I must begin by appologizing for my somewhat dry and drab post on Monday. Apparently two weeks of traveling and talking to the public all day sucks the wittiness right out of me leaving me short and to-the-point. I have now caught up on a bit of sleep and have somewhat regained my sense of humor, just in time for some outside force to begin playing jokes on me...
I started this morning by locking myself out of both my house and my car, leaving me to stand in the driveway until John could come rescue me on his white horse (or white Dodge truck - in the morning sun glare it looked like it could have been a horse).
Anyway, with that problem rectified, I am now safely at work, successfully avoiding the 8-car pileup on the beltline.
The good news is that I have been able to move P-man's farrier appointment up a week, so our lesson this weekend may not have to be cancelled afterall, and I can stop judging our canter tempo by the clang of his shoes.
P-man looks great despite his two week vacation. He is a bit unsteady in his flat work, which is to be expected. I really do need to get over myself and let the poor man have a couple of hack days, but I feel this driving need to put him to work.
He seems to really enjoy his new "chewing gum" bit - aka: rubber mullen mouth. It allows him to pull me around a bit at the canter, which for him, is a good thing. Now, I'm just waiting on our Back on Track blanket to arrive to see if it will help his stiffness. Gotta love all the new Rolex toy purchases!
I have sent in my entries for Virginia Horse Trials and Lumber River, plus a local combined test the week before VHT. I guess this means that I officially need to get my rear in gear so as to not make fools of P-man and myself. With any luck, we'll be making the move to Prelim after these two events - let's get out the bubble wrap and four-leaf clovers!
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Monday, April 27, 2009
Back home on NC soil
Ah, how good it is to be home. I pulled into my driveway at around 5 am and went straight to the puppies and ponies - which were in happy flesh and very eager to eat breakfast since John has been feeding them before he goes hunting (aka 5am).
After a refreshing sleep-in, I have the boys a thorough grooming, graze and geared them up in their new anti-fly armor. Prophet was pretty sure that Ted was being attacked by a white mesh alien and thought running from him was the obvious answer. They're ever the comedians, eh?
The week at Rolex was full of it's ups and downs. I got to see great old friends and made some very interesting new ones. Let's just say the Europeans not only showed us how eventing should be done, but they also showed us how to party!
ThinLine's only sponsored rider, Mike Winter had respectful dressage rides on both his mounts, however a suspected slow abdominal bleed led to Kingpin's very unfortunate passing at the Trakener fence, early in the course. Of course this put a damper on all those involved with Kingpin and the sport in general, but he died doing what he loved - running, jumping and acting cheeky.
I now have to get back into the swing of things, keeping track of what day it is and other minor details. I did also get a new bit for P-man that I will try out today -- updates to come soon!!!
Kick on....
After a refreshing sleep-in, I have the boys a thorough grooming, graze and geared them up in their new anti-fly armor. Prophet was pretty sure that Ted was being attacked by a white mesh alien and thought running from him was the obvious answer. They're ever the comedians, eh?
The week at Rolex was full of it's ups and downs. I got to see great old friends and made some very interesting new ones. Let's just say the Europeans not only showed us how eventing should be done, but they also showed us how to party!
ThinLine's only sponsored rider, Mike Winter had respectful dressage rides on both his mounts, however a suspected slow abdominal bleed led to Kingpin's very unfortunate passing at the Trakener fence, early in the course. Of course this put a damper on all those involved with Kingpin and the sport in general, but he died doing what he loved - running, jumping and acting cheeky.
I now have to get back into the swing of things, keeping track of what day it is and other minor details. I did also get a new bit for P-man that I will try out today -- updates to come soon!!!
Kick on....
Monday, April 20, 2009
Vegas baby!
So our week in Las Vegas is coming to an end... and it has been a very interesting week filled with police reports (broken in hotel room), gambling (penny slots baby!), horse colicing at home and lots and lots of world class athletes of the 4-legged kind.
We actually had quite a bit of time to watch the competition since no one wanted to be wasting their $300 tickets on walking around the trade fair when the competition was going on. I do believe that through osmosis, I will be a better rider when I get home, or at least I'd like to think that's how it will work. There were so many different horse and rider types - really interesting to watch how they worked together.
I actually did not do much much shopping considering my suitcase can't hold much more on the airplane ride to Lexington - but those vendors in Lexington better watch out! I've got money burning in my pocket, and lots of things I want to get the P-man for his birthday (May 3rd).
Hopefully my wireless will work on Lexington so I will be able to update a bit more frequently.
Until next time...
Monday, April 13, 2009
It's not you, it's me...
Why is it that, as riders, we feel so much better when we cause a problem and it turns out to not to be our horse's fault? Are we that much of control freaks that this makes us feel that we are influencing the outcome - even if the outcome is bad?
Well, apparently I am...
The P-man and I had our last lesson for a couple of weeks with Steven on Saturday -- Mission: Raise The Fences. He/we started out super with a grid (on stride-bounce-two stride-one stride). From the get-go he was so balanced, eager and willing... must have been all the pole work I've been doing at home. He did get a bit bored and was ready to jump different fences after going through it a few times. We did a bit of a course set at about Training height and he was spot on, but a bit bored with the whole thing. Even a large square oxer on the second element of the in-and-out didn't phase him (although it did phase me!).
Things went to the dogs when we set the fences bigger. For some reason, I didn't trust that the canter that I had at the slightly smaller fences would cut it, so what do I do? Why, pull and let him get flat, of course! We jumped everything so flat that our highest point of altitude was a good 2 feet after crossing over the jump. He saved my butt and very easily could have quit several time, but didn't. We got around, but not something I would have wanted to watch....
So we were both panicing, right?
Wrong.
I was panicing.
After I got my brain screwed on right, changed by ride around the corner and contintued to ride to the line, the horse jumped brilliantly and couldn't have cared less about the size of the jump.
"Textbook." That's always a nice word to hear out of your instructor's mouth at the end of a ride that has to keep you going for two weeks while your out of town.
Naturally, I've ridden that ride in my head about 3 million times since then, and will continue to do so as I make my way to Vegas and then to Lexington over the next two weeks.
Stay tuned for my shopping adventures since I won't be updating about P-man for a bit!
Well, apparently I am...
The P-man and I had our last lesson for a couple of weeks with Steven on Saturday -- Mission: Raise The Fences. He/we started out super with a grid (on stride-bounce-two stride-one stride). From the get-go he was so balanced, eager and willing... must have been all the pole work I've been doing at home. He did get a bit bored and was ready to jump different fences after going through it a few times. We did a bit of a course set at about Training height and he was spot on, but a bit bored with the whole thing. Even a large square oxer on the second element of the in-and-out didn't phase him (although it did phase me!).
Things went to the dogs when we set the fences bigger. For some reason, I didn't trust that the canter that I had at the slightly smaller fences would cut it, so what do I do? Why, pull and let him get flat, of course! We jumped everything so flat that our highest point of altitude was a good 2 feet after crossing over the jump. He saved my butt and very easily could have quit several time, but didn't. We got around, but not something I would have wanted to watch....
So we were both panicing, right?
Wrong.
I was panicing.
After I got my brain screwed on right, changed by ride around the corner and contintued to ride to the line, the horse jumped brilliantly and couldn't have cared less about the size of the jump.
"Textbook." That's always a nice word to hear out of your instructor's mouth at the end of a ride that has to keep you going for two weeks while your out of town.
Naturally, I've ridden that ride in my head about 3 million times since then, and will continue to do so as I make my way to Vegas and then to Lexington over the next two weeks.
Stay tuned for my shopping adventures since I won't be updating about P-man for a bit!
Monday, April 6, 2009
Some time in the sandbox...
With John gone until Tuesday, I had my whole weekend to do what I pleased - which of course meant spending time with horse people! The warm, clear weather was a very welcome break from the bleakness of the last couple weeks (although today the weather gods are letting us know not to take it for granted by dumping rain!).
P-man had lesson #2 with Steven on Saturday morning, and definitely didn't disappoint. Because of the weather, I hadn't jumped him at all since the previous lesson, but felt like it'd be alright since the training level height fences are starting to feel very small! All we did this week was basically refresh the exercises from last time, and many of our problem points are already fading quickly into the distance. The thing we are finding is that poor P-man gets bored very quickly with things, so there's going to be a very fine line between keeping his interest and overfacing him here in the next couple of months.
So with a plan of action for the next couple of weeks (that included bigger jumping - yay!), I pulled out of the Falcon Park drive and onto a busy weekend of teaching lessons...
Because of the weather, many of my regular lessons have been a bit hit-or-miss, so we were sure to take advantage of the nice weekend and cram them all in - which meant alot of time in the sandbox for me! I love that I don't have to make a living off my teaching career, because it means I can really enjoy it for what it is and spend extra time here and there really figuring out where problems are or where we need to focus. Every horse and rider that I instruct lets me learn something from them. I'm pretty upfront about not knowing all the answers and I'm very open to rethinking what I originally told someone if the plan isn't working.
1 plus 2 may not equal 3 with these crazy 4 legged beasts - but discovering how it all riddles out sure is fun!
Cold weather on its way here after the rain, so it looks like things won't be very good for riding my last week before Vegas/Lexington. Hopefully we'll get in one more lesson with Steven because P-man has his vacation time!
P-man had lesson #2 with Steven on Saturday morning, and definitely didn't disappoint. Because of the weather, I hadn't jumped him at all since the previous lesson, but felt like it'd be alright since the training level height fences are starting to feel very small! All we did this week was basically refresh the exercises from last time, and many of our problem points are already fading quickly into the distance. The thing we are finding is that poor P-man gets bored very quickly with things, so there's going to be a very fine line between keeping his interest and overfacing him here in the next couple of months.
So with a plan of action for the next couple of weeks (that included bigger jumping - yay!), I pulled out of the Falcon Park drive and onto a busy weekend of teaching lessons...
Because of the weather, many of my regular lessons have been a bit hit-or-miss, so we were sure to take advantage of the nice weekend and cram them all in - which meant alot of time in the sandbox for me! I love that I don't have to make a living off my teaching career, because it means I can really enjoy it for what it is and spend extra time here and there really figuring out where problems are or where we need to focus. Every horse and rider that I instruct lets me learn something from them. I'm pretty upfront about not knowing all the answers and I'm very open to rethinking what I originally told someone if the plan isn't working.
1 plus 2 may not equal 3 with these crazy 4 legged beasts - but discovering how it all riddles out sure is fun!
Cold weather on its way here after the rain, so it looks like things won't be very good for riding my last week before Vegas/Lexington. Hopefully we'll get in one more lesson with Steven because P-man has his vacation time!
Friday, April 3, 2009
Some alone time...
So John is on his way to Florida (slightly jealous!) until next Tuesday, which means all-horses-all-the-time for me this weekend... with some house cleaning thrown in somewhere. Hopefully the weather will continue to improve after on-and-off rain all this week.
Do you know how hard it is to get good work in on a horse that almost has to be ridden daily when it rains every other day? The majority of my rides consist of trying to screw Prophet's head back on straight -- not that he's naughty, he just likes to play after he's had a day or two off and I can't say that I blame him. I would love to do a lot more hacks with him but lately the weather has taken our hack days away!
One day this week I finally gave up on flat-work and let him have a bit of a canter set.
A little background on our canters... The horse raced for 4 years and I have no idea how. I have never had him gallop properly, nor feel like he has the potential to do so. we bounce off invisible barriers from side to side in a flurry of swapping leads and kicking and elbow flaps (how's that for an image?). Luckily running training level hasn't really required that we GALLOP.
I know I keep harping on how different he feels now then he did before his vacation, but let me tell you -- the horse can now gallop!!!! It was one of those sets where I planted my hands on his neck and just roll with it... I could let him out and he's take it, and bring him back and he'd balance, and there were no lead swaps. I never did let him out-out just because I don't trust the footing in that field 100% and didn't want to risk anything, BUT the potential was definitely there!!! So much fun!
Too much fun actually, because I hopped off and nearly layed myself out! Apparently my new diet doesn't like me running around like a yahoo, leaving me a bit lightheaded. I think that it was definitely a sign that I should eat more cookies! :)
Lesson again tomorrow with Steven -- looking forward to that!
Do you know how hard it is to get good work in on a horse that almost has to be ridden daily when it rains every other day? The majority of my rides consist of trying to screw Prophet's head back on straight -- not that he's naughty, he just likes to play after he's had a day or two off and I can't say that I blame him. I would love to do a lot more hacks with him but lately the weather has taken our hack days away!
One day this week I finally gave up on flat-work and let him have a bit of a canter set.
A little background on our canters... The horse raced for 4 years and I have no idea how. I have never had him gallop properly, nor feel like he has the potential to do so. we bounce off invisible barriers from side to side in a flurry of swapping leads and kicking and elbow flaps (how's that for an image?). Luckily running training level hasn't really required that we GALLOP.
I know I keep harping on how different he feels now then he did before his vacation, but let me tell you -- the horse can now gallop!!!! It was one of those sets where I planted my hands on his neck and just roll with it... I could let him out and he's take it, and bring him back and he'd balance, and there were no lead swaps. I never did let him out-out just because I don't trust the footing in that field 100% and didn't want to risk anything, BUT the potential was definitely there!!! So much fun!
Too much fun actually, because I hopped off and nearly layed myself out! Apparently my new diet doesn't like me running around like a yahoo, leaving me a bit lightheaded. I think that it was definitely a sign that I should eat more cookies! :)
Lesson again tomorrow with Steven -- looking forward to that!
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