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!