Last night I went up to the barn without knowing the lesson schedule, knowing that I may or may not ride depending on how busy it is.
Well the lesson calendar was booked through to 9. I debated grooming and going home, but I really didnt want to go home! I know I was welcome to ride in the arena since there were only 3 in the lesson, but a very large part of me said "nope, go ride in the dark instead"
So we made our way up to the outdoor ring, and wow was Bentley ever perky! Well, he had been perky from the moment I fetched him from the stall. I dont know if it was because hes now living in the stall, or he was excited to ride in the dark. Either way, I had a horse that was very happy to see me and go for a ride!
As soon as I got to the ring, I asked for the trot and got that big giant speedy trot that just eats up trail. A few wiggles here and there to get a good look at things like bush shadows and the spooky judges box, but only on our first time around. After that, never a problem! He was abiding by my commands, but I could tell there was a LOT of energy coiled underneath me. So I let him have a good gallop around the ring on the happy left lead. We went round and round and round and round, and eventually I lost count, but for some variety, I threw in circles at random intervals, and he was listening despite the speed. Then I practiced pushing him down the long side, and collecting around the turns, brilliant! Then it became time to change direction and pick up the dreaded right lead canter. Instead of bringing him back, I decided to just change direction before bringing him back to the trot, shift the weight to my outside foot, and whats this? My horse has auto-leads? How did he learn that?
I brought him back to the trot and asked to pick up right lead again. Didn't get it, put even more weight outside and kept the tight contact (I suspect I may have lost rein contact) and there it is! Right lead!
I was so pleased with this, that after a few happy laps, I brought him back and left the ring. Intention was to walk and trot around the field. We got out to the hay field, and picked up the trot. Up to the top of the hill, good, but half-halting every stride. He was raring to go. I walked down the hill and stopped to let him eat. He wasnt puffing at all, not even a bit tired, even after all that work! Ok, lets keep troting. He offered me the canter, and I allowed it and then allowed a good gallop twice around the large field. I was so impressed with him. The footing is good there, but I wasnt sure how he would take it, since he often stumbles at the walk (however, this is because hes trying to grab food and doesnt watch his feet!) I was also worried he would buck, because he was VERY frisky and kept trying to get his head low. I think the reason he was lowering his head, was to get a better view of the ground, I slowly let him get a little lower while still staying out of bucking range and constantly reminding him "Hey im up here!" with halfhalts. No problems! Great gallop!
Now seems like a good time in my writing to take a break to describe how beautiful it was that night. The moon was bright and lit the fields, sometimes I got the odd stick in the face along the outskirts of the field, it WAS still dark enough that they could hide, but nothing too bad! And the light of the moon was just enough to know when to turn so as not to run into a fence. The stars were absolutely brilliant, they filled the sky and felt absolutely magical. Lastly, it was about 10C and all I needed was a jacket and gloves, it didnt feel cold or dreary at all. I hope there are still more of these nights. Time seemed to stand still.
We went back into the ring to do some more work. We started walking and working on bending and leg yielding. At the trot, he was trying to canter a lot, so we stayed walking for a while. He did settle down eventually and we were able to do lots of circles and yielding beautifully on both sides at the trot. Moved up to the canter, no more gallop there! I sat back and brought him under me and we had beautiful dressagey canter. He was still very energetic and happy to canter, so I took this time to work hard on getting him not to lean on circles, and getting my weight consciously in the outside stirrup, and focusing on keeping a good position. Its been a while since I really had the chance to work on that! Usually I am too busy worrying about him to worry about me. Lots of circles, and changing directions. Doing lots more of those auto changes we discovered he cuold do. I think he got them about 75% of the time (but it was dark, so sometimes I wasnt totally sure until we went around a corner, sometimes he had it and I had just missed feeling the hop!) We did a ton of these.
Note to self, practise downwards transitions and maintain impulsion!
We went for a long walk after to cool out and dry off a little. All around the fields, enjoying the night sky. He clearly wasn't tired, but he sure was wet! We really are going to have to clip him soon.
It was a very perfect ride!
Friday, November 23, 2012
Thursday, November 22, 2012
My tips for saving on groceries
With all the unexpected and expected rise in costs recently, I have been getting creative about how to pinch pennies without compromising my horse spending. In the past few weeks, I have cut down a weekly grocery bill of about $150 to between $60-100. There are a few big things that contribute to that.
Coupons
I suggest you immediately subscribe to http://www.groceryalerts.ca/ I have found them to be very useful, they send out EVERY online coupon you can use in Canada. Many of the sites they will link you to, will actually print out and mail the coupons to you FOR FREE. Some you must print yourself. But don't waste your time or energy, only print or request coupons for products you know you are going to use. Don't buy something with a coupon because you have the coupon, take the coupon because you buy the item! Coupon temptation is strong.
Free samples
Again, go to http://www.groceryalerts.ca/ because they also send you lists of free samples. YOU WOULD NOT BELIEVE what I get in the mail these days. Sometimes I address them to Lee because its like Christmas for him, and he loves it was all free. Yesterday, I got 3 samples of different laundry soaps (theres our laundry done this week!) the week before I got a free Men's razor for Lee (not the cheapie one either, a fancy 5 blade replaceable head one) and 30 days free of wrinkle cream... not that I need it yet, but why not share! And on a regular basis, I get a box the size of a shoebox filled with free things like dusting cloths, granola bars, haircare, more laundry detergent etc. Find the box at http://www.pgbrandsampler.ca/. The most generous sample givers are cleaning and hygiene products.
Shop around without shopping around
It used to be that you would have to visit every store in town to get the best deals (a trick I learned from my father) but no need to waste gas or time anymore! Price match is perhaps where I have my deepest vault of tips. Where do I start?
This week we bought mouthwash. Lee reached for the Listerine at $6.99 and I reached for the knockoff at $2.49. We read the ingredients and %ages (medicinal ingredients) and of course, they were the exact same. Lee was in utter shock of this! Another example this week was vitamins. One had 500mg of active ingredient and said to take 2x day 100 capsules, the other at the same price was 1000mg once a day and 80 capsules. Do the math!
Rainy Days
Take advantage of rain checks if they offer it. If its a REALLY good deal, take more advantage of it. Usually there is a limit to how many they give you. We came up with this idea just in the last month when Lee got a rain check for 6 x1L chocolate milk at $0.88 each. Those 6L only lasted a few days with Lee (I had a whole 2 cups of milk!) I told him he should have gone in every day to get a rain check. Then every week we take a different one, we could fill our fridge with chocolate milk! If you are really lucky, the customer service agent may not even check to see they have run out, its like a free coupon you can use any time!
Being diligent is so worth it! Good luck shopping :)
Coupons
I suggest you immediately subscribe to http://www.groceryalerts.ca/ I have found them to be very useful, they send out EVERY online coupon you can use in Canada. Many of the sites they will link you to, will actually print out and mail the coupons to you FOR FREE. Some you must print yourself. But don't waste your time or energy, only print or request coupons for products you know you are going to use. Don't buy something with a coupon because you have the coupon, take the coupon because you buy the item! Coupon temptation is strong.
Free samples
Again, go to http://www.groceryalerts.ca/ because they also send you lists of free samples. YOU WOULD NOT BELIEVE what I get in the mail these days. Sometimes I address them to Lee because its like Christmas for him, and he loves it was all free. Yesterday, I got 3 samples of different laundry soaps (theres our laundry done this week!) the week before I got a free Men's razor for Lee (not the cheapie one either, a fancy 5 blade replaceable head one) and 30 days free of wrinkle cream... not that I need it yet, but why not share! And on a regular basis, I get a box the size of a shoebox filled with free things like dusting cloths, granola bars, haircare, more laundry detergent etc. Find the box at http://www.pgbrandsampler.ca/. The most generous sample givers are cleaning and hygiene products.
Shop around without shopping around
It used to be that you would have to visit every store in town to get the best deals (a trick I learned from my father) but no need to waste gas or time anymore! Price match is perhaps where I have my deepest vault of tips. Where do I start?
- Take the time to really read the flyer's. Half an hour out of your day could be 40% off your grocery bill. I actually worked it out by nit picking my receipt after the fact. I saved 40% by price matching. That's $60 off my regular bill. Does your work pay you $120 an hour? Your time is worth it.
- Go to the fanciest store that does price matching. I go to superstore. For one, its closest to my house, but that's not where the most value is. I find their produce is the best offered in our town, although it is more expensive. So what do I do? PRICE MATCH! Beautiful large head of lettuce = $1.99, nope, get that for $0.88 thank you very much food basics. Not only is the size doubled of those at food basics, but if its fresher, it will last longer and you wont be throwing your money to the rabbit with wilty lettuce. This is my most brilliant cheat. You can still do this with weighed produce also, while you don't benefit from the size difference, you still have better quality produce that lasts much longer (and often tastes better!).
- Don't stock up. Stocking up is almost completely unnecessary these days. So many of the items you use on a regular basis will be on sale somewhere almost every week. You will really start to notice this now that you spend that half hour going through the flyer's. Also, I know from my experience, you may stock up on something with all sorts of good intentions to eat it, then it hides in the back of the freezer until it gets freezerburned and you find it a year later.
- Make a list, then pick your price matching from the list. What do you need? Get only what you need, don't worry about the sales. Just take your list find the lowest price in the flyer's, and go! This keeps you out of trouble when you are in the store because you have a plan, you don't get as easily distracted by deceiving sale signs or junky food you don't need. Also, your plan will keep you making healthy choices and get out of the store faster! I even break my list up by flyer's so when I am putting it on the belt, its much faster and more organized.
- If you really want to go above and beyond, keep a spreadsheet of what you pricematch. That way, when you are going through flyer's again next week, you can decide what IS a good deal and what ISNT
This week we bought mouthwash. Lee reached for the Listerine at $6.99 and I reached for the knockoff at $2.49. We read the ingredients and %ages (medicinal ingredients) and of course, they were the exact same. Lee was in utter shock of this! Another example this week was vitamins. One had 500mg of active ingredient and said to take 2x day 100 capsules, the other at the same price was 1000mg once a day and 80 capsules. Do the math!
Rainy Days
Take advantage of rain checks if they offer it. If its a REALLY good deal, take more advantage of it. Usually there is a limit to how many they give you. We came up with this idea just in the last month when Lee got a rain check for 6 x1L chocolate milk at $0.88 each. Those 6L only lasted a few days with Lee (I had a whole 2 cups of milk!) I told him he should have gone in every day to get a rain check. Then every week we take a different one, we could fill our fridge with chocolate milk! If you are really lucky, the customer service agent may not even check to see they have run out, its like a free coupon you can use any time!
Being diligent is so worth it! Good luck shopping :)
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Yoga again.
I went for my second yoga class on Monday. All the women were complaining about how much they hurt after the last week, hm I didnt feel that bad! Same with this time, clearly the riding helps yoga as much as yoga helps riding! I felt that also on certain stretches we did, how I was able to do far more with my back muscles than the average person.
There was one stretch, where I must have really excited my teacher because she came over with loud compliments and proceeded to sit on my back to push me harder (in a good way, because I was already as far as I could get without pressure). Nobody else in the class had that response! Wooo! Of course, there were still stretches where I was barely competent. Would you believe I have never been able to touch my toes while flat footed? I can barely get my hands past my knees. Just cant keep that heel down. Even as a child I walked as though I was wearing invisible stilettos.
One thing I did notice however as I stretched towards my toes... "Oh no! My feet smell!" How embarassing! It made for a very long hour. Lesson learned! Its hard to stay focused and relaxed when smelly invades, its worse when you know you are the culprit!
There was one stretch, where I must have really excited my teacher because she came over with loud compliments and proceeded to sit on my back to push me harder (in a good way, because I was already as far as I could get without pressure). Nobody else in the class had that response! Wooo! Of course, there were still stretches where I was barely competent. Would you believe I have never been able to touch my toes while flat footed? I can barely get my hands past my knees. Just cant keep that heel down. Even as a child I walked as though I was wearing invisible stilettos.
One thing I did notice however as I stretched towards my toes... "Oh no! My feet smell!" How embarassing! It made for a very long hour. Lesson learned! Its hard to stay focused and relaxed when smelly invades, its worse when you know you are the culprit!
Second ride at Myrddin - XC!
I am starting to fall behind in my writing. Lets hope I remember all the details!
Sidetrack:
I had forgot to mention, how on Saturday, my big furry beast was a mess of sweat. Hes already so hairy, its as thick as my half Persian cat. I dread the thought of having to clip him, he didn't take too kindly to the idea of clippers last year. Hes a different horse than a year ago, but I am still worried it may never happen since still by the end of summer, his hatred for wet sponges had not yet disappeared. I can imagine clippers will be 10x worse. So I have a plan for this, I'm bringing my old electric toothbrush to the barn. I'm going to get him used to the buzzing and vibration without any blades or investment in a clipper. We will see how that works, because hes going to need it!
So with this in mind, I wanted to put more weight on the start of our ride, and keep it casual toward the end to try and dry him off more. We started in the ring. After the excitement the day before, I thought it necessary to give him a good schooling to get his head where I wanted it, and then go out and have fun in the fields.
We didn't try anything new, just worked on circles, serpentines and leg yielding in walk and trot. As usual, he was stiffer going clockwise (right bend) so we worked more on it. We didn't get it to be completely even, but enough improvement that I was happy with it. We immediately tried getting the right lead canter, and after a few tries and excited head to the left and nose to the sky jigging, I brought him back to walk. I could tell that I was putting barely any weight in my left stirrup. Not just when I was asking, but all the time. From that point on, I consciously tried to over exaggerate the weight in my left foot and kept tighter reins. After one more failed attempt, I exaggerated a bit more, and there we had it, right lead canter! This is going to take a lot of retraining for me! We went around the ring a few times, adding in some circles with me practicing my left stirrup weight.
Since we got that, we did an easy canter in the left lead, also doing a few nice circles, working on keeping him up straight, not leaning into the turn.
We came back to the walk and left the ring, just in time to meet Laura riding Fancy. Together we walked around the fields for a good half an hour, chatting and enjoying the day. Fancy was coming off an injury and couldn't do more than that. Just before she went to go in the barn, we came across Tara, the landlords daughter on her horse Charlotte. The two of us decided to pick up the pace a little and have some fun before I had to go back to work.
I asked "Are we allowed to jump the xc fences when not in a lesson" she said "oh ya!" and we were immediately off over a little log. Bentley bounded to it happily and over it like a superstar, Tara followed. We took turns choosing jumps to go over and who led. We even did 3 in a row that were about 8 strides apart, but around a curve and up gradual hill. The middle one was large (for us) but Bentley was happy to do it, just looking for the next one in a happy gallop. We also did the steps up and bank down, which was just another day on the job for him!
Our last jump, Tara picked was a tire jump. It was very inviting, had big wings on the side, but it was a little unexpected. We had just been walking for a while and she picked up the trot without word only a few metres out and popped over it. I was right beside her and hadn't expected it, so I did a small trot circle to warm up a bit and approached it. Well, I should have done a much larger circle and got a lot more impulsion because Bentley hesitated to look at the jump.
In all our experience together, if he hesitates, he wont jump and wants a reapproach. So in that fraction of a moment, I sat back, expecting the stop. Instead, he leaped over it like a deer. Boing!!! I went straight up toward the sky, a foot above my saddle, my feet staying in the stirrups, but instead at the top of my stirrups. He landed on all fours, and I came straight back down into the saddle. No falling, but ouch, the concussion of landing bothered my bad knee! It was a hard land. Bentley didn't even seem to notice it was a bad jump "Hey mum, look we got over!" No harm done, but I have learned my lesson: strong approach! In a way, it does make me happy too because he tried even though he wasn't sure (me too!) which must mean his confidence is really coming along.
I learned another thing too. Communicate with your riding buddies! Perhaps if I had set a precedent before of calling out my intentions, it would have been reciprocated and I would have had better notice of the jump. After all, I was the one who instigated the "lets tear across the xc field" thing.
Sidetrack:
I had forgot to mention, how on Saturday, my big furry beast was a mess of sweat. Hes already so hairy, its as thick as my half Persian cat. I dread the thought of having to clip him, he didn't take too kindly to the idea of clippers last year. Hes a different horse than a year ago, but I am still worried it may never happen since still by the end of summer, his hatred for wet sponges had not yet disappeared. I can imagine clippers will be 10x worse. So I have a plan for this, I'm bringing my old electric toothbrush to the barn. I'm going to get him used to the buzzing and vibration without any blades or investment in a clipper. We will see how that works, because hes going to need it!
So with this in mind, I wanted to put more weight on the start of our ride, and keep it casual toward the end to try and dry him off more. We started in the ring. After the excitement the day before, I thought it necessary to give him a good schooling to get his head where I wanted it, and then go out and have fun in the fields.
We didn't try anything new, just worked on circles, serpentines and leg yielding in walk and trot. As usual, he was stiffer going clockwise (right bend) so we worked more on it. We didn't get it to be completely even, but enough improvement that I was happy with it. We immediately tried getting the right lead canter, and after a few tries and excited head to the left and nose to the sky jigging, I brought him back to walk. I could tell that I was putting barely any weight in my left stirrup. Not just when I was asking, but all the time. From that point on, I consciously tried to over exaggerate the weight in my left foot and kept tighter reins. After one more failed attempt, I exaggerated a bit more, and there we had it, right lead canter! This is going to take a lot of retraining for me! We went around the ring a few times, adding in some circles with me practicing my left stirrup weight.
Since we got that, we did an easy canter in the left lead, also doing a few nice circles, working on keeping him up straight, not leaning into the turn.
We came back to the walk and left the ring, just in time to meet Laura riding Fancy. Together we walked around the fields for a good half an hour, chatting and enjoying the day. Fancy was coming off an injury and couldn't do more than that. Just before she went to go in the barn, we came across Tara, the landlords daughter on her horse Charlotte. The two of us decided to pick up the pace a little and have some fun before I had to go back to work.
I asked "Are we allowed to jump the xc fences when not in a lesson" she said "oh ya!" and we were immediately off over a little log. Bentley bounded to it happily and over it like a superstar, Tara followed. We took turns choosing jumps to go over and who led. We even did 3 in a row that were about 8 strides apart, but around a curve and up gradual hill. The middle one was large (for us) but Bentley was happy to do it, just looking for the next one in a happy gallop. We also did the steps up and bank down, which was just another day on the job for him!
Our last jump, Tara picked was a tire jump. It was very inviting, had big wings on the side, but it was a little unexpected. We had just been walking for a while and she picked up the trot without word only a few metres out and popped over it. I was right beside her and hadn't expected it, so I did a small trot circle to warm up a bit and approached it. Well, I should have done a much larger circle and got a lot more impulsion because Bentley hesitated to look at the jump.
In all our experience together, if he hesitates, he wont jump and wants a reapproach. So in that fraction of a moment, I sat back, expecting the stop. Instead, he leaped over it like a deer. Boing!!! I went straight up toward the sky, a foot above my saddle, my feet staying in the stirrups, but instead at the top of my stirrups. He landed on all fours, and I came straight back down into the saddle. No falling, but ouch, the concussion of landing bothered my bad knee! It was a hard land. Bentley didn't even seem to notice it was a bad jump "Hey mum, look we got over!" No harm done, but I have learned my lesson: strong approach! In a way, it does make me happy too because he tried even though he wasn't sure (me too!) which must mean his confidence is really coming along.
I learned another thing too. Communicate with your riding buddies! Perhaps if I had set a precedent before of calling out my intentions, it would have been reciprocated and I would have had better notice of the jump. After all, I was the one who instigated the "lets tear across the xc field" thing.
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
First Ride at Myrddin
Despite the exciting news, I was still at Myrddin for a ride. I was able to connect with Barb before her lesson (She had been in my class wayyy back in the winter when I started doing lessons through the groupon promotion) and we played around in the field.
There are 3 medium sized fields filled with cross country jumps and the sand ring on the south side of the property, and there is one large field on the north side - that's where we started riding. Bentley and Bee hit it off (well they ARE stall neighbors now) and were particularly frisky. Lots of big trot with a few excited canters in there (although not always asked for!)
Barb then went for her lesson and I decided to explore the xc (cross country) fields. We had some more nice gallops, but Bentley typically had other plans and needed more convincing than usual when I tried to bring him back. My theory is he thought it was an OCTRA ride... trailer, sleep, then run through the forest!
I may have been a little hard on him, I don't mind if he wants to run, but when we do it, I like to practice lots of short runs to ingrain the idea of me being in charge. I wasn't too pleased after it took a few too many woahs and a harder sit and pull than usual. I kind of dwelled on this after our ride and complained a bit to Barb, who said I shouldn't be mad because hes a young fresh thing on a beautiful day, but still, I don't like when he challenges my decisions (by galloping down a steep albeit well footed hill). Both right, time to move on!
His punishment for this was ring work. We went into the ring and did some figures. By then, he figured it wasn't a race and settled into what I was asking of him although he was still hyper as anything. Barb finished her lesson and joined us for some more trotting and walking around the fields before it was time to head back.
Bentley still had a ton of energy, but nothing I could do about that! After all, we still don't exactly know his limit. Even after 2 Oktoberfest 12s he seemed to bounce back enough in a few hours that he was contemplating escape and didn't want to go home. Now that hes getting good food and spending nights in his stall, I may have to ride much more than before to keep him out of trouble. Good I guess, if only I had a time control device!
Oh and I didn't even mention about how happy he was when I went to fetch him from the paddocks for our ride. He had his own paddock with his OWN round bale. Hes not going to be skinny much longer!
There are 3 medium sized fields filled with cross country jumps and the sand ring on the south side of the property, and there is one large field on the north side - that's where we started riding. Bentley and Bee hit it off (well they ARE stall neighbors now) and were particularly frisky. Lots of big trot with a few excited canters in there (although not always asked for!)
Barb then went for her lesson and I decided to explore the xc (cross country) fields. We had some more nice gallops, but Bentley typically had other plans and needed more convincing than usual when I tried to bring him back. My theory is he thought it was an OCTRA ride... trailer, sleep, then run through the forest!
I may have been a little hard on him, I don't mind if he wants to run, but when we do it, I like to practice lots of short runs to ingrain the idea of me being in charge. I wasn't too pleased after it took a few too many woahs and a harder sit and pull than usual. I kind of dwelled on this after our ride and complained a bit to Barb, who said I shouldn't be mad because hes a young fresh thing on a beautiful day, but still, I don't like when he challenges my decisions (by galloping down a steep albeit well footed hill). Both right, time to move on!
His punishment for this was ring work. We went into the ring and did some figures. By then, he figured it wasn't a race and settled into what I was asking of him although he was still hyper as anything. Barb finished her lesson and joined us for some more trotting and walking around the fields before it was time to head back.
Bentley still had a ton of energy, but nothing I could do about that! After all, we still don't exactly know his limit. Even after 2 Oktoberfest 12s he seemed to bounce back enough in a few hours that he was contemplating escape and didn't want to go home. Now that hes getting good food and spending nights in his stall, I may have to ride much more than before to keep him out of trouble. Good I guess, if only I had a time control device!
Oh and I didn't even mention about how happy he was when I went to fetch him from the paddocks for our ride. He had his own paddock with his OWN round bale. Hes not going to be skinny much longer!
Monday, November 19, 2012
The (second) big move!
As I am sure you are curious from my previous title, I should explain.
But where to start? I suppose I should start by saying that the owner was away for the weekend, and I didn't have to stick around work all day. Saturday, I finished up in the morning as I usually do, went home for some lunch, and casually drove up to Myrddin to ride on what was truly a gorgeous day!
I will get to my ride in another post.
No word of a lie... the moment I went to put on Bentley's bridle, my phone rings. I fumble to find my phone, and see its Linda. Ok, I will answer that!
Here was our conversation
L "Hey are you at your barn?"
S "Yes I am at the barn, whats up?"
L "Where are you?"
S "Im at Myrddin"
L "Im at your barn"
S "You are at Myrddin?"
L"No your work barn"
S "Oh I am at Myrddin, why are you at my work?"
L "I'm going to move"
Yes it carried on in that confusing matter but the result was Linda decided to move to Hunter Green (at Halton Place!)
We agreed to meet at 4 when I came back to bring in the horses, and she showed up with Sable in the trailer! Yes, she works fast!
I am so very happy for them. Happy for me too! I was very disappointed that Linda was moving all the way to Caledon, this means that I will still get to see her and Sable every weekend. Hm. Maybe I should move here too? Nah, I made the right decision for me.
But still, very very happy for Linda. Lynne and Vicki have been awesome, the facilities were great and I know Linda will be happy there. Sable must think shes in horsey heaven (but that would have been a terrible title for this blog haha) I had to rub it in a little bit since I had been bugging her to check out the place since she first told me she was considering moving. I knew it was a good match!
Rick came in the following day to see it too, and was clearly impressed with the place (and the fact that I was dusting) He wasn't always a fan of Linda's plan to move, but I am sure the gorgeous place and happy horses were enough to convince him.
If you want to see what it looks like: http://www.huntergreenec.com/facilities.shtml
But where to start? I suppose I should start by saying that the owner was away for the weekend, and I didn't have to stick around work all day. Saturday, I finished up in the morning as I usually do, went home for some lunch, and casually drove up to Myrddin to ride on what was truly a gorgeous day!
I will get to my ride in another post.
No word of a lie... the moment I went to put on Bentley's bridle, my phone rings. I fumble to find my phone, and see its Linda. Ok, I will answer that!
Here was our conversation
L "Hey are you at your barn?"
S "Yes I am at the barn, whats up?"
L "Where are you?"
S "Im at Myrddin"
L "Im at your barn"
S "You are at Myrddin?"
L"No your work barn"
S "Oh I am at Myrddin, why are you at my work?"
L "I'm going to move"
Yes it carried on in that confusing matter but the result was Linda decided to move to Hunter Green (at Halton Place!)
We agreed to meet at 4 when I came back to bring in the horses, and she showed up with Sable in the trailer! Yes, she works fast!
I am so very happy for them. Happy for me too! I was very disappointed that Linda was moving all the way to Caledon, this means that I will still get to see her and Sable every weekend. Hm. Maybe I should move here too? Nah, I made the right decision for me.
But still, very very happy for Linda. Lynne and Vicki have been awesome, the facilities were great and I know Linda will be happy there. Sable must think shes in horsey heaven (but that would have been a terrible title for this blog haha) I had to rub it in a little bit since I had been bugging her to check out the place since she first told me she was considering moving. I knew it was a good match!
Rick came in the following day to see it too, and was clearly impressed with the place (and the fact that I was dusting) He wasn't always a fan of Linda's plan to move, but I am sure the gorgeous place and happy horses were enough to convince him.
If you want to see what it looks like: http://www.huntergreenec.com/facilities.shtml
The (first) big move!
I was able to get out of work a little early on Friday, explaining that trailers have the potential to turn into horse eating monsters after dark. So I rushed to the barn where Linda was waiting, her and Lee hooked up the trailer, while I gave Bentley a quick brush and slapped on his protective gear.
Led him out to the trailer, and wouldn't you know it... he walked right on! Ok... halfway on. Just stood with his front feet on the trailer and back feet on the ground a while, thinking "Hmmm, everyones looking at me and cheering for me!" So he invented the game, 2 feet on, then go back off. He stepped up and down many times, and seemed to enjoy the game. Eventually, we had enough of it and put the lead rope behind him. He popped right up and was ready to go.
Along the drive, Linda told me how happy she was for me, and how she had decided she will be moving too. She had settled on a place in Caledon, close to the Caledon trailways and was waiting on info as to whether a stall was available (as some horses were going to Florida etc). Sad she is going to go in the opposite direction :( wont be seeing her as much!
Bentley unloaded like a charm. Stepped right off like he had been doing it all the time. Brilliant! He had a good look around with that excited strength he gets, not dragging me or anything, but is much more difficult to convince. As soon as we entered into the barn, he was met with lots of "awww's" and "hes so cute!"
He immediately chilled as we put him in the crossties to figure out where he was going. Eventually, we determined he was to go in the stall labelled "Sally" - quick wipe off the whiteboard there! He was home! Immediately the nose was in the hay. Typical! Margie was in lessons, so we left him to settle in while we went home to make dinner and grab more stuff.
On our return, we filled in all the legal forms and set up a feeding plan with Margie. She commented on how skinny he was and that he looks wormy (it wasnt an insult, I had been thinking the same thing). Vet will be taking a sample and treating them all sometime soon. So that's good! Also found some rain rot (scabby skin infection from mud) on his hindquarters, but she seemed confident that it will disappear with better pasture/stall conditions and good food. We decided that since I was unsure how much hay he was actually getting at GEC (he isn't much of a fighter, and I was seeing signs before we left that he wasn't getting much or maybe even anything when it was being fed) and because I will be away next week, to just stick with good hay and see how much he bounces back before adding any grain. We will work him up as we determine he needs it. He IS however getting some roughage chunks so he doesn't feel left out when everyone else gets grain. Also, something to put his supplements and flax in. Flax was another recommendation from Margie to get his coat shining again.
Led him out to the trailer, and wouldn't you know it... he walked right on! Ok... halfway on. Just stood with his front feet on the trailer and back feet on the ground a while, thinking "Hmmm, everyones looking at me and cheering for me!" So he invented the game, 2 feet on, then go back off. He stepped up and down many times, and seemed to enjoy the game. Eventually, we had enough of it and put the lead rope behind him. He popped right up and was ready to go.
Along the drive, Linda told me how happy she was for me, and how she had decided she will be moving too. She had settled on a place in Caledon, close to the Caledon trailways and was waiting on info as to whether a stall was available (as some horses were going to Florida etc). Sad she is going to go in the opposite direction :( wont be seeing her as much!
Bentley unloaded like a charm. Stepped right off like he had been doing it all the time. Brilliant! He had a good look around with that excited strength he gets, not dragging me or anything, but is much more difficult to convince. As soon as we entered into the barn, he was met with lots of "awww's" and "hes so cute!"
He immediately chilled as we put him in the crossties to figure out where he was going. Eventually, we determined he was to go in the stall labelled "Sally" - quick wipe off the whiteboard there! He was home! Immediately the nose was in the hay. Typical! Margie was in lessons, so we left him to settle in while we went home to make dinner and grab more stuff.
On our return, we filled in all the legal forms and set up a feeding plan with Margie. She commented on how skinny he was and that he looks wormy (it wasnt an insult, I had been thinking the same thing). Vet will be taking a sample and treating them all sometime soon. So that's good! Also found some rain rot (scabby skin infection from mud) on his hindquarters, but she seemed confident that it will disappear with better pasture/stall conditions and good food. We decided that since I was unsure how much hay he was actually getting at GEC (he isn't much of a fighter, and I was seeing signs before we left that he wasn't getting much or maybe even anything when it was being fed) and because I will be away next week, to just stick with good hay and see how much he bounces back before adding any grain. We will work him up as we determine he needs it. He IS however getting some roughage chunks so he doesn't feel left out when everyone else gets grain. Also, something to put his supplements and flax in. Flax was another recommendation from Margie to get his coat shining again.
I couldn't get a good picture of him the night he moved in, it was too dark and he kept on coming to visit me.
The day after, he was poking his head out of his stall. Corner unit also with a view outside, hes going to see all the action!
Friday, November 16, 2012
Great Jumping!
I hadn't had a chance to post about my last ride at GEC yet. It was back on Tuesday with Heather, and we had a blast.
It started with looking at a jump with some poles on either side, one of which was near a set of standards. Heather asked "Is that a distance you can jump?" I did a quick measure, and confirmed it was a bounce. Sure, lets work on bounces today, great idea! Heather and Rurik had never done this before, but it was worth a try.
I lowered the initial jump to a crossrail, keeping the far groundpole down where the bounce would be, this was to give the horses a hint of what was coming, without making things too complicated at first. Both horses trotted over the crossrail without putting any effort and not picking up the canter stride after. Of course -_- So I took Bentley over at a canter, and he was lovely.
Put the second jump up to a 2' vertical with a nice groundpole in front. Trotted Bentley in, he didn't pick up the canter again which made for an awkward jump. Heather's turn to try it on Rurik. Not enough impulsion resulting in a stop at the second fence, I think they knocked it down too, standards and all. Second time through, pushed Bentley more and had a stride or 2 of canter before the combination, did the exercise well. Went through a few more times at canter, nailing the distance every time. My only complaint was that because we were still having trouble picking up that right lead, he was cutting in at the corner too early and we didn't have the nice straight long hunter approach I was looking for.
Heathers turn again, a few more stops and an awkward lurch. Problem was Rurik was trotting immediately after the first fence, and didn't understand the whole, jump-land-jump thing. Here's where I said to Heather "Why don't you try it on Bentley so you know how it feels, and I will work on getting Rurik through" Last thing I wanted was to see Heather fall resulting from an awkward jump (she is just over her ankle fracture). It made sense.
Well, the exercise half worked. A few times through and Rurik had it figured out, just needed that push for extra impulsion and to try it a few times. I had him cantering a bit in both directions which helped a lot, and halfway through I found a whip on the ground I could use, which perked him right up! We even did the line, rollback to a 2'3" vertical. He is cantering and jumping so well these days, what a difference in the past year or so since I was last on him! His attitude has really changed too!
The other half of the plan, didn't work so well. Heather came in too slow with Bentley, and they didn't have enough impulsion to get over the 2nd jump. He seemed a bit confused, and half-tried to jump it, half tried to cavaletti it, and ended up tripping over it, down on both knees. Heather was so good about staying on, it was slow motion and she just stayed off his face and let him recover himself. Awesome recovery! They were both fine after a quick check, and certainly learned the impulsion lesson.
The second time through, he picked up the canter a few strides out, and the speed surprised Heather. The look on her face was pretty funny and "woah woah" escaped, but Bentley was just kind of thinking "See look, this is how we gotta do it! I will show you, just hang on" He has a big canter when he is jumping or on the trail (anything fun really!) and going from a standardbred to him is a big speed difference (trust me, I know, it took me a while to get used to his stride! For the longest time I thought he was trying to run off with me, when he was really just being him) They got through it beautifully, but Heather decided that was enough excitement on him, they did try cantering again, and she WILL be getting on Bentley lots more to practise cantering on a horse that does canter :) Swapping horses is our new girl night.
We went back to our original horses, and Heather and Rurik went through the line and rollback several times wonderfully. The crop certainly helped with the impulsion factor!
Bentley was great for me, just loving the playtime. Again, nailing the correct spots. We made a mini course of bounce, rollback, bounce backward, rollback again. He ticked the jump on the backwards bounce, but I cant complain because the groundpole was well far behind (optical illusion making the jump look smaller) and its weird going big jump to small jump in the bounce. So I was happy with that. He also ticked the larger vertical once because he came around the one corner a little flat, so we redid it with some halfhalts and he was wonderful.
While we walked them to cool out, I decided to try standing on Bentley again (although we were in endurance saddle) I let him walk as I stood.... kind of. I didn't get all the way up, my knees were still bent and my back was tipped forward still, but I was close! He decided to stop, and I couldn't get him going again, so that's partially to blame. Perhaps I need to invest in a nice long dressage whip.
Heather also started to try, putting her feet up behind the saddle and lifting almost to her knees. She opted not to go fully as her boots might damage her new saddle. Good choice! Save your tack :) She still wants to sometime, on another one of our horse swap dates, we will make this happen.
It was as we were untacking that Heather said "This was our last ride together" and I was really sad. I hadn't thought of that. As we left, I was shocked to see it was 9:30pm. It really didn't feel like that late, and I wished we had been able to stay longer.
I decided not to ride last night, Heather and my ride had been so special, I thought that was the best way to end it. Not end entirely, just end of us together at GEC. We each have a new place we will be going, and just have to try a little harder is all!
It started with looking at a jump with some poles on either side, one of which was near a set of standards. Heather asked "Is that a distance you can jump?" I did a quick measure, and confirmed it was a bounce. Sure, lets work on bounces today, great idea! Heather and Rurik had never done this before, but it was worth a try.
I lowered the initial jump to a crossrail, keeping the far groundpole down where the bounce would be, this was to give the horses a hint of what was coming, without making things too complicated at first. Both horses trotted over the crossrail without putting any effort and not picking up the canter stride after. Of course -_- So I took Bentley over at a canter, and he was lovely.
Put the second jump up to a 2' vertical with a nice groundpole in front. Trotted Bentley in, he didn't pick up the canter again which made for an awkward jump. Heather's turn to try it on Rurik. Not enough impulsion resulting in a stop at the second fence, I think they knocked it down too, standards and all. Second time through, pushed Bentley more and had a stride or 2 of canter before the combination, did the exercise well. Went through a few more times at canter, nailing the distance every time. My only complaint was that because we were still having trouble picking up that right lead, he was cutting in at the corner too early and we didn't have the nice straight long hunter approach I was looking for.
Heathers turn again, a few more stops and an awkward lurch. Problem was Rurik was trotting immediately after the first fence, and didn't understand the whole, jump-land-jump thing. Here's where I said to Heather "Why don't you try it on Bentley so you know how it feels, and I will work on getting Rurik through" Last thing I wanted was to see Heather fall resulting from an awkward jump (she is just over her ankle fracture). It made sense.
Well, the exercise half worked. A few times through and Rurik had it figured out, just needed that push for extra impulsion and to try it a few times. I had him cantering a bit in both directions which helped a lot, and halfway through I found a whip on the ground I could use, which perked him right up! We even did the line, rollback to a 2'3" vertical. He is cantering and jumping so well these days, what a difference in the past year or so since I was last on him! His attitude has really changed too!
The other half of the plan, didn't work so well. Heather came in too slow with Bentley, and they didn't have enough impulsion to get over the 2nd jump. He seemed a bit confused, and half-tried to jump it, half tried to cavaletti it, and ended up tripping over it, down on both knees. Heather was so good about staying on, it was slow motion and she just stayed off his face and let him recover himself. Awesome recovery! They were both fine after a quick check, and certainly learned the impulsion lesson.
The second time through, he picked up the canter a few strides out, and the speed surprised Heather. The look on her face was pretty funny and "woah woah" escaped, but Bentley was just kind of thinking "See look, this is how we gotta do it! I will show you, just hang on" He has a big canter when he is jumping or on the trail (anything fun really!) and going from a standardbred to him is a big speed difference (trust me, I know, it took me a while to get used to his stride! For the longest time I thought he was trying to run off with me, when he was really just being him) They got through it beautifully, but Heather decided that was enough excitement on him, they did try cantering again, and she WILL be getting on Bentley lots more to practise cantering on a horse that does canter :) Swapping horses is our new girl night.
We went back to our original horses, and Heather and Rurik went through the line and rollback several times wonderfully. The crop certainly helped with the impulsion factor!
Bentley was great for me, just loving the playtime. Again, nailing the correct spots. We made a mini course of bounce, rollback, bounce backward, rollback again. He ticked the jump on the backwards bounce, but I cant complain because the groundpole was well far behind (optical illusion making the jump look smaller) and its weird going big jump to small jump in the bounce. So I was happy with that. He also ticked the larger vertical once because he came around the one corner a little flat, so we redid it with some halfhalts and he was wonderful.
While we walked them to cool out, I decided to try standing on Bentley again (although we were in endurance saddle) I let him walk as I stood.... kind of. I didn't get all the way up, my knees were still bent and my back was tipped forward still, but I was close! He decided to stop, and I couldn't get him going again, so that's partially to blame. Perhaps I need to invest in a nice long dressage whip.
Heather also started to try, putting her feet up behind the saddle and lifting almost to her knees. She opted not to go fully as her boots might damage her new saddle. Good choice! Save your tack :) She still wants to sometime, on another one of our horse swap dates, we will make this happen.
It was as we were untacking that Heather said "This was our last ride together" and I was really sad. I hadn't thought of that. As we left, I was shocked to see it was 9:30pm. It really didn't feel like that late, and I wished we had been able to stay longer.
I decided not to ride last night, Heather and my ride had been so special, I thought that was the best way to end it. Not end entirely, just end of us together at GEC. We each have a new place we will be going, and just have to try a little harder is all!
Thursday, November 15, 2012
An Afternoon Surprise!
Randall, a coworker of mine always asks me lots of horsey questions and wants to learn how to ride someday.
Today he brought me a surprise he found on the way home from work.
It has found a new home amongst my other office toys.
Bentley and Sarah... Wingwakers... in the jungle? So much awesome.
Today he brought me a surprise he found on the way home from work.
It has found a new home amongst my other office toys.
Bentley and Sarah... Wingwakers... in the jungle? So much awesome.
This day feels positive to me!
I am in a great mood today for a few reasons.
1) Bentley is moving tomorrow. While this is sad (I'm not sure how many people know yet, I did make the earlier blog post, but while I can see numbers, I cant see who is reading!) its also very happy. I am looking forward to a fresh start for us, including what I hope will be a healthier happier horse. On that same note, I spent last night post-groceries putting together the single-serve supplement packs for Bentley which he will start when he moves in. B1 vitamin, Vitamin E and Selenium, and the big addition this month is Wheatgrass to help him bounce back from the lack of pasture and lack of nutrients in the soil. Lee told me last night it looked like I was making drugs:
2) That led me to an "Ah Ha!" moment, and immediately contacted Theresa at Neachai (Go like them on facebook! http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Neachai-Equine-Ayurveda/356800097671367?fref=ts) to see if she wanted to write an article for the pulse about using herbs as alternatives. She will! I am excited to see the article that comes out of it, and hopefully get more in the meantime.
3) Continuing on with the theme of The Pulse, I had received emails in the last day from Deanna, Phyllis and Carol all with ideas for articles or a ready article, asking about deadlines and whatnot. So glad to get these! I think this might be the most article-heavy pulse yet! I also had some brainstorms for more ideas to solicit, just need to find out who can do them. I will post my full list of "wants" once I am done... I don't think my list is ready quite yet!
4) I got the big things at work done early. Nothing like getting the hard things off your plate to reveal a great afternoon!
1) Bentley is moving tomorrow. While this is sad (I'm not sure how many people know yet, I did make the earlier blog post, but while I can see numbers, I cant see who is reading!) its also very happy. I am looking forward to a fresh start for us, including what I hope will be a healthier happier horse. On that same note, I spent last night post-groceries putting together the single-serve supplement packs for Bentley which he will start when he moves in. B1 vitamin, Vitamin E and Selenium, and the big addition this month is Wheatgrass to help him bounce back from the lack of pasture and lack of nutrients in the soil. Lee told me last night it looked like I was making drugs:
2) That led me to an "Ah Ha!" moment, and immediately contacted Theresa at Neachai (Go like them on facebook! http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Neachai-Equine-Ayurveda/356800097671367?fref=ts) to see if she wanted to write an article for the pulse about using herbs as alternatives. She will! I am excited to see the article that comes out of it, and hopefully get more in the meantime.
3) Continuing on with the theme of The Pulse, I had received emails in the last day from Deanna, Phyllis and Carol all with ideas for articles or a ready article, asking about deadlines and whatnot. So glad to get these! I think this might be the most article-heavy pulse yet! I also had some brainstorms for more ideas to solicit, just need to find out who can do them. I will post my full list of "wants" once I am done... I don't think my list is ready quite yet!
4) I got the big things at work done early. Nothing like getting the hard things off your plate to reveal a great afternoon!
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
No question: This is on my bucket list
Today I was reading a blog I subscribe to, and the writer was happy to announce her entry in a race called the Mongol Derby. I wasn't halfway through her post before I was already searching for it on the Internet. Then somehow, the majority of my morning was gone and my blood was rushing to record speeds.
http://www.theadventurists.com/the-adventures/mongol-derby
In summary, its a 1000 km race (625 miles) over several days, on 25 horses provided for you. Its broken up into 40km (25 mile) legs, you swap horses after each leg of the race. The trail is not marked, you must find your way with GPS and grit. There seems to be food and water and camping each time you swap your horse, but you may find yourself camping in the middle of nowhere, with only 5kg of luggage to keep you warm and fed. You might have guessed from the name, its in Mongolia. The real catcher? Its on horses caught from the wild, with only a month of training.
Yes, this is right up my alley.
Big drawback: price vs my broke factor
Its expensive, and for good reason. There is no way I will ever be able to afford it on my own. So this is your warning... at some point in the future I WILL be begging you for sponsorship. Doing a quick estimation, I would say it will run me about $20,000. The entry alone is over $10,000 CDN + minimum donation to worthy charities. Plus travel and gear expenses, and if possible, survival training and toward entry fees for local endurance rides to beef up my application and as "training" for this event.
I would love to do this before I turn 30 while I am still presumably bouncing instead of splatting. That gives me 3.5 years.
If you would like to provide any sponsorship for me, please contact me with a pledge amount. Of course, I will not take any money until I am accepted as one of the 35 entries, but I WILL start preparing my entry now for 2014 and will keep applying until they deem me worthy.
http://www.theadventurists.com/the-adventures/mongol-derby
In summary, its a 1000 km race (625 miles) over several days, on 25 horses provided for you. Its broken up into 40km (25 mile) legs, you swap horses after each leg of the race. The trail is not marked, you must find your way with GPS and grit. There seems to be food and water and camping each time you swap your horse, but you may find yourself camping in the middle of nowhere, with only 5kg of luggage to keep you warm and fed. You might have guessed from the name, its in Mongolia. The real catcher? Its on horses caught from the wild, with only a month of training.
Yes, this is right up my alley.
Big drawback: price vs my broke factor
Its expensive, and for good reason. There is no way I will ever be able to afford it on my own. So this is your warning... at some point in the future I WILL be begging you for sponsorship. Doing a quick estimation, I would say it will run me about $20,000. The entry alone is over $10,000 CDN + minimum donation to worthy charities. Plus travel and gear expenses, and if possible, survival training and toward entry fees for local endurance rides to beef up my application and as "training" for this event.
I would love to do this before I turn 30 while I am still presumably bouncing instead of splatting. That gives me 3.5 years.
If you would like to provide any sponsorship for me, please contact me with a pledge amount. Of course, I will not take any money until I am accepted as one of the 35 entries, but I WILL start preparing my entry now for 2014 and will keep applying until they deem me worthy.
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Goodbye, Hello
I alluded to some big news pending last week, and its about time I announce it and my reasoning officially.
As of this Friday, Bentley will be moving to Myrddin. http://www.myrddin.info/
With the recent increase in board cost at GEC, I had to weigh all my options. Cost was my first major concern. If I added all my costs together, including lessons and increased need for grain in the summer, Myrddin was cheaper. Not a lot cheaper, but every dollar counts when you keep a budget as tight as I do!
But then again, I was comparing apples to oranges. The rate I was using at GEC is outdoor board, Myrddin is indoor board (GECs indoor is higher price than Myrddin's). GEC has the beautiful valley to explore and train on, Myrddin has better indoor facilities and well maintained cross country jumps. GEC has friends who have turned to family in the last 2 years, Myrddin has lots of nice people too and seems to be a more adult environment. GEC is relaxed and fun and allows my horse to be out 24/7, Myrddin follows a very organized schedule for feed and turnout and I know he will have the best of care (although he may need some stall toys!).
Yes, they are totally different, and I love both for many different reasons. But the cost is very important to me. Another large push factor is I have been having trouble getting lessons with Margie because of my work schedule. I had been considering the move for those purposes alone for the past month and a half or so, but the cost is what gave me that kick to make my move. I think with the price increase also, the friends I know may also disperse to other barns, so I no longer have that factor to consider as much.
I would have liked to give it more time and moved at the end of the month, however I am on vacation at the end of november and start of december, and it just made more sense to do a half month than have to work out daily rates. I have been very quiet about it, a few of you already know, but I didnt want anyone to start being sad and make a big deal that I was leaving. I also didnt want any rumours going around until I could write like this and explain myself!
So now its happening, sweet but bitter. I thought I should write a bit about what I will miss most, but also what I am looking forward to (because I always like to think towards the positive!)
What I will miss about GEC:
As of this Friday, Bentley will be moving to Myrddin. http://www.myrddin.info/
With the recent increase in board cost at GEC, I had to weigh all my options. Cost was my first major concern. If I added all my costs together, including lessons and increased need for grain in the summer, Myrddin was cheaper. Not a lot cheaper, but every dollar counts when you keep a budget as tight as I do!
But then again, I was comparing apples to oranges. The rate I was using at GEC is outdoor board, Myrddin is indoor board (GECs indoor is higher price than Myrddin's). GEC has the beautiful valley to explore and train on, Myrddin has better indoor facilities and well maintained cross country jumps. GEC has friends who have turned to family in the last 2 years, Myrddin has lots of nice people too and seems to be a more adult environment. GEC is relaxed and fun and allows my horse to be out 24/7, Myrddin follows a very organized schedule for feed and turnout and I know he will have the best of care (although he may need some stall toys!).
Yes, they are totally different, and I love both for many different reasons. But the cost is very important to me. Another large push factor is I have been having trouble getting lessons with Margie because of my work schedule. I had been considering the move for those purposes alone for the past month and a half or so, but the cost is what gave me that kick to make my move. I think with the price increase also, the friends I know may also disperse to other barns, so I no longer have that factor to consider as much.
I would have liked to give it more time and moved at the end of the month, however I am on vacation at the end of november and start of december, and it just made more sense to do a half month than have to work out daily rates. I have been very quiet about it, a few of you already know, but I didnt want anyone to start being sad and make a big deal that I was leaving. I also didnt want any rumours going around until I could write like this and explain myself!
So now its happening, sweet but bitter. I thought I should write a bit about what I will miss most, but also what I am looking forward to (because I always like to think towards the positive!)
What I will miss about GEC:
- The cheerful "Hey Sarah!" that I get from almost everyone who rides there when I arrive on property. That followed by the excited "Are you riding today?" Everyone there is so supportive, its like everyone has their own fan club built right in.
- Running the harvest hack (hmm I may still have to come back for this!) and seeing the girl's faces when they come in off the trail.
- Knowing that whatever you need, someone will drop everything to help you
- Going out for long hacks around the fields on an autumn day
- Riding in the dark, around the cornfields (which we still call cornfields even though it hasnt had corn in over a year!)
- Gallops in the plateau
- Watching the kids (and child at hearts) and their goofy antics at the barn.... I expect I will still see plenty of these pics on facebook!
- The looks and comments I get when I come to the barn in a beautiful dress and shoes straight from work, to save my horse before lightning storms
- not having to soil my work clothes when I want to check on him in crazy weather as he will already be on indoor board haha
- Also regarding the indoor board, not having to go out in the mud on cold dark nights and struggle with the gate! Come in, horse is cozy in stall, sounds fabulous! Makes up for the extra drive time I suppose.
- Heated indoor arena - I think this is what saved it for Lee. It was the first smile I saw on his face regarding the move.
- Grain 3 times a day
- I can be hands off, blanketing, booting, bandaging, feeding is all done for me... this is going to feel weird, but good!
- Bentley can be a diva! I know how he hates mud and loves attention. Im guessing hes going to demand a lot of loving while in his stall, and hes going to get it. We can pretend he is horse royalty.
- Only 16-18 horses vs around 60. Again, he gets to be horse royalty!
- Lots of new cross country jumps to try, ones that are safer too! And a coach to help me through them.
Monday, November 12, 2012
30 Minutes to ride
I had a busy weekend at work, the owner was back and riding during the day, which meant Saturday I didn't take a lunch (and worked just shy of 10 hours) and Sunday I had an hour and a half for lunch instead of my usual 4 or so hours. How does one ride for less than an hour? Is it even possible? Its something I had long since forgotten how to do. And when I calculated my travel, prep and cool time, I realized I only had a half an hour to ride. Is it worth it, or do I just go eat something?
Well, the weather was sunny, and over 17 degrees. Something we may not get for another 5 months. I would be a fool to miss out on that opportunity. So I took my half hour with an open mind. It was either going to be a short fast work, or a leisurely walk around the valley to survey it for the last time. Bentley's choice!
We trotted a warmup around the fields, and went down to the plateau. Bentley made a beeline for the warmup log, and there was no convincing him otherwise. Ok, I get the point, we will work on our xc jumps today! This is how he talks to me, he is very good about making clear points as to what he wants to do, and what he expects from me. We did the jump from various angles, directions and gaits, until he decided it wasn't worth jumping anymore and just picked up his feet over it instead. "time to move on Sarah, I am not going to let you wimp out today!"
There is another jump in the plateau that I have never tried (ok well theres 2 safe enough ones but one is HUGE and with the new paddock there, we would have a terrible approach, not good for building confidence). The one I am talking about is the tire jump, probably the size of car tires whatever that might be. On a whim, I thought, its a big step up, but lets try it! Its kind of on a funny angle, since it is close to the treeline, so I first approached it going north, away from the treeline, which requires a slight turn then maybe 2 strides in to jump it straight across. No dice, he veered away from it. So I tried it again going toward the treeline, still no luck. We trotted up to it, still wasn't happening. Walked up to it, stopped and took a good luck, then LEAPED over it! Yay! So reapproached going toward the treeline from the long approach at the trot, still didn't want to go over it. Instead of taking a long approach again, I circled to the left, pretty tight, and approached it at an angle. Leaped over it again, a few more times from that direction cantering it this time, and he was jumping it beautifully. Even did it once going away from the treeline. I don't know if it was so much the jump that intimidated him, as it did the approach or the landing, because if we came to the jump straight on, we would have to make a tight turn immediately after, jumping it on an angle means we could ride straight after. Perhaps that's how that jump is supposed to be ridden anyway! Either way, it boosted his confidence immensely.
Heres my very-not-to-scale diagram of our failed and successful approaches:
We went through the gate down to the valley. He stood still while I mounted from the right side, first time ever. Only did it because of the ground slope, but he was very good!
As soon as we were at the bottom of the hill, he took off trotting, but shortly after the fallen logs, he had a large spook and we had a slightly rerouted path. Not sure what he thought he saw! He hasn't spooked in a long time! It was just a sidestep and pivot, and I stayed in the saddle easily. We continued on, long drink in the creek.
Out the other side of the creek, we went to another jump we like doing, its nice and wide and not too tall, very inviting. Trotted right into it, beautiful jump and cantered after. At that point, we decided it would be fun to gallop around and pretend like we were on a real cross country course. We picked a few of our favourite jumps to string in a line, and threw in some new ones too, with lots of nice turns, circles, ups and downs. A few we jumped in both directions. I was amazed at how well we were getting our distances, I didn't think I was rating him too much, but I must have had some impact as I noticed for once I had a good steady grip on the reins (usually I am too nonchalant about riding him and let them just slip through, and make him balance himself) I really didn't think too much about it, I just RODE. I think having the good grip helped him balance and approach with confidence.
Bentley was clearly gaining his confidence too, because several times, I would decide it was time to double back to try a different jump, and he would set his sights on something more challenging, the arguments weren't too difficult to win however, when he learned that I wasn't going to make him stop jumping, just try something different.
Once I did give in to him however. There is one jump that I always look at and think "yikes!" Its not huge, no more than 3 feet is my best guess, but its solid and airy all at the same time. It just looks like a monster. Something about when a big thick log isn't resting on the ground... its far more intimidating than the same size barrels or coops. He wanted to try it, I had to trust him. When we jumped it, it had to be in slow motion, it felt like we were airborne forever. Wow! What a horse!
I wish I could have had ground eyes and a video camera for it. He is still so green, that usually our jumps are awkward and I must stay loose and flexible above him to keep upright, but this jump felt perfect, I would have loved to see what it looked like. Clearly he must be thinking "go big or go home" Maybe "Go big, then go home (and eat mints!)" He certainly put in a great effort, but made the ride so easy. He will do anything for me, and I for him.
All this of course in my endurance saddle with dressage length stirrups. I was lucky I didn't get a pommel in the gut!
Perhaps with hard work all winter, we WILL be able to do some of the pre-training events (jumping courses up to 3') required of the 5 year old young event horse series.
Bentley is going to love whats next in store for him.
*** Edit***
There was some confusion, that Bentley may be running off with me. Not the case! I guess I didnt word it the best way here. If hes feeling good and passes some of the tests I give him, I let him choose where we go and how fast... within reason! That includes many of the jumps. Generally I take it like we were hunting, I want to go somewhere, sometimes there are obstacles in the way and we can choose to go over or around. If he wants to go over, I allow it. He also respects when I ask him to bring down the speed, or I want to go somewhere else, or not take a jump, its a give and take.
My way of rewarding him is giving him a chance to lead and choose what he wants to do. I do this quite a bit after a good ride for the last month and a half or so, and his manners with me have been improving so much when he knows he gets to have fun too! To him, I think thats a better reward than a pat or treats. He actually never tries to run off with me anymore when we are working, just does his work, and is patient for his reward. We have a great deal of trust in each other now :)
Sometimes that leads to some confusion, finishing one jump, and spotting an opportunity at the next, it happened a few times where he would lock his sights on it, i knew thats where he wanted to go, so I would either steer him toward it, or say, "nope, this way!" "seriously Sarah? Why cant we?" "Yes, this way, we will still have fun" "Ok!" The conversation is never difficult, but sometimes it is hard to say no to a happy horse :)
Well, the weather was sunny, and over 17 degrees. Something we may not get for another 5 months. I would be a fool to miss out on that opportunity. So I took my half hour with an open mind. It was either going to be a short fast work, or a leisurely walk around the valley to survey it for the last time. Bentley's choice!
We trotted a warmup around the fields, and went down to the plateau. Bentley made a beeline for the warmup log, and there was no convincing him otherwise. Ok, I get the point, we will work on our xc jumps today! This is how he talks to me, he is very good about making clear points as to what he wants to do, and what he expects from me. We did the jump from various angles, directions and gaits, until he decided it wasn't worth jumping anymore and just picked up his feet over it instead. "time to move on Sarah, I am not going to let you wimp out today!"
There is another jump in the plateau that I have never tried (ok well theres 2 safe enough ones but one is HUGE and with the new paddock there, we would have a terrible approach, not good for building confidence). The one I am talking about is the tire jump, probably the size of car tires whatever that might be. On a whim, I thought, its a big step up, but lets try it! Its kind of on a funny angle, since it is close to the treeline, so I first approached it going north, away from the treeline, which requires a slight turn then maybe 2 strides in to jump it straight across. No dice, he veered away from it. So I tried it again going toward the treeline, still no luck. We trotted up to it, still wasn't happening. Walked up to it, stopped and took a good luck, then LEAPED over it! Yay! So reapproached going toward the treeline from the long approach at the trot, still didn't want to go over it. Instead of taking a long approach again, I circled to the left, pretty tight, and approached it at an angle. Leaped over it again, a few more times from that direction cantering it this time, and he was jumping it beautifully. Even did it once going away from the treeline. I don't know if it was so much the jump that intimidated him, as it did the approach or the landing, because if we came to the jump straight on, we would have to make a tight turn immediately after, jumping it on an angle means we could ride straight after. Perhaps that's how that jump is supposed to be ridden anyway! Either way, it boosted his confidence immensely.
Heres my very-not-to-scale diagram of our failed and successful approaches:
We went through the gate down to the valley. He stood still while I mounted from the right side, first time ever. Only did it because of the ground slope, but he was very good!
As soon as we were at the bottom of the hill, he took off trotting, but shortly after the fallen logs, he had a large spook and we had a slightly rerouted path. Not sure what he thought he saw! He hasn't spooked in a long time! It was just a sidestep and pivot, and I stayed in the saddle easily. We continued on, long drink in the creek.
Out the other side of the creek, we went to another jump we like doing, its nice and wide and not too tall, very inviting. Trotted right into it, beautiful jump and cantered after. At that point, we decided it would be fun to gallop around and pretend like we were on a real cross country course. We picked a few of our favourite jumps to string in a line, and threw in some new ones too, with lots of nice turns, circles, ups and downs. A few we jumped in both directions. I was amazed at how well we were getting our distances, I didn't think I was rating him too much, but I must have had some impact as I noticed for once I had a good steady grip on the reins (usually I am too nonchalant about riding him and let them just slip through, and make him balance himself) I really didn't think too much about it, I just RODE. I think having the good grip helped him balance and approach with confidence.
Bentley was clearly gaining his confidence too, because several times, I would decide it was time to double back to try a different jump, and he would set his sights on something more challenging, the arguments weren't too difficult to win however, when he learned that I wasn't going to make him stop jumping, just try something different.
Once I did give in to him however. There is one jump that I always look at and think "yikes!" Its not huge, no more than 3 feet is my best guess, but its solid and airy all at the same time. It just looks like a monster. Something about when a big thick log isn't resting on the ground... its far more intimidating than the same size barrels or coops. He wanted to try it, I had to trust him. When we jumped it, it had to be in slow motion, it felt like we were airborne forever. Wow! What a horse!
I wish I could have had ground eyes and a video camera for it. He is still so green, that usually our jumps are awkward and I must stay loose and flexible above him to keep upright, but this jump felt perfect, I would have loved to see what it looked like. Clearly he must be thinking "go big or go home" Maybe "Go big, then go home (and eat mints!)" He certainly put in a great effort, but made the ride so easy. He will do anything for me, and I for him.
All this of course in my endurance saddle with dressage length stirrups. I was lucky I didn't get a pommel in the gut!
Perhaps with hard work all winter, we WILL be able to do some of the pre-training events (jumping courses up to 3') required of the 5 year old young event horse series.
Bentley is going to love whats next in store for him.
*** Edit***
There was some confusion, that Bentley may be running off with me. Not the case! I guess I didnt word it the best way here. If hes feeling good and passes some of the tests I give him, I let him choose where we go and how fast... within reason! That includes many of the jumps. Generally I take it like we were hunting, I want to go somewhere, sometimes there are obstacles in the way and we can choose to go over or around. If he wants to go over, I allow it. He also respects when I ask him to bring down the speed, or I want to go somewhere else, or not take a jump, its a give and take.
My way of rewarding him is giving him a chance to lead and choose what he wants to do. I do this quite a bit after a good ride for the last month and a half or so, and his manners with me have been improving so much when he knows he gets to have fun too! To him, I think thats a better reward than a pat or treats. He actually never tries to run off with me anymore when we are working, just does his work, and is patient for his reward. We have a great deal of trust in each other now :)
Sometimes that leads to some confusion, finishing one jump, and spotting an opportunity at the next, it happened a few times where he would lock his sights on it, i knew thats where he wanted to go, so I would either steer him toward it, or say, "nope, this way!" "seriously Sarah? Why cant we?" "Yes, this way, we will still have fun" "Ok!" The conversation is never difficult, but sometimes it is hard to say no to a happy horse :)
Friday, November 9, 2012
Yoga!
On Monday, I started yoga, for the first time ever.
You may be wondering how someone like me hasnt ever done yoga before. Yes I have had intentions of trying it many times. I even did a little bit of it on the Wii Fit back when we first got that (and before the new toy excitement wore off). For the most part, its been a busy thing. I have packed my schedule so tight, it would explode when opening. This has been for the last... oh... 10 years? Haha.
So I finally got on board, the big push factor was my extreme crookedness since my fall, and the small push was I was able to find a deal for 10 classes at a place along my route home from work.
I warned the instructor "this is my first time" she said "this isn't a beginners class" Of course, when I emailed the studio prior, they said every class was beginner friendly. Oh well.
I kept up surprisingly well. There were certain movements that had me wobbling almost all the way over, but for the most part, I am strong and was able to do them quite well. The instructor has a great roar to her when you get it right "YESSSSSSSS" Of course, I thought all these were for me, being the one who needed the most work, and I'm sure many of them are. Even if they weren't, i pretended they were for me and took the encouragement!
No surprises for the parts of me that are tight or weak. Left side of my ribcage, check, back of my legs, check, ankles, checkaroo, inside of hips - oh boy do they need some opening up! Parts that already kick butt: abs, legs (so long as I don't have to engage the back of them!), arms and shoulders.
Next week, lesson #2!
You may be wondering how someone like me hasnt ever done yoga before. Yes I have had intentions of trying it many times. I even did a little bit of it on the Wii Fit back when we first got that (and before the new toy excitement wore off). For the most part, its been a busy thing. I have packed my schedule so tight, it would explode when opening. This has been for the last... oh... 10 years? Haha.
So I finally got on board, the big push factor was my extreme crookedness since my fall, and the small push was I was able to find a deal for 10 classes at a place along my route home from work.
I warned the instructor "this is my first time" she said "this isn't a beginners class" Of course, when I emailed the studio prior, they said every class was beginner friendly. Oh well.
I kept up surprisingly well. There were certain movements that had me wobbling almost all the way over, but for the most part, I am strong and was able to do them quite well. The instructor has a great roar to her when you get it right "YESSSSSSSS" Of course, I thought all these were for me, being the one who needed the most work, and I'm sure many of them are. Even if they weren't, i pretended they were for me and took the encouragement!
No surprises for the parts of me that are tight or weak. Left side of my ribcage, check, back of my legs, check, ankles, checkaroo, inside of hips - oh boy do they need some opening up! Parts that already kick butt: abs, legs (so long as I don't have to engage the back of them!), arms and shoulders.
Next week, lesson #2!
Busy week!
Sorry for the lack of posts, I have had a busy day both at work and with some stressors at home.
I am just waiting on tying up some loose ends before I post something big.
For now, heres some pictures of my cat who decided to sleep under the covers with us the other night:
I am just waiting on tying up some loose ends before I post something big.
For now, heres some pictures of my cat who decided to sleep under the covers with us the other night:
Monday, November 5, 2012
Sunday's Ride
On Sunday, I had planned for a long ride. DJ was supposed to meet up with me so I could show her around the property. I finished up at work, came home for lunch, and left for the barn at quarter to 1. DJ had to work late :( Oh well, I would just start riding without her, do loops of the field and keep checking in at the barn to see if she arrived.
I spent some time in the plateau working on picking up that canter lead that has been so elusive recently. Let me tell you, it took forever! Eventually, I did something I wouldn't usually do. I let him do the left lead like he prefers, and then asked for the lead change during the canter. What would you know? It worked! Of course, I would have a horse who cant get simple lead changes, but easily gets auto lead changes.
The next time we were down in the plateau, I was working on our trot, as he was getting very L shaped instead of C shaped on our circles. Usually the result of cantering and then trying to trot again. I also know I have a tendency to bring my right shoulder forward only when on that lead and when he himself is getting crooked (making it impossible for me to fix!). I tried to make a conscious effort to use more leg and not curve my shoulder in and down. It was really hard! I remembered what was said in the clinic I watched at the Royal on Friday, to keep my weight in the outside. I made the weight shifts obvious, perhaps more than necessary but it helps to make me get into the habit more naturally. Immediately I noticed a difference, none of the straight neck "slow bolting" I had before, and our circles became round instead of angular. I practiced this doing figure 8s and was wonderful.
At the clinic, I remember Waylon saying something along the lines of "keep asking the right questions, the young horse will make several mistakes, all different, but if you keep asking the right question in the same way, he will figure it out eventually" I think this also works for the rider, and Bentley must know this as hes training me. Was he at that clinic too? Clearly Bentley has been presenting me with challenges to improve my crunching to the side. It has always been the same question, I have tried numerous things to figure it out, and I finally got it! He stayed the same the whole time, allowing me to figure out the problem. Damn smart horse!
I didn't ask for canter at any point after that, our ride had been long and strenuous enough and he clearly needed a long walk. I suspect my weight balance will help with the canter transitions too.\
But why am I having problems now?
I think I can answer that. I think I am still very tight to the one side from my injury. It may not be something I can always feel, but its there and its affecting my posture. The tightness on my left side is forcing my right shoulder in and forward, and my whole body twisting. Now that I have noticed it, it seems like such a huge difference in my position, I cant believe I never noticed it before! Hence why we have had this problem ever since my fall. Whats my solution? I have massage booked again, and I am starting yoga tonight. Lets hope that fixes me up!
I spent some time in the plateau working on picking up that canter lead that has been so elusive recently. Let me tell you, it took forever! Eventually, I did something I wouldn't usually do. I let him do the left lead like he prefers, and then asked for the lead change during the canter. What would you know? It worked! Of course, I would have a horse who cant get simple lead changes, but easily gets auto lead changes.
The next time we were down in the plateau, I was working on our trot, as he was getting very L shaped instead of C shaped on our circles. Usually the result of cantering and then trying to trot again. I also know I have a tendency to bring my right shoulder forward only when on that lead and when he himself is getting crooked (making it impossible for me to fix!). I tried to make a conscious effort to use more leg and not curve my shoulder in and down. It was really hard! I remembered what was said in the clinic I watched at the Royal on Friday, to keep my weight in the outside. I made the weight shifts obvious, perhaps more than necessary but it helps to make me get into the habit more naturally. Immediately I noticed a difference, none of the straight neck "slow bolting" I had before, and our circles became round instead of angular. I practiced this doing figure 8s and was wonderful.
At the clinic, I remember Waylon saying something along the lines of "keep asking the right questions, the young horse will make several mistakes, all different, but if you keep asking the right question in the same way, he will figure it out eventually" I think this also works for the rider, and Bentley must know this as hes training me. Was he at that clinic too? Clearly Bentley has been presenting me with challenges to improve my crunching to the side. It has always been the same question, I have tried numerous things to figure it out, and I finally got it! He stayed the same the whole time, allowing me to figure out the problem. Damn smart horse!
I didn't ask for canter at any point after that, our ride had been long and strenuous enough and he clearly needed a long walk. I suspect my weight balance will help with the canter transitions too.\
But why am I having problems now?
I think I can answer that. I think I am still very tight to the one side from my injury. It may not be something I can always feel, but its there and its affecting my posture. The tightness on my left side is forcing my right shoulder in and forward, and my whole body twisting. Now that I have noticed it, it seems like such a huge difference in my position, I cant believe I never noticed it before! Hence why we have had this problem ever since my fall. Whats my solution? I have massage booked again, and I am starting yoga tonight. Lets hope that fixes me up!
Saturday's ride
I wasn't too sure if I was going to ride on Saturday. To be honest I was still hurting from my stirrupless ride on Wednesday. Yes, I take what I said before back. I hurt and bad! Somehow Thursday was fine, Friday started aching a bit, and Saturday was brutal. Work seemed to last double its usual duration because the pain was all I could think about.
After an intense nap on my lunch break, I felt a bit better and decided to go for it. It seemed to hurt more when I pushed my hips forward like walking or stretching, not when I would keep it at riding angle. So it made sense to catch a ride after work.
Since I had been at the Royal the night before, we missed what I had scheduled in to be a jump day. I was going to just let it be missed, and do a hack instead (Saturday was supposed to be hour walk), but as we came down to the plateau, he perked up and trotted right at the nice inviting log jump. Ok, Bentley wants to jump, we can make it the jump day!
We went over the log a few times, approaching it from both directions at the trot and canter. Then we started doing it more at an angle along a circle. This was building up to the exercise I was planning on doing where you have one jump as the centre of your figure 8 and just go over and over. Its supposed to supple them and also help with steering.
We made our way back to the ring, and did the figure 8 exercise at the trot, starting with large circles and gradually making them smaller over a small crossrail. No cantering of course, we aren't yet happy enough with getting that lead so I wasn't going to start confusing him by switching constantly AND throwing a jump in there!
Once that was done pretty well, I added a second jump as a bounce after the crossrail. Of course, we don't do that on a circle, just as a grid. This was Bentley's first time doing a bounce. We approached at the trot, but didn't have nearly enough impulsion to make a bounce jump, he just took them as raised trot poles. Next time, I pushed him more and he broke into the canter stride, but made it very awkward going through as he clearly thought "why do you want me to jump such tiny things?" Ok, I got the picture. I raised the 2nd crossrail to a vertical and approached at the canter. He made it through but it wasn't pretty, weird hopping and foot placement instead of the jump land jump. A few more awkward tries, and I had to push him on more. But then, like magic, he got it! He was so pleased with himself, he always knows when he figures something out, even before I have the chance to reach down and congratulate him. A few more pops over it, and we were good!
It was nearing dark at that point, Tera asked if we wanted the light on, and to her surprise I said "No I want to ride in the dark" I scooted into the now empty indoor arena to do the jump exercise set up there first. It was a jump, canter ground pole, then a jump. Both were verticals about 18" or 2' Enough to make him maybe try, but nothing too scary to take away from the exercise. I think the poles were set at pony length, because his strides felt very short going through it. The first time, he refused the last jump, again, I don't think we had enough impulsion. The second time and third time through were perfect!
I raised the middle pole to be a jump, so it was a line of 3 jumps set at one collected stride. Somehow, he went perfectly over it the first time. He felt very good being collected, but we still had that impulsion to get over. No laziness there! Very happy with him! He also went perfect the second time over too!
More to be happy about was after all that jumping, we decided to cool out by going for a walk in the field, IN THE DARK! He was very well behaved. No spooking at all. He was looking all around, but no troubles, just walked a little slower and more cautiously than usual.
After an intense nap on my lunch break, I felt a bit better and decided to go for it. It seemed to hurt more when I pushed my hips forward like walking or stretching, not when I would keep it at riding angle. So it made sense to catch a ride after work.
Since I had been at the Royal the night before, we missed what I had scheduled in to be a jump day. I was going to just let it be missed, and do a hack instead (Saturday was supposed to be hour walk), but as we came down to the plateau, he perked up and trotted right at the nice inviting log jump. Ok, Bentley wants to jump, we can make it the jump day!
We went over the log a few times, approaching it from both directions at the trot and canter. Then we started doing it more at an angle along a circle. This was building up to the exercise I was planning on doing where you have one jump as the centre of your figure 8 and just go over and over. Its supposed to supple them and also help with steering.
We made our way back to the ring, and did the figure 8 exercise at the trot, starting with large circles and gradually making them smaller over a small crossrail. No cantering of course, we aren't yet happy enough with getting that lead so I wasn't going to start confusing him by switching constantly AND throwing a jump in there!
Once that was done pretty well, I added a second jump as a bounce after the crossrail. Of course, we don't do that on a circle, just as a grid. This was Bentley's first time doing a bounce. We approached at the trot, but didn't have nearly enough impulsion to make a bounce jump, he just took them as raised trot poles. Next time, I pushed him more and he broke into the canter stride, but made it very awkward going through as he clearly thought "why do you want me to jump such tiny things?" Ok, I got the picture. I raised the 2nd crossrail to a vertical and approached at the canter. He made it through but it wasn't pretty, weird hopping and foot placement instead of the jump land jump. A few more awkward tries, and I had to push him on more. But then, like magic, he got it! He was so pleased with himself, he always knows when he figures something out, even before I have the chance to reach down and congratulate him. A few more pops over it, and we were good!
It was nearing dark at that point, Tera asked if we wanted the light on, and to her surprise I said "No I want to ride in the dark" I scooted into the now empty indoor arena to do the jump exercise set up there first. It was a jump, canter ground pole, then a jump. Both were verticals about 18" or 2' Enough to make him maybe try, but nothing too scary to take away from the exercise. I think the poles were set at pony length, because his strides felt very short going through it. The first time, he refused the last jump, again, I don't think we had enough impulsion. The second time and third time through were perfect!
I raised the middle pole to be a jump, so it was a line of 3 jumps set at one collected stride. Somehow, he went perfectly over it the first time. He felt very good being collected, but we still had that impulsion to get over. No laziness there! Very happy with him! He also went perfect the second time over too!
More to be happy about was after all that jumping, we decided to cool out by going for a walk in the field, IN THE DARK! He was very well behaved. No spooking at all. He was looking all around, but no troubles, just walked a little slower and more cautiously than usual.
I Made it!
Yes, I did make it to the Royal!
I was permitted a half day on Friday and zipped over there as soon as I could. Adriana and DJ told me after I posted my initial blog that Sable had gone lame and wouldn't be at the royal. I messaged Linda, and got a mysterious response that they ARE at the royal.
Once I got there, I found that Sable was lame, and she had gone anyway and took advantage of a Reiki session. I wish I could have watched it, but I was immediately snapped up by Solstice, who had arrived 20 minutes before me, and was walking Angel around when I got there (they were Sable's replacement). Together, Solstice and I got Angel all prettied up and braided nicely. By the time we were done, the Reiki was over and Sable was getting ready to go home. I will have to remember to touch base with Linda and see how she is doing. I did see Sable in the field yesterday and she was trotting around looking lame, but not terrible.
Solstice went on for her first ride at 2:30. I had the pleasure of setting up the poles and jump for her, and although she was nervous, she did a wonderful job! Same went for the next 2 performances of the night. People really loved watching her, particularly because of her size and cuteness (both of them!) She got lots of questions despite a pretty small audience, the Friday is never as busy as the weekend. That's ok, its a good warmup!
In between, I was able to get some shopping done and sat down at the Spirit of the Horse to watch the Waylon Roberts clinic. One thing he really stressed was riding with leg all the way to the jump. Prepare your rhythm beforehand and if you keep your rhythm, you will be successful, don't back off before the jump in attempts to change things. I think that really helps the horses confidence. Also he stressed putting your weight to the outside around corners to balance the horse, something that came to help me on Sunday.
After that, Linda had returned just before Solstice's last performance and had brought her friend Lynne. We went to the petting zoo. I found a cow that I loved and wanted to bring home. She was so sweet and soft!
Solstice somehow convinced me to try milking the fake cow. Guess I will need this skill when I bring home the automatic lawn mower / cheese maker pictured above.
I was permitted a half day on Friday and zipped over there as soon as I could. Adriana and DJ told me after I posted my initial blog that Sable had gone lame and wouldn't be at the royal. I messaged Linda, and got a mysterious response that they ARE at the royal. Once I got there, I found that Sable was lame, and she had gone anyway and took advantage of a Reiki session. I wish I could have watched it, but I was immediately snapped up by Solstice, who had arrived 20 minutes before me, and was walking Angel around when I got there (they were Sable's replacement). Together, Solstice and I got Angel all prettied up and braided nicely. By the time we were done, the Reiki was over and Sable was getting ready to go home. I will have to remember to touch base with Linda and see how she is doing. I did see Sable in the field yesterday and she was trotting around looking lame, but not terrible.
Solstice went on for her first ride at 2:30. I had the pleasure of setting up the poles and jump for her, and although she was nervous, she did a wonderful job! Same went for the next 2 performances of the night. People really loved watching her, particularly because of her size and cuteness (both of them!) She got lots of questions despite a pretty small audience, the Friday is never as busy as the weekend. That's ok, its a good warmup!In between, I was able to get some shopping done and sat down at the Spirit of the Horse to watch the Waylon Roberts clinic. One thing he really stressed was riding with leg all the way to the jump. Prepare your rhythm beforehand and if you keep your rhythm, you will be successful, don't back off before the jump in attempts to change things. I think that really helps the horses confidence. Also he stressed putting your weight to the outside around corners to balance the horse, something that came to help me on Sunday.
After that, Linda had returned just before Solstice's last performance and had brought her friend Lynne. We went to the petting zoo. I found a cow that I loved and wanted to bring home. She was so sweet and soft!
Solstice somehow convinced me to try milking the fake cow. Guess I will need this skill when I bring home the automatic lawn mower / cheese maker pictured above.
Of course, no trip is complete without going to the horse barn and seeing what was hanging out! We caught a couple of draft teams getting ready for a performance, I am guessing it was just a demonstration, not a competition as there was just one of each: Belgian, Percheron, and Clyde (my favourite because of their funky coats!)
Then we watched the warmups for indoor eventing. Linda found it funny that Waylon Roberts kissed his horse on the nose before going out. Apparently most men don't do that. I think most of them just do it in the stall when nobody is looking, too ashamed of their horsey love perhaps? Below is who I THINK is Jessica Phoenix, our only eventer to complete the Olympics (and do very well too!), who came over to take a good look at Solstice (who had snuck my phone away to take photos), unfortunately the pics didn't come in too clear. From my memory and comparing photos taken of the competition, i am 95% sure. Very cool to see!
Dogs are nothing but trouble!
Working this weekend was pretty good... with the exception of the dogs!
Saturday, they just happened to always be in the way. They were scaring horses in the wash stalls, leaving muddy footprints on the clean tack room floor, spreading the cat's food dishes throughout the barn and constantly in the way of my wheelbarrow. It was a disaster.
The disaster came again on Sunday. I turned my back for only a few minutes to check on the bunnies (one had escaped and got a bloody nose from digging in the gravel) and when I came back, Winnie had eaten the ENTIRE bag of cat food. Zoey may have assisted, but knowing her, she usually just tags along and watches while Winnie gets into trouble.
Here they are looking very guilty:
When I came back in the afternoon Sunday, I found out that Winnie also ate the entire potato salad from a kid's birthday party going on that day. Nice Winnie, Nice.
The more I hang out with dogs, the more I am glad with my decision to stick with cats, rabbits and horses.
Saturday, they just happened to always be in the way. They were scaring horses in the wash stalls, leaving muddy footprints on the clean tack room floor, spreading the cat's food dishes throughout the barn and constantly in the way of my wheelbarrow. It was a disaster.
The disaster came again on Sunday. I turned my back for only a few minutes to check on the bunnies (one had escaped and got a bloody nose from digging in the gravel) and when I came back, Winnie had eaten the ENTIRE bag of cat food. Zoey may have assisted, but knowing her, she usually just tags along and watches while Winnie gets into trouble.
Here they are looking very guilty:
When I came back in the afternoon Sunday, I found out that Winnie also ate the entire potato salad from a kid's birthday party going on that day. Nice Winnie, Nice.
The more I hang out with dogs, the more I am glad with my decision to stick with cats, rabbits and horses.
Friday, November 2, 2012
Royal Starts Today!
Probably the only light in the dreary weather this time of year for most of us horse people, is going to the Royal.
Today Linda is off with Sable to ride in the Spirit of the Horse demonstrations (presented by the OEF) to promote the AHA and OCTRA.
This is the second year that she has had this opportunity, and also the second year I will sadly be missing it. Of course it falls on the one day where I have absolutely no chance of getting off work (when the boss is gone, I must stay here to man the battleship!). Last year was my fault however, I had lost my personal phone sometime in October and had since been using only my work blackberry, and hadn't given Linda my new number, so all the calls and texts remained unseen until it was all over. Of course, I found my phone half a year later in the pocket of a jacket. Figures!
I am very sad to be missing out on this, especially with all the crewing I have done for them this year and the 2 RNTs we did with Sable, its harder to miss as we became even more of a team than ever before. Just doesn't feel right my team is missing their top crew!
However, it is nice to not be surrounded by all that temptation. I am not in a position to do a lot of shopping this year (however I am seeing all the Bahr's sales on their facebook, and WOW, do I ever want EVERYTHING they are clearing out!)
My plan remains this... if by some chance I can get out of here early, I am driving right down to the Royal. If I cant get out early, its home time to do some jumping.
Lets see where the day leads me!
Today Linda is off with Sable to ride in the Spirit of the Horse demonstrations (presented by the OEF) to promote the AHA and OCTRA.
This is the second year that she has had this opportunity, and also the second year I will sadly be missing it. Of course it falls on the one day where I have absolutely no chance of getting off work (when the boss is gone, I must stay here to man the battleship!). Last year was my fault however, I had lost my personal phone sometime in October and had since been using only my work blackberry, and hadn't given Linda my new number, so all the calls and texts remained unseen until it was all over. Of course, I found my phone half a year later in the pocket of a jacket. Figures!
I am very sad to be missing out on this, especially with all the crewing I have done for them this year and the 2 RNTs we did with Sable, its harder to miss as we became even more of a team than ever before. Just doesn't feel right my team is missing their top crew!
However, it is nice to not be surrounded by all that temptation. I am not in a position to do a lot of shopping this year (however I am seeing all the Bahr's sales on their facebook, and WOW, do I ever want EVERYTHING they are clearing out!)
My plan remains this... if by some chance I can get out of here early, I am driving right down to the Royal. If I cant get out early, its home time to do some jumping.
Lets see where the day leads me!
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Oopsie Tuesday
I missed writing about this after it happened, but it was pretty funny.
When Tayla came to pick me up from the train station, I ran over to her car and opened the door, only to find it wasn't her car...
Nope. It was a car that looked exactly like hers (including tinted windows) and I terrified the people inside.
I have been very very careful about my car choices since then.
When Tayla came to pick me up from the train station, I ran over to her car and opened the door, only to find it wasn't her car...
Nope. It was a car that looked exactly like hers (including tinted windows) and I terrified the people inside.
I have been very very careful about my car choices since then.
Crash course in stirrupless work.
Monday and Tuesday were pretty quiet for me. Instead of braving "Superstorm Sandy" I stayed in and cleaned my tack.
I brought it back to the barn last night, brought Bentley in, groomed him, and tossed my nice clean saddle up on his back. The plan was to add the stirrups at that point. I grabbed the irons and looked in the bag. Uh oh. No leathers. Hmmm.
Now came the big decision: what kind of lazy should I be tonight? The kind of lazy where I switch saddles so I don't have to ride stirrupless the whole time, or the kind of lazy where I don't want to change saddles once its already on. I picked the latter. Don't ask me why, theres not a lot of rationalization for it.
The ring ended up being much busier than I expected considering lessons were cancelled. DJ and her family were there too, our first time riding together since they moved in. After it was all over, I asked Dre what she thought of Bentley (as she also rides an arab and had never seen me ride B) and she said she was more impressed with me riding stirrupless and having the coordination to keep checking my watch instead of desperately clinging to the saddle. I had a good laugh and explained, the only reason I was checking my watch was in thinking "oh please let it be X minutes by now!"
I have been working hard on making a reasonable riding/conditioning schedule for over the winter. I will blog more about it later, but last night's ride went like this:
10 min walk warmup
10 min trot warmup
5 min walk
5 min trot
5 min canter
5 min trot
5 min walk
10 min trot
10 min walk cooldown.
Total 30 mins walking, 30 mins trotting, 5 mins canter
I am dubbing Wednesdays to be my dressage night. I was hoping to ride entry test 1 (and even memorized it on train on the way home) but there were just too many people. However, we did improve our leg yields to the left, and our right lead canter, both the symptoms of his or my weak side, and I did a lot of sitting trot, so I think that can kind of count for our weekly dressage day.
Like usual, we started on left lead canter, I had wanted to do 3 mins of this, but at 2.5 mins, I was exhausted, somehow it was more work than sitting trot. I started to bounce unfairly on Bentley's back. So we walked a bit (took it out of our 2nd 5 min walk break) and changed directions. On the right lead, it took him 3 times before he got the right lead. I think what made the difference was I gave him an exaggerated open rein to the inside. Part of whats hurting us is my tendency to twist to the outside when he is no longer straight. The open rein helped me to stay straight and twist inside more. I focused more on getting the lead than making a pretty transition. We did have to stop partway through as more people entered the ring, we just trotted around until they were ready. After that, it only took the second try and Bentley had the correct lead. I think we are making good progress!
Also, by our second time cantering, I was focusing less on my seat and more about staying upright, not leaning into the curve like a motorbike. I think it helped us quite a bit, hopefully it keeps helping us with the lead if I focus on that. I think my seat actually improves when I stop thinking about it, just relaxing it, and focusing on changing something else.
For our last 5 minutes of trotting, I decided to post. I don't know whether it was Bentleys stride or my saddle, but I got hit both going up and coming down. Who ever heard of sitting trot being more bearable than posting? Seriously! Not sure what I am going to do about that yet. Will have to mull it over for a while.
And how am I this morning you might ask?
I'm pretty good. I wont be riding a bike anytime soon (too many hits!) but my muscles are fine. No cowboy walking. My back is a little sore too, I tried to do some situps last night and my lower back was bugging me too much. Not sure if its aggravated from the riding or just in general, I haven't done situps in ages.
I brought it back to the barn last night, brought Bentley in, groomed him, and tossed my nice clean saddle up on his back. The plan was to add the stirrups at that point. I grabbed the irons and looked in the bag. Uh oh. No leathers. Hmmm.
Now came the big decision: what kind of lazy should I be tonight? The kind of lazy where I switch saddles so I don't have to ride stirrupless the whole time, or the kind of lazy where I don't want to change saddles once its already on. I picked the latter. Don't ask me why, theres not a lot of rationalization for it.
The ring ended up being much busier than I expected considering lessons were cancelled. DJ and her family were there too, our first time riding together since they moved in. After it was all over, I asked Dre what she thought of Bentley (as she also rides an arab and had never seen me ride B) and she said she was more impressed with me riding stirrupless and having the coordination to keep checking my watch instead of desperately clinging to the saddle. I had a good laugh and explained, the only reason I was checking my watch was in thinking "oh please let it be X minutes by now!"
I have been working hard on making a reasonable riding/conditioning schedule for over the winter. I will blog more about it later, but last night's ride went like this:
10 min walk warmup
10 min trot warmup
5 min walk
5 min trot
5 min canter
5 min trot
5 min walk
10 min trot
10 min walk cooldown.
Total 30 mins walking, 30 mins trotting, 5 mins canter
I am dubbing Wednesdays to be my dressage night. I was hoping to ride entry test 1 (and even memorized it on train on the way home) but there were just too many people. However, we did improve our leg yields to the left, and our right lead canter, both the symptoms of his or my weak side, and I did a lot of sitting trot, so I think that can kind of count for our weekly dressage day.
Like usual, we started on left lead canter, I had wanted to do 3 mins of this, but at 2.5 mins, I was exhausted, somehow it was more work than sitting trot. I started to bounce unfairly on Bentley's back. So we walked a bit (took it out of our 2nd 5 min walk break) and changed directions. On the right lead, it took him 3 times before he got the right lead. I think what made the difference was I gave him an exaggerated open rein to the inside. Part of whats hurting us is my tendency to twist to the outside when he is no longer straight. The open rein helped me to stay straight and twist inside more. I focused more on getting the lead than making a pretty transition. We did have to stop partway through as more people entered the ring, we just trotted around until they were ready. After that, it only took the second try and Bentley had the correct lead. I think we are making good progress!
Also, by our second time cantering, I was focusing less on my seat and more about staying upright, not leaning into the curve like a motorbike. I think it helped us quite a bit, hopefully it keeps helping us with the lead if I focus on that. I think my seat actually improves when I stop thinking about it, just relaxing it, and focusing on changing something else.
For our last 5 minutes of trotting, I decided to post. I don't know whether it was Bentleys stride or my saddle, but I got hit both going up and coming down. Who ever heard of sitting trot being more bearable than posting? Seriously! Not sure what I am going to do about that yet. Will have to mull it over for a while.
And how am I this morning you might ask?
I'm pretty good. I wont be riding a bike anytime soon (too many hits!) but my muscles are fine. No cowboy walking. My back is a little sore too, I tried to do some situps last night and my lower back was bugging me too much. Not sure if its aggravated from the riding or just in general, I haven't done situps in ages.
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