Cheer on our show team at Foxcroft CT this Sunday!

Come out this Sunday to support our riders competing in the combined test at Foxcroft (directions below).   A CT involves show jumping and dressage -- the winner has the best overall score.  This'll be the first show of the season for all our girls, and the first off-property show ever for most of them!

Riders -- you can come up after 3:00 on Saturday to clean your tack, your horse, braid and pack.  The horse should be braided but please do not bobble the braids till am and do not braid the forelock till am.   Tack should be spotless.

We will be loading at 6:30 am.  You must arrive early enough to:
- get your horse from the field
- feed your horse (the grain will be in a bucket with their name on it in the feed room)
- leave your horse alone to eat; pack your gear, fill a haynet, fill a water jug (this is easiest done using the hose near Apollo's stall -- then you don't have to carry the full jug very far!)
- when done eating, repair any braids that didn't survive the night, bobble, braid the forelock, groom, put shipping boots on, and return your horse to his stall.
- we'll load at or just before 6:30

Note that since I have yet to master the "being in two places at once" thing, Steph is going to come help out again!  Yeah Stephy!  Particularly she'll be helping the first two PE riders get ready for dressage while I'm warming up the novice riders for jumping.

Ride times are as follows:

8:42 Caelan - Dressage
9:18 Olivia - Dressage

10:02 Caelan - Stadium
10:03 Chelsea - Dressage
10:09 Emily - Dressage
10:14 Olivia - Stadium
10:45 Rowan - Dressage

11:04 Chelsea - Stadium
11:06 Emily - Stadium
11:18 Rowan - Stadium


Note the stadium times might be a little off as they have a jump w/u at this show that doesn't exist at any other CT/HT so I'm not entirely certain how to calculate that.   But they won't be any *earlier* than listed!

Directions:

From 403: Go north on Hwy 6 for 10 km.  Turn right (east) on Flamborough Concession 7 East.  Foxcroft is 0.5 km on the right hand side.

From 401: Go south on Hwy 6 for 18 km.  Turn left (east) on Flamborough Concession 7 East.  Foxcroft is 0.5 km on the right hand side.

HUGE Thanks!!!

7 new xc jumps.  1 sign out front.  Several fences fixed.  Many blankets rolled.  A small mountain of food.  One day.  No problem!

At least, no problem when you have the amazing community of riders, family and friends that GRS has :)

So I would like to say a HUGE thanks to all who participated!  You guys are AWESOME!!!   I am soooo excited about our new course :)

Our self-volunteered project manager Bryn was the first to arrive in the am and the last to leave at night :)  His efforts made everything flow smoothly from suggesting what materials it'd be good to have on hand, to providing plans for our talented builders to build, to supervising everything, helping everybody, and manning the chainsaw and various other power tools!  I seriously doubt we'd have even gotten half as much done without his help.  SOOOO much thanks!

One of the lessons learned is that tools are only as useful as the people working them; we discovered that when Steve came and took over the tractor!  He got logs moved and a ditch dug in a phenomenally quick amount of time :)  Seriously impressive!  Similarly - Frank and Mike left alone with power tools made us an awesome coup!  Thanks :)

My very dedicated working students whose lesson got put off for another day still came and took care of the barn and joined in when they were done!  Thanks Rebecca and Brena!

Aileen and DJ saved me tons of frustration by taking on various fence repairs around the property!  While Paula, on the injured list, managed to sort through the mountain of blankets for the blanket lady.  Thanks tons!

The bank was one of the biggest challenges of the day -- Chelsea, Rowan, Steph, Dauphnee (sp?), and Kerri spent pretty much all day digging.  Definitely not the workout they usually get at the barn :)    Chels and Rowan became experts at the drill and hammering the stakes :)

While they were digging, Leslie and my dad were drilling -- mastering the art of the post-hole digger!  This made it so Bryn, Steve, Brena and Rebecca (the last two who learned how to tie the jumps) could make my triple bar PT fence :)  My dad and Steph later took the digging skill to the road, to raise our sign :)

While all this was going on Caelan and Olivia were helping with all sorts of jobs.  They, along with Leslie and the guys, pulled mountains of hardware off railway ties.  Then they unloaded a truckload of wood before going to help put together the tire jumps and dig the ditch!  Just kept working all day at whatever needed to be done.  Awesome girls!

Meanwhile my mum took over setting up and manning the BBQ -- muchly appreciated!  Thanks to all who contributed -- made a great break to the day :)

After the bank and ditch were built, Chelsea and Rowan kept running and helped load and unload stadium jumps and then created their own course.  Great job :)

HUGE thanks to all who helped out.  You're helping make this a fantastic place to ride :)

Lucinda Green Clinic - Day 2

So. Much. Fun.

Very tempted to just leave the post at that line.  Summarizes fairly well I think :)   But I suspect people might be less-than-thrilled with me for it.  But that being said, I'm known for only writing about day 1 of clinics so even just three words is improvement right?

hahaha ok so on with it.  XC am dawned cold but, thankfully, dry!  Got to the farm with lots of time to feed and water Athena and let her digest before her ride.  She was clearly tired after yesterday given that my somewhat psyc weaver was standing quietly.  Looked good on her *g*

Went to the indoor to w/u.  Knowing that she was tired and had 2-hours of xc ahead of her, our w/u consisted of a reasonable length walk, lots of leg yields, and a fairly short trot set which showed me that she was moving remarkably well and not stiff or sore at all from yesterday.  Sweet!   The other riders seemed much of the same mind as only one was really working in the w/u -- the rest were more wandering...  Fair enough :)

Followed Lucinda out to xc.  She had us do a quick w/u on our own over fences again with instructions to jump some little fences until we felt our horses were leaving the ground and then come back.  No ditches or banks.  No more than 5 mins.  So we all went our own ways -- there were only a handful of jumps that met that criteria, but everybody was sharing nicely *g*  And soon we were all ready to play.



We were originally going to start with some ditch work, but the ditch on that side of the property ended up being a little too intense, so we switched gears and went to play on the bank instead.  We walked up and down, stopping on a straight line as per yesterday.  And then the skinnies came out.  hahaha  bending lines of course with three-foot skinnies balanced on caveletti blocks.  All sorts of combos: log, skinny, bank, skinny and back again.  And every variation you can think of.   Athena tried her little heart out.   You could see she was a little overwhelmed by the idea, but she held her line and figured out what to do with her feet.  It occasionally took us a bit to get the halt at the end, but she did manage to navigate all the questions.   For a horse who really started experiencing skinnies yesterday, I was pretty impressed!


Then it *was* time to go to the ditch.  We had already discovered that two of the more experienced horses really weren't feeling ditches today, so Lucinda asked if any of us could get our horses over.  The other two riders seemed pretty hesitant to commit to it, so I told her I thought we probably could :)   The only ditches she's ever done were at Grandview and they were super-inviting which this one was not entirely, but she's tried everything I've ever asked her so I had high hopes.  One of the other riders threw in his vote for "the little black mare" being the one most likely to succeed, so away we went.  Nice forward walk.  Slip the reins and stay back.  Athena's head goes all the way down INTO the ditch.  And then...  she gamely hopped over it!  hahaha I was so proud of her!   And then we did it a couple dozen more times giving leads to everybody else till she was bored :)   Woohoo!

The ditch got built up into a coffin (using show-jump fences) which she was a little stickier at, but she did it.  Then we worked on a half-coffin by angling fence A and then jumping the wider half of the ditch on an angle.  That she did quite well, but admittedly because she was last to go and was rather frantic to catch the other horses galloping up the hill away from her towards home!   But hey, whatever works right? :) We also got to do it the other way with the ditch first to the vert which she found comparitively easy.


Next step was to move to the *actual* coffin which was far more substantial than anything I've jumped with her xc yet.  Admittedly not saying much since she's only really jumped entry fences and the occasional pt jump, but still.  Walked her over the ditch and cantered out over B.  A little iffy because she's still *really* unsure about jumping out of the walk, so turned around and went the other way at a trot to far more success.  Then Lucinda offered us the chance to school the full coffin.  I was the only one who hesitated a second which drew a puzzled look -- understandably since my super-pony clearly has a good heart and no ditch issues -- so I felt the need to clarify it wasn't the jumps that concerned me -- it was cantering down the hill!  Coordination and balance in the canter aren't our strong suit :(   And really most of what we'd done both yesterday and today so far had been out of a trot.

So Lucinda suggested just cantering down the hill since clearly she needed practice and either skipping the jumps all together or if I felt things were going well to take the B and C elements.

How long have you been reading my blog?  I'm guessing most of you will know exactly what ended up happening *g*  We cantered down the hill, me fighting her all the way for some semblance of balance and rhythm, and... well...  the A element was in the way of B and C...  So of course we jumped all three.   I'm only wimpy till we start moving :)  Once we start going, my brain switches into xc mode and we're good to go.  Pretty it was not.  Effective it was.  There was no way I was going over that ditch without her *g*  She jumped A long and then got frazzled but thanks to the "emergency rein contact" from yesterday when I had to slip the reins over A we were still good to go for old-school pony-club "just keep kicking" methodology which got us over the ditch.   But of course she way over-jumped it giving a wicked chip to C.  *sigh*  Ugly.  Lucinda seemed fairly amused by the whole thing "you know I only *said* do B and C" and just as I was about to apologize for adding in w/o permission she follows up with "but I LOVE that you did all three."  And as I'm all happy with that "very brave of you to attempt that with that canter!   It's a good thing you can keep your balance in the middle of your horse."  hahaha yeah ok -- methinks that was a not-so-subtle hint I'd crossed the line from bravery to stupidity there.  *sigh*  But despite its ugliness I was still super proud not only that she got through it, but that she jumped out confidently even from a tricky spot.  And she landed *really* proud of herself.  So pretty stoked about that.

Next step - Weldon's Wall.  That's right -- a vertical fence with a ditch in front of it.  A ditch they generally don't see till the last stride.  Oh good.  So we all did the little one -- Athena hesitated slightly but jumped it cleanly on the first try :)  Then we were given the option of the little one again or the big one.  Funny how this time the option wasn't really directed at me.   If you're not sure which one we picked, read the above paragraph.  She FLEW over it.  Only thing is, she was once again *very* much focused on catching the horse in front of her, *not* on what she was doing.  A little terrifying as that is not the type of fence you want an out-of-control pace to.  *sigh*  She did clear it beautifully and in stride.  I'm not convinced she even saw the ditch though so less-useful as a schooling exercise.  After that it was determined that she should not follow anybody   Not that it mattered as the rest of the exercises we ended up doing all involved turns so it was never again a case of catch-me-if-you-can.

We moved on from ditches at this point to the fairly steep up-down bank.  If you go up the lesser-slope it's two steps, but we were going up the side which is basically a climb.   Did it once or twice and then skinnies appeared on either side of it.  Who's surprised by that?  Yeah I wasn't either *g*   "But don't worry," Lucinda assured us, "these are wide skinnies.  Five feet!"  Right.  Wide skinnies.  About that.  hahaha but to be honest, after the skinnies we'd been doing earlier, five feet did indeed seem wide and neither fence was an issue for anybody.  My biggest issue was keeping Athena's hocks under her on the down and not leaping off the bank (which would've WAY overshot the skinny).  But she really tried and pulled it off.  Then a little coup-type thing got added in; this one we were given permission to skip.  I'm not entirely sure why - size maybe?  But she landed in balance from the skinny and focused really happily on the coup that we jumped it anyways.  She definitely really enjoys those types of fences.  Big, wide and nicely curved are exactly her thing :)   She's seriously uncertain about anything technical, but just plain solid is np.

Then we got to play in the water.  Walk in, trot out.  Trot in, trot out.  Trot in, trot out over barrels.  Trot in, trot out up a bank.  All no problem.  The first couple walk/trot in she wanted to have a VERY careful look and seemed to have some trouble keeping her feet under her.  I seriously thought we were going swimming.  But she figured it out and was soon gamely trotting through.


Jumping out was np.  BUT then we were to drop off the bank in.  That was more of a challenge for her -- she hesitated and danced around on the bank for a good long while.  But just as Lucinda was starting to ask one of the other riders to give her a lead, Athena gathered up her courage and took a great leap in :)  Woohoo!

Ok...  If you *really* want to!

Such a good heart that one.   We landed with a slightly less-graceful splash but good to go and continued out over our barrels.  After that she quickly gained confidence and by about the 3rd time was stepping off quietly.   After the years of wild launches with Si, it was such a relief to have a horse who figured it out and chilled out about the whole situation.  She's going to make such an awesome school horse next year!

To end the clinic Lucinda gave everybody the opportunity to play and school over whatever they wished.  Athena though was clearly done so I left her on that.  She was still high -- I didn't dismount and walk her as I usually would as I knew I'd have more control on top and she was still bouncing.  But I could feel the high was adrenaline not strength.  She was really tired.  So we watched the others for a few moments and then walked her back.

So end result: I have a horse who feels ready to take on the world, Lucinda remains one of my favourite clinicians, and I had a TON of fun :)   All good really.   She expects her riders to smarten up and pay attention, but if you're on the ball and make an effort you'll get a ton out of it.

Line of the day from Day 1:  "You make ugly look beautiful"
Line of the day from Day 2:  "Wow.  You're *really* brave."

hahaha didn't know exactly how to take either, but both made me laugh :)   And as we all know, that's a great thing to do while riding :)   Can't wait till the next clinic!

Lucinda Green Clinic - Day 1

Fun. Focus. Footwork.  Those were the key words of day one at the Lucinda Green clinic at Eventing Canada.

The weather was cold, windy, rainy, and generally miserable, but being eventers we sucked it up and rode outdoors anyways.  You don't have to be crazy to participate in this sport -- but it definitely helps!

Today's focus was on using stadium exercises to improve and train for xc.  All the jumps were set super-low, and we were told they would remain that way with a focus on accuracy and complexity rather than height. After all, height is easy; technical separates the riders from the passengers.

There were skinny fences scattered all around the ring as well as two arrowhead jumps with the points directed at each other several strides apart.  We started with a free-for-all warmup with the instructions to jump anything we wanted, with no concern to equitation.  The only rules were "no runouts and no cantering".  Everything was to be under complete control -- tricky with several OTTBs in the group!  And the jumps were low enough that should they need to, the horses could walk over them.  A stop is acceptable and can be dealt with; a runout is rider error.  You keep them straight and they jump - that's the deal.  If you don't hold your end, why should they hold theirs?

After we'd all jumped around a bit there was a discussion about the key requirements for jumping skinnies -- or jumping at all really.  Basically it came down to leg, hand and eye.  Simple right?  And that was the point -- it's *not* complicated, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's easy.   Hold them with your leg, fine tune with your hand and make sure you're looking where you're going (Lucinda borrowed Pat's "beaming" energy analogy).

We did some practice over the arrowheads -- something Athena's certainly never seen before!  But she figured it out and by then end was jumping it confidently.  Then onto course work -- with instructions including what gait to be in at each fence.  Cantering a trot fence or vise-versa was unacceptable and would result in repeating the exercise.  Got horses AND riders sharpened up pretty quickly!

After that it was all about turns and skinnies.  Lucinda was quick to correct any rider's position that was unsafe (ie jumping ahead) but otherwise the focus was entirely on effectiveness.  Gait was open to choice at this point and the courses included lots of bending lines with very skinny fences and fun combinations.  Athena was VERY confused at first but she kept trying and eventually got a really lovely course and was even calmly cantering it.  I was pretty thrilled with her.

Then the focus changed and we started working on walk-fences.  Walking up to a barrel jump and hopping over it.  I think I only *truly* kept her in a walk twice; every other time we got at least one jog step *sigh*  But it was a HUGE difference from the first time we jumped in in w/u and cleared it by about 3' :)   The walk jump exercise led to practice with the "emergency contact" -- which I suspect will come into play in tomorrow's xc adventures.  This is basically after you've slipped the reins for some reason, holding your hands wide and your body back to maintain the contact over the next obstacle.  This exercise very quickly differentiated between those with event experience and those without *g*  "Make it ugly!" was the quote of the day.  Which of course raises the question - if it's ugly and it's supposed to be, is it beautiful?  hahaha oh dear - the 4h of sleep is starting to show through :)   Since after too many years of riding babies, my number 1 bad habit is slipping my reins, this was one exercise I could do in my sleep *g*  Athena was a little puzzled, but we got it done :)

Throughout this adventure there were a few random theoretical discussions (cause we were all just enjoying the weather so much!).  Appropriate tack -- the softest bit that enables control (Lucinda changed a couple of them with the rider's permission to softer ones).  A crop is obligatory.  Martingales should be properly fit pony-club style.  That is, when the horse's head is raised it should come about to where the jaw meets the neck.  Most were far too short.  Gloves should not be leather as leather slips.

There was some discussion about the use of studs -- whether or not there should be one on the inside; tradition says yes, but Lucinda presented several reasons why that may not be truly the best situation.  Risk of inside stud hitting the opposite leg and disabling the hoof's ability to turn as it should being the top two.

Let's see...  Also discussion about how to retrain a horse who runs out (one of the more challenging issues -- better to just never let them learn it in the first place!), discussion about jumping form and how the horse has to move its head to view and evaluate the fence and how that can or should be a consideration in your riding.

Basically it was an awesome clinic -- both from a riding and a theory point of view.  I unfortunately only got to watch one other class as we had to get back so I could teach tonight!   But tomorrow I'll get to see most of the day, so quite looking forward to that.

HUGE thanks to Stephy for coming as groom/ring-crew and surviving the brutal weather.  Poor Steph always seems to be with me on the particularly horrific days!   And to Rebecca who took care of everything at home so I could go play :)  AND on top of that to Jamie and Arthur who fed and checked on Athena this evening so I could go teach and not have to drive an extra 3h to feed my horse.   Having horses in two locations an hour and a half apart is tricky!

There's a ton of other stuff I'd love to write, but the alarm's going to go off again in about 6h, so I think I'd best be off.  More tomorrow.  Hopefully!

Great wedding proposal

This made me smile :)

I have an issue with the idea of getting married as "something dumb to do" -- but other than that, this is amazing.

Athena's first HT

SO much fun with my pony today :)   Whoever knew Entry could be so entertaining?

Mum and Sasha came too!

Once again we had a very early start -- my alarm went off at 3:30.  After falling asleep shortly after 2:30.   Ummm both those times would be am.  Times that really shouldn't come twice a day!

But such is the life of an eventer so we sucked it up and off we went.  Got there with about the perfect amount of time.  I was able to check in and walk stadium before heading off to dressage.




Athena warmed up beautifully and put in a really solid test.  I wouldn't class it as spectacular -- there was nothing really brilliant about it, but there was no disaster either.  Was just a good, solid, entry level test.  And I was really happy with her :)

Pats for the pony ;)

So I went for a quick walk around cross, while my supergroom Steph took care of my horse.   The course  seemed ridiculously simple.  Had to keep reminding myself that entry is *supposed* to be simple >;-P   And then I had lots of time to watch stadium and socialize before riding.  And let's be honest - sometimes said socializing is a fun part of the day :)   Again, only possible thanks to Steph :)  I'm so spoiled!

Eventually it was time to jump.  The course was super easy and inviting.  Maxed for entry, which I was happy to see.  But compared to what we see at home that's still pretty tiny... hahaha  That being said, our last stadium round was SO atrociously bad (well by my standards anyways - we *did* technically get around; it was just ugly) that I had a few butterflies bouncing around in the warmup.    That last course she was very sticky and backed off, so I decided we were going in in attack mode.   The course was in the new and improved giant-sized sandring, so there was tons of space and all big turns to get going if you so chose.  And I chose.  She was sticky in w/u, so I revved her into the mode I would usually use in a xc w/u.  And she started jumping better.  Sweet.  Butterflies whipped into formation and sent flying.

Now you have to understand -- attack mode is not my preferred style of riding.  I generally go for overly controlled and balanced.  hahaha but you do the job that needs to be done right?  And she needed that kind of ride.  So we powered our way in (with a slight detour to let her look at a jump I knew she wouldn't care for), saluted and away we went.

Attack mode - fence 1.  Excessive much?

And I have to say, it was the first stadium round in my entire life that I would class as fun.  Yeah, it's not exactly my favouite phase :)  hahaha but oh dear.  Let's just say we found attack mode.   And the line I walked in an 8, we rode in a 5. Yes, you read that right.  I have it on video.  hahaha.  This same line I saw a pony do in 12.  And it was an even balanced 5.   Which gives you an idea of speed and stride length *g*  Sheesh.   The fence I thought she'd hesitate at, she did.   But it set her back enough that we actually got the correct number of strides in that line.  She loved it though -- by the end she was focusing on a fence and taking me to it.  If the fences had been big, it wouldn't have worked.  But as a confidence builder it was great.   She very much misjudged the last fence, but with golden horseshoes on it somehow defied the laws of physics and stayed up.  The few people I knew there with cameras all informed me I did *not* make their jobs easy.  hahaha ah well - sorry about that.  But omg so. much. fun.   N she came out and completely relaxed.  I was so impressed.

Doing something right by the end :)

We had enough time to untack and give her a quick bath and a chance to relax before xc.  I was really happy to see her drinking; she's never done that before.   Changed my clothes, tried on the new air-vest and tacked her back up for xc before heading over to warmup.  I mostly walked around chatting with people -- we weren't going to need much warmup, and clearly my competitors felt the same.   Did a quick gallop to check how she felt on the grass and that attack mode was still installed and discovered she was fine on the grass and attack mode had intensified.  hahaha So. Much. Fun.   I might regret it in the next week or two, but for today, in the moment...  Woohoo :)

Grinning like a child over our first speed-bump

"Number 67, 2 minutes" -- threw a quick 'thanks!' over my shoulder, hopped over one more fence and headed over to the start box.  5 second countdown and we were off :)   Nice easy canter to the first fence, picking up speed to the second and then settling into a rhythm to the third.  Unfortunately for us, the rhythm was more of a training pace than an entry pace.  Oops!   But since she's also not very fit, any really long run where you would usually gallop, I'd bring her back to trot.  There was also one location with a ton of pedestrians on my course, so I felt the need to slow to avoid tragedy. hahaha  And conveniently the trot sets balanced the gallops leaving us with some time faults but not nearly the mountain I'd imagined!  But what I really loved?  When I pushed her in front of my leg and half-halted, she actually came back!  Imagine that!  I don't know if it might just've been that she was tired *g*  But she really sat up and balanced.  Some of that is on video too (thanks Stephy!) so I got to see that it wasn't just my wishful thinking.  Offers hope for higher levels.  Sweet!  And basically from the moment we left the start box till the moment we crossed the finish line, I was grinning like a 10yo kid on her first xc run.  hahaha sad but true.

Balanced pony :)  Woohoo!

So yeah -- there was nothing particularly challenging or interesting in today's ride.  It certainly wasn't a ride I'd want anybody judging my abilities by *g*   But what it was, and hasn't really been in a while, was just plain fun.

Awesome day.  Fun having my mum and my puppy there.  Totally spoiled by Steph.  Got to see and chat with lots of people I don't get to see nearly often enough.  And did I mention?

So. Much. Fun.

Caledon Clinic

SO much fun at the Caledon Clinic this weekend.   Weather was *amazing* which is a huge start :)   Having taught that clinic in a snow-suit before, I can tell you that definitely makes a HUGE difference in the day *g*

Both Rowan and I had to be in dressage at 8am.  One riding, one coaching. I'll let you figure out which was which :)   So we aimed for a 6:30 load.   The girls showed up on time and got their horses fed and ready and got themselves packed.  I was really quite impressed by how organized they were.  Clearly everybody read the blog *g*   Steph and Nicole also came to help with organizing and to be on standby in-case somebody didn't want to load well and experienced hands were needed.  Everybody loaded beautifully though and shortly we were off!

I spent the morning coaching entry and pre-entry level dressage.   The first pony I taught I *loved*.  hahaha such a cute little guy.  When his rider cantered him straight at the edge with no intention of turning he gamely jumped out.  And when she panicked and pulled him back around he just as kindly jumped back in.   Coolest. Pony. Ever.  *g*   So needless to say, we worked a little on steering :)  The second round was far more successful!

Everybody else stayed in the ring.  All lessons but one focused on accuracy and rhythm.  My last student was a little more advanced and we could work on finesse :)   But for a novice clinic and the first outting of the year for most (first outting EVER for some) that was to be expected.  Lots of nerves to chill out and lots of basics to work on.  I saw a few seconds of both Chelsea's and Rowan's lessons as they were in the ring next to where I was teaching; I couldn't really watch since I was teaching hahaha but what I saw looked reasonable.  I would say they fit in very much where the girls I was coaching did -- horses a little high, some anxiety over riding a test, and managing it and getting better by the second try.  Wasn't as brilliant as they are at home of course - it never is!  But I was happy with what I saw...

Quick stop in to see how all was going at lunch time.  Steph and Nicole had everything totally under control.  No surprise but still nice to see :)  All the girls had finished xc and were pretty excited about it :)  Jack was wearing his big-boy pants.  Louis and Lissy felt the need to jump most things a few times but got over it all in the end :)   And Bella wasn't too sure about starting out on xc, but by the end she didn't want to stop!  hahaha classic.  Show season's going to be So. Much. Fun!

The afternoon I was teaching show jumping.  I got thoroughly spoiled with the nice small groups I love to teach and Brena helping me as ring crew.  I started with a training group that was SO MUCH FUN.  They had a good grasp of the basics so we could work on the fun stuff.  We focused on quality of the canter (creating the right balance of speed, balance and impulsion) and on rider's responsibility vs horse's responsibility.  They made a really serious effort and were so much fun to teach.  And the before/after divide was pretty kewl to see.  While all this was going on Rowan and Chelsea were in stadium, but I think I saw all of about one fence each.  Booo.  Fortunately lots of GRS supporters were watching so we got tons of pics anyways :)

The next group was PT and then E/PE split.  Both were fun -- I had Emily and Margaret in my last group so I *did* actually get to see a couple of my girls ride at least one phase :)  I was super impressed by how well Margaret was riding Louis -- not a single stop and he was totally eager to jump everything.  Apparently the run through the water after xc upped his confidence!  Woohoo!  Margaret had a huge grin on her face all day; super nice to see!   Bella was speedy, but Emily was doing a super job keeping her organized.

Afterwards we got everybody home and taken care of.  Everybody was thoroughly sunburnt, exhausted, and happy -- and that's exactly the way it should be :)

Overall I'd say a great start to the season!  Next stop -- Foxcroft CT on June 10.  Come cheer on the team!

Sometimes you just have to play :)

On Sunday I taught a "learn to gallop" lesson and the two girls who had never done it before were *thrilled*.  hahaha  As anyone who HAS done it can tell you, it's a reasonable adrenaline rush :)   It's one of my favourite lessons to teach because you can usually see the grins from a mile away; they appear about 5 seconds after the sheer terror disappears *g*  Later that evening Brena's Facebook post read " New favourite thing to do: gallop through an open field.  "   Which was seconded by Chelsea :)  

Well I had to laugh today as I was galloping Athena when I realized that my grin was easily as big as theirs had been -- and it's been a LONG time since my first gallop (yes I remember it -- I was still riding western then :)  But while it wasn't my first gallop -- or even the first time I've let Athena gallop -- it *was* the first time I've really *ridden* Athena's gallop.  As in, I've let her run before, but this time I asked for balance and rhythm and steady contact and all those other fun things that are required to jump at speed; as opposed to just 'burn off excess energy'.   Was fairly entertained to discover the gallop is evidently her best gait.  hahaha she had fabulous balance, even down hill, was soft, accepting contact, bendable.  Absolutely lovely to ride.   Oh and once she's fit, making time at any level she'll ever be capable of jumping is never going to be an issue  Now the only issue is we need the canter - her worst gait - to get through the other two phases before they let us show that one off!  *sigh*    

So yeah - fun evening ride :)

Caledon Clinic Ride Times

Victoria Day will be spent enjoying the awesome weather while four GRS riders practice all three phases of eventing at the Caledon clinic.

Auditing is free, so come on out -- enjoy the weather on a gorgeous country property watching horses participate in lots of lessons with a variety of coaches!   Should be an entertaining day :)  

Riders:

We will be loading at 6:30am -- you should be at the barn by 6.  Bring your horse in and feed them (find the bucket with their name in the feed room).  Then groom and fly spray your horse.  Put hay in the hay nets.  Fill the water jugs (by the wash stall).  Pack your cars with all your gear.  Chelsea and Rowan also bring wraps, poultice and news paper (I have lots of poultice if you don't -- just make sure it gets packed!) as you'll have time to wrap while you're there.

I'll be there to help with loading, but busy coaching at the clinic all day.  Steph and Nicole are going to come help -- they're in charge :)   If you have any questions you can ask them; they've both ridden and traveled with me for years and been to Caledon multiple times, so they know what they're doing :)

I strongly recommend a change of shoes, a hat of some sort, sun screen, bug spray, and a lawn chair!  It's going to be a long day and there's not a ton of shade...

Directions:

From Hwy #401: North on Mississauga Rd to Olde Base Line (flashing light), turn right.  Take next left, one km north on the right to Caledon Riding Club, 15747 Creditview Rd. From Hwy#10: Turn West at lights on to #12 Peel Rd. (Olde Base Line).  Go to 2nd stop sign, turn north.  Club is one kilometre north 15747 Creditview Rd.  

Ride Times:

8:00 - Rowan - DR - Ring 1

8:30 - Emily - XC - Jennifer Irwin

9:00 - Chelsea - DR - Ring 1

10:15 - Rowan - XC - Jennifer Irwin
10:15 - Chelsea - XC - Jennifer Irwin

10:15 - Margaret - XC - Jen Thompson

1 - Rowan - Stad - Jen Thompson
1 - Chelsea - Stad - Jen Thompson

1:30 - Emily - DR - Ring 2

3:15 - Margaret - Stad - Lauren Cude
3:15 - Emily - Stad - Lauren Cude

Can it stay this way all year?

I love summer.  It's really just. that. simple.

Sasha and Athena enjoying summer :)

Went for a hack this am and my horse was fairly high.  She wanted to gallop.  I wanted to trot.  We settled for a trot with so much extension I could see flashes of the blue from her boots out in front of us -- very much like when we're galloping.  Then we went back and jumped some stadium fences; best jump school I've had in *ages*.  About time too >;-P  hahaha then back to the field for some more reasonable trot sets.  All in all just a great start to the morning.

Sasha learned to swim today.  Super cute - she was soooo proud of herself.   Then kept going back in to try out her new skill -- swimming a few feet away from the edge.   I have never seen her so tired as she was tonight after that on top of her usual farm-dog day :)   By about mid-afternoon she had crashed in the middle of the barn aisle-way; the one location where she can see just about everything without ever having to move.  hahaha

Evening lessons were entertaining -- if for no other reason than I got to move around.  Started indoors with a first-timer.  Then moved to the sand ring for the grasshopper group, then to the field for the entry group, then back indoors for my adult class since it still gets dark just a *little* too early.  Fun fun fun.  Can't wait till we build some xc though!   June 3 -- mark the date!  XC jump building, spring cleanup, and potluck BBQ!  hahaha official announcement will be on GRS page and FB soonish -- prob Wednesday :)