A Week With My Horses

This past week I've been house sitting on Bainbridge so I've been able to come over everyday and either ride or spend time with my horses. It's been great! Monday and Wednesday I rode over at Barnabee and like Christmas Eve, it was really quiet. I think all of the construction work must now be done there and I'm so excited. It's making all of the difference in my riding. Ben isn't as antsy anymore and I'm able to ride him for the full 45+ minutes instead of lunging him for half of it. It's been nice to be able to have more saddle time again and be able to work on different exercises.

On Tuesday I took Hyrum for a little trail ride on Jena. We also clipped her "Santa beard" off and spruced her up a bit. Hyrum had fun making her look pretty and decided her new name should be "Butterfly Princess Pony." He's so funny! Afterwards I trimmed Ben's mane and also clipped his bridle path and throat latch. He looks very sharp now, especially when he is wet and all of his long winter coat hairs are laying down. It reminds me of how beautiful he is in the summer. Ahhhh, I can't wait!

Thursday my dad and I cleaned up all of the manure in the pasture and we took out 6 wheelbarrows full. We couldn't believe it! It rained the whole time we were working and with the ground so wet a lot of soil was mixed in with the manure, which made it really heavy. I was glad to have my dad help to push the wheelbarrow. I owe a lot to him since he cleans up the pasture each week. If I was over here more I'd do it too, but all my time on the island usually just gets spent in riding. After picking up the manure, I cleaned all my tack and organized my tack room.

What a great week it's been to be able to spend everyday with my horses. I can't wait until I am able to live closer to them and have them on my own property someday. Even if you can't ride everyday, it's still very fulfilling to be able to be in a horse's presence. They are powerful creatures and I love the special bond that we have.

Peace and Quiet

I had a great ride today! It was so peaceful! It's been over 6 months since it's been so quiet at Barnabee. I guess with it being Christmas Eve, no one else was at the barn riding this afternoon and all the construction crew must be done with their projects or just had the day off as well. It was great to be able to ride Ben for a full 45 minutes and not to have to spend half the time lungeing him. Even though he was a little resistant at first, he was quick to comply and we had a good workout doing lengthenings across the diagonals, transitions within the gaits, square turns, and leg yielding. We also worked on his canter and it's really coming along. He's really balanced to the left and is getting much better to the right as well. I'm not sure why he was having problems with the right on the lunge line the other day or even in my lesson last week, but today he was really relaxed and didn't spook at all. Thanks for the great ride Ben!

Too Bad I Can't Lunge My Kids!

When I arrived at Barnabee I decided that after my tough morning with my kids, I decided that I really didn't want to fight with my horse either, so I was sure to lunge Ben before I got on him. I lunged him for a good 20 minutes and worked on increasing and decreasing the size of the circle to get Ben to reach with his inside hind leg under his body more which in turn allows him to lift his back and carry himself in a more balance frame and strengthens his back muscles in the process. He was doing really well to the left but when we switched to the right he started bucking and jumping all over the place at the canter. I remember him doing this the last time I lunged him so I'm wondering if something must be going on in his right hind leg. Maybe he is experiencing some sort of pain so he's acting out because it hurts? I don't know. I just need to pay more attention to it and do some trail and error and then the next lesson I have with Ulla I need to be sure to bring it up with her and see if she notices anything.

After lunging I rode him for about 25 more minutes and Ben was really relaxed and preformed well for me. He collected very nicely and also stretched very well. I worked a lot on transitions within the gaits of trot and canter from collected to medium. We also did a lot of square turns which helped to engage him as well. While riding his canter in both directions was smooth so I don't know why he exploded like he did on the lunge line. Maybe he was just having a bit of fun?! Hopefully I'm just over analyzing things, since I'd hate to have give him any more time off. Two days a week of riding already seems like nothing at all, but at least it's something. And days like today, it's certainly a breath of fresh air as I'm able to take a break from the kids.

Reevaluation and Transitions

Ben was a little feisty when I rode him this afternoon. I have really started to see what a difference 2 days a week of riding vs. 3 is doing to him. Last year thought 3 wasn't enough but was glad to be able to do it, but 2 just really isn't working for him. It almost seems like a waste of time, at least as far as his training goes. There are so many days in between his rides I have to refresh everything and spend so much time in his warm-up so that he will get over his stubbornness in the beginning of each ride. Maybe I just need to lower my expectation of him, I don't know. It's just really hard because I ride to train. I want to see progress. I want to obtain a true balanced connection with him. I've had glimpses of this with him and so I know he has the potential, but it's just not going to get there with such infrequent riding. The next time I have a riding lesson, I think I am going to discuss this with my trainer and reevaluate some things.

This being said, today when I rode, I was getting frustrated and Ben's lack of progress and unwillingness to cooperate. I tried to keep calm and just keep asking him for what I wanted him to do until he submitted. Eventually he complied, but I felt like we were just fighting the whole time and that's not how I want to ride.

Once I had him working forward and willing I worked on lots and lots of transitions:

Walk - Halt - Walk - Halt.

Walk - Trot - Walk -Trot.

Trot - Canter - Trot - Canter.

Walk - Canter - Walk - Canter.

In between each transition I would only allow him to move 3-5 strides in the new gait. This kept him very alert so that he would anticipate what I was asking of him. It also allowed me to diminish my aides so at times all I would have to do was to think about the transition and it would occur. This is how a well-trained horse is supposed to preform. Horse and rider and in such great communication with each other that to an on-looker it would seem that the rider is doing nothing, but in actuality what they are doing is a culmination of many many patient days in the saddle schooling the horse to become sensitive to the aides. All of this take a great deal of time and effort on both parts. But I guess, that is what I love about riding. There is always room for improvement when aiming for perfection!

Kids vs. Horses

I was finally able to meet up with my trainer Ulla for a lesson today. It's been over a month since my last one and it was great to get some insight again. Ben was acting really scared of the east end of the arena today. Especially in the corner where Ulla usually sits, he was shying away every time we passed. A few times it was really bad and he didn't even want to approach it and I had to keep all of my aides on and not loose any contact as I passed. He jumped and shyed, bucked and kicked, twisted and bounced all over the place. Luckily I have a very good seat and stayed with him the whole time. A few times I felt like I was riding in a rodeo! But there was NO WAY I was going to let him get me off. Sorry Ben, I'm stuck to you like GLUE! It's a good thing too, because I really don't want to fall off. The last time I slipped off was about 7 years ago when I was still into jumping and I twisted my wrist in the process. That was no fun! But since then I've had a very solid record for staying in the saddle....knock on wood!

While Ben was throwing his fits today, Ulla mentioned that I needed to view him like a child throwing a tantrum. I've definitely got experience there! She said to just ignore him and keep asking him to do what I want him to do, be consistent and don't give up. Don't reward him by responding to him verbally, even if you are saying "NO!" or "STOP IT!" because he's looking for a response, even if it's a negative one. Only until he starts to relax and give you what you've been asking him to do is it okay to reward him by lightening up the aides. Ben has two ways of evading: resisting by throwing a fit or rushing. Both show that he is not willing to listen and trying to avoid what I'm asking of him.

Despite his tantrums today, we were overall successful. By the end of the lesson I had managed to keep him forward in all of the gaits and calmly move past all of the "scary" things at the end of the arena. I just have to remember when riding Ben to always be one step ahead of him, not only with my eyes and focus, but in everything that I'm asking of him. Don't just anticipate him acting out, but think about what he will be like afterwards so that I'm not sending him a tense or nervous message.

Ulla also commented that I'm lucky that I'm so patient. I had to laugh under my breath, because this seems to be an on-going battle with me. In riding I can be patient, but with my kids, sometimes I just loose it. Owning a horse requires a lot of commitment, which I love to give, but so does raising kids. It's no wonder most horse women have to choose "Kids vs. Horses." They both take a life long to raise and you have to take one step at a time. Who knew that while riding (which was supposed to be my break from my kids) that I would be learning so much more about how to be a better parent. I guess it all goes hand in hand, like it says in Proverbs 22:6 "Train up a child [horse] in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it."

All Bundled Up

I actually stayed warm today even though it was in the upper 20s while I rode! On top, I wore a ribbed turtleneck sweater, fleece vest and a fleece jacket. On the bottom I wore long under ware under my breeches and wool socks in my riding boots. What really kept me toasty though was Ben's fleece quarter sheet. Normally I would take it off while riding him, but being so cold out, I didn't want him to catch a chill either. So I kept it on him and draped it over my legs and it was great! This is about what I looked like when riding, only this photo was taken out of the Dover catalog. At least we don't have snow on the ground yet!

This is the best invention for winter riding!

A Real Dressage Test - Galloping at Gazzam

This morning while I was on the ferry my riding instructor, Ulla, called me to cancel my lesson. Apparently they are still doing heavy construction over at Barnabee and working really close to the indoor arena and it's freaking out all of the horses. Plus since it's been in the uppers teens at night lately the ground is frozen and so the outdoor arena wouldn't have been an option. I was sad to have my lesson cancelled since it's been about a month since my last one, but if we would have had one I'm sure it would have been a disaster. Probably a bit like this:

A Real Dressage Test

BASIC LEVEL


A Enter extraordinary serpentine.

X Halt.

G Try again.

C Freeze in horror at Judge's stand. Take opportunity to salute hurriedly.

C Track to left in counterflexed bolt.

E Irregular polyhedron left, 20 meters, plus or minus 5 meters.

FXH Change rein unextended jig.

H Canter, or counter canter, or crosscanter.

M-F Working out-of-hand gallop.

A Just try to walk.

KXM Tesseract, stopping at each corner to rub nose on foreleg.

C Down center line, working trot bouncing.

X Pulley rein. Halt. Salute, exhale.

Leave arena in free walk, loose language under breath.

Sadly, all equestrians have probably all been there. But that is what bonds us together, right?

So, to make up for the cancelled lesson and to get out and enjoy a bit of sun despite the freezing temps. I took Ben on a trail ride up to Gazzam Lake. Well, maybe I should say I took Ben for a walk, since I had to walk him 1/3 of the way before he would let me get on him. Ever since he encountered a coyote on the trail last year, he's been really goofy and resistant to trail riding. He thinks something is going to pop out of the woods at him and in order for him to be confident enough to move forward I have to hand walk him. I feel a little silly doing so, since I feel like I'm walking a 1100 lb. dog that is a complete scaredy cat. But luckily about 1/3 of the way into the trail he's calm enough and I can convince him to move forward and then we have lots of fun galloping through the trails. All the extra adrenaline is actually nice, since it allows him to carry his back higher and arch his neck. Even though we weren't in the dressage arena today, we practiced lots of shoulder-in, haunches-in and half-pass along the trail. The perfect combination, DRESSAGE ON TRAILS!!

Search the Clouds

The weather was a little crazy while I was riding this afternoon. All of a sudden a huge black cloud came sweeping across the sky and dumped rain. It was SO LOUD pounding on the metal roof of the indoor arena that it startled both Ben and I. Luckily I had already been riding for 35 minutes and had achieved the goal I had set out for today so I decided I should get off before I got bucked off and let Ben free lunge around the arena. He had a great time kicking up his heels and ripping around the arena at top speed without his saddle and bridle on. It was great to be able to watch him run around free and really made me appreciate what a beautiful animal he is and how thankful I am to own a horse again. I look forward to the time each week that I get to spend with him. It's such a blessing to be back on track with what I LOVE to do!

More paintings by Kim McElroy can be viewed at Spirit of Horse.

Too Much vs. Too Little Energy

Today I was supposed to be riding in this, but due to being sick all last week I didn't have time to prepare for it. I was very sad to miss it, especially since Henrik isn't coming back from Denmark again until March. Hopefully by then I'll be super prepared and Ben will be in better shape than he is now. On the bright side at least I saved myself $200 by not attending!

So instead I took Ben out for a ride to Barnabee today. After 10 days of no work, he was full of energy and I on the other hand am just getting mine back. There were a bunch of construction workers there today driving around in their tractors and making all sorts of noise. A couple loads of gravel and heavy rock were also delivered, which added to the craziness. Under these conditions I figured it was best to not ride Ben the full 45 minutes. Honestly I didn't know if my cough would have even allowed me too anyway. So I lunged him for 20 minutes (10 in each direction) and let him get all of his bucks and silliness out. Then I hooked him up to some side reins for 5 minutes to see how he would react. I have never used them with him before and he looked really sad wearing them, so that didn't last long. For the last 20 minutes I got on him and rode. That proved to be just the right amount of time. Since he was already a little tired at that point he was very easy to handle and performed really well for me. I didn't ask him to do anything too hard or complicated though. Mostly we just worked on balance, stretching, bending and lots of changes of direction.

Warm-up at the Canter

Today I had a riding lesson and since I hadn't ridden Ben since last Wednesday he was very antsy and it was hard to get him to concentrate and relax. Ulla thought it was best to warm him up at the canter and that really seemed to work well. At first we just cantered along the track of the arena a couple of times and then we worked on a figure 8 and changing leads at X through the trot. After he was relaxed with that we changed it up a bit so one of the 20 meter circles was at the trot and then after the change of lead at X we'd start cantering in the other direction. This helped a lot and really got him to concentrate and move forward. We also worked on the large figure 8 the full length of the arena and crossing the long diagonals. At times it was a bit hard since the sun started to break through the clouds and was practically blinding me when I was riding from A to C along the long side.

Ulla also had be work on creating Ben's forward power and keeping it consistent with no resistance by lightly tapping or tickling him with the whip until he would give. At first he was a little annoyed by the whip, but once he gave up the resistance I stopped with the tickling as a reward. This really worked and for the last 10 minutes of the lesson Ben was performing at his full potential. It was a little frustrating to take almost the full lesson to get that far, but I guess I should expect much when he had the last 4 days off, there was a rain storm for the first half of the lesson and I had just given him his Adequan injection while tacking up. Hopefully I'll be able to find someone else to be able to help me ride him more consistently so I don't have to deal with this attitude of his every time I ride.

Ben's New Hair Cut

This afternoon I went over the the island and gave Ben a trace clip. It was the first time I've done one like this before since in the past I've just body clipped horses and that's so much easier since everything is clipped except the legs. I opted for a medium trace clip since I figured the high trace clip would have left him too naked and cold.

Ben was much better than I expected he'd be while I was clipping him. At first he was a little ticklish along his legs and belly, but after a few minutes he settled down and stood very nicely for me. Note, the clippers I borrowed from Ulla are super loud! Definitely NOT to be sure on Jena, since she is even afraid of my quiet ones.

BEFORE

AFTER

The high trace clip would have gone all the way up to the edge of the saddle pad and half of his neck would have been clipped as well.

Hopefully with this new hair cut it will help Ben from over heating while I'm riding him and allow him to cool out faster afterwards.

Back to Back Ds

When I rode Ben this afternoon I worked on a new exercise with him to allow him to collect more and work on his hind end engagement. I rode him on a 20 meter circle at the trot and then turned it in to back to back Ds. This seemed to work really well for him since it gave time while on the center line to be straight before we had to collect and make a turn toward the wall. This allowed more collection on the outside aides and while turning I incorporated swing turns to engage his hind even further. He was very willing throughout this whole exercise.

Afterwards, I worked on his lateral work by leg yielding down the center line toward the wall. If he started to resist at all I would stop and either make him do a turn on the forehand or back up for a few steps until he was once again engaged.

Heather Blitz and Arabella

I was reading the article, "Heather's Toolbox" by Sandra Adair Daugirda, in my magazine "Dressage Today" and here are a few things I want to remember from it so I can incorporate them into my training.

"Consider the balance, coordination, muscle tone, energy and symmetry of the rider and the horse. Add how they read and react to each other, and it becomes clear why dressage is not just a sport but an art."



(Here Blitz rides Arabella, a Danish Warmblood mare by Rambo that she trained from the beginning to Grand Prix. They were a reserve pair for the 2006 World Equestrian Games.)

"Blitz is an elegant rider. At six feet tall, she had "plugged-in" seat bones, a "vertically stacked" torso and rotated thighs that are well-connected to the saddle. In the saddle, she constantly works to lower her center of gravity and access her core strength. To help riders find this same stability, Blitz gives us a peek into her biomechanical toolbox...

• Be Aware
• Create an Authoritative Bumprint
• Train the Horse to React
• Find the Neutral State
• Visualize a Heavy Ball
• Imagine a Thought Bubble
• Be Clear
• Add Isometrics
• Stay True to Yourself

I'll expand more later...

Lame or Not Lame? That is the Question!

On Saturday when I came over to ride Ben, he was acting very strange. While I was brushing the mud off his blanket he started to lift his right hind leg and hold it in the air. After I removed his blanket, I felt him all over his back leg and didn't find any areas of heat or swelling. However, when I touched him around his stifle and the inside of his thigh he would again lift his leg out to the side and shake a little as he held it. This really worried me and I almost wished I had found a wound that I could pin point it to.

I decided to try lungeing him to see if his gait at the trot and canter were affected it was hard to tell. The ground in his pasture isn't level and he was full of energy so he was really jumpy. But at least he didn't seem to be favoring it much while moving.

I'm thinking it may have been caused on Wednesday when I free lunged him after my ride. There was a lot of tractor work going on at Barnabee and they were fixing their retention pond and Ben didn't like all of the noise, so he was a little nervous. Had I not had such a solid seat I probably would have fallen off at least 4 times since he was so jumpy, especially at the canter. Anyhow, after riding for a 1/2 hour I decided I would get off and let him run around the arena. He had a great time doing this and at times was in a full gallop before he had to break and turn a sharp corner.

So he could have strained a muscle then, or possibly it was on Thursday morning when my Dad saw some coyotes near the pasture. The horses were pretty nervous and running around snorting, so he could have easily slipped and stained it then as well. Either way, something wasn't right. Since I didn't have any bute I just gave him the day off and hoped that it would heal with time.

Lucikly it did and when I came to ride him today, he showed no signs of soreness. We had a great ride today! At first I lunged him a just to make sure he was 100% sound. After 10 minutes I got on and we worked on suppling him through the serpentine and getting him to establish the correct bend and be balanced as he changed directions without lifting his head. Then we worked on his canter on a figure 8, changing leads in the middle and also leg yielding down the quarter line at the canter. He did really well during both of these exercises. In the past he has had some issues with leg yielding at the canter to the right and would break out and bolt, which lead me to thinking that something must be pinching him or hurting him, but today he showed no signs of this and was very willing. We also worked on swing turns at the trot and that really helped him to collect more and engage his inside hind leg. All and all it was a great ride!

Old McDonald had a Horse?

For those of you who think that a horse was one of the animals living on Old McDonald's farm, think again. Obviously you have not met my horse. Ben has to be one of the strangest horses I've met. He is chicken when it comes to chickens, thinks a cow laying in a field chewing it's cud is going to attack him and believes that a sheep's sole purpose is to give him nightmares. I wish I knew more about Ben's history. In the past 15 months that I've owned him, I've discovered that he must have only ever lived on a equine farm where the only other animal present besides horses are dogs and cats. Luckily, I'm not a fan of any of Old McDonald's other farm animals, so some day when I'm able to build a house on my property it'll be horses only for me.

These paintings by Kim McElroy remind me of what Ben looks like when he is in the presence of said farm animals. Keep in mind that every time I ride him I have to hand walk him 1.5 miles down the road to the indoor arena at Barnabee. Everyday we pass chickens, cows and sheep. You'd think that over the past year he would have gotten used to them. Ha! Even when he can't see them he expects them to pop out of the bushes and scare him. It's as if he is looking to be scared. Such a funny horse!

New Blog

I've had this idea for quite a while to start a blog about my riding adventures. I'm not sure how many of my followers will really be interested in reading this, but it's mostly for me anyway. I hope to have it serve a a place where I can journal about my rides and the process I'm going through in training my horse. That way I can look back and see our successes and also what exercises we've worked on and how effective they were. So here it goes! Enjoy!

My Little Cowboy!

Today we went over to Bainbridge for Hyrum's last pony ride before school starts tomorrow. After tomorrow he will only be coming over to the island with me on Mondays so he won't get as much riding time in unless occasionally come over on the weekends as well. I'm still going to try and come over every Wednesday and Friday with Jonah while Hyrum is in school. So we'll see how that works out since we'll have to depend lots on Daddy and local friends to help out with his drop off and pick up.

To celebrate school starting tomorrow, I thought I'd take Hyrum on an extra long trail ride today to Gazzam Lake Park. There are trails and country roads from my parents house that connect us up with the lake so it's a nice peaceful ride. I rode there a lot as a teenager and used to take Ben there as well, but he's gone a bit trail sour and I don't feel comfortable out there alone anymore. Jena on the other hand is a "Star Pony!" She was such a great little investment! I'm so glad we purchased her for the kids. She is very calm around the kids and in new surroundings she isn't worried or nervous at all. Ben is just the opposite since he will freak out at any new branch that has fallen, shy at any odd noise and won't even enter an area where it just plain smells funny. This is the reason he's not a jumper! Even though it would have been fun to jump again, there's no way I'd risk it.

It's been really fun to teach Hyrum how to ride. When in the saddle he is such a little cowboy. He has no fear, is totally relaxed and truly enjoys it. He especially had fun today as he was able to observe a little wildlife along the way. We saw a spotted owl, chipmunks and ducks. When we got to the lake we sat for a while on the bench and Jena was so cute she walked right up over to Hyrum, nuzzled into his chest and just stood there wanting to be loved. She's like a big puppy dog! Such a sweetie! I didn't dare take a photo though since she is camera shy. This is her one fault. She hates the flash and even the beep the camera makes when I turn it on. So I'm always lucky to get some good shots of her.

Here are a few photos I took before we left. I couldn't decide which I likes best so I'm posting them all! Enjoy!

I love how happy Hyrum is when he's riding! He giggles almost the whole time, especially when Jena is trotting.

Here we were trying to get her to stand still for the camera, but she kept walking off toward me. Notice the blue hydrangea on top of her head. That's Hyrum's little way of decorating "My Little Pony Princess Jena."

Finally she stood still for us! Thanks Jena, you're a good sport!

Gerd Heuschmann Clinic

This weekend I rode in the Gerd Heuschmann clinic located at Wacky Nut Farm on BainbridgeIsland. It was like a mini vacation since I was able to spend 4 solid days riding my horse and mingling with equestrian professionals; top riders, veterinarians, saddle makers, massage therapists, instructors, judges and amateurs like myself.

It was a privilege to ride with a trainer of such high caliber. I was one of 8 riders in the clinic.

On Thursday from 5-9pm he gave a lecture which covered the topics in his book Tug of War - Classical vs. "Modern" Dressage. Then from 9am - 6pm Friday through Sunday he worked with the riders to demonstrate the techniques he talked about in the lecture. At first Gerd would watch us warm up our horse to see the way we rode how the horse moved. Then he would get on our horse and train them for about 20-30 minutes and demonstrate how to improve the horse's gaits by having them engage their hind ends more which resulted in a raised back and a neck position that was relaxed. He was able to change horses from leg movers to back movers.

The first day of riding I was very nervous especially since I was riding in front of 50+ other equestrian professionals who were auditing the clinic. But what I gained from the experience was definitely worth the hundreds of dollars I invested to be there. I learned how to better connect with my horse by not using my hands as much but rather to concentrate on my seat. Old habits are hard to break, so it was difficult for me to relax and let go with my hands and carry the horse more with my legs and seat. When I did though, it felt so amazing! My horse felt like he was floating and free beneath me. I could truly feel his back raised higher beneath me after Gerd rode him and his hind legs reaching and stretching more underneath himself.

I'm still trying to sort out some of the things that I learned over the course of this clinic as not everything he said was positive or jelled with my personal riding philosophy. But at least I have the 4 hour lecture video from Thursday night and a 2.5 hour video of me riding on Friday and Sunday to refer to.

The week after the clinic I gave Ben two days off to recover from all the hard work he put forth. But I guess that wasn't enough because when I showed up to ride him on Wednesday he had hurt the bulb of his heel pretty bad by over-reaching so I had to give him the rest of the week off as well. During that week of no riding I must have watched the videos 4 times each, trying to let everything that Gerd said sink in. There were many negative things he said to me about my style of riding which at first really hurt me and crushed my confidence as a rider. After reviewing them and applying what he taught me has lead to a whole new level of self-discovery and is allowing me to be in better tune with my body and my horse's body as I ride. So I've decided criticism can be a good thing, if we make it a learning process and try to honestly correct our mistakes and try out other's suggestions. If we are forever stuck in our old ways, we'll never be able to learn and progress. If it doesn't hurt, then we aren't trying hard enough! Why not try something new out and if you see positive results, then great! It's always worth a try! Remember to be teachable we must be truly humble first!

"I ride it!"

Today when I came home from riding Ben, Jonah saw us coming up the driveway and came running towards us saying, "I ride it! I ride it!" He was so excited when I lifted him way up high into the saddle. Ben was a good sport especially since there was plenty of green grass to keep him occupied. I'm so happy that both of my boys love horses and aren't afraid of them. It's so fun to see them excited about riding, brushing or just feeding the horses sugar cubes.

Anika's Pony Ride

Today Hyrum's little friend Anika from his Preschool class came over for a pony ride. She was a great little rider, very calm and relaxed.

Thanks for visiting us Anika! We hope you had as much fun as we did!

Hyrum was very sweet and let Anika ride for almost all of the time. He rode a little at first just to show her what to do and the rest of the time he followed behind on the trails with his favorite cousin Jillian. Thanks Jillian for helping to entertain the boys today! You were a huge help!

Riding High

After sitting through the Henrik Johansen dressage clinic at Wacky Nut Farm all weekend and watching some fabulous horses and riders, I am having a "Riding High." It's been almost a year since I purchased Ben and he has come such a long way in his training. I can happily say that we are finally in connection. When I ride, I can feel what he needs, I give it to him and in return he relaxes, lifts his back, rounds his topline and gives me his all. It's so exciting because today I was actually able to have a good photo taken of me riding him. In my riding lesson today, my trainer Ulla Boysen, commented that Ben has improved 1000 times since we started lessons with her last fall. He has overcome many obstacles and at one point I thought that he was unsound and had an off and on lameness. Come to find out he has just been trained improperly and forced to do upper level movements which caused him to tense up and resist contact. Now that I'm riding in a much more inviting way, he is so much more relaxed and we are having lots of fun together.

When I first bought Ben I didn't think that we'd do much competing since I didn't know if I really wanted to enter into all of that again, but now that he's preforming so well I'm thinking it might be fun to enter a show or two to see how well we'd score. It's always one thing to ride well at home, while the show ring truly tests your combined skills since you are under so much pressure and in a new environment. I guess I shouldn't get my hopes up too much too soon since even though we having been going so much better lately, we still have one other project to tackle and that is loading into the horse trailer.

For some reason last winter Ben no longer wanted anything to do with my horse trailer and wouldn't step foot into it anymore. He didn't get hurt, so maybe something scared him. Anyhow, before I can even start thinking about going to a show again I have got to get him used to loading and unloading from the trailer again. Wish me luck!

Henrik Johansen Clinic

This weekend I attend the Henrik Johansen Dressage Clinic at a brand new dressage facility, Wacky Nut Farm, located on Bainbridge Island. This is a multi-million dollar state of the art facility. It was HEAVEN for both horse and rider. The Brainard's didn't overlook any small details when building the place. Everything from heated footpads in the arena's viewing room, retractable screens on the sides of the riding arena to filter the sunlight, and rubber cobblestone in the main barn's aisle ways spelled top of the line comfort for horse and rider.

Side view of the indoor riding arena with it's retractable screens. These were a huge help on Saturday since it was 85 degrees and kept it nice and cool inside.

The outside entrance to the main barn. Located under the awning are wash racks.

Stall runs outside each horse stall.

The opposite end of the barn. Coming out this end takes you across to the arena.

An aisle way with rubber cobblestone. It was so odd to see a horse being lead through the barn and not hear the clip clop of it's hooves against the pavement.

A couple horses just hanging out waiting for their turn to be ridden.

The locker and dressing room.

Inside one of the lockers. There is plenty of room for 2 saddles, bridles, halters and lots of riding equipment.

The bunkhouse lodge where the riders spent the night while attending the clinic. I can't wait until August 21st when it'll be my turn to ride in a clinic here with Ben.

Jonah's Pony Ride

Poor Jonah is usually napping when Hyrum rides Jena. So this morning before my friend Alice and her boys showed up for pony rides, we decided we'd let Jonah take a little spin. He was super excited and once we got Jena out of the field and walked her up the driveway to cross tie her, he wanted to lead her all by himself and kept saying, "Ride it, ride it, ride it!"

Here's my budding little cowboy!

Hyrum of course had to pick a few roses to decorate "My Little Pony" with. She's such a pretty girl, especially with her shaggy winter coat all shed out. We couldn't have asked for a better pony. She's so great with the kids and has been so much fun to have. If any of you have little kids that would like to go for a ride, just give me a call or email and we'd be happy to have you over.

Lauren Sammis on Sagacious

For those of you non-equestrian readers of my blog who may not know much about Dressage, the type of riding that I do, I thought I would share with you one of my favorite Grand Prix Musical Free-Styles from a recent show in Raleigh, NC. This horse and rider combination is amazing! Lauren and Sagacious scored a 74.2% which was the top of the class. They are so fluid and make everything look so effortless! To get a horse to this level of competition takes many years of training for both horse and rider, which pretty much equates to lots of money. So although I'm no where near reaching this point in my riding career, it's always fun to have something to dream about. I hope you enjoy this video as much as I do. Each time I watch it, it gives me the chills!

Videos by WarmbloodsForSale.net

Two of a Kind

My time spent house-sitting was very relaxing. Much of my day was spent hanging out with the horses and letting them graze on the lawn. It was great to be able to soak up some sun while listening to them munch on the grass. They are two of a kind and get along so well. Almost too well at times, since when they are separated, the one left in the pasture runs around whinnying until the other returns.

If you look closely at this photos you'll see that Jena is being silly and sticking her tongue out at you. What goofy personalities ponies have!

Mia's Pony Ride

After Preschool we headed over to my parent's house for pony rides. Mia had a great time, she was such a little natural!

Feeding Ben a sugar cube.

Brushing Jena and making her pretty for her ride. Take a look at all of that hair that's on the ground. She's shedding like crazy!

We were lucky to have such a sunny day for riding! Hyrum of course was more interested in Mia's "Barbie" than in riding Jena, but at least that meant they didn't fight over who got more saddle time. Thanks for spending the day with us Mia! We had a lot of fun and will have to do it again some time!

Remembering Toasted

Today marks eight years since my childhood horse, Toasted Chance, passed away. I thought about her as I went on a trailride this afternoon with Ben. We rode on the same trails that I used to ride her on. I feel very blessed to have had the opportunity to own her and even more blessed to own another horse today. Because of Toasted, horses will always hold a special place in my heart and I hope that I will never have to span as much time without them as I have in the past 7 1/2 years. When I got home this evening I looked through my journal and read the entry I wrote on the day she passed away. In her remembrance, I'd like to post it here to share with you.

"Thank You for Teaching Me"

For the last 10 years we have spent together

Walking through fields,

Hiking on trails,

Swimming in the ocean,

Jumping over obstacles,

Dodging tree limbs,

Fancying ourselves up for a show,

Prancing to music,

We have become ONE.

ONE HEART, ONE SOUL, ONE MIND.

Thank you for listening to all of my complaints,

For letting my tears fall over your shoulder,

For making me smile when no one else could.

For teaching me love, trust, companionship,

Confidence, courage, responsibility, dedication,

The value of hardwork, and to listen with

My whole body and soul.

You have altered my life in so many ways.

Each decision that I look back on making over the

Past 10 years held you in mind.

I wouldn't be who I am today without your presence in my life.

Now that you are gone I feel empty.

I hope you know that no one wil be able to take your place in my heart.

I only pray that we will be able to meet again someday.

With you by my side,

Together we will ride,

Through valleys and hills left untried!

I'm sorry I had to be the one to make the decision to let you go.

Please forgive me for what I have done,

I just couldn't bear to see you suffer so.

Wherever I go now in life without you

I'll always remember your

Soft nicker,

Gentle nudge,

Wet kisses,

The smell of you in the rain,

The slickness of your coat just after a bath.

But most importantly the way you'd always make me laugh!

Thank you, Toasted, for teaching me!

Update on Ben

Okay, so maybe I overreacted on my last post, but the thought of having Ben in a cast for the next 4-6 weeks really saddened me. The more I thought about it the more I realized it would be torture for not only him, but for Jena (Hyrum's pony) since she would be without her best buddy for the next month and a half. I hate to see animals suffer and will do anything in my power to help them feel better. So the idea of casting Ben's leg just so it would heal with minimal scarring proved to be very selfish on my part.

Saturday morning the vet came out to check up again on Ben's wound. After seeing the progress it made in just 3 days, she agreed, there was no reason he would need a cast. YIPPEE! I was so excited to hear such great news! Especially for the fact that I saved $1000 by not doing it! It would have cost about $500 for the cast to be put on and $400/month to have him boarded over at Barnabee Farm for hospitalized care.

I am so thankful that everything is looking better of him! I've been changing his bandage every other day and it continues to improve daily. Hopefully by next week he'll be 100% healed and I"ll be able to be back in the saddle starting in February.

Out of Commission

No, I'm not taking a break from blogging and no, I'm not laying in bed sick, it's my horse Ben who will be out of commission for the next 4-6 weeks. I am so sad for this set back, especially when it seemed like we were just getting back into a good riding routine again after the snow and my kids getting sick. Last Tuesday I took Ben on a trail ride up to Gazzam Lake and everything went well. Then on Saturday when I got him out to ride again I noticed that there was an open wound on his front left fetlock where he had an old scar. I hosed it off and applied some ointment and then had my Dad do the same for me on Sunday. Since there was no school Monday, I wasn't able to see him again until Tuesday. When I took him out yesterday it looked much worse and was swollen. I called the veterinarian and she was able to come out to look at it today. After her exam she told me that since the wound is opening along a joint, every time he flexes it causes the tissues to stretch and rip even more. Since it's along an old scar line the tissue is weaker than normal and there is a risk that the whole scar could reopen if not dealt with properly. For those that are interested here's a photo of his injury.

She suggested to have the area around the wound clipped and cleaned really well, debride the old scar tissue, suture it closed and then cast his foot for the next 4-6 weeks. Although this was not what I wanted to hear, there's really no other way for it to heal properly unless the joint is immobilized. So now we are in the process of finding out if there is a stall available for him to recuperate in at the boarding facility down the road, since keeping him here in his pasture would be too hard to keep the cast clean and dry. If all goes well he should have his cast on Saturday and he'll be out of commission until the 1st of March. Boo Hoo! The timing of this couldn't have been worse since I just received my new saddle in the mail today and am so anxious to try it out. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to keep it covered for now and come Spring we'll have lots to look forward too. At least this injury occurred during the winter, since riding in the cold isn't that much fun anyway. Let's just hope it warms up soon and he heals properly so we can be back in the saddle again soon.