high. So we ran around at trot a bit – got so that half way around the ring was beautiful and the other half was on speed. At that point it was time to head over to the actual ring where she was really good about chilling on the hill between the w/u ring and the dressage ring… Walking around the dressage ring we had a serious look at the very scary letters, and hugely ADD when she discovered horses in the paddock off one side of the ring. Hahaha Fortunately for me the judge was in a truck – and Si is entirely traffic proof. No scary judge’s booth involved! Phew!
Down the centre line “X Halt through Walk” Walk. Please walk. Walk NOW. Ok skip walk and Halt. Stopping *is* required. Now would be *really* good. We’re almost out of centre line… hahaha eventually we did halt, but it was definitely a whole lot closer to G than X. hahaha oops. Turns out the breaks weren’t entirely functional yet. Somewhere along the way she decided that C was “home” so throughout the test any time we were going towards C she accelerated and any time we went away from C she was absolutely lovely. Circles were *almost* round. Missed one transition cause I neglected to actually memorize the test before going in. hahaha kinda ran out of time, so made it up as I went along. I knew transition was either at A or K so we went half way between the two and figured it’d be put down to either “too late” or “too early” not actually off-course *g* Slightly less than professional perhaps but what can ya do eh? N yeah I got nailed for it, but deservedly so. Mostly though, it was not bad as far as “first tests” go. There were definite “inattentive” moments but there were also good moments. My objectives of “stay on” and “don’t get eliminated” were both achieved *g* Overall I was pretty happy. Beat out Zel’s first test :) hahaha although I’m pretty sure Zel beat us today (not overall but her rider lost a ton of points on a technicality and I suspect w/o that they would’ve placed significantly higher). Comments (other than the rider-is-an-idiot – umm that’d be my translation of “work on accuracy”) were mostly positive or “too-fast” hahaha Classic eh?
So after dressage we went for a little hack down to the stadium ring (happy to say she went through the “water obstacle” on the way w/o any hesitation. Hahaha we wandered around there for a bit and then I hopped off and let her graze so that coming there when we actually had to would be a good thing *g* Hung out for a bit, socialized with random people, visited w/ Zelli’s new owners, etc etc. Then it was time for stad. The course was really nice – long wide turns (good for the footing), small fences but tons of variety so she’d see some of everything. The footing in the w/u was brutal (and I was half way through the first class of the day – by end of day might’ve been scary), but this may have saved us because Sienna’s self-preservation kept her from galloping away (I was missing my standing martingale!). We were jumping a *little* quickly over the w/u fences but she couldn’t go far before the footing would convince her to slow down a touch. Hahaha I really wasn’t sure what to expect from her actually on course. We took the long route to the judge to salute – she was totally kewl w/ us doing that too, which added to making it a good experience. And then we started. There was some hesitation to the first fence, but I convinced her “over” was a good idea, and after that she was a complete pro. Easiest round I’ve had in years. We trotted some and cantered some depending mostly on how she was feeling at any given moment (which means really we cantered towards home and trotted away – clearly have to work on this nappiness issue before the jumps get too much bigger, but for today it was not even on the scale of things to worry about. Priorities people!) One or two fences were a *little* higher than technically necessary, but mostly she was an old pro.
Was highly amused that the last jump had stop signs on it :) hahaha And the XC course had a 40km/h road sign on it.
A second round was offered to everybody but I turned it down – cause really, there was nothing more I could’ve asked for :) And in the end, a *very* kind dressage judge coupled w/ a clear round lead to 2nd place! Woohoo! For her first show ever! Hahaha not half bad eh?
So yeah, Sienna was a superstar. And I was thrilled.
Superstar Sienna
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So the short version – Kerri and I took Sienna to her first show today. In the torrential rain. She was an absolute superstar! :) Couldn’t’ve asked for anything more! Ended up coming second – not half bad eh? Hahaha For the longer version of that story (read: small novel) check out the GRS Blog. (oh comeon, you had to know that was coming)
Zelli was also there – riding immediately before us. That was an emotional swing. On the one hand I was glad she was being so good for her very novice rider (his first show *ever*) on the other hand, man I miss that horse. She just has so much personality. Ah well – time to move on right? Was good to see her taking care of him though. Did stop and chat w/ them for a while – super-nice people.
Anyways – I’m zonked. Off to dream Rolex dreams (hmmm not *that* big a step from pre-entry surely???) Night!
Zelli was also there – riding immediately before us. That was an emotional swing. On the one hand I was glad she was being so good for her very novice rider (his first show *ever*) on the other hand, man I miss that horse. She just has so much personality. Ah well – time to move on right? Was good to see her taking care of him though. Did stop and chat w/ them for a while – super-nice people.
Anyways – I’m zonked. Off to dream Rolex dreams (hmmm not *that* big a step from pre-entry surely???) Night!
Change is good :)
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So new layout again :) I don't like it nearly as much as I liked the tree one. *Really* liked the trees. But I couldn't make the date stamp work there, and Jen found it hard to read *g* Not @ all sure this one will be any easier to read, but at least it has the date stamp!
There are a few things I don't care for w/ this one (omg is working at a design firm rubbing off on me??? :) so I can't imagine it'll stay for long, but it'll do in the interim.
Let me know what you think!
There are a few things I don't care for w/ this one (omg is working at a design firm rubbing off on me??? :) so I can't imagine it'll stay for long, but it'll do in the interim.
Let me know what you think!
Sienna goes to Mary's...
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So took Miss Si for a dressage lesson yesterday. First time to M's farm and *windy*. Like hurricane windy except bright and sunny out :) Took her off the trailer and she was bouncing. So we went to graze for a bit (amazing how food can take the edge off :) and even then it was nibble-nibble GIRAFFE nibble-nibble GIRAFFE hahaha. Tacking her up was an adventure and a half. Wind was so strong I was having a nightmare of a time getting the saddle pads organized, and then once I was set, getting them on the spinning horse (cause on driveway now, no grass) was another challenge. hahaha eventually basically just plopped it all on however and then manipulated the pads etc w/ the aid of the saddle weight holding them in place.
There was a lesson going on in the indoor that I didn't want to bring Si into in spinny mode so we lunged in the outdoor ring for a bit first. Well "lunge" in the run-around-in-circles sense of the word. On the plus side, she couldn't care less about the white-fence-of-doom. On the down side, the judge's platform (not actually a 'booth' in this ring, but same general concept) was clearly housing demons. Could be that we ride our test on Sat in the 10x30 ring in an attempt to avoid either a - jumping OUT of the ring, and b - the scary judges. hahaha but we shall see :)
Anyways when I finally got her to the point that she was both a -- properly tacked up and b - calm enough to trot we went into the ring. The ring that has giant mirrors along the short side. hahaha gotta admit I LOVE those mirrors. Insta-position fix. Or "oh god I just can't watch" as the case may be :) It was interesting to see just how contorted my little horse could make herself to avoid going straight. Kinda impressive really. Right back to story -- meeting the mirrors was pathetically undramatic. She grew a little and looked but it didn't even rate a snort. hahaha ah well. The fact that the pony trotting around clearly couldn't care less probably helped :) Lunged her in a half-hearted fashion "just-in-case" and she just trotted around on speed. Very ADD but not bad. N I know from experience this doesn't go away on the lunge line so got on her. And she walked. WOOHOO! Months of tediously boring *always* walk when I get on seems to be paying off. It was the kind of walk I'd *like* to get in the dressage ring. hahaha if only I could get it w/o tension.
Trotting around at the start was ummmm well the word "inattentive" was used *g* Mostly we were back on the track. Turn the short end see the LOOONNGGG path the the other end and GO! hahaha but, in her defense, she did keep it to a trot so significant improvement over a few mths ago. Ignored the big mirrors at the end but felt the need to check herself out in the short side mirror every time. hahaha classic.
Got the "Don't let her be a baby" lecture which I've certainly heard before and was entirely warranted. Cause sure enough, while green, she's NOT a baby. She was not shying at anything or particularly concerned, just high. So why shouldn't she work? This is a big part of why I go for lessons :) So somebody can remind me not to be an idiot. Sure enough very quickly after *I* smartened up and actually asked her to do something, she settled and worked really well. Mental note made. Right up there with "ride the horse you *want* to have".
hahaha at one point we were just using one end of the ring n M made some comment about how circles don't traditionally have corners (can just see her rolling her eyes -- eventers *sigh* -- hahaha she's remarkably tolerant w/ us :) when it occurs to me that while I was just hovering at one end of the ring, she was actually expecting me to be circling. oops :) Something got lost in the DQ=Eventer translation. Gotta admit I forgot that a couple more times throughout the lesson, but in general I did make an effort to actually ride a circle as opposed to just "stay at this end". N we only crashed into the wall once. >;-P Yeah, that wasn't one of our better moments. *rolling eyes*
In general though Miss Si was great. She tried really hard. Our transitions are still ummmm a *little* dodgy hahaha as in "please don't watch this" (I'm pretty sure I actually said that :) but it will get better. W/T was coming by the end. T/C still pretty iffy. hahaha ah well - just 2 marks right? I personally was thrilled just to have the right lead -- but again, part of why I go to said lessons (and esp jump lessons); I need the outside view of what she *should* be doing. Something being good "for her" is not good enough anymore -- we're at the point where it has to just be good. No qualifications. But I still mentally see the spinny, starving, OTTB of 6 mths ago and so am ecstatic about almost everything.
Have to admit, much as I absolutely loved riding M's superstar horse the last time I took a lesson there, this one was a whole lot more challenging. N therefore entertaining :)
Alright -- now to take the better parts of the lesson and apply them this wkdn. hahaha sure, np.
There was a lesson going on in the indoor that I didn't want to bring Si into in spinny mode so we lunged in the outdoor ring for a bit first. Well "lunge" in the run-around-in-circles sense of the word. On the plus side, she couldn't care less about the white-fence-of-doom. On the down side, the judge's platform (not actually a 'booth' in this ring, but same general concept) was clearly housing demons. Could be that we ride our test on Sat in the 10x30 ring in an attempt to avoid either a - jumping OUT of the ring, and b - the scary judges. hahaha but we shall see :)
Anyways when I finally got her to the point that she was both a -- properly tacked up and b - calm enough to trot we went into the ring. The ring that has giant mirrors along the short side. hahaha gotta admit I LOVE those mirrors. Insta-position fix. Or "oh god I just can't watch" as the case may be :) It was interesting to see just how contorted my little horse could make herself to avoid going straight. Kinda impressive really. Right back to story -- meeting the mirrors was pathetically undramatic. She grew a little and looked but it didn't even rate a snort. hahaha ah well. The fact that the pony trotting around clearly couldn't care less probably helped :) Lunged her in a half-hearted fashion "just-in-case" and she just trotted around on speed. Very ADD but not bad. N I know from experience this doesn't go away on the lunge line so got on her. And she walked. WOOHOO! Months of tediously boring *always* walk when I get on seems to be paying off. It was the kind of walk I'd *like* to get in the dressage ring. hahaha if only I could get it w/o tension.
Trotting around at the start was ummmm well the word "inattentive" was used *g* Mostly we were back on the track. Turn the short end see the LOOONNGGG path the the other end and GO! hahaha but, in her defense, she did keep it to a trot so significant improvement over a few mths ago. Ignored the big mirrors at the end but felt the need to check herself out in the short side mirror every time. hahaha classic.
Got the "Don't let her be a baby" lecture which I've certainly heard before and was entirely warranted. Cause sure enough, while green, she's NOT a baby. She was not shying at anything or particularly concerned, just high. So why shouldn't she work? This is a big part of why I go for lessons :) So somebody can remind me not to be an idiot. Sure enough very quickly after *I* smartened up and actually asked her to do something, she settled and worked really well. Mental note made. Right up there with "ride the horse you *want* to have".
hahaha at one point we were just using one end of the ring n M made some comment about how circles don't traditionally have corners (can just see her rolling her eyes -- eventers *sigh* -- hahaha she's remarkably tolerant w/ us :) when it occurs to me that while I was just hovering at one end of the ring, she was actually expecting me to be circling. oops :) Something got lost in the DQ=Eventer translation. Gotta admit I forgot that a couple more times throughout the lesson, but in general I did make an effort to actually ride a circle as opposed to just "stay at this end". N we only crashed into the wall once. >;-P Yeah, that wasn't one of our better moments. *rolling eyes*
In general though Miss Si was great. She tried really hard. Our transitions are still ummmm a *little* dodgy hahaha as in "please don't watch this" (I'm pretty sure I actually said that :) but it will get better. W/T was coming by the end. T/C still pretty iffy. hahaha ah well - just 2 marks right? I personally was thrilled just to have the right lead -- but again, part of why I go to said lessons (and esp jump lessons); I need the outside view of what she *should* be doing. Something being good "for her" is not good enough anymore -- we're at the point where it has to just be good. No qualifications. But I still mentally see the spinny, starving, OTTB of 6 mths ago and so am ecstatic about almost everything.
Have to admit, much as I absolutely loved riding M's superstar horse the last time I took a lesson there, this one was a whole lot more challenging. N therefore entertaining :)
Alright -- now to take the better parts of the lesson and apply them this wkdn. hahaha sure, np.
“Adults are always asking little kids what they want to be when they grow up because they're looking for ideas”
Posted by
Lauren Cude Horsfall
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So took Miss Si for a dressage lesson yesterday. First time to M's farm and *windy*. Like hurricane windy except bright and sunny out :) Took her off the trailer and she was bouncing. So we went to graze for a bit (amazing how food can take the edge off :) and even then it was nibble-nibble GIRAFFE nibble-nibble GIRAFFE hahaha. Tacking her up was an adventure and a half. Wind was so strong I was having a nightmare of a time getting the saddle pads organized, and then once I was set, getting them on the spinning horse (cause on driveway now, no grass) was another challenge. hahaha eventually basically just plopped it all on however and then manipulated the pads etc w/ the aid of the saddle weight holding them in place.
There was a lesson going on in the indoor that I didn't want to bring Si into in spinny mode so we lunged in the outdoor ring for a bit first. Well "lunge" in the run-around-in-circles sense of the word. On the plus side, she couldn't care less about the white-fence-of-doom. On the down side, the judge's platform (not actually a 'booth' in this ring, but same general concept) was clearly housing demons. Could be that we ride our test on Sat in the 10x30 ring in an attempt to avoid either a - jumping OUT of the ring, and b - the scary judges. hahaha but we shall see :)
Anyways when I finally got her to the point that she was both a -- properly tacked up and b - calm enough to trot we went into the ring. The ring that has giant mirrors along the short side. hahaha gotta admit I LOVE those mirrors. Insta-position fix. Or "oh god I just can't watch" as the case may be :) It was interesting to see just how contorted my little horse could make herself to avoid going straight. Kinda impressive really. Right back to story -- meeting the mirrors was pathetically undramatic. She grew a little and looked but it didn't even rate a snort. hahaha ah well. The fact that the pony trotting around clearly couldn't care less probably helped :) Lunged her in a half-hearted fashion "just-in-case" and she just trotted around on speed. Very ADD but not bad. N I know from experience this doesn't go away on the lunge line so got on her. And she walked. WOOHOO! Months of tediously boring *always* walk when I get on seems to be paying off. It was the kind of walk I'd *like* to get in the dressage ring. hahaha if only I could get it w/o tension.
Trotting around at the start was ummmm well the word "inattentive" was used *g* Mostly we were back on the track. Turn the short end see the LOOONNGGG path the the other end and GO! hahaha but, in her defense, she did keep it to a trot so significant improvement over a few mths ago. Ignored the big mirrors at the end but felt the need to check herself out in the short side mirror every time. hahaha classic.
Got the "Don't let her be a baby" lecture which I've certainly heard before and was entirely warranted. Cause sure enough, while green, she's NOT a baby. She was not shying at anything or particularly concerned, just high. So why shouldn't she work? This is a big part of why I go for lessons :) So somebody can remind me not to be an idiot. Sure enough very quickly after *I* smartened up and actually asked her to do something, she settled and worked really well. Mental note made. Right up there with "ride the horse you *want* to have".
hahaha at one point we were just using one end of the ring n M made some comment about how circles don't traditionally have corners (can just see her rolling her eyes -- eventers *sigh* -- hahaha she's remarkably tolerant w/ us :) when it occurs to me that while I was just hovering at one end of the ring, she was actually expecting me to be circling. oops :) Something got lost in the DQ=Eventer translation. Gotta admit I forgot that a couple more times throughout the lesson, but in general I did make an effort to actually ride a circle as opposed to just "stay at this end". N we only crashed into the wall once. >;-P Yeah, that wasn't one of our better moments. *rolling eyes*
In general though Miss Si was great. She tried really hard. Our transitions are still ummmm a *little* dodgy hahaha as in "please don't watch this" (I'm pretty sure I actually said that :) but it will get better. W/T was coming by the end. T/C still pretty iffy. hahaha ah well - just 2 marks right? I personally was thrilled just to have the right lead -- but again, part of why I go to said lessons (and esp jump lessons); I need the outside view of what she *should* be doing. Something being good "for her" is not good enough anymore -- we're at the point where it has to just be good. No qualifications. But I still mentally see the spinny, starving, OTTB of 6 mths ago and so am ecstatic about almost everything.
Have to admit, much as I absolutely loved riding M's superstar horse the last time I took a lesson there, this one was a whole lot more challenging. N therefore entertaining :)
Alright -- now to take the better parts of the lesson and apply them this wkdn. hahaha sure, np.
There was a lesson going on in the indoor that I didn't want to bring Si into in spinny mode so we lunged in the outdoor ring for a bit first. Well "lunge" in the run-around-in-circles sense of the word. On the plus side, she couldn't care less about the white-fence-of-doom. On the down side, the judge's platform (not actually a 'booth' in this ring, but same general concept) was clearly housing demons. Could be that we ride our test on Sat in the 10x30 ring in an attempt to avoid either a - jumping OUT of the ring, and b - the scary judges. hahaha but we shall see :)
Anyways when I finally got her to the point that she was both a -- properly tacked up and b - calm enough to trot we went into the ring. The ring that has giant mirrors along the short side. hahaha gotta admit I LOVE those mirrors. Insta-position fix. Or "oh god I just can't watch" as the case may be :) It was interesting to see just how contorted my little horse could make herself to avoid going straight. Kinda impressive really. Right back to story -- meeting the mirrors was pathetically undramatic. She grew a little and looked but it didn't even rate a snort. hahaha ah well. The fact that the pony trotting around clearly couldn't care less probably helped :) Lunged her in a half-hearted fashion "just-in-case" and she just trotted around on speed. Very ADD but not bad. N I know from experience this doesn't go away on the lunge line so got on her. And she walked. WOOHOO! Months of tediously boring *always* walk when I get on seems to be paying off. It was the kind of walk I'd *like* to get in the dressage ring. hahaha if only I could get it w/o tension.
Trotting around at the start was ummmm well the word "inattentive" was used *g* Mostly we were back on the track. Turn the short end see the LOOONNGGG path the the other end and GO! hahaha but, in her defense, she did keep it to a trot so significant improvement over a few mths ago. Ignored the big mirrors at the end but felt the need to check herself out in the short side mirror every time. hahaha classic.
Got the "Don't let her be a baby" lecture which I've certainly heard before and was entirely warranted. Cause sure enough, while green, she's NOT a baby. She was not shying at anything or particularly concerned, just high. So why shouldn't she work? This is a big part of why I go for lessons :) So somebody can remind me not to be an idiot. Sure enough very quickly after *I* smartened up and actually asked her to do something, she settled and worked really well. Mental note made. Right up there with "ride the horse you *want* to have".
hahaha at one point we were just using one end of the ring n M made some comment about how circles don't traditionally have corners (can just see her rolling her eyes -- eventers *sigh* -- hahaha she's remarkably tolerant w/ us :) when it occurs to me that while I was just hovering at one end of the ring, she was actually expecting me to be circling. oops :) Something got lost in the DQ=Eventer translation. Gotta admit I forgot that a couple more times throughout the lesson, but in general I did make an effort to actually ride a circle as opposed to just "stay at this end". N we only crashed into the wall once. >;-P Yeah, that wasn't one of our better moments. *rolling eyes*
In general though Miss Si was great. She tried really hard. Our transitions are still ummmm a *little* dodgy hahaha as in "please don't watch this" (I'm pretty sure I actually said that :) but it will get better. W/T was coming by the end. T/C still pretty iffy. hahaha ah well - just 2 marks right? I personally was thrilled just to have the right lead -- but again, part of why I go to said lessons (and esp jump lessons); I need the outside view of what she *should* be doing. Something being good "for her" is not good enough anymore -- we're at the point where it has to just be good. No qualifications. But I still mentally see the spinny, starving, OTTB of 6 mths ago and so am ecstatic about almost everything.
Have to admit, much as I absolutely loved riding M's superstar horse the last time I took a lesson there, this one was a whole lot more challenging. N therefore entertaining :)
Alright -- now to take the better parts of the lesson and apply them this wkdn. hahaha sure, np.
I'd rather be riding!
Posted by
Lauren Cude Horsfall
comments (0)
Nothing is more frustrating than being bored when you have a million and one things you could and should be doing. Ugh.
Ok end of rant.
So my jump lesson tomorrow got cancelled. Booo. But such is life -- and prob so much the better as it'll give me time to do things like, oh I don't know, braid *g* Perhaps even clean my tack? Maybe properly groom my horse? hahaha sure. And there was a huge pot of gold at the end of that double-rainbow too. No more likely is I'll sub an extra lesson in there, find out my start times are first thing Sat AM, and generally arrive at the show in an end-of-season level of "it'll do". But we'll see. I can also totally picture Sienna being the type to take out all her braids overnight, so may have to redo them in the am anyways.
Anyone want to place bets on how long it's going to take me to get to Guelph @ rush hour, pulling a horse trailer today? hahaha have to be there by 6... What are the odds?
Ugh I am so bored right this moment. Doesn't help that my internet connection is basically non-existent so no FB, no banking, no researching, can't even see what the weather's supposed to be this wknd! Very weird though cause about the *only* site I can get on is blogger. Not sure what that's all about but may as well take advantage of it!
First GraduateRidingSchool XC school next Sunday :) Woohoo! Still confirming location, but will be one of two good locations :) If you want to come and haven't let me know yet pls do so soon! Weather permitting, we'll probably be going out the Sunday after that as well. Tentative list of future dates on the GRS blog.
Ok off for now. Only half hour left to kill!
Cheers.
Ok end of rant.
So my jump lesson tomorrow got cancelled. Booo. But such is life -- and prob so much the better as it'll give me time to do things like, oh I don't know, braid *g* Perhaps even clean my tack? Maybe properly groom my horse? hahaha sure. And there was a huge pot of gold at the end of that double-rainbow too. No more likely is I'll sub an extra lesson in there, find out my start times are first thing Sat AM, and generally arrive at the show in an end-of-season level of "it'll do". But we'll see. I can also totally picture Sienna being the type to take out all her braids overnight, so may have to redo them in the am anyways.
Anyone want to place bets on how long it's going to take me to get to Guelph @ rush hour, pulling a horse trailer today? hahaha have to be there by 6... What are the odds?
Ugh I am so bored right this moment. Doesn't help that my internet connection is basically non-existent so no FB, no banking, no researching, can't even see what the weather's supposed to be this wknd! Very weird though cause about the *only* site I can get on is blogger. Not sure what that's all about but may as well take advantage of it!
First GraduateRidingSchool XC school next Sunday :) Woohoo! Still confirming location, but will be one of two good locations :) If you want to come and haven't let me know yet pls do so soon! Weather permitting, we'll probably be going out the Sunday after that as well. Tentative list of future dates on the GRS blog.
Ok off for now. Only half hour left to kill!
Cheers.
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