A Change of Scenery

After my boy's Houdini experiences, I decided I needed a break from them and a change of scenery, so we came over to the island so I could spend some time with Ben. It's so refreshing to ride my horse, especially after a rough day. It's nice to work with someone who doesn't talk back and is generally willing to cooperate.

Since it wasn't raining, I decided to take Ben on a trail ride up to Gazzam Lake. It's been a while since I've taken him on a trail ride, since he can be spooky and resistant at times. Today though, he was really good since I'm really glad I decided to go. On out walk there I kept saying to myself how I wasn't going to fight him today, I did enough fighting with my kids the past couple of days I just really needed to do some relaxing. So instead of trying to mount Ben and ride along the county road to the lake, I decided I'd just walk with him until we got on the trail a ways. I picked a spot to mount him where the trail was really wide and had a side trail down to the water's edge. At first Ben was reluctant to go forward down the main trail, so I turned him around to see if he'd head down the trail to the lake. He liked that idea and after looking at the lake we turned around and I trotted him up the hill and then quickly turned him to the left down the main trail and he didn't refuse at all. I was very thankful!!

The rest of the ride Ben behaved really well and we had a lot of fun galloping down the trails. There were a couple times he spooked at birds, logs and stumps and one time he skidded in the mud since he was unsure as to what was ahead. I have no idea what he saw or made him stop, but at least I stayed on and didn't fall off in the mud. That wouldn't have been fun at all! I felt so free as we galloped along the trails! I was impressed too, because even though we were going fast I was in total control and could easily get him to stop if I saw a hiker up ahead.

Galloping along the trails, reminded me of the years I spent competing in Cross Country at 3-Day Events. What a rush those days were! Even though I'd love to do something exciting like that again, I highly doubt I ever will due the risk factors. I don't dare get myself seriously injured now when I have two young boys to take care of. But one thing is for certain, someday I will visit Castle Leslie again for another cross-country vacation of a lifetime. I can't believe that's it's been 14 years since my trip to Ireland.....high time I returned, right?! Well at least I can dream about it for now!!

(side note: I found these photos on the internet. Lame I know, but I didn't bring my camera while riding today. Hence the reason everything looks so green at the lake and on the trails.)

Counter-Bending on the Sepentine

Today I finally had a lesson which supposedly made up for the one 10 days ago that we had to reschedule for twice. At least Ulla showed up today, even if she was almost 10 minutes late. I'm glad she didn't cut the lesson short either, since sometimes she does that saying that she had to hurry off to something else. So I had a full hour lesson today and was worth her $1/minute charge (well not really, but that's about what it worked out to be).

I always look forward to lessons, since Ulla has so much riding and training experience she always teaches me new exercises that really help to improve Ben's suppleness. Today we worked a lot on counter-bending. When riding on a 20m circle to the right instead of having him slightly bent to the inside following the path of the circle, she had me bending him to the outside. This helped to make me use my outside rein more and create a better contact with in and in turn forced him to use his haunches more and lift his back. Once he showed signs of relaxing, dropping his neck and following the contact with the bit I would straighten him out and then ever so slightly ask him to bend to the inside.

We also worked on this on a 4 loop serpentine across the length of the arena. It was really tricky at first to develop the feel for this exercise, since in essence I had to ride opposite of what I normally would do. The tricky part was posting on the diagonal towards the counter-bend even though we were traveling the opposite way. So when going to the right you would be posting with the outside or left leg, but in the counter-bend when traveling to the right you post with the right leg since it's now your "outside" leg. Confusing to explain and even a little more confusing to practice, but at least by the end of the drill I got a hang of it and will be able to practice it on my own more the next time I ride. This exercise felt a lot like doing square turns as similar outside aides are used. It has a very nice effect on the horse since they horse really has not other choice but to engage his hind end and lift his back. If they don't do it, they are trapped feeling a bit out of balance. Once they correct themselves their carriage is really nice!

Ulla commented today that, "Finally we are getting a horse that we can work and progress with." I was really proud of Ben today that even though his episodes yesterday, he didn't goof off or spook at all. He was really willing and didn't put up a fight. Ulla even had me riding portions of a Training Level test to see how Ben would react. Sometimes over-schooled horses turn sour once you start practicing tests with them, since they all have a "been there, done that!" type attitude. But Ben did really well and hopefully we'll be able to start drilling tests a little more and Ulla can give me a valid opinion on how I'd score at a show. Even though I don't consider Ben a highly competitive horse and I haven't shown for 10 years, I think it'd be fun to try at least one show with him to see how he'd do. So we shall see what the future holds!

Well-Drillers, Dogs and Mailmen....Oh My!!

What a bunch of distractions we had today! After having the last 3 days off, I knew that it would be wise to lounge Ben before I rode him. Good choice! He was nuts! Granted the neighboring dogs were barking up a storm from the moment we walked down the driveway. But they also got worse every time the mailman or UPS truck drove by. Plus the neighbor across the street is having a well drilled, so that created constant noise as well. Ben was all out of sorts and acting as crazy as ever. At one point while lounging him to the right he spun around and started going the opposite direction. This is a HUGE misbehaviour in lounging and totally unacceptable. It makes the handler not in control for a few moments until they can stop the horse and correct them in going back in the right direction. A couple of times Ben also kicked out at me, which seemed very intentional. Needless to say, I didn't feel like riding him much today and instead schooled him on the lounge line for the majority of the time. Once he was settled down a bit I got on him and rode for about 20 minutes. I put him through all of the gaits, but he was still really strong especially in the canter. So we did lots of square turns and I used lots of half-halts. Maybe it's all the great weather we've been having, since Ben was definitely feeling frisky today. Hopefully he's gotten it all of his system since I have a lesson on Wednesday and I really don't want him to misbehave for it.

Pony Rides with the Smith's

This afternoon Hyrum has his preschool friends Ashlyn and Kayla come over for pony rides on Jena. The kids had a great time and it was really fun to teach the girls how to ride the pony. Maybe I should go into teaching riding lessons to children? I just love it when I see kids get excited about horses. They are something that I've always loved myself and I love sharing that with other people. Wouldn't it be great to earn money doing something you love rather than spend tons pursuing it like I am now? Hmmm, something to think about.

(Side note: I did ride Tuesday and Thursday this week, but since it's now a week later and I'm finally getting around to posting this, I have completely forgotten how the rides went. But since nothing memorable stands out, I guess I am safe to say that we worked on the same old same old. Ok....now I'm remembering why it was uneventful....I got stood up on Thursday for my riding lesson. That was irritating! I spent the night over at my parent's house since Ulla said she'd be free at 10am for a lesson and so I wanted to give myself enough time to get over there beforehand to warm up. At 10:15am when she still hadn't shown up, I called her cell and she said she totally flaked out and didn't even realize it was Thursday! Geez! Sometimes I feel like she doesn't take me seriously since this isn't the first time that she hasn't shown up for a lesson. She's just way too over scheduled and I guess I'm not one of her top priority students. Lame!)

Riding with Bardo

No, this photo isn't of Bardo, but it reminds me of him and the great spectacle I was able to watch while I shared the arena with Melissa while she rode him today. I've always been in awe of Melissa since I started riding at Barnabee 15+ years ago. At that point Melissa owned a huge Hanoverian gelding named Tang, who looked very similar to Wakana, the horse in this photo. He was magnificent to watch under saddle or even just pacing in his stall run. Melissa now owns Bardo who is 8 years old and she's had him since he was 18 months old. She's done all of his training and is quite the accomplished rider. I love to watch her when she rides. She makes everything look so easy and effortless, which is the key in dressage. She's totally relaxed and stretches long in her body. Her horse in turn has a great reach in his stride and his lateral movements are free flowing.

When I got to Barnabee today, Melissa was about 2/3 of the way into her ride and said it was okay for me to join her in the arena. Sometimes she prefers to work alone depending on Bardo's temperament that day and what exercises she is working on. I was glad I was able to join her in the arena since it was raining pretty hard and we were soaking wet from having walked 1.5 miles to get there. While she finished her ride I warmed up Ben and just tried to keep out of her way, but at the same time I couldn't keep my eyes off her.

It's funny riding with such an experienced rider, I feel like I need to sit taller, stretch my leg lower and try harder at what I'm doing to try to impress her. But I highly doubt she even looked over at me since she was so focused on what she was doing. There was even another boarder at the barn, Colleen who owns Ivan, who came down to watch her while she rode. Someday I hope that my riding has that sort of presence for people. Maybe I'm just too self-conscious, but I always feel like people are criticising me when I'm riding rather than complementing me in their minds. That's probably because Ben always seems to be fidgeting or messing around and not paying 100% attention on me.

It's hard riding dressage since everything is so detailed and you aim for perfection. It requires a lot of patience and you really have to have the right horse to succeed, at least in the judges eye. I am making progress in Ben's training though. Today after Bardo left he seemed to really be focused and luckily he didn't have any freak out moments while we were together. I don't think Melissa would have been too happy about that!! Here's hoping that someday when I'm in my 50s like Melissa I will be as talented as she is and own an equally talented horse.

Spiraling In and Out

Yesterday and today I rode over at the Martin's arena. Since my mom is in California visiting my brother Scott and his family, I had Tifanie watch the boys for me while I rode. I lucked out since it was nice both days and made it quick and easy to ride at the Martin's. I couldn't believe that I was able to drop Hyrum off at Preschool at 12:30pm drive back to my parent's, brush and tack up Ben, ride for 45 minutes, untack him and put him away and then drive back to pick up Hyrum by 3pm. It was great, almost as perfect as having my own arena to ride in! Imagine all the time I'd save. Although I really do enjoy riding at Barnabee since I'm able to see my friends, other horses, and ride in a covered arena with excellent footing, it's such a hassle to have to walk there 25 minutes each way. At least I'm getting some exercise though!

Anyhow, back to my rides. Both yesterday and today Ben was really antsy. I had to try really hard to keep his attention, lots of changes of direction and transitions. He had a lot of energy too, so one thing that really helped him to focus was riding on a 20m circle and then leg yielding in to make it smaller and then leg yielding out to make it larger. It was like a big spiral and I got a little dizzy from the exercise but it really helped to engage his hind end, slow down his pace and create a better connection with him.

Today there was someone working across the street, who sounded like they were chopping down a tree or something. Every time we rode on the west side of the arena which is parallel to the road, Ben's attention was focused on what they were working on and not me. I was getting frustrated and after spending 30 minutes working with him I figured it was time to quit and he just needed to run around and have some fun. So I dismounted and took off his saddle and bridle and then just let him run around the arena. He was really cruising and acting pretty crazy! A couple of times when he came racing towards the end of the arena, I didn't think he was going to stop and would just jump right out. Luckily he'd skid and turn just in time and go bucking and racing down to the other end.

What a mess that would be to have a loose horse, who was super excited! If he did get out I would hope he'd just run around in their field or something, because I'd hate for him to try to run back home, even though it's only a 1/4 mile away. What a nightmare to have a horse loose on the road! Sorry Ben, I've already been through that with Toasted and don't need to relive that experience. So please Ben, don't try anything too crazy...your life depends on it!!

Cavaletti Group

This morning I woke up early at 5am to feed the horses. I wanted to be sure Ben had enough time to eat all his breakfast before I went riding this morning. I took him to Barnabee today for the 9am Cavaletti Group. It was lots of fun!! Sike (on Danni), Pam (on Freckles), and Jo (Marque) were also in the lesson. It was the first time that I've ridden Ben in a group lesson and the first time that we've worked over cavaletti's together. Ben did really well over the walk and trot pole and even stretched his neck forward and down to allow himself to balance better. The purpose of riding over cavaletti's is to work on your tempo and rhythm and help your horse to trot and walk more evenly. It was a great exercise and we both learned a lot!!

At the end of the lesson though, Ben had had enough and started to get scared when everyone was working on the full cavaletti course. There were three parts to the course: two trot sequences along the long sides of the arena with 4 poles each. One set was spread further out than the other to allow the horses to take larger strides. The other part of the course was set up on a corner and required you to work on your horse's bending while traveling over the poles. When all of the horses were traveling around the arena over the course at the same time it started to spook Ben since at times the horses' feet would knock the poles and make noises. It was all a little too much stimulation for Ben and he started jumping around and acting a bit wild. So Ulla suggested us to just trot in a circle at one end of the arena away from the other riders and work on swing turns. That seemed to help calm down Ben a bit. Then when the lesson was over and the other 3 horses left the arena, Ulla had me work Ben by myself a little more. In the end Ben was calm again, so we ended on a good note. Even though we had a little mishap and Ben freaked out a little, I am very proud of how well he did and will definitely try to attend the Cavaletti Group again the next time I am here early on a Saturday morning.

Free Spirit

I took Ben over to Barnabee today and we had a very nice ride. We felt very connected and he was responding well to all that I asked of him. He didn't have any "freak out" moments, so I was super happy about that. After working on lots of transitions, leg yielding, turns on the haunches, and serpentines, I decided he had done enough and then I rewarded him by giving him a break.

I took off his saddle and bridle and let him run around the arena on his own. It was so beautiful to watch him run free. At first it was like he didn't even know what to do with himself and just followed me around everywhere. Then I just encouraged him a little with the whip and he took off and started to trot and canter around the arena. He looked like he was having lots of fun and was really happy. After playing around for a little while he laid down and rolled. He loved it!! Since he's been wearing a blanket since November he really hasn't had the chance to scratch himself well by rolling. So today when he rolled he made sure he got both sides really well. Luckily there was a spare brush by the arena so I was able to clean him up before returning back home. It was great to be able to let Ben run free today and I wish I had an arena of my own so we could do it more often. Someday though!!

An Audience of One

Today was another non-rainy day so I was able to ride over at the Martin's Arena again. This time Krista saw that I was at her place riding and decided to come down and watch us. Ben didn't know what to think of having an "audience" and kept looking at her and trying to spook each time we past her. He is such a sensitive horse that anything different takes a while for him to get used to. Since she saw that she was making him a little uncomfortable she decided to watch from a distance instead and that seemed to work a lot better. I can only imagine what he is going to behave like at a show. He'll be full of adrenaline for sure!! Maybe that might prove to be a good thing though as long as I can keep that energy channeled in the right direction. I'm hoping to try him out in a schooling show this Spring or Summer. I'm not sure what level we'll show at yet. Most likely it will be 1st Level since he's more comfortable with it than 2nd. Plus it's always wise to show a level below what you are training to give yourself a little competitive edge.