The Lesson Here?

I talk about bitting a lot, I think.  But my somewhat-frequent bitting changes are rather validated, I think.  I work to find the bit that works best for each horse in a given situation, thereby keeping both the horse and rider happy.  And then when I find what works, I leave it.

I took Star on a trail ride last night (well, evening).  It was a rather impulsive thing - I was about to go to the arena when my already-mounted barnmate asked if I wanted to go on a short trail ride with her.  I thought for a moment and decided Star might like that.  I then thought for a moment more about changing her bridle from her snaffle (the same snaffle I've flatted her in since August, I might add!) into her ready-to-go bridle with the Kimberwicke.  And then I thought, "Nah, it will be fine."  So I mounted up and off we went.

The first half of the trail ride was rather uneventful; my barnmate was in front and Star was in back (Star is *not* brave).  And then we turned around.  And Star was in front.  And we were going home.  And Star had been that way before.  And I had *no* brakes and a suddenly brave horse.

Our fast(!) walk turned into a jog, which turned into a trot, which turned into a faster trot, which turned into a canter, which turned into me thinking, "Just don't hit any branches!"  That damn mare merrily cantered along the trail... and I was just along for the ride.  Until we got to the creek, that is.  I don't know that I've ever seen something induce such fast breaking in that mare.  If she were a car, her tires would have screeched as she slid to a halt.  And I, thankfully, halted with her, rather than continuing over her head.

I made my barnmate get back in front of us, and the rest of our ride home was uneventful.  And you know what?  I couldn't even be mad at the damn horse - lol!  Horses are just that - horses.  At the end of the day, no one was hurt, and nothing happened.  And I was the idiot who didn't heed my own warning and change the bridle.

The lesson here?  Listen to your gut.

P**ters*n Ponies REPRESENT!

YAY!  As Honorary Big Sister Jen put it, what a difference a year makes!  The Sparkplug made his first IEA outing of the season on Sunday.  I equipped him with a Happy Mouth full cheek with a rolly peanut and his riders with no crop or spurs.  He was put in the pool for 2'6" and 2'0" flat.  And I had no idea how it was going to go.

As it turned out, my little Napolean was just about perfect!  I rode him for his warm up, taking a good, long time.  I could tell he was definitely unsure and nervous, but he just tucked in his nose and trucked along.  He was perfect for warm-up, and as I got off, I was feeling pretty good.  The only thing that could muck it up would be a rider who couldn't ride for shizzy.  Been there, done that... got pulled.

I had to leave to go to work, so I left Sparky in Honorary Big Sister Jen's capable hands.  His first class was a 2'6" flat class.  All was well until the canter, when Sparky popped off a wrong lead.  And then the same on the reverse.  And a little bucky for a swap.  Uh-oh.  Tough break for the kid, but no mad-pony antics to get him pulled.  His next two kids, however, had perfect rides on him: correct leads and no antics!  The assessment then became that the first rider had maybe tried to ask a little too much of him, rather than just leaving him alone and letting him do his thing.  Sometimes the hardest thing for us to do as riders is to do nothing.

Star was, of course, her usual perfect self.  Our warmup was fun, especially when I went from the second-to-last fence to the last... but jumped the last one the wrong way.  Lesson: If you're going to do something wrong, do it with style!  Our turn between the last two fences was stellar - except for being wrong, of course.  I then did it correctly, but neither Star nor I thought the correct way was as much fun.

Overall, I am just tickled pink that Sparky did so well (and Star, too, of course)!  While we are still far from perfect, it certainly serves as a gauge of just how far we've come in the past year and shows that my work with my horses absolutely accomplishes something!  If I had more time, obviously we could progress faster, but hey, at the end of the day, we are progressing.

I'm just pleased as punch!  P**ters*n Ponies REPRESENT! =D

I'm BACK!

Something like that, anyway.  It's been a while - a LONG while - since I have actually felt like getting on more than one horse in one day.  Now some of this, I'm sure, has to do with my work schedule, but really, I just haven't been feeling it.

Finally, last night, for the first time in a long time, I rode multiple horses.  In fact, I rode all three horses.  Granted, I didn't ride any of them for a super-long time, but all three of them are out of shape, so it wouldn't have been fair of me to do any more than I did.

First I hopped on Sparky.  I wanted to see what kind of horse I had under me before I committed to either flatwork or jumping; there are some days that trying to do flatwork with him is an exercise in futility.  By Sparky's way of going, I could tell that pressing for "serious" flatwork just wasn't happening, so we did some W-T-C (which was all actually fairly good), and then went back and forth over a crossrail a few times.  I really focused on using my aids and starting to the right and finishing to the left (see the Greg Best clinic entries) to prevent his shift right (which was *quite* marked during our "how high can we go" day).  I really need to make a conscious effort to make these corrections with him so we don't run into problems as the fences go up.  After a few (maybe 8-10?) good jumps,  we stopped and cooled out.

I got Star out next, despite her baleful look as I went out to the pasture to get her.  I put her in her standard "flatting bit," which as of right now is a double-jointed eggbutt.  Star really needs to build her topline and butt muscles back up; she looks so front-heavy right now, it's not even funny.  We warmed up with a bit of trot and canter (Star's walk is so pokey and lazy that I long ago abandoned trying to use it to warm up), and then went back to a decent walk on a circle, with a bit more bend and connection.  We then moved up into the trot, and continued our circle.  I really tried to keep her stretched down and over her back and correctly bent.  As we trotted a bit more, we added a little bit of spiraling and some trot-halt-trot transitions to get her engaging her hind end.  Finally, right near the end of our right, she nailed it - I felt the best engagement of her hind end that I have ever felt from Star.

As I put Kellie in the crossties after finishing with Star, I saw that she was missing a front shoe.  Since she hasn't been worked in a probably a few months, and I was therefore already planning on not doing too much with her, I rationalized that it was not going to do her any harm to ride.  We started out just walking, Kellie reaching down and forward pretty well.  (Good!  She hadn't forgotten that part!)  We then did some snake-like patterns at the walk, and then proceeded to "following the nose," using small-ish circles to unlock her neck and bending correctly.  Once we moved up into the trot, I definitely had a giraffe for a little bit, but as I worked at remembering to keep my elbows soft, I had a horse that was eventually reaching down and bending more correctly.  After some good trot work each direction, we came down to a walk through a pretty nice transition (all things considered), and called it quits.

I feel like I'm back.  I don't have any goals, but I am feeling a drive to actually do something with all the horses again.  My work schedule has changed, so I will now have more time at the barn in the evenings, which should make it easier to work with multiple horses.  I think I am also going to start incorporating more longeing/long-lining back into the horses' routines.  I think it will be especially beneficial to Star, as I can use it to still get her working even I days I don't have time to ride.

It's supposed to rain tonight, so no barn, but tomorrow might be okay.  The footing should be really nice in the arena tomorrow, so as long as the weather forecast is not lying to me and traffic doesn't completely suck, I'll do horsey stuff tomorrow night.

AHHHHHH! Playing catch-up!

Okay, so here's the short story of my life since I last posted.

Nicole's Life:

Mid-November: BF came to visit (we are currently in a long-distance relationship of 800 miles.  He is in NYC; I am not) and (finally!) proposed to me
Thanksgiving Time: My grandparents came to visit for a week
Early-ish December: House-sitting for a week
Mid-December: Very busy at work and various dental, etc appointments thrown in
Late December - Early January: Holiday Travel (home for Christmas, to NY through New Year's)
Early-Mid-January: Parents visiting to look at wedding venues

So it's only been mid-late last week that I have started to have my normal life back.  Of course, "having my normal life back" is somewhat open to interpretation, now that I have more things to do!

There have been some IEA shows (Star has been great, and I've had a lot of fun warming up some other people's horses) and I've had some great rides at home on my own horses.  Star only jumps at home now when the footing is really good - so only after it rains.  A couple Sundays ago the footing was great, so I had some fun just raising the jump with Star.  We finished at 3'7"... I don't think we've jumped that since we went to Oklahoma City in 2010.

Sparky is doing well, too, even if he looks like a burro right now.  He's jumping everything I ask of him with no problem.  Our dressage needs some work, but experience tells me this will improve once the burro loses some weight.  Playing the same game with him that I did with Star, he jumped a 3'1" vertical a few weeks ago.  This is the highest he's ever jumped over (he has jumped up a 3'0" bank).  I'm optimistic that maybe we're finally getting someplace.

My plan for this week (now that the week is half over!) is to ride at least two evenings, depending on the weather and traffic.  Next week, I'll ride Sunday and maybe Monday, and then Oren will be here Tuesday and Wednesday.  I'll have to squeeze in some time going to the gym (ick!), so I'm not sure what things will look like after that.

There's a couple more IEA shows upcoming, but the schedule is not yet definite.  Star will be going, and Sparky might also get to tag along (yay!).  I'm really excited by the idea of Sparky going - he's come a long way in the past year, I think.

As for the new year, I'm not setting any "goals" or show schedule (we see how well that worked out last year!).  It's going to be a year with a lot of other goings-on and changes, so I don't think I can reliably plan on anything.  I would like to at least get to some smaller, local jumper stuff (with both horses), and maybe a schooling horse trial with Sparky, but I'm not planning on anything big.  The Mid-A Morgan Horse Show is on hiatus this year, so I can't go to that one regardless.  We'll see about the Dixie Cup.  I would love to get to a Gigi Nutter clinic or two this year, and hopefully Greg Best will be coming back.  Not sure if it will be in the cards, but I'd love to do another clinic with him.  And I would really like to make some progress with Kellie this year.

Okay, so maybe I do have a list of "ideals" or "would like to's", if not really goals.  We'll see how the year goes.

Belatedly, Happy New Year!

Project Pony Swap - Mounted Finale, or I'm Glad My Horses Potty Under Saddle



The Finale was not any great, grand event.  In fact, it was actually quite dismal, so I asked for a re-ride (a little IEA humor, there).  The initial "Final Ride" was pretty terrible.  There were some okay moments, but I finally had to settle for "good enough."  I dismount, take Squeaks back to the barn, and the first thing he does once in the wash rack?  He pees, and he poops.  Fine.  I can't ride so well when I'm doing the pee-pee dance inside, either... but it did make me very glad that my horses have no compunctions about using the bathroom when under saddle.

On Saturday evening, we tried again.  Thankfully, this time Tiki did not have to pee, so the ride went much better.  The focus was pretty much the same as it had been in past rides - creating the same bend through the entire body,  asking him to carry himself, and minimize that damn head tilting.  While I never felt like we achieved that same great trot we had in our second ride, I *did* get to experience the newest thing Susan and Jen had worked on: a new phrase from Gigi about "cantering in a teacup," and this really cool thing where the horse collects when the rider closes the knee.  A redheaded Thoroughbred is the perfect horse for that sort of thing!  Sure enough, at the canter, I closed my knee, and Tiki sat down, really collecting himself.  It was very cool.

I didn't push for much more after the canter - just a little bit more trot and then cooling down.  Tiki's attendance was required the following day at an IEA show, so I didn't want to make him work *too* hard - just hard enough to be a good babysitter! =P

The last part of Project Pony Swap will be to give each other lessons on our own horses.  Not quite sure when we'll be able to work that one out.

And as a complete aside: getting up before 4AM absolutely sucks.   

Project Pony Swap: Day Three

I'm either brave or stupid - I haven't quite figured out which - but sometimes, you just gotta do what you gotta do.
Last night was my third ride on Tiki for Project Pony Swap.  I had just ridden Sparky - who was very good - in his Duo bit, so his "bad boy" copper-rolly-ball pacifier had just been removed from his bridle.  And Tiki's bridle was bitless.  And Honorary Big Sister Jen had mentioned that she sometime wanted to try Sparky's "bad boy" copper-rolly-ball pacifier on Tiki.  No time like the present!  And, well, I didn't really want to ride in the dressage saddle last night, either.  At least I'm somewhat honest about my motives.

So I rode Tiki in Honorary Big Sister Jen's jump saddle and Sparky's bit.  And it was the worst ride I've ever had on Tiki - not that I've really had that many.  As I was getting Tiki ready, he seemed fresh and a bit pissy.  Well, when it's suddenly 45 degrees and windy, I can understand the fresh part.  We went up to the arena, and again started with the usual W-T-C on a loose rein.  Immediately, I knew I was in for a tricky ride.  Even on a loose rein, Tiki usually bends relatively correctly around turns.  Not so last night.  I felt like I was riding a sluggish board.  He did seem to like the bit at least somewhat, however - I could hear him playing with  it and sucking on it.

I worked with Tiki for quite a while, trying to gain some semblance of "in front of the leg" and "correct bend."  It improved slightly, but he still just felt tight.  At one point, I got off him and lunged him each direction for a minute to see if he was off.  He seemed fine, but obviously I needed to change my game plan.  So I pulled off the saddle.

Now, like any rider, I have my weaknesses.  But the one thing I do know is that I have a good seat.  I was hoping to use this in two ways: #1) Maybe I could convince Tiki to loosen up by him only feeling a nice, following seat, rather than a saddle that may or may not be in the usual place (Jen typically sets her saddle further forward than I; I tried to get it in the same place, but maybe I didn't); #2) Maybe it would help me stay on!  (Because you know, riding a horse you don't ride that often bareback on a chilly, windy night is so often a good idea).

I remounted and after trotting for a little bit, finally felt like maybe we we getting somewhere.  We never found that same, really nice, swingy trot that we had last week, but at least I wasn't riding a board; we found some bend, but Tiki still didn't think being in front of my leg was a great idea.  Worked on that a bit, and once the trot was decent, I decided to move up into a canter, just to have some positive canter work.  The canter was decent, but certainly not to where I could try any "cantering in a teacup" or magical "closing my knee = collection."  But we did have bend, and we did have acceptance of the bit, so I called it good. 

I didn't want push for too much longer, because my primary goal once I went to bareback was to just finish with something remotely positive.  I had noticed, however, that I could not for the life of me sit up.  One of my favorite off-color expressions (warning: parental guidance suggested; language) is that riders need to have shoulders like a princess and hips like a whore.  There were definitely no princess shoulders goin'on.  More like Quasimodo.  I was completely collapsed in my abs, and though by this point Tiki was going relatively well, I knew I couldn't be very effective riding like that.  We came back to a walk, and I adjusted my seat, sliding back a little bit from where I'd been sitting.  Like magic, I could suddenly sit up.  Now, I'm really not sure how the mechanics of that work, but I'll take it.  We spent a few more minutes at the trot, Tiki going pretty well and me not looking like I belong hidden in a bell tower of Notre Dame.  Walked a few minutes, then dismounted.  I had wanted to also try the concept of "floating my hands" for the halt transition, but I knew better than to tempt fate.  We had managed to finish positively; I wasn't going to push my luck.

I will be interested to see how Honorary Big Sister Jen likes Sparky's "bad boy" bit for Tiki; I'm reserving judgement on everything for now, because our rough time last night could have been due to any number of factors.  I felt that there was significantly less "head tilt is the same as bend, right?" coming from Tiki last night; I don't think there is ever a less-than-stellar ride without some good attributes.  And if I had not ridden Tiki bareback, I don't think I would have become quite so aware of my own issue with collapsing through my core.  Part of the point of Project Pony Swap is to help improve us as riders, as well.  I know that I will now be hyper-vigilant regarding my core.      

The Difference Between A Good Clip and A Bad Clip? Two Weeks.

After much back-and-forth, I finally decided that yes, Sparky is getting clipped again this year.  So Sunday was the big day.  Armed with a clean horse,  quieter clippers, new clipper blades, Show Sheen, Kool Lube, Blade Wash, earplugs (for the horse), and a bunny suit (science nerd term for full-body protective suit), I set about my mission.
I have definitely improved; the first time I did a whole body clip, it took me 8 hours.  Yes, 8 hours.  This time I think it only took about 2 1/2, partly because I had to spend some time hunting down an extension cord, and I also had to let the clippers cool down a few times.  It's not a perfect job - there are definitely some track marks, and I forgot about the hot water/baby oil rinse - but the reason for clipping Sparky was not to make him show-ready.  For once, I had truly only a practical purpose in mind, and that was to prevent him from getting so hot and sweaty as we work through the colder weather.  Yaks sweat a lot when worked, you know.  As an added bonus, Sparky is now BLACK again!  Two weeks from now and he'll be gorgeous.

I also did a sort of mini-lesson with Susan, to get some outside input on asking Star to work off her back end.  Star did well, and Susan's feedback was pretty much what I had been working on: transitions, working over the back and lifting the abdomen, shoulder-in, spirals, transitions within the gait, etc.  It's a bit hard for me right now, because I feel like I don't know how much I should be asking of Star - I'm always worried whether she's actually comfortable, or just pushing through - and I'm lacking any sort of goal or direction.  Yes, I can perfectly well enjoy riding my horse with no set goal in mind, but it's much easier for me to have a constructive, purposeful ride if I feel I am working towards something.  While I still don't have any actual long-term goal, talking with Susan did give me reassurance that I just need to keep working with Star at a normal load (but be careful about the footing on which I jump her) and gave me the short-term goal of really improving Star's transitions, especially up into trot from walk, as that one, in particular, is pretty much crap right now.

Star is going to another IEA show on Sunday; she was absolutely wonderful at the last one.  She was nearly perfect, just trucking along and doing her job, while other horses in the ring were leaping and bucking.  I was concerned for a time when she had a loose, floppy rider and looked off in the deep footing, but that went away once she had a better rider.  At one point the steward thanked me for bringing her. =)  The one other moment that was less-than-perfect was Star's random stop at a crossrail; I really don't think her rider caused it, so I felt bad for the rider, because they'd had a good round up to that point...  but you know you have a pretty neat horse when the first thing out of that rider's mouth as they come out of the the ring is, "I LOVE this horse!"