Well, a filly, really. She's just four years old. I said I was NOT going to do it...not going to buy another horse....not going to buy a MARE....especially a young one....but then Christan said she was perfect for me...
...you see where this is going. It actually all started about two years ago, when I was in-between horses, and I was perusing one of my favorite sites for "horse eye candy", Mapleshade Farm's website. There was this filly, an Oldenburg by the stallion Donatelli, only about two years old. She was cute as a button and very well-put together, but the price was rather high. I inquired on her anyway, seeing as she had been up there for a while. The price had been dropped to around $10k, but it was still too high for me and I didn't really want a two-year old that would do nothing but sit around and eat its head off before I could ride it.
Right before we moved from off Hollybrook Lane back to Denny's, Christan had gotten in this very lovely, dark bay filly for sale/training. I admired her, but didn't think anything about it as her breeding is quite good and I didn't think I had a chance in hell of buying her, not to mention that I really didn't want to replace Sam just yet, and I was half-heartedly interested in Winny, the little dapple grey TB that Christan also has for sale. Not that interested in him, though - I was pretty happy with working with just Oliver. Fast-forward to a week ago. Christan tells me that the filly is absolutely wonderful, and if I wasn't totally against buying another horse, I should really consider her because her brain was fabulous. Yeah, yeah, I thought - still don't want another horse. Skip ahead to Thursday, for my lesson afternoon. I had come out a bit earlier due to taking a mental health day at school, and ran out of time to head down to Cabin Branch to drop off the blankets, so I was there in time for Christan to suddenly show up riding the mare. Wow. I really hadn't seen her close up, just in the field, and she is beautiful. Very much the Warmblood, with good, thick bone and very rounded. Dark, dark bay, with a small white star and I think two white hind bobby-socks. I was impressed just looking at her, and Christan headed off down to the arena to work her. Curiousity got the better of me, so instead of spending some quality time with Oliver, I took a short cut through his field, gave him a cookie, and then attempted to crawl through the fence to get to the dressage arena (didn't work). Again, wow. As I sat on the wrong side of the fence, watching the two of them, I noticed that she had a nice, sweepy stride that looked quite promising, and her canter seemed nice and rhythmic. Very impressive considering the mare hadn't been doing this all that long. Christan told me to get on her, and of course I couldn't resist, so I grabbed my chaps and helmet and we went into the jumping arena.
She is a nice, broad girl. Her neck seems a little shorter to me than Oliver's, but her shoulder is beautiful - nice and long and laid back. She still doesn't completely understand what contact means, but it didn't take her long to figure out what I wanted. When I asked for the trot, she really pushed from behind and she was very nicely forward, which I didn't expect since she appears so quiet from the ground. Her trot is going to be very, very good - I tried to sit back, roll my shoulders back, and get her to sit down a little more, and even though she couldn't hold it for long, she tried without complaint, and when she tried - wow! She's going to be very, very fancy! She even knows her leads at the canter, and picks them up better than Oliver (probably because she really can push from behind into it). Christan suggested that I pop her over a crossrail, which I didn't want to do since we were riding in her dressage saddle, but I trusted her (both C and the mare) and we headed for a crossrail made of two painted planks, with a plank set in between, parallel to the ground. Not the most inviting crossrail for a baby, but the mare just sighted it, and then hopped over it without a look. Impressive. So, Christan got back on, and took her out to the xc field behind the arena, Keith and Coda following. CHristan trotted her up the bank, dropped her off the bank (you could see the mare thinking about it as she flopped her big ears around, but didn't hesitate), and then popped her over the ditch - she dropped her head for a look but didn't pause), and then cantered on down over a little BN jump. Apparently there was a herd of deer on the other side, but you couldn't even tell from watching her because she never missed a beat. I was about 99% ready to buy her, but I wanted to take her trail riding myself and see if I could push any of her bad buttons (if she had any).
So, on Saturday, Cindy came out with me to ride Oliver while I rode the mare. She was a big, goofy four year old in the crossties - trying to eat the fuel cover on the tractor, trying to climb into the tiny space between the tractor and the stall door, etc. I was beginning to have some small doubts and started looking for reasons not to buy her (did I really want to deal with a BIG, goofy four year old again?), but since we had gotten this far, I at least needed to take her out on the trail. She stood quietly by Cindy's side while I rode Oliver first, just sleeping. I figured that if she were going to be pissy, it would be after standing there, tacked up, just waiting. I got on (no problems) and then proceeded to talk Cindy through riding Oliver from her back - again, she just fell asleep under me. It was time to get her moving, so I started her trotting, and remembered just how green she was - lots of leaning on the bit, popping her shoulder, etc, but it didn't take her long to remember how to move. At this point, I was still looking for an "out", so I trotted over the little x that we had jumped yesterday - she picked up the canter three strides out and jumped it beautifully (I was in my jumping saddle this time), and then I decided to circle around and jump the first vertical on the outside line. I figured that if she wobbled too much, I was going to circle and not try and do the four strides to the oxer out, which was about 2'3 and had the flower boxes underneath. She jumped the vertical nicely,landed, wobbled, but then straightened herself up and did a beautiful four strides out over the oxer with ease. I yelled to Cindy, "THIS is why I'm buying this horse!" because at that point, I knew I was going to. Never in my life would I have considered taking a VERY green four year old down a line, much less to a scary, bright oxer, when I had only ridden her for about 15 minutes a couple of days before. It was difficult to remember that she is only FOUR, and a young four at that.
Cindy and I went into the field and then wandered down the little path into the upper xc field. The mare didn't care if she led, followed, if the bugs were eating her alive (they were certainly bothering Oliver!), and even down the lane between the trees, where the creek is burbling, she didn't get antsy or snorty - just marched on down like an old trail horse. We emerged into the xc field, and I took her into the start box and then out over the big telephone pole "X". She cantered over the x like she had been doing it all her life, and then I went down, turned right (scared up some deer but she didn't even blink), and then cantered over the scary red rails that always seem to spook the horses. She took a longish spot and popped me a little out of the tack, but again - didn't hesistate. That was when I knew I couldn't let this one go. We finished our trail ride around the property without a hitch and I told Christan I'd write her a check that day.
The new mare's name is Bella Sera (beautiful evening), and I'm calling her Bella. Her registered name is Denali, and I toyed with calling her Dani, but I have a friend name Dany and I wasn't sure she'd appreciate the honor. Plus, Bella really fits her. I cannot believe the brain on this mare. Christan made me a heck of a deal and I would have been crazy to turn it down.
So, here's to two-horse ownership again! May it be less bumpy and more fruitful than last time.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Oliver does his first canter test at a pure dressage show.
Well, not much happened. It was such a small show that they put me in with one other BN rider, two Novice riders, and a Prelim rider. Oliver warmed up beautifully and was really listening, but when we got into the arena, Joe yelled that the bell had rung and I already knew that, so I got rattled and forgot to halt at C (too many eventing tests) and the judge rang the bell. Then, of course I was rattled for the rest of the test, and a small herd of horses came up over the ridge and Oliver gawked at that….some jigging in the free walk, anticipating at times…gave us a 57.9%. Yuck. Not terribly bad, but good enough to land us a 3rd place ribbon. I threw that test away. Comments were: lovely young horse with a lot of potential, work on relaxation yadda yadda yadda. Stuff I already knew. The second test, which was BN B, went much, much better. I thought it rode very smoothly, up until the point of where I picked up the wrong lead and it took me half a circle to fix it, so that got me a 4. 7 on gaits, 7s on all the right side work (which is weird since that is his bad direction), and comments of being slightly on the forehand for the left rein work, and again a comment on “lovely young horse”. A 37.9pp this time, which also got us a 3rd place – 1st place was the Prelim rider with a 33. So, all in all, not too shabby. I need to stop letting my reins get too long and start getting his balance towards the rear more consistently, and I think we’ll be scoring in the low 30s in no time. He was a very good boy.
Greg has been out to work on him, and the improvement this time was so much better that we have high hopes that we can continue to work through his scar tissue. Greg said that the 5th or 6th time was the magic number, and he was right - no more short striding on that inside right hind. I rode him today and he was so much more uphill and pushing from behind - I could really tell the difference when I stretched him. His withers stayed more up in front of me than before, and the balance was better. I've done a much better job of not allowing the reins to slip through my fingers - studying the way the upper level riders hold their hands at Rolex really helps, as I can visualize this. We have Foxtrack on the horizon for our first debut at BN, which will be low key and no pressure, and then I'm planning on doing some unrecognized dressage stuff with him for practice and schooling some more XC and possibly a hunter show or two to gear us up for Five Points in September. We're finally heading somewhere!
Oliver remains sweet as always....yells hello when I go and get him from his paddock. It still give me a thrill to hear him. I doubt I'll ever get sick of that.
Greg has been out to work on him, and the improvement this time was so much better that we have high hopes that we can continue to work through his scar tissue. Greg said that the 5th or 6th time was the magic number, and he was right - no more short striding on that inside right hind. I rode him today and he was so much more uphill and pushing from behind - I could really tell the difference when I stretched him. His withers stayed more up in front of me than before, and the balance was better. I've done a much better job of not allowing the reins to slip through my fingers - studying the way the upper level riders hold their hands at Rolex really helps, as I can visualize this. We have Foxtrack on the horizon for our first debut at BN, which will be low key and no pressure, and then I'm planning on doing some unrecognized dressage stuff with him for practice and schooling some more XC and possibly a hunter show or two to gear us up for Five Points in September. We're finally heading somewhere!
Oliver remains sweet as always....yells hello when I go and get him from his paddock. It still give me a thrill to hear him. I doubt I'll ever get sick of that.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Oliver rocks at xc schooling at The Horse Park
So, on Friday, last minute I decided to take Oliver xc schooling to the Horse Park, mostly because Marissa wanted to take her pony, Goody, and she didn’t have a ride. I didn’t think about taking Ollie because Christan is at Rolex this weekend and you know how those fences grow in size when you haven’t seen them for a while…well, I didn’t want to school without her (when did I become such a pansy?), and I didn’t have a groundsperson, yadda yadda yadda. But when Marissa said she’d come, and we’d bring MaryBeth along for our groundsperson, I decided that what Oliver and I needed was to gallop around and jump some stuff. It was HOT – around 85, but there was a good breeze blowing so not too bad. I wonder why it’s become so hot so early this year? When I got to the barn, I noticed that I had a VERY flat tire. It seemed that the valve stem on the tire had dry rotted at the base, so was leaking air. Argh. I rigged it with some duct tape and we threw the air compressor into the tack room and hoped and prayed we would make it to the Park. Oliver loaded up like a champ and with Goody installed, we were on our way. We stopped at the end of the driveway to check and see if my redneck valve stem held (it did) and then we immediately encountered a huge crowd of bike racers – I had forgotten that the Tour de Moore was this weekend, and so we picked our way through the crowds. At this point, I was wondering if all odds were stacked against us, but we made it there safely.
On Thursday, I had tried out my Antares again because Christan said something about not being able to put her leg on Oliver riding in her new Devoucoux (she likes her Antares better), and I was wondering if there was a difference between my Antares and my Albion. First of all, that Antares does NOT fit him – it’s too wide, and almost presses down on his withers, and the panels scoop away from him back, which is sort of flat because of how uphill he’s built. Immediately I noticed that I felt very much closer to him, but that could be because the panels are so much thinner and it’s too wide. I also noticed that posting the trot seemed like WORK – I started to feel some leg strain almost immediately and got tuckered out more quickly than I have been. I thought that was due to me being in bed from Wednesday to Monday, but when I started cantering, I couldn’t get my leg on him. The weirdest thing was jumping – that was when the Antares really shined. The balance is effortless over jumps, but I can’t seem to get my leg on him to the fences without lifting my heel up and bringing my leg back – ugh. I also felt a lot of leg and hip strain. I was confused. Do I keep the saddle that seems to be better balanced over fences, knowing that it actually hurts me to ride? I could always replace the foam panels with wool for about $400. I took the Albion with me for xc schooling, since it’s never really been put to the test, and immediately I noticed that the balance for flatwork was much, much better and seemed a lot easier. It also fits Oliver so much better. I borrowed one of Christan’s Thinline Trifecta pads, to see if I could get a bit more close contact feel, and it seemed to work pretty well. It only works because the saddle is a pretty good fit, I think.
Anyway, we warmed up with him stretching for the bit almost immediately, which was a nice surprise as there were quite a few people warming up out there, and it was a great big open field, so I thought he’d be quite distracted. We popped over the crossrail a few time, then the vertical twice, and then the oxer once, and since everybody else had taken off without me (rude), I caught up and headed over to the start box. The first fence was the one you saw when we were there – a simple hanging log on a pedestal. Oliver hasn’t jumped xc since December, but he picked up the canter towards it and then, about 6 strides out, really SAW it and started to wiggle, first one shoulder, then the other, but I put my spurs into him lightly and he jumped it quite nicely, albeit a tad underpowered. We circled around and tried again, but two people cut me off and jumped the jump just as I was heading for it (even RUDER), so I had to circle twice and then come at it, and this time Oliver jumped it nicely. That was when I realized that my Albion lets me put my leg on him. If I had been riding in my Antares, I’m sure I would have to resort to some hand riding since I can’t seem to get my leg on, and it’s possible he would have run out – he wasn’t trying very hard to escape me, but if I didn’t have my legs on, I think he could have wiggled out of it. Since the second jump went well, we went down that hill to the pheasant feeder, next to those HUGE brush fences at the bottom of the hill. I trotted the feeder, but Oliver saw it, started cantering about four strides out, and neatly popped over it and cantered up the hill to join the others. We all hacked up the hill to the spooky feeders (for some reason, they’re spooky and they get people every single show – maybe it’s the way they are angled on the top of the hill), and cantered over them – Oliver looked, but he stayed nice and straight and we had a lovely jump. We took a left and cantered the Hobbit’s Hut. This is where I noticed the benefits of having an uphill horse – the approach to the Hobbit’s Hut is downhill, around a group of trees, so the approach is a bit obscured until about 6 strides out. Oliver was having none of this trotting thing, so we cantered down the hill, me keeping my leg on, softly bumping his sides with my calves, sitting back, with my hands raised but forward, and he saw the Hut and just bounced over it without a look, and then cantered down the hill. Down the hill I had to sit up and really put my leg on and ride him up into the bit, but after a few half-halts, he softened on his own and we stayed in balance pretty much the whole way. The group walked down the hill and up to the sunken road complex, where we had to wait a bit for the group before us (the one that cut me off) to finish. We decided to make it a line of fences - first, the cabins, and then down past the sunken road, over the ascending oxer, and then down by the ditch/Trakehner complex to what is now a red and black barn where the hanging log used to be. Oliver jumped each one out of stride, never missing a beat. He’s so easy to ride to a fence because he rises in front of you, shifting his balance back, and he’s got that Warmblood sense of rhythm where every stride is practically the same, so the spots just appear. The last one was the best – Michelle told me to focus on something at the top of the hill, and I did and he powered it out of stride. We then cantered up the hill, popped the little hanging log off a right turn, and then we were faced with the Novice bank/drop complex. Everybody did it (they were all on more experienced horses), and it looked like such fun that I thought I’d try it. I used to be scared of this when I had Miles, but then Sam did it and made it so easy that I haven’t been afraid of it ever since. So, I wandered down the hill a ways to get some momentum, picked up the canter, and then about 6 strides out, started to showjump the canter. Oliver was a bit confused so he lurched up the bank, but then he saw the “out” log, straightened himself out, and leapt out over the log – he didn’t touch ground until the ground leveled on the other side. It rode beautifully – I just clamped my lower leg on, slipped the reins, and I think I even yelled “yeehaw”, much to my embarrassment, in midair. Of course, he over jumped it, but it was such a bold move on his part and so much fun that we didn’t do it again. SUCH a brave, good pony!!! We cantered over the gray BN bench as a let up/ easy fence for him, and then we walked through the water complex. Oliver barely hesitated through the water, so we trotted though the next time, and then hopped over a tiny rolltop about two strides out. We cantered the rolltop back in, cantered through the water, and then we decided to do the Novice combo – blue and white overturned boat, three strides into the water, jump out of the water over a log pile, and then hard right turn over the Novice cabin. He was perfect over the boat, cantered through the water easily, hopped out over the logpile, but I had to sort of yank him around the turn because he wanted to go straight, but then he saw the cabin, straightened himself out, and had a gorgeous jump over the cabin. I was so proud of him – he’s really starting to think and assess the situation for himself. The group went to jump the big brown table in the field – I opted out of that because it wasn’t necessary to jump it – I’m not going Novice any time soon, and it was just a big brown table. We went into the second water complex – the Duck Pond. It was a splash in, and then you had several options – a largish rolltop out, set at the edge of the water (Novice), or jump in, one stride water, through the water, one stride up over a pimple jump (Training). We did the Training one, foot perfect. By now, Sam would have been huffing and puffing and getting a bit tired, but Oliver had only broken a sweat (not foaming) and wasn’t breathing hard at all. The joys of a purpose-bred horse! We finished by jumping up the bank (Ollie understood the question now), and then bending line over a brown rolltop, then finished by jumping a grey bench out in the first field. Perfect. I jumped off him to walk him back, but he had so much energy that he practically pulled me back to the trailers.
I cannot believe how good he was. He didn’t wiggle to anything except the first jump – everything else he took like a seasoned pro. I had no intentions of doing anything other than a few BN jumps and paddle through the water – I never planned on doing some complex Novice lines! Plus, he’s jumping really well, really pushing off his hind end, rather than just cantering over the fence, and I felt very safe and secure in my Albion, which tells me that the Antares is for sale. I think we’re ready for Lumber River now, but since I’ve never had luck at that show, we’re doing FenRidge instead. Yay for Ollie!
On Thursday, I had tried out my Antares again because Christan said something about not being able to put her leg on Oliver riding in her new Devoucoux (she likes her Antares better), and I was wondering if there was a difference between my Antares and my Albion. First of all, that Antares does NOT fit him – it’s too wide, and almost presses down on his withers, and the panels scoop away from him back, which is sort of flat because of how uphill he’s built. Immediately I noticed that I felt very much closer to him, but that could be because the panels are so much thinner and it’s too wide. I also noticed that posting the trot seemed like WORK – I started to feel some leg strain almost immediately and got tuckered out more quickly than I have been. I thought that was due to me being in bed from Wednesday to Monday, but when I started cantering, I couldn’t get my leg on him. The weirdest thing was jumping – that was when the Antares really shined. The balance is effortless over jumps, but I can’t seem to get my leg on him to the fences without lifting my heel up and bringing my leg back – ugh. I also felt a lot of leg and hip strain. I was confused. Do I keep the saddle that seems to be better balanced over fences, knowing that it actually hurts me to ride? I could always replace the foam panels with wool for about $400. I took the Albion with me for xc schooling, since it’s never really been put to the test, and immediately I noticed that the balance for flatwork was much, much better and seemed a lot easier. It also fits Oliver so much better. I borrowed one of Christan’s Thinline Trifecta pads, to see if I could get a bit more close contact feel, and it seemed to work pretty well. It only works because the saddle is a pretty good fit, I think.
Anyway, we warmed up with him stretching for the bit almost immediately, which was a nice surprise as there were quite a few people warming up out there, and it was a great big open field, so I thought he’d be quite distracted. We popped over the crossrail a few time, then the vertical twice, and then the oxer once, and since everybody else had taken off without me (rude), I caught up and headed over to the start box. The first fence was the one you saw when we were there – a simple hanging log on a pedestal. Oliver hasn’t jumped xc since December, but he picked up the canter towards it and then, about 6 strides out, really SAW it and started to wiggle, first one shoulder, then the other, but I put my spurs into him lightly and he jumped it quite nicely, albeit a tad underpowered. We circled around and tried again, but two people cut me off and jumped the jump just as I was heading for it (even RUDER), so I had to circle twice and then come at it, and this time Oliver jumped it nicely. That was when I realized that my Albion lets me put my leg on him. If I had been riding in my Antares, I’m sure I would have to resort to some hand riding since I can’t seem to get my leg on, and it’s possible he would have run out – he wasn’t trying very hard to escape me, but if I didn’t have my legs on, I think he could have wiggled out of it. Since the second jump went well, we went down that hill to the pheasant feeder, next to those HUGE brush fences at the bottom of the hill. I trotted the feeder, but Oliver saw it, started cantering about four strides out, and neatly popped over it and cantered up the hill to join the others. We all hacked up the hill to the spooky feeders (for some reason, they’re spooky and they get people every single show – maybe it’s the way they are angled on the top of the hill), and cantered over them – Oliver looked, but he stayed nice and straight and we had a lovely jump. We took a left and cantered the Hobbit’s Hut. This is where I noticed the benefits of having an uphill horse – the approach to the Hobbit’s Hut is downhill, around a group of trees, so the approach is a bit obscured until about 6 strides out. Oliver was having none of this trotting thing, so we cantered down the hill, me keeping my leg on, softly bumping his sides with my calves, sitting back, with my hands raised but forward, and he saw the Hut and just bounced over it without a look, and then cantered down the hill. Down the hill I had to sit up and really put my leg on and ride him up into the bit, but after a few half-halts, he softened on his own and we stayed in balance pretty much the whole way. The group walked down the hill and up to the sunken road complex, where we had to wait a bit for the group before us (the one that cut me off) to finish. We decided to make it a line of fences - first, the cabins, and then down past the sunken road, over the ascending oxer, and then down by the ditch/Trakehner complex to what is now a red and black barn where the hanging log used to be. Oliver jumped each one out of stride, never missing a beat. He’s so easy to ride to a fence because he rises in front of you, shifting his balance back, and he’s got that Warmblood sense of rhythm where every stride is practically the same, so the spots just appear. The last one was the best – Michelle told me to focus on something at the top of the hill, and I did and he powered it out of stride. We then cantered up the hill, popped the little hanging log off a right turn, and then we were faced with the Novice bank/drop complex. Everybody did it (they were all on more experienced horses), and it looked like such fun that I thought I’d try it. I used to be scared of this when I had Miles, but then Sam did it and made it so easy that I haven’t been afraid of it ever since. So, I wandered down the hill a ways to get some momentum, picked up the canter, and then about 6 strides out, started to showjump the canter. Oliver was a bit confused so he lurched up the bank, but then he saw the “out” log, straightened himself out, and leapt out over the log – he didn’t touch ground until the ground leveled on the other side. It rode beautifully – I just clamped my lower leg on, slipped the reins, and I think I even yelled “yeehaw”, much to my embarrassment, in midair. Of course, he over jumped it, but it was such a bold move on his part and so much fun that we didn’t do it again. SUCH a brave, good pony!!! We cantered over the gray BN bench as a let up/ easy fence for him, and then we walked through the water complex. Oliver barely hesitated through the water, so we trotted though the next time, and then hopped over a tiny rolltop about two strides out. We cantered the rolltop back in, cantered through the water, and then we decided to do the Novice combo – blue and white overturned boat, three strides into the water, jump out of the water over a log pile, and then hard right turn over the Novice cabin. He was perfect over the boat, cantered through the water easily, hopped out over the logpile, but I had to sort of yank him around the turn because he wanted to go straight, but then he saw the cabin, straightened himself out, and had a gorgeous jump over the cabin. I was so proud of him – he’s really starting to think and assess the situation for himself. The group went to jump the big brown table in the field – I opted out of that because it wasn’t necessary to jump it – I’m not going Novice any time soon, and it was just a big brown table. We went into the second water complex – the Duck Pond. It was a splash in, and then you had several options – a largish rolltop out, set at the edge of the water (Novice), or jump in, one stride water, through the water, one stride up over a pimple jump (Training). We did the Training one, foot perfect. By now, Sam would have been huffing and puffing and getting a bit tired, but Oliver had only broken a sweat (not foaming) and wasn’t breathing hard at all. The joys of a purpose-bred horse! We finished by jumping up the bank (Ollie understood the question now), and then bending line over a brown rolltop, then finished by jumping a grey bench out in the first field. Perfect. I jumped off him to walk him back, but he had so much energy that he practically pulled me back to the trailers.
I cannot believe how good he was. He didn’t wiggle to anything except the first jump – everything else he took like a seasoned pro. I had no intentions of doing anything other than a few BN jumps and paddle through the water – I never planned on doing some complex Novice lines! Plus, he’s jumping really well, really pushing off his hind end, rather than just cantering over the fence, and I felt very safe and secure in my Albion, which tells me that the Antares is for sale. I think we’re ready for Lumber River now, but since I’ve never had luck at that show, we’re doing FenRidge instead. Yay for Ollie!
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Oliver's officially barefoot (and sound!)
So, I had a good jumping lesson, and Ollie is sound without shoes, even without Easyboots, so I’m hopeful that he can remain barefoot for a while, at least through Training level. I found this cool hand rasp in the Back in the Saddle catalog, which looks easier to use than a traditional farrier’s rasp, so I can use that to help smooth off the rough edges until the nail holes grow out. I’ve found with Oliver that I have to ride him up into the bridle right away, until he starts to swing through his back, and when he starts to offer a balanced stretch, I can let him take the reins down. He’s getting more spring in his trot, which is a really neat feeling, and also tells me he’s getting stronger. Christan found out a lesson or two ago about my combination phobia (in and outs, and bounces where you have to canter in are the worst for me), so she made me ride a few forward one strides. She also made me do a few bending lines. She kept the height low, but I found that what I tend to do is not get back into the saddle quickly enough between jumps, so I lean and pull at the second fence, which causes Oliver to jump over his forehand. I am really trying hard not to sit down and lean backwards in the saddle, tipping my pelvis under me, but there is a certain amount of leaning backwards I have to do to get my rear in the saddle and my leg on. Someone mentioned it before – your eyes are in the seat of your pants, and when I’m not sitting down, I can’t see my stride so I lean and pull. This, too, has to do with how Holly was having me ride – more forward and lighter in the tack, so I’m fighting those bad habits as well. Today, when I rode, I practiced opening up his canter, and then sitting down and collecting it around the corners, and then opening it up again, so I could practice sitting back down and rebalancing him without hollowing and pulling on him. I found that if I do more of a bump,bump, bump with my calves, instead of just squeezing, I can use my leg more effectively. I have had the hardest time with using my leg into more collection – it seems that I’m squeezing with all my might and nothing happens! So, I tried doing more of a bumping action today, and Oliver responded quite well. I don’t know if that’s the correct way to use your legs, but it seems to work for me, as long as I don’t take my leg off completely to bump him up. Funny how much softer in the bridle he gets the more leg you use ;^). Oh, and I just adore my Albion jumping saddle. I even like it for flatting, almost as much as my dressage saddle.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Oliver has a physical breakthrough!
OK, so Greg came out today and worked on Oliver. The first thing he said was that Ollie had put on some muscle, was standing taller and more evenly, and his neck looked good. Yay! He worked on him for about 45 minutes, which is good because he normally works on him for about an hour and a half (!), and said that Oliver was much better than before. He didn’t spend as much time on the areas that he used to (sacroiliac region, and inner thighs) and instead just worked a bit on the withers and a spot near the poll on the left, which he said was new, but no big deal. Although he (Greg) didn’t say it outright, Oliver is better than he thought he would be and we continue to have steady improvement.
Christan and I decided to go through with my lesson after all, even in the rain, which was a fine drizzly mist (what the Irish like to call a “fine, soft day”), and Greg thought it would be a good idea to get Oliver to stretch out his hind legs some over fences. Right away, I noticed a difference. Usually, when he’s feeling sticky, it feels like he’s really pounding the ground to the right – probably because he’s sort of hitching his right hind up instead of putting underneath himself and pushing himself along. Today, however, the minute I picked up the trot, it felt even to me, and Christan echoed my thoughts by telling me almost immediately that he looked just fine. I was thrilled! We trotted a bit, cantered a bit more, which also felt nice and soft and fluid, even to the right, and then hopped over a few small fences. He was very easy to place to the jump – I was careful not to sit too heavily on him to the fence and he responded by rocking back and jumping from a good spot. The best part was that Christan said that it was the best he’s ever jumped – he was rocking back more than usual and pushing off instead of just cantering over the fences. To top it off, he just had his shoes pulled (a misunderstanding by Christan, who thought I wanted them off now, instead of after the show) and was a tad ouchy, which is why we didn’t ride a lot more, and the ground was a tad slick from all the rain. We were both soaked when we were done, but it was a GOOD ride.
Christan and I decided to go through with my lesson after all, even in the rain, which was a fine drizzly mist (what the Irish like to call a “fine, soft day”), and Greg thought it would be a good idea to get Oliver to stretch out his hind legs some over fences. Right away, I noticed a difference. Usually, when he’s feeling sticky, it feels like he’s really pounding the ground to the right – probably because he’s sort of hitching his right hind up instead of putting underneath himself and pushing himself along. Today, however, the minute I picked up the trot, it felt even to me, and Christan echoed my thoughts by telling me almost immediately that he looked just fine. I was thrilled! We trotted a bit, cantered a bit more, which also felt nice and soft and fluid, even to the right, and then hopped over a few small fences. He was very easy to place to the jump – I was careful not to sit too heavily on him to the fence and he responded by rocking back and jumping from a good spot. The best part was that Christan said that it was the best he’s ever jumped – he was rocking back more than usual and pushing off instead of just cantering over the fences. To top it off, he just had his shoes pulled (a misunderstanding by Christan, who thought I wanted them off now, instead of after the show) and was a tad ouchy, which is why we didn’t ride a lot more, and the ground was a tad slick from all the rain. We were both soaked when we were done, but it was a GOOD ride.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Discouragement and thinking about racing bikes after all...
Oliver doesn't seem to be getting a whole lot better - he's not holding his adjustments like we had hoped.
I had a lesson a couple of weeks ago and the whole time Christan was saying “don’t you FEEL that?” and I didn’t feel a thing. Made me feel like a real idiot – she didn’t, but the fact that I couldn’t and the fact that she was getting exasperated with the fact that I couldn’t feel anything made me feel less than stellar. I think it’s because I’m so used to any gait irregularities he has that I don’t notice anything unusual.
Argh. With all of this, I’m going through some serious motivational issues right now. Greg worked on him and said that after the 5th time or so, he has a good idea of how they’re going to be and if they’re going to make any more significant improvement. Well, this next time will be the 5th time (April 2). He’s not holding the adjustment and he keeps torqueing his hips to one side, which prevents him from truly swinging up underneath himself and pushing off evenly with both hind legs. What worries me more than anything is that I’ll get spun from the dressage because he’ll appear to be “off”. Greg said that it would really depend on the judge. This is very disheartening. It makes me not want to do a recognized show because I don’t want to get spun after dressage for a “lame” horse. Can you see where this is going? It makes me not want to show at all anymore. The real problem is that I absolutely adore Oliver, and don’t want to sell him and try again, this time with an extremely thorough vetting.
So I guess that leaves me with a very well-bred trail horse. Not even competitive trail horse, because he might get spun at the vetting. Just a plain old, ordinary backyard trail horse. I know I’m being pessimistic and overreacting right now, but this is sort of the way my mindset has been these past two weeks. And yes, it’s affected my desire to actually go out and ride. I’d rather ride my bike, which doesn’t go lame. It also doesn’t whinny at me and come trotting over for a head rub.
Christan was REALLY tough on me during my lesson. I mean tough, and even a little bit mean. She wanted me to jump a rolltop oxer out, roll back and then jump through the in and out, go out around the tree and roll back to a vertical plank, and then take a bending line to an oxer. I did a beautiful jump over the rolltop, panicked slightly about the “in” in the in and out (which is typical – I have this fear that if I don’t get in correctly, the out will ride badly), rode the “out” nicely, and then promptly forgot to roll back around the tree to the plank and just sort of cantered along aimlessly. She chewed me out for that one, saying that I had to start focusing more. I told her that I got rattled by the bad jump in, and told her why combination fences scare me, and she then pointed out to me that even though I had messed up the “in” every single time, I still managed to ride the one stride out without a hitch. I still don’t know why in and outs bother me. She also said that I had to really start to buckle down and get fitter by riding more and not just doing one or two circles and then taking a break – not fair, as I haven’t been doing that at all. I get out there and have started really pushing myself and Oliver longer and harder without a break, doing more concentrated work for a shorter period of time, but Christan doesn’t see that. However, she is probably reacting to the fact that I’m overweight and tend to turn red quickly, but I wish people would stop thinking that just because I’m overweight, I must sit around and not do anything athletic and that’s why I’m carrying a few extra pounds (well, maybe more than a few). Part of the reason I’m breathing harder these days is because of all the pollen flying around – I wake up short of breath and go around most of the day feeling a bit tight in the chest. I know that the pain in my left leg is partly due to lack of fitness on the horse, but there’s also something wrong with me physically that’s causing this pain, and I’m not sure what to do about it. Christan says I need to see Greg, but with Emma and Oliver both seeing Greg, I can’t afford to have him work on me, too.
Anyway, Christan did say that I’m riding better than ever before, and that is why she is being hard on me – because I’m capable, but I’m so, so discouraged about everything. I know I should stop making excuses for myself and just shut up and ride, and I do enjoy my rides, but I keep worrying about Oliver. C says I shouldn’t, because she said that if I gave her Oliver today, she’d take him Novice tomorrow and not think twice about it.
I had a lesson a couple of weeks ago and the whole time Christan was saying “don’t you FEEL that?” and I didn’t feel a thing. Made me feel like a real idiot – she didn’t, but the fact that I couldn’t and the fact that she was getting exasperated with the fact that I couldn’t feel anything made me feel less than stellar. I think it’s because I’m so used to any gait irregularities he has that I don’t notice anything unusual.
Argh. With all of this, I’m going through some serious motivational issues right now. Greg worked on him and said that after the 5th time or so, he has a good idea of how they’re going to be and if they’re going to make any more significant improvement. Well, this next time will be the 5th time (April 2). He’s not holding the adjustment and he keeps torqueing his hips to one side, which prevents him from truly swinging up underneath himself and pushing off evenly with both hind legs. What worries me more than anything is that I’ll get spun from the dressage because he’ll appear to be “off”. Greg said that it would really depend on the judge. This is very disheartening. It makes me not want to do a recognized show because I don’t want to get spun after dressage for a “lame” horse. Can you see where this is going? It makes me not want to show at all anymore. The real problem is that I absolutely adore Oliver, and don’t want to sell him and try again, this time with an extremely thorough vetting.
So I guess that leaves me with a very well-bred trail horse. Not even competitive trail horse, because he might get spun at the vetting. Just a plain old, ordinary backyard trail horse. I know I’m being pessimistic and overreacting right now, but this is sort of the way my mindset has been these past two weeks. And yes, it’s affected my desire to actually go out and ride. I’d rather ride my bike, which doesn’t go lame. It also doesn’t whinny at me and come trotting over for a head rub.
Christan was REALLY tough on me during my lesson. I mean tough, and even a little bit mean. She wanted me to jump a rolltop oxer out, roll back and then jump through the in and out, go out around the tree and roll back to a vertical plank, and then take a bending line to an oxer. I did a beautiful jump over the rolltop, panicked slightly about the “in” in the in and out (which is typical – I have this fear that if I don’t get in correctly, the out will ride badly), rode the “out” nicely, and then promptly forgot to roll back around the tree to the plank and just sort of cantered along aimlessly. She chewed me out for that one, saying that I had to start focusing more. I told her that I got rattled by the bad jump in, and told her why combination fences scare me, and she then pointed out to me that even though I had messed up the “in” every single time, I still managed to ride the one stride out without a hitch. I still don’t know why in and outs bother me. She also said that I had to really start to buckle down and get fitter by riding more and not just doing one or two circles and then taking a break – not fair, as I haven’t been doing that at all. I get out there and have started really pushing myself and Oliver longer and harder without a break, doing more concentrated work for a shorter period of time, but Christan doesn’t see that. However, she is probably reacting to the fact that I’m overweight and tend to turn red quickly, but I wish people would stop thinking that just because I’m overweight, I must sit around and not do anything athletic and that’s why I’m carrying a few extra pounds (well, maybe more than a few). Part of the reason I’m breathing harder these days is because of all the pollen flying around – I wake up short of breath and go around most of the day feeling a bit tight in the chest. I know that the pain in my left leg is partly due to lack of fitness on the horse, but there’s also something wrong with me physically that’s causing this pain, and I’m not sure what to do about it. Christan says I need to see Greg, but with Emma and Oliver both seeing Greg, I can’t afford to have him work on me, too.
Anyway, Christan did say that I’m riding better than ever before, and that is why she is being hard on me – because I’m capable, but I’m so, so discouraged about everything. I know I should stop making excuses for myself and just shut up and ride, and I do enjoy my rides, but I keep worrying about Oliver. C says I shouldn’t, because she said that if I gave her Oliver today, she’d take him Novice tomorrow and not think twice about it.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
No Denny's HT for me (or Longleaf, or...)
Greg is still working through issues on Oliver. Sometimes, I wish I hadn't opened that can of worms and just let Ollie be, because I wonder when (if?) we're going to see the end of this. Ollie had regressed a little bit in his PT, and was moving a tad stiffly behind like he was before. Greg came out and worked on him and was able to go REALLY deep and unlock stuff he wasn't able to do before, which is good news, but it also tells me just how much more there is to unlock. Greg said something to the effect of "he must have been in a heck of a wreck" when he was younger. Oi vey.
Anyway, I let Oliver be for a few days afterwards, anticipating a lot of soreness and stiffness ( I remember how I felt my first time after Greg working on me!) and when I took him out, he lost his left lead. I was worried, but then I rode him again and it was back, but not was pretty as before (the transition, that is). I guess we're still working through thing. Due to all of this, I didn't get my entry fee in to Denny's in time, so I have to sit this one out - right now, as a matter of fact, because the show is in progress as I'm typing. OH well. I have my entry in for MacNair's for next weekend, so it isn't so bad. I'm hoping that we can school xc at the end of the month at the Horse Park, which will mean that I need to put in my Friends of the Park fee for that. We're going Maiden for MacNair's, and then in April I will most likely go BN. I think we might be able to shoot for Lumber River, if I don't chicken out due to the incredible heat we always get around that timeframe.
We have a dressage arena at our new place - wheee!!! I'm so excited. I'm such a geek to get excited about a blooming dressage arena, but it helps so much because I always get marked down for missing the geometry at a show. Plus, it helps me with my canter transitions. A real dressage arena is always bigger than I expect it to be. There's more room in there for canter work than I had origninally thought. I had a jumping lesson with Christan, with Joe watching for the first time, and it went really really well. I was so happy. I'm finally figuring out how to keep my leg on Oliver, even with a shorter stirrup, and maintain that bouncy canter to the fence. Christan said I do a nice job with rebalancing him about 8 strides out, but then I lose it and end up missing out spot because of it. Apparently, I also like the long spot, which baffled me as I thought I liked to go deep better. I think it's a result of trying desperately NOT to pull on his face to hold for the spot, so I just sort of let things go. Christan told me to really sit and "maintain the canter with my seat and leg" before the jump, not my hands, and what do you know - it worked like a charm. Once I could concentrate on keeping the canter with a different part of my body, other than my hands, it worked very well. Oliver kept the rhythm the same to the jump, no more rushing, and we were able to hold for the deeper spot. Then, we cantered over a vertical, and a very bendy line to an oxer. I tended to let Ollie run out of steam before the oxer, so we ended up with sort of a flat jump, so I had to really leg, leg, leg it to the base of the oxer. The jumps were more BN size than we've jumped before, and Oliver was sort of bored with the whole thing. That's nice to know that the size of the jump really doesn't impress him. It also tells me that he's able to sit down a bit better in front of the jump, so we're definitely making progress.
Took him for a trail ride yesterday, just around the property (there is really no place for a real trail ride), and he was quite good. A bit lookier than usual, but he behaved himself very well and even picked up his leads out there, trotting around on the bit. The new barn is gorgeous, but I miss the trails of Weymouth Woods.
Anyway, I let Oliver be for a few days afterwards, anticipating a lot of soreness and stiffness ( I remember how I felt my first time after Greg working on me!) and when I took him out, he lost his left lead. I was worried, but then I rode him again and it was back, but not was pretty as before (the transition, that is). I guess we're still working through thing. Due to all of this, I didn't get my entry fee in to Denny's in time, so I have to sit this one out - right now, as a matter of fact, because the show is in progress as I'm typing. OH well. I have my entry in for MacNair's for next weekend, so it isn't so bad. I'm hoping that we can school xc at the end of the month at the Horse Park, which will mean that I need to put in my Friends of the Park fee for that. We're going Maiden for MacNair's, and then in April I will most likely go BN. I think we might be able to shoot for Lumber River, if I don't chicken out due to the incredible heat we always get around that timeframe.
We have a dressage arena at our new place - wheee!!! I'm so excited. I'm such a geek to get excited about a blooming dressage arena, but it helps so much because I always get marked down for missing the geometry at a show. Plus, it helps me with my canter transitions. A real dressage arena is always bigger than I expect it to be. There's more room in there for canter work than I had origninally thought. I had a jumping lesson with Christan, with Joe watching for the first time, and it went really really well. I was so happy. I'm finally figuring out how to keep my leg on Oliver, even with a shorter stirrup, and maintain that bouncy canter to the fence. Christan said I do a nice job with rebalancing him about 8 strides out, but then I lose it and end up missing out spot because of it. Apparently, I also like the long spot, which baffled me as I thought I liked to go deep better. I think it's a result of trying desperately NOT to pull on his face to hold for the spot, so I just sort of let things go. Christan told me to really sit and "maintain the canter with my seat and leg" before the jump, not my hands, and what do you know - it worked like a charm. Once I could concentrate on keeping the canter with a different part of my body, other than my hands, it worked very well. Oliver kept the rhythm the same to the jump, no more rushing, and we were able to hold for the deeper spot. Then, we cantered over a vertical, and a very bendy line to an oxer. I tended to let Ollie run out of steam before the oxer, so we ended up with sort of a flat jump, so I had to really leg, leg, leg it to the base of the oxer. The jumps were more BN size than we've jumped before, and Oliver was sort of bored with the whole thing. That's nice to know that the size of the jump really doesn't impress him. It also tells me that he's able to sit down a bit better in front of the jump, so we're definitely making progress.
Took him for a trail ride yesterday, just around the property (there is really no place for a real trail ride), and he was quite good. A bit lookier than usual, but he behaved himself very well and even picked up his leads out there, trotting around on the bit. The new barn is gorgeous, but I miss the trails of Weymouth Woods.
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