It Doesn't Always Start Well...

I had a lesson yesterday with Ryan Yap. I usually try to get on early and at least start my warm-up before he gets there, but I wasn't able to. I began the warm-up and was getting frustrated because Fire has started with "thing" where he warms up with his head up in the air like a pig. I can't force him into any sort of frame because then our entire ride is just crap. So I asked Ryan if this "cow frame" was acceptable for warm up, and he said that it was, that it might be a phase and that some horses just warm up like that. So, I accepted it and moved on.

After that bump in the road we went on to have a good ride. I relaxed and so did Fire. We worked on shortening and lengthening his stride to get him to really sit down into his transitions. In the past, Fire has gotten very upset while doing things like this, but took it like a star and didn't act up at all. The exercise was to ride in a circle and ride one 1/2 on a long strided posting trot, and then the other 1/2 was a short strided sitting trot, keeping the same rhythm. Many times Fire came above the bit when shortening his stride, but as long as he did not curl, this was okay and I just kept him in the short stride until he gave in the neck to then let him out in the longer stride. This really helped to engage his hind end in the trot and made him very active.

The canter work was next, where we worked on picking up the canter from the walk. The first transition was generally crap because Fire wasn't necessarily paying attention. I find it helpful to speak to the horse and tell him "canter" before the transition at this point so he is ready for what I want and has an upward and correct transition during this training period. Once we began working that way, they improved greatly and were followed by a lot of praise.

We quickly moved into asking for a counter canter, which admittedly, we were not ready for. If you're not ready for something, then don't do it! We did an extra circle and came back around to try again for the shallow serpentine that we had been asked to execute. At this point we had better balance and it was performed without hesitation and with good jump and balance. So then we moved to a harder counter canter: across the short diagonal and then around the short side and across the short diagonal again back to correct lead again. Since we had been practicing three loop serpentines going from correct lead to counter canter, this was not difficult for Fire to do, and he stayed very well balanced and did not try to run or break. I could tell that Ryan was pleasantly surprised, and moved onto the next move, mini half passes.I do have to admit, that one surprised me! I didn't think that Fire was ready for me to ask him to move in the way a mini half pass would have him move in the canter, but he surprised me and seemed to move very well, and all the way from the wall to the centerline. What a champ he is sometimes!

After the lesson Fire was very tired and earned his vetroline bath and time out eating in the pasture. My butt and stomach are super sore today from all the work my muscles got in yesterday, and I can't wait to see what is is store for us next time. I can really see good marked improvements. And it was nice to hear Ryan say that he was very impressed with our progress since we're alone and I don't have him to help me often. A very nice thing to say I think.

Gymnastics

Today we had a great ride that was mostly compromised of gymnastics. Fire started our ride not wanting to connect and be through today. Granted, I hadn't been out there for a while and he had a good 4 days off with no instruction. So, when you're given a lemony horse, one has to be able to make something of it, right? Right.

So to get him connected and thinking in the correct frame of body, and frame of mind we began with some big 3 loop serpentines, and then worked into some good leg yields from the center line. Once I started asking him for the leg yields, it was like he knew what I wanted from him and began working correctly from back to front and into my hands. We were then ready to work into the gymnastic part of the ride. Since Fire had started so evasive, I wanted him to understand that the reins go all over the place, but the constant is that I need him to keep searching out for the contact without getting upset (he tends to get frustrated with this concept). So we began in the trot because this is what is easier for him and what he is most familiar with. I'd ask him to come up into the frame for one 20m circle, and then ask him to stretch down and out for a BIG 20-25m circle and then back up into the collected frame. Once in the collected frame we would go straight down the 1/2 of the long side, then around the short side, and then I'd ask him for a medium trot down the long side. After that I would ask him to collect up while going back into our 20m circle, and once he collected from the medium, I would begin again into the bigger 20-25m stretchy trot. I noticed that with this gymnastic movement up, down, up, and out he began to carry himself very surely and correctly.

After the trot work I actually did some canter work. Fire really HATES walk work, so I decided to do it last. In the canter we worked a similar up, down and out. In this he is not very good at bringing himself out and just wants to go down. He's not on the forehand, but likes to keep his head down when he runs, even while in turn out. I'm sure in further training I'll just find a way to reward him when he does bring his nose out here or there.

The final work was done at the walk. What use to happen, and if you read through this blog you'll see, that Fire likes to rear and gets very upset while doing walk work. So, I knew there would be some tension while I was trying to work him in this gait. So, I slowly was asking him to walk forward and marching, while having a loose rein and then having short spurts where we did collection. He did not throw a "Fire" tantrum, so that was progress. I increased the amount of time I kept him in the collected frame and by the end of the ride could get him about 1/2 around the ring before letting him back down into a looser rein walk. The only protest he showed was grinding his teeth on the bit. Though nasty, that's much better than what I've run into in the past.

I think this was a good ride that showed how far he's come in his ability to shorten and lengthen his body properly when I ask. It's a very important step in the training process and sometimes can get lost while one is thinking "collection collection collection". I'm sure while we continue to keep work like this strong, our lengthening trots will come very easy when I eventually ask for them in full force. Fire has an extremely free shoulder (see: "Fire likes to Spanish walk when he's pissed) so I'm sure he'll have magnificent movement in the extensions.

Bonus: another fellow boarder mentioned how Fire looks to be losing weight! Finally he's starting to lose his giant white belly some! Maybe he noticed that I was losing some, so he thought he'd try to as well.

bob-omb!

Today it was a bit cooler out than it has been for the past few weeks. I had gotten use to walking up to the stall to a lackadaisical young man that didn't care whether he worked that day or just had an apple and went back to bed. I knew today was going to be different when I walked into the barn to him screaming and could see black and white spots bucking and rearing around the end stall. I thought that he might paw through the stall mat before I opened his door, I knew I was in for some sort of interesting ride.

He stood nice for getting tacked up, which was great because the biting flies were out and not showing much mercy. I though that maybe his mini "hi Mom" tantrum was a fluke and it was just him showing how excited he was to see me.

No dice.

I started him inside just in case he pulled something quick and fast right off the bat. Did he? Not yet. We had a great start inside, riding around with another horse in the ring. He seemed to be listening well and moving off of my leg correctly, so I thought I'd go outside. I mean, we hadn't been able to ride out there with the weather for some time now, so it was a great excuse to get out there. Once he was on his own and not by anyone else, it was game on. Now... we've ridden outside countless times with cars and semis blowing by, tractors pulling up, tarps blowing in the wind... everything. Today there was nothing special going on, but Fire saw ALL NEW THINGS. All of a sudden it felt like I was riding a real-life bob-omb. You know, those bombs from Mario brothers that walk around minding their own business, until just the slightest thing sets them off, and BOOM! Shit everywhere.

So we're going along and I'm trying to get him out of bob-omb mode. At this time we're trotting along and I'm trying to get him to listen, so I'm doing some easy things but things that will try to get his head back in the game. I start just doing figure eights, except that every time we switch directions and I put my new inside leg on, it was like it was hitting airspace. He would just totally curl his body around my leg and toss himself out to the new outside. ARG! I haven't been so aware of where my feet where in the stirrups for a VERY long time, but today I was because I felt like I was riding on a nonexistent horse for a while there... a nonexistent horse that at the drop of a leaf was going to explode. It was so strange, everything that moved he was super sensitive to and had a "oh LOOK" face on with his head up in the air. I pushed through a majority of it and decided to not tempt to Gods and went back to the inside arena to walk him out.

Once in the indoor he no longer felt like a scared bob-omb, but like a pissed off child who just wanted to be done. I tried to walk him and he started pawing at the ground. This is a telltale "Fire is throwing a fit now" sign. So... we went back to work. Except this time the work consisted of a bunch of transitions... transitions that were each met with a twist or a buck or attempted rear for about... five attempts. After the five attempts we had two very clean walk canter departs without him throwing a hissy fit, and then we stopped and just stood for a while in one place.

Its nice to know that that last tantrum only took about five attempts by the Fi man. I feel like even though this post may look negative, that there is a silver lining. Every horse has a rough time here or there, but its good to know that Fire is seemingly growing up some and isn't protesting for the entire ride.

A Great Lesson

I had a lesson yesterday with Ryan Yap at 1pm. Other than lightly perspiring (who am I kidding, it was gross and sweat was dripping down my back and off of my face), the lesson was a total success. I'd be lying if I said I had 100% confidence when I went into it. Since the last one was so bad, I was scared that Fire was going to have a repeat performance again this time.

I recently changed Fire's bit from a hollow broken snaffle, to a copper solid snaffle. I think the added weight and different type of metal in his mouth has been very helpful in our training. I find that he is wanting to hold the bit more consistently and since he now has more "respect" for it the connection is easier to find and his ability to just disregard the bit and toss it in his mouth is a lot less.

In the lesson we worked hard on our downward transactions and stretching. Since Fire hadn't properly been sitting with his bit for some time, he had learned a few bad habits. He likes to pull through the rein and pull me off of my center of balance when I ask for a downward transition, mostly from the tort to the walk. Ryan had me doing 10m circles and asking for the transitions within the circle, so that Fire had to push out and hang onto the outside rein. It really started to work with him, but we stopped before getting a "breakthrough" with it because of Fire's previous history with getting upset at the walk and rearing.

Once the lesson was over Ryan said that he could tell a big difference in the horse and he was stronger than the last time that he came out. He said that our next aim should be to start working shallow serpentines at the canter and counter canter to try to gain more strength. We should be able to set oen up again for this next Wed... so as long as the weather cooperates (can we say 105 degrees with the humidity?!?!) I should be able to work him through some more things and go even further for our next lesson. I'm sure I won't be so stressed this next time.

The Basics Can Set You Straight

Today I decided that I would go to the barn and do a total overhaul of things. The ride itself wasn't necessarily an overhaul I guess, but I did try to work on the core of things. We worked a lot today working over his topline and to stretch down and out. Fire has a tendency to like to curl under and suck the bit up. So, in really moving him up and out today, I attempted to reestablish his foundation some more. On top of working on trying to get him to properly work over his back correctly throughout the ride, we also worked hard to get some more "schwing" established. To work on this bit of foundation, we worked great even circles and three and four loop serpentines. I tired very hard to make this a very forward thinking and happy work day for Fire, but one that really got the foam built up.

Our ride went well and the pair of us stayed happy and balanced. Since I had been studying for the IL bar for so long, I felt like I had been riding very sloppy, of halfheartedly in the past few weeks. It was really nice to get back on today and push the fundamentals and feel like I had a really good partner on a wonderful Saturday afternoon.

Beyond that, of course, Fire did get a megga scrub down and polish. Since he is such a dirty horse all of the time, having an entire week off just made him dull looking and grungy by nature. So I curried, and got a giant bucket of some brightly colored purple shampoo that turns his whole body purple, and went to work. I scrubbed every inch of the dirt ball, even the extra dirty parts. After I cleaned up an inch from his life, I braided his mane in hopes that one day it will finally fall to one side (a girl can hope). And I also cleaned and oiled all of my tack really well.

I think I did all of this because my world has felt so turned upside-down for the pest three months. The barn has always been my safe haven, and it was over the three months, but because of studies, I wasn't able to put in the time and effort that I would like to into things. not into Fire, and not into my pension for keeping things nice and neat and clean. So though I'm sure Fire will be dirty when I show up tomorrow (he had already tried to rub out the braids before I got a chance to leave the barn tonight), and my tack will get dusty once I ride outside in the sand tomorrow... my world feels just a little but more right after this major overhaul today. Sometimes I think its just getting back to the fundamentals, the basics and getting them all checked off to set things back in correct motion.

Not Everyone is Cut out For Young Horses

Not everyone is cut out to work with young horses. They aren't easy, or always fun. It's much easier to buy a schoolmaster and ride them and have a nice fun easy time. I myself enjoy the challenge and what comes with a young horse. Don't get me wrong, I learned a lot from having the schoolmaster that I had. Frenchie was a wonderful horse to learn from. He taught me to be slow with my aids and to appreciate the finer movements of FEI and just... so many other things that I can only describe as the magic that happens between a horse and rider when you just have to think the movement and it happens. That is what he taught me, but there is something about having a young horse to teach that is just a totally different realm.

You see... Fire is a silly idiot. A silly and potentially very talented idiot of a horse, who I happen to love. In the training process there are bad days and good days, no reason to hide them. I actually think that I have so many people coming back here because I don't try to hide those crap days. I think others can relate with these *(#&$&#@ days that I run into with my idiot fun little five year old warmblood, because they too have a young horse, or a silly naughty horse that has had a bad day too. But within those bad days lie the good wonderful moments as well. I've put a decent amount of work into Fire. Decent enough for someone with a part time job who is also a full-time student. And today, we rode bareback walk, trot canter with great cadence and fluidity, no whip, no spurs, great transitions, great leg yields having a wonderful time.

Some people don't want to take the time to work with young horses. They don't want to go through what it takes to deal with the growing pains and the learning curves and the temper tantrums that will inevitably occur with every single horse. I rather enjoy being there for the entire process, even if it means getting a little banged up here or there, or having to take a step back to reevaluate a training process. I find it a wonderful bonding experience, one I wouldn't want to trade for anything.

The Good, the Bad, and The Rearing

Alright... so I guess I should have quit while I was ahead yesterday. The ride was going great! First, it was a beautiful day out, you couldn't have asked for a better day to ride a horse; it was about 75 degrees outside with a slight breeze and not a lot of humidity, it was just wonderful. I was at the barn at the same time as another rider, but she opted to ride in the indoor, which gave me sole access to the outdoor arena while the sun was setting. So serene and a wonderful time to work on training. So we began and things started out alright. He didn't want to carry himself and was slamming up against the bridle, which is common with him trying to figure out how to correctly come into the bridle through his back and then down his neck and pole, so I just waited. We did some easy bending exercises where I tried to push him alternatively into the right and left reigns, just some easy 3 and 4 loop serpentines. He became supple and began to work very nicely. I began pushing him through while doing a walk exercise that I created. We would, for example, go to the right at the walk, and once we got the the long side, leg yield off the wall toward the 1/4 line until about the 1/4 line, and then I would push him into the opposite left reign, as for almost a turn on the forehand movement, but on a larger circle, until he became parallel again to the opposite long-side, and then leg yielded back to the wall. Once we got back to the wall I would ask for a canter transition, then asking for him to walk again about 5 strides later when we were nearing the end of the short side to prepare to do the exercise again. In doing this he became very balanced and I decided to take the chance to do some work with canter walk simple changes that we had been working on.

So we began the work on the canter-walk-canter changes across the diagonal, changing lead at X. He was a star. He did them and was balanced and really picked up the transition very well. There was a lot of "hop" in him and I was very happy with the movement. I then got it in my head to see what would happen if we went across the diagonal, and after doing a bunch of these in a row, didn't ask him to walk, but just really changed my aids and his bend. And you know what? It happened. A clean clear as day flying change. TADA. Now, no more of that... because we have do to counter-canter before we can start with those things. But that was fun, good boy.

And that's where I'm thinking I should have just stopped. I should have been happy to end there and just done a free reign walk and been done with it. But no, it was beautiful out, we hadn't worked that hard, and everything had been going so darn well!!! So what did I ask for then? Something so simple... connection at the walk. OH MY GOD. He lost his marbles. Mind you I had been trying to stay away from his face really at the walk to not impede his walk stride, but come on now, he's 5 and he can actually have connection and do some work. Fire disagrees. Walking if for relaxing to Fire, not for working. So he preceded to show me the tops of the trees by rearing and leaping in the air. WONDERFUL. I so wanted to be done and to do some easy walk work. SO then it was a bit of a.... discussion. You've all had them before. I wouldn't call it a "fight" because I wasn't going to fight a 1700lb horse that was rearing into the sky with me, not a good time to pick a fight. That's a good way to get a horse on top of you. But I did make rearing quite uncomfortable. We did work through it. It was icky and involved some odd leg yielding cow herding looking movements mixed with caprioles, and head flicking, but we got through it. Eventually I talked him down off of the baby tantrum ledge and we could finally walk with some look like a normal horse with our head in a semi okay position with actual connection (but not enough for my liking... baby steps.)

But I guess we need to take the good with the bad. Some rides, like one I talked about earlier in these posts, began like shit and ended up brilliant. This one just happened to be the opposite.

Attack Plan

Today's plan: get some really solid connection into the bridle and go forward FORWARD FORWARD (as Ryan would put it, because things tend to come in threes with him.)

I'm sure this is going to be a barrel of monkeys for me, so I'll be taking something for my back so I can really sit on Fire correctly to help him along. His issue seems to be an incredibly lazy inside leg in the trot once we really get going... so maybe today we can work on that.

I'll report back. Hopefully it'll be good and not all gobbly gook crap.

What a Difference a Year Makes

It has been a little over one year since I first broke Fire and started riding him. I looked back on things and it looks like I broke in in late March of last year. Though he is still Mr. Rollie Pollie in the middle I can see a marked difference in his ability to move. He is carrying himself much better and is listening to my aids with an understanding that I didn't think we would have when we first started out. I've taken two recent lessons with Ryan and I think they have helped a lot too. I wish I could afford them all the time because I can see a drastic improvement in my riding and in the communication between Fire and myself in just a very short amount of time. Below are some photos... some "then and now comparison.

First, then, last year about this time:



Then, some from yesterday. It was about a million degrees out, so excuse the tank top!!

What a difference a year makes!

Helmet Awareness Day

UPDATES BELOW!!!!!!!!!!!! UPDATES BELOW!!!!!!!!!!!!

National Helmet Awareness Day will be Saturday July 10th. There will be many events held that day around the US raising money for helmet awareness, brain injury foundations and for special helmet sales. Look below for a comprehensive list of retailers that will be offering discounts on helmet purchases that day as well as other events that well help to raise money and awareness.

Here is more info via USEF on the whole drive

Participating manufacturers to date include: Troxel, Charles Owen, Aegis (Devon-Aire) and GPA. If you are a retailer that sells helmets from one of these manufacturers in your store, please contact the manufacturer directly for details of the promotion.

BIG UPDATE: the word is that many of the retailers have let out their deals: 15-20% GPA
15% Ovation, 15% Charles Owen at this point!! Look out for more! If you're a retailer, know you can contact these manufactures and get in on these one day deals for your store too!!

Most recently Ovation and IRH have joined the ranks as well!

You can find the great "Strap One On" shirt for sale HERE if you like. Many colors available! They come from the Courtney King-Dye Medical Fund and are all being sold via EBay.

Participating Retailers (offering a discount on helmets purchased on July 10th) If you are a retailer who will have specials in your store and would like to be included, feel free to contact me and your store will be added!

This list will be updated periodically.

National (online):

Equestrian Collections
877-873-4415
www.equestriancollections.com

Dover Saddlery (online and in all store locations)
1-800-406-8204
www.doversaddlery.com

Smartpak Equine

will be offering 15% off any Charles Owen, IRH or Troxel helmet on the 10th!

1-877-885-2904
www.smartpakequine.com

Rick's Heritage Saddlery

will be offering 15% off of all helmets now through the 11th!
732-446-4330
http://www.saddlesource.com/

Valley Vet Supply
800-419-9524
www.valleyvet.com

Arizona:

The Pampered Horse and Rider, Inc., 16211 N. Scottsdale Rd., Ste A-7, Scottsdale, AZ 85254

Will be offering on GPA, Troxel and Charles Owen between 15-20% off
480-342-8801

www.pamperedhorseandrider.com

California:

Tack Room, 5437 McHenry Ave, Modesto, CA 95356

Will be offering 25% off of all helmets on the 10th!

(209) 526-6650
www.etackroom.com

Mary’s Tack and Feed, 3675 Via De La Valle, Del Mar, CA
858-755-2015
www.marystack.com

San Diego Saddlery, 1783 E. Main St., El Cajon, CA 92021
619.441.2613
www.sandiegosaddlery.net

Calabasas Saddlery, 23998 Craftsman Road, Calabasas, CA 91320
818-591-0292
www.calabasassaddlery.com

Kahoots Tack and Apparel, 31 Poindexter, Moorpark CA 93021

Is offering 15% off of Troxel helmets
805-523-7757

Connecticut:

The Equestrian Center, Riverdale Farms Bldg. # 12, 136 Simsbury Rd., Avon, Ct. 06001

Will be offering 15%-25% on helmets depending on brand

860-678-1913
www.equestrian-centre.com

Florida:

Saddle Up Tack, 7818 Lithia Pinecrest Road, Lithia, FL 33547-1880
(813) 681-1600
www.saddleuptack.com/xcart/home.php?cat=11

Winning Edge Saddlery, 6998 N US Highway 27 # 112, Ocala, FL 34482

All helmets are 10% off for the entire month of July (Tippery, CO, GPA, International & Ovation)

352-622-9000
www.winningedgetack.com

Advanced Equine Products, Palm City, FL

15% off of Charles Owens helmets on the 10th

772-220-9418
www.advancedequine.com

Spectrum Saddle Shop, 6738 N. State Road 7, Coconut Creek, FL 33073
954-429-8877

The Tackeria, 13501 Southshore Blvd. #107, Wellington, FL 33414
561-793-2012
www.tackeria.com

Georgia:

Bar G Horse & Cattle Supply, 1060 Astondale Rd Bishop, GA 30621

Troxel, Charles Owen and Ovation Helmets will be 15% off. A few styles will be up to 50% off!! They will also be at the Four Seasons Farm Horse Show in Madison, Ga. with helmet safety info on the 10th!

706-769-7960

Illinois:

Saddlers Row, 20066 N. Rand Rd., Palatine, IL 60074

Will be offering many specials from 15-20% OFF of all brands, including GPA helmets... and free gifts with purchase!
Expert helmet fitter Holly Lemanski will be there to fit helmets
847- 776-6700
www.saddlersrow.com

Oros Saddlery, 1931 West Wilson Street, Batavia, IL 60510

Will be offering GPA helmets for 20% off!
630-482-3240
www.orossaddlery.com

The Riding Store, 3050 Hobson Road, Woodridge, IL 60517
630-515-9779
www.theridingstore.com

Kentucky:

KBC Horse Supplies, 140 Venture Court, Lexington, KY 40511
1-800-928-7777
www.kbchorsesupplies.com

KBC Horse Supplies, 7500 Turfway Road (Stable Area), Florence, KY.
859-817-9856
www.kbchorsesupplies.com

Bob Mickler’s Inc., 1093 West High Street, Lexington, KY 40508-3113
800-443-6824
www.bobmicklers.com

Massachussets:

Briggs Tack Shop; Trailer Sales, Inc, 623 Hanover St, Hanover, MA 02339
781-826-3191
www.stoneponytack.com

Michigan:

Sporthorse Saddlery, 56840 Grand River Ave., Suite 800, New Hudson, MI 48165
248-486-5616
www.SporthorseSaddlery.com

Millbrook Tack, 510 68th Street SW, Grand Rapids, MI 49548
616-281-0777

New York:

Green Valley Tack, 792 County Route One, Pine Island, NY 10969

20% off of Ovation, Troxel, GPAs and CO

845-258-3564
http://www.greenvalleytack.com/welcome.html

Horse and Rider Tack Shop, 528 Bloomingburg Rd, Middletown, NY 10940
845-733-1910
www.horsenridertack.com

Beval Saddlery, 859 Peach Lake Road, North Salem, NY 10560
914-669-5900
www.beval.com

The Horse Connection, 38 Village Green, Bedford, NY 10506
914-234-2047

The Cheshire Horse of Saratoga, LLC, 402 Geyser Road, Saratoga Springs, NY 12866
518-584-5566

Brennan’s Bit and Bridle, 42 Snake Hollow Road, Bridgehampton NY 11932
631-537-0635
www.brennansbitandbridle.com

The Hunting Horn, 1867 Penfield Rd, Penfield NY 14526
585-385-9690

The Equestrian Corner, 81 Pondfield Road #234, Bronxville, NY 10708
800-518-0997
www.TheEquestrianCorner.com

North Shore Saddlery, Ltd., 6308 Northern Blvd. (Rt 25A), East Norwich, NY 11732
516-671-4367

Shupperd’s Tack Shop, 305 State Highway 8, Bainbridge, NY 13733
607-563-7363

Horseman’s Corner 307 White Plains Rd Eastchester, NY 10709
914-961-0774

Ohio:

Schneiders Saddlery, 8255 E. Washington Street, Chagrin Falls, OH 44023
1-800-365-1311
http://www.sstack.com/

Pennsylvania:

Malvery Saddlery, #1 E King St., Malvern, PA 19355
610-695-9980
http://www.malvernsaddlery.com

South Carolina:

Meeting Street Tack, 720 Dupont Road, Charleston, SC 29407-6092
(843) 766-4346

Texas:

Rose Hollow, 19073 I-45 South, Suite 120, Conroe, TX 77385
936-271-2505

Charlotte’s Saddlery, 114 W. Main St., Tomball, TX 77375
281-351-1705
www.charlottes-saddlery.com

Charlotte’s Saddlery, 11623-A Katy Freeway, Houston, TX 77079
281-596-8225
www.charlottes-saddlery.com

Equine Goddess, 202 Market St., Eddy, TX 76524
1-800-259-5130
www.equinegoddess.com

It’s All About the Horse, 3115 W. Parker Rd #420, Plano, TX 75023
972-964-6736
www.itsallaboutthehorse.com

Virginia:

The Saddlery, Inc., 731 Walker Road, Unit E, Great Falls Va 22066

15% off of Troxel, Tippery, CO and Ovation

703-759-3500
http://www.thesaddleryinc.com/

The Tack Box, Inc, 7 W Federal St, Middleburg, VA 20118
540-687-3231
http://www.thetackboxinc.com/

Saddles N Stuff, 216 Amsterdam Road, Daleville, VA 24083-3156
540-992-4144
http://www.saddlesnstuff.com/

Corner Tack Shop, 7960 Richmond Rd, Toano, VA 23168
757-566-1666

Canada

Alberta

Extreme Tack, RR#1 Tees, AB T0C 2N0 (will be at Thompson County Horse Trials July 10th)
(403) 755-6025
http://www.extremetack.ca

take two

Today was a better ride, thank horse. I didn't have time to do much today, and frankly shouldn't have been out at the barn at all because of all the backed up work I'm going to have from having to miss class tomorrow to go work at the States Attorney's office, but I did because I was so urked at how things were left yesterday and the fact that I didn't finish on a good note.

We rode outside today and no one was there. There is something utterly sublime about having an entire barn to yourself as the sun sets. We worked through some of the issues that we were having yesterday, had much better connection to the left, not so much to the right... but the Trojan horse wasn't built in a day. We did have a slight snag when I tried to ask for connection at the walk, Fire has determined that lifting me up into the heavens via rear is a viable option. I bopped him on the head the first time and then the time after that they got smaller and smaller until he stopped his new "trick", but I don't think it's the last I've seen of the rearing. Something tells me that once we start working more collected moves later in life it may come back to haunt us.

I pushed decently hard for the amount of time I had, worked through the six cavalettis that Suzette and I had set up in the outdoor a week or so back. They really have been helping to get Fire to think about where he is placing his feet, and I do notice a marked improvement in his stride afterwords, if only for a minute or so for now.

I think today was a good "take two", a good second go at a work day. We both ended up pretty sweaty and gross at the end, and I'm sure Fire was happy to trot away after his shower up the hill with his friends to graze his night away (fatty.)

New Goal..

We are SO doing this.

Pinto "world championships" YES!!! I knew there was a reason I started riding a silly black and white pinto horse...

I want one of those giant honkin' buckles that says "World Champion" WAY better than saying that you're some area champion... pichaw.

Ryan Yap Lesson #1

So I had my "first" in a long time Ryan Yap lesson on Fire on Friday. It went better than I would have expected for an over weight Oreo of a horse being pushed for an entire hour with no break.

To begin with, Ryan had me identify to him our big weak points, which currently are the all encompassing fact that Fire wants to be lazy and not correctly engage his hind end which makes him not then correctly come through the back and to the bridle. This of course, messes up the universe as we know it. There were other little things that I mentioned to Ryan, but we both knew that everything stems from the fact that fattie pants horse doesn't want to activate his HUGE rump and get movin'.

So, we begun our work. Ryan worked my brain by asking me to do quick trot walk transistors into 10m circles in renveres. The first time I did it I took a bit to think about the bend and what had to be compromised of all those cues to ask for all of those things because they seemed so counter intuitive. To ask for a ten meter circle right, and a walk transition, and then at the same time begin renvere left which causes the body to bend left on that right circle is just well... hard. I was so proud of my black and white little cow though, he didn't break down or even stiffen up! He took my cues and went with the flow of the training like a little dressage trooper. We moved through other training exercises, like leg yields on and off the wall in zip zags which I also thought would blow the little man's mind (and didn't.)

I guess all in all I was super proud of the performance that Fire gave, aside from the one mini tantrum that happened at minute 45 that lasted a short 1/2 circle burst before settling down again. I think I learned a lot from Ryan in the lesson about correct riding and how to move things forward in our training, but I also learned that Fire is growing up and that he can handle a lot more and that I don't need to baby him as much as I have been. I've seen so many horses get pushed thorugh training so quickly and watched them hate it and break down that I would hate myself if I did that to a horse that I would rather go too slow than too fast, but I don't want to bore Fire or make things mundane. Obviously he's strong enough and ready for the next few steps in his training. And I've got a great trainer that will help us get there.

Just when you think it's all going to hell...

Have you ever had a ride where you get on thinking you're going to "just do XY & Z and then be done" only to get into a royal mess of a situation? That was how my day started today. I didn't even put boots on him today because I thought to myself "oh, I'm not working any lateral work today, it's going to be an easy 1,2,3 kind of day today!" Ha. Then I got on.

We started with the classic locked jaw head in the air. This didn't phase me much because this is a new thing that is becoming a bit common that I've found I can work through... on a normal day. I tried my normal things and I got a bit of give, not what I would have wanted, but for a 4 year old, it was enough and I was happy. Then I began working our trot trying to just work him straight, since he has been really swinging his rear to the inside track. This is where all hell broke lose. Just the idea here of a mini- renvere almost sent us through the wall of the arena. Just me asking sent us into a fun little "fit" of bucking and rearing (thanks to Julie for the suggestion, it was obviously met with great contention!!!) and he continued to take out the wall for a good 15 minutes and tried everything to suck back, canter get free and away... anything but slightly bring his shoulders off of the track, not bend his neck and trot forward and correctly with his hind end. OOHHHH did I get the middle hoof on this one!! Not what I had planned for the day.

I had an ah-ha moment though, kind of on accident. It really was in thought to save myself from ending up a permanent fixture of the arena wall. To save my leg and life I decided to ask for the movement off the wall on the second track so he then physically couldn't kick the wall and couldn't push me into the boards. Then, like magic... he began to bend to the direction I wanted his body to bend, giving me his shoulder like I wanted and straightening out like I had asked. It was like this amazing break through. After that little moment the rest of the ride was a breeze. We had great 1/4 line shoulder-ins without locking or diving or drifting, our canter departs were straight and not leaning and he was really listening to where I wanted his shoulders or his haunches and was no longer feeling frustrated in my hands and tight in his back. We ended with an amazing four set of simple changes through the walk with 20m circles. They were absolutely "it" to ride. You know the "it" I'm talking about. They were up and under and right when I asked and perfect and straight and just everything they should have been and more. Its those moments, those moments that last a whole two minutes of wonderful bliss that make the previous 45 minutes of hell worth it.

The start of summer

When summer starts it's always slow with a warmblood. I went to get on Fire after not riding for a few days and I felt like I was getting on someones 15 year old trail horse. He didn't want to do ANYTHING for me and asking him to canter a 30 meter circle was like asking him to do Grand Prix. At one point I felt like I was carrying his entire weight up and under his body with my calves. It really makes me wonder about the horses that do go Grand Prix throughout the year and the shape that they must be in. Seeing as Fire's current shape is "round" thanks to the copious amounts of green grass he is afforded daily and the lessening amount of time i'm able to work him while having to study for the Illinois Bar... I see this as an uphill battle.

What I do on a Saturday night: Boot Breakin'

First and foremost, I don't look at all as glamorous as the girl in the above photo but find myself too lazy to take a picture of what I actually look like sitting here, breaking in my boots. What the girl above and I do have in common? We both are sitting on couches in tall black boots, and we both have great ravenesque locks.

I have a pair of boots that I love. They are really nice Konig boots with a whale bone up the back. I got them when I started riding seriously, and my legs were a bit smaller than what they are currently. So, since I'm getting more serious now and will be showing, I'd like to show in my great and wonderful boots, that don't fit. So I brought them to the wonderful Otto of Otto's Shoe repair in Dundee. If you're a rider in the NW Illinois area and you ever need a boot repaired, dressage or otherwise, Otto is your man. He's downtown Dundee and though he's not a man of many words, he does a wonderful job and will give you your boots back shined up and looking great. Its just him so he can take a while to get things back to you, but the quality is much worth it.

So now here I sit... with the boots on trying to re-break them in. Since its been years since I've had them on they've gotten very stiff and they need to loosen up before they attempt to see the side of a horse. Oh, and I still can't zip them all the way either... but that's just a minor thing. Give me a bit of time, a bit more exercise, and I'm sure that won't be much of an issue.

Off to watch some more worthless TV and sit on the couch in riding clothes... with no horse. NOw who is all dressed up with no where to go???