Enjoyment at Canter

Good news! The introduction to my thesis (currently hovering around 40 pages of writing- 50 pages including title page, abstract, my own table of contents with hyperlinks because it's impossible to navigate, and 5-6 pages of references) is nearly finished.

I will be done with the introduction by the end of next week and it will be turned into my advisor while I start the rather more difficult analysis portion of my thesis. Luckily a lot of the articles I'm looking at I already went over in my introduction so most of this is just filling in what I already know, categorizing everything into a ridiculously large table (that won't fit on one or maybe even two pages, how the hell is it going to be printed?!), and beginning the arduous process of critiquing the literature and the theory.

I'm torn between feeling like wanting to hug the thing because it's the greatest thing (not the longest thing... yet) I've ever written and/or wanting to print it out and set it on fire just to see it destroyed while I laugh maniacally at it. I may or may not be having a big bonfire after I turn it in. If it ever gets turned in.

To celebrate hitting the "halfway" (hahahaha) mark, some of my
favorite thesis related cartoons

Wednesday I got a late start to the day but it was nice and cool so that wasn't a problem at all. Now if only it would rain a little bit...

TC was back to normal on the ground, stood patiently while I brushed and tacked him up. He also didn't yank his feet out of my hands or try to lay down while I was picking them. Progress! Or just a good day amidst some crazy days.

Our ride ended up being quite fun. He started out a bit resistant because we rode with Ali and TC is obsessed with knowing where her horse is at all times. I had to kick him into gear a few times before he connected and felt great.

This legitimately happened to some of my friends, except they
have to resubmit in the summer! WTF!

He was about even on both sides, which made changing directions really fun. I could put him into the new outside rein easily (well, we had some issues to the left but he responded well to a small circle and spiraling out so that was easily resolved) and he's getting so easy to ride off of my seat and leg alone.

To the right, I've been addressing moving him off of my left rein and leg, mostly due to the issues we've had in the canter. He's easily manageable in the trot and walk, but I wanted him to be even lighter off my left thigh and rein. So I found myself automatically playing with the first few basic points of walk pirouettes. There was no bend and I'm sure the mechanic was wrong, but I wanted him to essentially keep his haunches where they were (without sticking of course) while I moved his shoulders in front of them. I like that more than trying to push his haunches behind his shoulders.

Basically every time I work on my thesis

This helped tremendously at the canter to the right. Actually, both leads were downright FUN to ride. He's been progressing in the canter really well lately and I seem to be keeping track of it by describing in a dramatic fashion how it feels like to ride:

- at first he felt like both of us were going to die at any point, like he was going to somersault over his face and land on my body and murder me while breaking his own neck
- then he felt like we were merely going to fall over, usually to the inside but occasionally on his face, but I would probably live and he may not break his neck
- then he felt like we were only going to fall over in corners but the rest was uncomfortable, corners became something to fear and long sides felt like I was riding a boulder down a mountain
- then he was uncomfortable all the time, like riding said boulder
- then it was just mild frustration at lack of steering and occasional uncomfortableness
- NOW it's getting fun

He's so much more balanced and comfortable. For the first time, especially left, but we got moments to the right too, I felt like I could relax into the saddle. Normally I feel like I'm having to run around collecting his limbs and putting them back on his body before one flies off again and I have to run after it. No time to relax. No fun.

This is the most true thing I've ever read, I'm on
Thesis_Draft_2.3 right now

But it was actually fun. Except when he went cantering sideways after Ali's horse, but hopefully that will go away soon... I let him be done with that, as there no point in pushing him for more.

On the way back to the barn, he demonstrated how much of a good boy he is. After Monday's ride where he took off out of the riverbed, this time he quietly walked out without even thinking of trotting/cantering out, even when Ali's horse was ahead of us. He just wants to be good. He wants to have fun and all, but his main goal in life (right now...) is to make me happy.

Rico's main goal was to do the least amount of work possible, it's kind of a nice change. But don't tell Rico.

This is the sole reason why I manage to keep up with this blog

Trail ride on Friday!! Job interview in 25 minutes!

Through the Levels

If you show the USDF levels in dressage, you are hopefully aware that there is a little section at the top of your test entitled Purpose of the Level. The FEI tests do not have them and neither do the eventing tests.

I blissfully ignored this section of the test for most of my dressage career, thinking that obviously if I could get through most of the test, I was ready for it (sounds plausible, right?). As I showed Rico through the first several years, I scored in the low 70s at Training, the high 60s at First, the mid 60s at Second, the low 60s at Third, and when I reached Fourth, I was barely scraping a 60%. Obviously I was irritated about that.

Rico at Prix St George after Tracey

Rico at Fourth level before Tracey

It wasn't until I started riding with Tracey (well, actually a trainer before her touched on it but I couldn't take regular lessons with her on Rico, boo) years later that I realized what had been going wrong. As I progressed through each of the USDF levels, I worked on the movements and ignored the way my horse was going. Sure he was round and did the movements when I asked, but that can only get you so far, as demonstrated by my nice downward slope in scores over the years. I wasn't expecting to maintain mid 70s his whole career, but as I ramped him back up, it became apparent that we were capable of solid 65s in the FEI levels.

Looking at the purpose of the levels now has given me a nice idea of WHY I failed to earn the scores I wanted at the middle levels of dressage. So I figured I'd post something about it.

*I am not a judge. I have not had judge training. This is my own interpretation of the purpose of the levels based on my own experiences. 

Purpose of the Levels

Introductory: To introduce the rider and/or horse to the sport of dressage. To show understanding of riding the horse forward with a steady tempo into an elastic contact with independent, steady hands and a correctly balanced seat. To show proper geometry of figures in the arena with correct bend (corners and circles)

Training: To confirm that the horse demonstrates correct basics, is supple and moves freely forward in a clear rhythm with a steady tempo, accepting contact with the bit.

First: To confirm that the horse demonstrates correct basics, and in addition to the requirements of Training Level, has developed the thrust to achieve improved balance and throughness and maintains a more consistent contact with the bit.

Second: To confirm that the horse demonstrates correct basics, and having achieved the thrust required in First Level, now accepts more weight on the hindquarters (collection); moves with an uphill tendency, especially in the medium gaits; and is reliably on the bit. A greater degree of straightness, bending, suppleness, throughness, balance, and self-carriage is required than at First Level.

Third: To confirm that the horse demonstrates correct basics, and having begun to develop an uphill balance at Second Level, now demonstrates increased engagement, especially in the extended gaits. Transitions between collected, medium, and extended gaits should be well defined and performed with engagement. The horse should be reliably on the bit and show a greater degree of straightness, bending, suppleness, throughness, balance, and self-carriage than at Second Level.

Fourth: To confirm that the horse demonstrates correct basics, and has developed sufficient suppleness, impulsion, and throughness to perform the Fourth Level tests which have a medium degree of difficulty. The horse remains reliably on the bit, showing a clear uphill balance and lightness as a result of improved engagement and collection. The movements are performed with greater straightness, energy, and cadence than at Third Level.

Note that there is nothing in any level about amount of sass
required, Rico, put your tail down and quit being an asshold

The Basics

As I look through all this, the first thing I noticed was that every single level mentions "correct basics" and of course that needs to be defined. What are the basics? How are can they be correct or incorrect?

So I asked myself those questions and realized that I really had no firm answer. To the internet! I asked the internet those questions and there was no clear cut answer either. So yet again I went back to the fabulous judging glossary that always clears things up.

The Basics:
The basics form the correct foundation of the progressive training of the horse, independent of the execution of specific test movements. The basics include: pure rhythm with suitable tempo; relaxation/suppleness/elasticity/looseness; correct contact/connection; impulsion, straightness, and longitudinal balance suitable to the level and exercise - in other words, all the criteria of the Pyramid of Training/Training Scale.

Correctness of the basics is indicated by the preservation and/or improvement in:
- the purity and quality of the gaits and paces
- the gymnastic ability and physique of the horse
- the horse's attitude and rideability

Nooootttt quite (as we careen to the left)

I do like that they say that impulsion, straightness, and longitudinal balance (uphill balance) should be suitable to the level of training. Meaning that a First level horse doesn't need to have the same kind of impulsion as a Fourth level horse does. BUT, a correct rhythm, tempo, relaxation, and contact should be present at all times regardless of level.

Notice briefly that the basics are not required, per say, at Introductory level. I find that interesting and reassuring. For a lot of horses (TC included), even getting to the point where the basics are correct is HARD and it's nice to be able to introduce the horse to the dressage ring, and expect to score okay, without having to have perfectly correct basics.


A Greater Degree

Another thing I noticed is that the purpose of the levels tends to be basically this:

Having achieved all the stuff at the level above, the horse now does all of this same stuff to a greater degree of awesomeness than at the level below. 

(come on USDF, you know you want to hire me to write these things)

This is where dressage judging gets tricky and why there are so many steps between being a dressage rider and being a dressage judge.

During judge training, the judges are taught what each level looks like. And actually you can watch the differences too by watching On the Levels. Another video series I liked about the levels of dressage (and that is free- since OTL you pay an annual fee for access to the videos) were these videos from the judging symposium in 2007. Steffen Peters and Janet Foy did an amazing job going over the differences between the levels and using riders to demonstrate what each level/movement looks like.

Another thing to do is to go watch a lot of rides and look at scores to get a good idea of what each level looks like. I also try to exclusively ride with judges who have reliably taken horses/riders to the level that I want to ride at. This way they've seen the level from both the judge's booth and ringside with their own students. I like a trainer who 100% is certain what my level looks like and how to get me there. But that was another post.

Because dressage is so fun to watch... zzz

The analytical side of me feels like there should be a better description of how much is MORE, but I can't figure out a way of doing that without quantifying how much hock flexion there should be in collection and that this increases by 20% between the jump from Third to Fourth. Or that the horse's forehand and haunches should be perfectly balanced at Training, but at First the forehand should be 1" above the haunches, at Second, 2", at Third... you catch my drift, until at Grand Prix you're basically just having horses walk around on their hind legs the whole time.

But the problem with being so analytical is that all horses are different. A 65% at Second level looks different when you're on a small mover vs a big mover, or a naturally uphill horse vs a naturally downhill horse. Add the rider's tendencies, the level of tension in either of them, the soundness (mental and physical) of the horse (or rider), and all sorts of other things and you're basically screwed if you want to make a cookie cutter shape of a horse at each level.

This amount of hock flexion is good for a pirouette at I1, but
14% more is required at I2

There are so many reasons why we can't quantify dressage, and I think that is both the beauty and the frustration of the sport. And the reason why our judges are so well educated.


Progression

Another thing I find interesting about the purpose of the levels is how the horse develops over the course of the levels. Here are a couple of things I noticed, please add to them!

Forward

I also found it interesting how forward develops throughout the levels. Let's define forward first because I think the judging glossary does a good job explaining what I wanted to point out.

Forward: Moving or tending to move toward the direction in which the horse is facing (in contrast to sideways, backward, or standing still); it does not indicate how he gets there. References to specifics such as impulsion, energy, freedom, reach, length of stride, into the contact, responsiveness to the leg, and tempo more accurately express how the horse should proceed in a forward direction.

At Introductory, the word forward is mentioned, but it is not qualified by anything else. There is no mention of free forward movement, which comes in at Training. Not until First level do we see thrust, which is propulsion from the hind legs to create forward energy.

He is forward but not free (retraction in the neck) and I'm lucky
that he has natural impulsion (but unlucky because there is not
much engagement)

So as the horse progresses, forward is the most important thing, regardless of how you get it. Then you must develop free (glossary mentions "lack of constriction") forward movement where the horse moves willingly forward without constriction/holding them back. THEN you change the mechanic of the energy, where you start to ask the horse to propel themselves forward from the hind end. While a Training level horse can get away with being forward by simply being a little quick or maybe pulling from the forehand a bit, a First level horse must have correct impulsion.


On the Bit

At Introductory, an elastic contact is required. There is no mention of being on the aids or on the bit, although obviously the horse will not be dinged for being on the bit. By Training level the horse is required to accept contact with the bit. There isn't a notion of being steady or reliably on the bit, but of course it'd be hard to score exceptionally well without that. In comparison to Introductory, Training requires acceptance rather than just demonstration that the rider can establish an elastic contact. So while Introductory seems to focus on the rider, Training also starts to require more of the horse.

Elastic contact, maybe. Acceptance of the bit? Nope. 

At First, consistency is introduced, and I would think that this means that a Training level horse who is a little unsteady may not be dinged as much as an unsteady First level horse. At Second and Third level, reliability on the bit is required. This means to me that you'll be nailed for any moment of unsteadiness. Reliably on the bit to me also means reliability between movements and in transitions. While a First level horse may get a little hollow coming into a leg yield but recover- a Second level horse would be dinged more for getting hollow coming into a shoulder-in even if they recover.

This is not to say that a rider will lose points for having a super steady round horse at Introductory. I think that the purpose of the levels really describes what is expected, what is sufficient. Meaning a 60%. If you went into Training with an unsteady horse, I think it'd be hard to score all that much higher than low to mid 60s unless you have some really spectacular movements.

Overall

Overall I find the purpose of the levels to be pretty helpful. Especially when looking forward with TC's training. I think that at home he's starting to leave Introductory and school Training, but at shows he still doesn't meet the Training level requirements of being supple (due to tension), accepting contact with the bit (he does go round and I guess technically accepts contact at the walk/trot but the canter is where we are lacking), or being freely forward (he does GO forward but he is not moving forward without restriction due to the tension he carries in new places- I have to hold him back a lot of the time).

I'm curious to see how TC progresses now that I'm more educated. I got Rico when he was a little further along (and had been to a lot of combined driving shows so didn't have the nervousness that TC has in new places) but I was 18 years old and had only shown through First. I was impatient and undereducated for a horse like him, which led to me making some major mistakes with him. Everyone told me you always ruin your first Grand Prix horse! Now I really believe it.

Luckily I had awesome trainers to help fix him later

With TC I'm focusing more on the basics, getting him really rideable before attempting to do any rated shows or throw any movements on him. Much of our rides are focusing on getting the connection solid, the response to my aids immediate, and all the little boring things like perfecting the change of direction and working on an even push off from both hind legs into a transition. I'm sure with my next project, I'll be even more diligent.

Mischievous

I think complaining helps my back injury because riding on Monday wasn't as bad as it was Sunday, and on Sunday I complained a LOT. Every now and then I try to stop complaining because it's hardly an attractive quality in a person but I just can't.

Lola, who was born a few months ago, is TC's
half sister (dam's side)

TC was full of it on Monday from the start. I walked out to get him and the second he saw me, he stuck his head straight up in the air and started whinnying at me. I think it's so freakishly cute, but he's starting to condition me out of thinking that because every time he does it, he seems to be saying I was hoping you would visit today and I'm so excited because now you are here and I can try out my many new ideas on how to annoy you.

So there I was feeling all warm and bubbly inside because he really likes me and obviously enjoys his job and wants to come work while he's walking behind me like and then I will run away with her because running is fun and she can't stop me.

I tied him up and from the second he was tied until the second I was wrestling the bridle on him, he pawed and/or slammed himself against the fence. Any time I was near enough, his face was an inch away from my face and he was staring at me in the creepiest possible way. Any time the saddle was on him, the billets were in his mouth. I didn't even try to pick his feet. Yah yah, bad horse owner, but I just knew I was going to get kicked or stepped on or yanked at. No thanks.

She's got some junk in the trunk

I opted not to longe, there was no place but the round pen and I'm trying not to longe him too often because I'm totally paranoid about soundness after Rico. So I just hopped on and we headed next door.

He's getting a little rude about the riverbed we have to go through. He's starting to treat it like a sunken road where he leaps into it and then jumps out at a trot. This time I held him back and he wasn't impressed.

Then he refused to go into the arena because there were THINGS near the gate and those things were scary. Even if they weren't scary the day before. Sometimes things change overnight and people are stupid because they don't realize it.

But I will say this- once in the arena, other than the constant vocalizations of eeeeeeee due to my no-whinnying rule, he was excellent. He went right on the bit and, although a little reluctant to be as steady as he has been previously, he stayed relaxed and with me the whole time.

Baby and mama (TC's mom too! Friesian mare)

We did more cantering than we usually do, mostly because of how much of a brat he had been getting from his pasture to the arena, but also because he needs the canter work. On the large circle (~30-35 meters), the left is getting dreamy, but the second the circle is small it completely falls apart. Because I don't care when we move up to Training (even if we never showed it until next year- the idea of doing it this fall is just a rough plan), I think I'd rather work him rideable and round on the large circle, then start slowly working on small circles. I will continue to longe him once per week on the small circle though, and hopefully that helps him understand his own balance without me ruining it.

The right was better than it had been last time we were at the neighbor's but worse than at home. It's funny- at home we are forced to be on a smaller figure because the arena is about the size of a small court while at the neighbor's, we can be on a large circle because the arena is the size of a medium to large jumping arena.

To the left, TC struggles with longitudinal and lateral  balance but is fairly steerable because he's always falling over that left shoulder. To the right, TC struggles with rideability but is fairly longitudinally balanced for the same reason- he's always falling over the left shoulder. When the circle is smaller (and there is a fence to help us maintain the size), he goes better to the right than to the left. When the circle is larger (or there is no fence to help us), he goes better to the left than to the right.

She is so friendly

Too bad that dressage courts have short fences and he'll probably end up leaping out of the court on the right lead at some point in his career.

The trot felt pretty great, we did some work on transitions, which are getting excellent when he's not leaping into trot from the walk. The downwards are really great for where he's at right now- he stays connected and the transition is off my seat/leg alone.

Changing directions is not such a fiasco anymore, he doesn't always step into the new outside rein with ease but he does know he has to be over there. The trot work is getting very pleasant to ride. Now my goal is to keep it this way while making the figures/transitions a little more complicated AND to further simplify the aids used to keep him like this. The aids are rather simple, but you still need to drive him up into the outside rein tracking left and keep turning the left front leg while tracking right. I'd prefer he just do that on his own.

She loves to be scratched

On our way back TC decided that, while he was excellent in the arena, he hadn't really had enough of bothering me. So through the riverbed we went and as we neared the bottom, I felt him coil. I'll stop there and say this: wow, he is a rather powerful horse when he remembers that he has, indeed, four legs.

So he's all balled up and then he leaps up the other side in one huge step (it's probably about 3' or so) and scoots sideways with the intention of going home. So I ran him into a fence and told him off for that. We walked quietly back and forth through the riverbed until he accepted that walking through the riverbed was possible.

Back at home, he continued pawing while he was eating so much that I ended up sitting near him with a whip. When he pawed, I made a lunge at him with the whip and he stopped pawing from then on. He really does want to do what I want him to. I try not to get on his case about every little thing, but I don't want him ripping up his feet, he's already got a few chips and he's due for a trim next week I think so he needs to hold off on too many more chips.

She is so cuddly and cute 

New Trails and Old Routines

For Fourth of July, the family took a trail ride! There's a new trail facility not far from us and we decided to try it out. Rico was so so excited to not be left behind. I work or am not around most weekends so he often watches while Riot and Stretch get taken out and he is left behind. Poor pony.

Maybe if we had actually gotten some rain this year it'd be
less brown... 

I had him loose in the barn aisle while the other horses were being loaded (he goes in last because he's the biggest one). He suddenly realized that he was not being loaded and came charging out of the barn and bullied Riot into the trailer, following close behind him and trying to wedge himself into Riot's slot. I had to run after him and yank him back so we could close the divider and then let him in.

It's a small facility with one 4 mile loop. Rico was up for the whole thing but Stretch wasn't, so we ended up just walking out on one side of the loop for a while, then turning back and walking out on the other side of the loop before turning around and coming back. The trails are new so the footing was kind of loose. Rico tripped a few times but in general felt fine. He had a blast!

Some good views from the first climb

Sunday I woke up in pretty awful pain. My back hasn't been able to heal due to everyone being out of town- which means that my rides per week have more than tripled. In addition, Rico (who I ride maybe once a week on the trails) and TC (who I only ride for 30 minutes 3-4x/week and don't sit the trot) are easy on my back while the others aren't as easy.

I had two horses that I rode in the same day last week that both pulled on me a lot and my back has been getting steadily worse since then. I need it better by August because I'll be riding a lot of horses then as well. I wish people would take me on vacation rather than having me ride their horses while they are gone! Lots of ice, nsaids, and making attempts at reducing my rides to the bare minimum and only working on the canter/posting trot when I do ride.

He is so fun to trail ride

In addition (not done complaining), my inability to do crossfit is only going to make my back worse over time because I'll start to lose the core that stabilizes my back. At the moment, I can't do sit-ups/planks/anything other than walking really, way way too painful-- I am doing my PT exercises but those don't really build strength in the same way that really packs on muscle. I have almost no range of motion from L2 to my SI.

So I'm in a very precarious situation right now, the same one I was in and reason why I chose to leave this career a few years ago, where I have to choose between my health and staying afloat financially. Realities of being a horse trainer right there. I really hope it gets better soon. Or that I get a job soon... more resumes sent out this weekend.

Pity party over! I did still manage to ride TC on Sunday despite the pain.

His mane is out of control

I started with longeing in the chambon, which I'm hoping to keep up once a week. From last week to this week, he was MUCH more comfortable at the canter in the chambon. He just looks bold in the canter in a way that he hasn't ever looked before.

I got on him and my back wasn't having it, so we kept the ride short. He wasn't as forward or as connected as he has been in the last week, but we also haven't ridden at home in a week and, while he's much better relaxed, he is not as forward there. I had to get after him once or twice about being forward and then he maintained it pretty well, we also had to have some discussions via walk-trot transitions about the contact. He snapped back to normal pretty quickly but still struggled with bend to the left. The right felt amazing.

I totally want to hike up here

His canter felt pretty good under saddle. The right was much easier to steer than the other day and the left was probably about the same. In the small arena, he really struggles with the balance to the left at the canter. He leans in and scrambles in the corners sometimes. I think I need to school smaller figures in the big arenas to help him with that.

Since we had longed, I basically just stopped with just a quick walk-trot-canter. While he was eating, I brushed his tail and pulled a bit of his mane before he slammed me into the wall with his face trying to get me to stop. Ouch. He had also kneed me in the face earlier when I was leaning down to put rainmaker on his feet so I kind of just gave up trying to take care of him that day. He didn't mean either of them but I hate it when he reminds me that he isn't Rico!

So patriotic, this guy loves flags

Today I ride him again and hopefully we can get over to the neighbor's to have a nice forward ride. Remember when I hated riding there so much because he was a total dingbat? Progress.

Be Still But Not That Still

Poor Ali is sick so she texted me and asked me to ride her horse for her! It was an excellent opportunity for me to a.) sit a difficult trot for once, b.) pay her back for all the support she has given me in the form of trailering me everywhere and letting me ride the best baby horse, and c.) ride a horse that reliably steers and goes on the bit and canters when you ask him to.

Her horse is super fun, but he's one of those horses who is so incredibly sensitive to your every move and this can really pay off or really not pay off. The first thing he did on the first day I was riding was instruct me on what I was required to do. He's like okay here are the rules, you sit there and I go over here and I can spook at anything on the left side of my body.

I rejected his rules and had the weirdest conversation I've ever had with a horse as I constantly had to shift my weight back to the middle and put his left hind back under him while trying to predict what was coming next so I could stop it. Everything I did was met with a condition. He's like okay you put your leg there, then I'll put my body here and we'd start over in a different version of crookedness.

It was the most cerebral ride I've experienced in a long time.

This guy did take some thought but I could take
my mind off of him for a bit and not risk a spook!

He challenged me to sit perfectly still and think ahead of what he'll be doing two steps down the road. It was like playing chess. Part way through, I had to take a walk break and think about it. If I block his left hind from falling out, he's going to fall in with his right hind and dump me to the right side of the saddle so I have to prevent that from happening at the same time as I prevent the left hind from falling out. If I do that and he doesn't connect to the left rein, he will use a spook on that side to jump away from his left hind, so I need to push him simultaneously into the left rein. But if I do that so much that he hollows right, he will try to bait me into pulling back on the left rein to keep his shoulders in line, which will then allow him to fall away from that rein again.

It took me a bit but eventually I felt him give up and he blasted down the long side in a really straight uphill trot. Hot damn can this little guy move when he isn't trying everything possible to become disconnected from the left rein.

Massive respect for Ali, this is not an easy horse and she makes him look a lot easier than he is. I get to ride him today again, cannot wait.

Me on Ali's horse when he was just a baby! Ali was nice to let
me borrow him as my "green horse" for my A-Dressage pony
club rating- I exceeded standards on the training portion :) 

While I was riding him, I took TC out and stuck him into a paddock to eat some extra food. He's maintaining his weight right now so we're not as careful to make sure he's getting a ton of extra food every day, but whenever I can, I try to stuff more calories into him.

Once as I was done with Ali's horse, I went to put TC back. Most of the time when I put him back he's all nasty and sweaty so I don't ever have any desire to sit on him and ride him back to his pasture. But he hadn't been ridden so was totally clean... so I tied up his halter and jumped on!

First, I don't think he's been ridden bareback, unless they did it while they were breaking him. But to my knowledge, this was his first time. I've also never ridden him in a halter and again don't know if they did it while breaking. He was so good! He just carted me back to the pasture and wasn't terrible to steer off my leg. He did try to bite me a few times but I just nudged his nose away from my boot.

Unfortunately he is not very comfortable to ride bareback yet because his topline is still developing. I don't think I'll be doing any bareback rides (other than getting back to his pasture) until he fills out a bit more.

Delicious boots

Friday I headed out to the barn to ride TC for real. I was really excited to continue our work from the last couple of rides and TC proved to be just as amazing as he's been recently. After a few discussions about being forward and not whinnying, he settled into that ridiculously rideable trot.

Of course I had to hold myself back from drilling harder movements. With that trot, I feel I could get a better leg yield, and I want to work on spiraling in and out and three loop serpentines and lots of transitions. But with it being only the third ride I've gotten him feeling this rideable, I did not want to push him. So we did long diagonals and large circles and figure-8s. I worked primarily on the transitions between bending and straight lines as well as changing the bend. He was great through all of it, although is still struggling more to the right than to the left, which is a nice change IMO.

I worked a bit at the walk to get him moving off of my left leg and stepping into my right rein while tracking right. It's a harder concept than moving him off the inside leg to outside rein, and he figured it out pretty well.

He really struggles with apple eating

The canter was pretty good again. And I discovered yet again that if I ride BETTER, the horse GOES better. Weird. On the right lead canter I had been feeling like he was so out of control that I felt like I had to really haul him around to keep him actually turning and not careening into the fence.

Once again, that was causing bracing on the inside rein like he had been doing at the trot to the left and once again, when I transformed the holding aid to a give and take aid (which I HATE doing ughhh it's not that I want to pull all the time, I just like pushing a horse into a steady contact, this makes me feel like I'm riding backwards), he softened up a bit. He did head wag at first, but I think he's just not the kind of horse that will do that permanently. I've had so many horses that want to head wag the second I do the "give and take" type riding that it has been pounded out of me.

I still don't like it at all, I don't like that the connection has to be so flippity floppy, but if this is what it takes to get him going better, I am willing to change that until he figures it all out and I can go back to being more quiet. I was able to maintain it for the rest of the ride and in the trot too, so I don't think it will be a problem. I just need to make sure it doesn't transfer into any other horse I ride or I'll have a wave of head waggers coming my way, which is the creepiest visual to imagine.

The riverbed, so exciting

At the end, we ran through Training 1. It's a long test in comparison to Intro B, but merely a blip on the test length radar coming off the Grand Prix. Still though, Training 1 proved to be a bit of a challenge, but not one that was too much for schooling.

The walk and trot work were picture perfect. I cannot wait to get him back in the show ring at Intro B. The centerline was straight, the connection was good, the circles were round and easy to ride. All transitions, even the canter transitions, were good. The canter itself is tricky but actually, the left lead was quite good. We aren't ready to show because he's still a bit of a careening mess in the canter, but if I so chose to ride the test in an actual court, I don't think we'd leap out of the court, at least on the left lead.

The right lead however... Well let's just say that if I do that test any time soon, I'm deliberately picking up the canter late so that we're not facing the rail. The canter itself isn't terrible, but he leaps left in the transition pretty badly.

He needs a mane pull... 

Overall though, it was a decent test and a nice way to see that we're not so terribly far off of doing this test at a show. I think what we'll do is eventually get to a schooling show where we do Intro B and Training 1. Then do another schooling show with Training 1 and Training 2 (we need a bit more fitness and a bit better stretch circle for that). THEN do a rated show at Training 1 and Training 2.

Obviously outside of being physically able to ride these tests, we have some issues at shows due to his nerves and loss of rideability. I'm hoping that will be fixed soon enough as we're planning on some clinics when we can't make it to shows each month. I need to figure something out for July, Tracey's only clinic is on a day that I'm coaching at a show, boo.

Switch It Up

I almost can't get over how far TC has come in the last couple of rides. He's getting legitimately fun to ride. Like objectively fun, not the kind of fun where you can feel that the horse is going to be fun one day so you delude yourself into thinking it's fun now. Real fun. 

But I mean that's not to say that I won't feel this way in a couple of months and I'll look back on the horse I have now and think that he really wasn't that fun after all. Ahh horses. 

She jumped right in along with the salsa

Yesterday I tried to get to the barn early before it got hot but failed. Not because I wasn't there early, but because it has been in the 100s all this week. Yuck. 

TC was once again bothering the camp horses when I got to the barn. Getting ready was frustrating because he's definitely backtracking with hoof picking. I'm not sure why, probably because I'm not as effective at getting after him for being a brat due to my back injury. I might ask the trainer who does all the groundwork for the babies at the barn what she thinks is a good way to fix it. If anyone has had experience with this, let me know- he either paws his foot out of my hand or he leans back (threatening to go down) until I drop it. It only happens on the front feet, he's perfect with the back feet. I thought about grabbing a whip to smack his belly when he leaned down because that bothers me the most. Brat. 

Once on (and he's starting to ground tie so well when I fly spray him, woohoo) we played with barrels in the arena until camp came in. Although I just went on about how rideable he now is, I think I would be pushing my luck to ride with 7 children plus obstacles in the little arena. So I opted to go next door.


He loves the little dip (kinda like a grob, jumper people, if that's how you spell it) through the dry riverbed on the way over. He continues to get more bold about jumping into it (completely unnecessary, it's not a bank) and trotting out of it (again unnecessary!). I think he likes terrain. Too bad, future sandbox prancer. But yes, Emma, I'll get him out on cross country again! 

As we arrived, we discovered that there was a lot to spook at. He's now gained enough confidence where he seems genuinely curious about things he is worried about. So now when he spooks, we must investigate. We wandered around the property sniffing everything before actually working. I don't mind this (well, not too often), I like that he's so curious because I think it's going to make him bold and bombproof one day. I really value bombproofing horses. I tormented Rico when I was a teenager! And now when I do weird stuff to him, he always gets this look on his face like I've had weirder stuff done to me, this is embarrassing but it's fine. 

These tubs were pretty scary

Once actually in the ring, I picked up the reins and he was immediately forward and relaxed and round. WAT? It was amazing. At the trot, he was again nicely forward and relaxed, but at first a little retracted in the neck. I started right, thinking that it would be easier to get him stretching into contact while tracking the easier direction, but no dice. He kept falling out over his left shoulder and it's hard to get him stretching into contact when I'm constantly having to half halt the left rein to stop him from careening into the fence. 

I had this feeling of almost itching to go left, which is weird because the left has been worse than the right for a couple months. I switched directions and let me just say DAMN.

He stepped immediately into my right rein, which he has been refusing to do for basically all of his training (although as I said, it was much better on Monday). He immediately came off my left leg and lightened on the left rein. I felt like my balance was pretty excellent (it held true on a clients horse later that day so I'm pretty sure that I'm fixed! Phew), and he felt so damn rideable.

The approach

I used the same walk trot transition exercise to get him working better to the right. It worked and I ended up having this ridiculously rideable horse at the trot! Changing directions? No problem, he even stretches into the new outside rein and turns easily. Downward transition? No problem, he is prompt, balances, and forward. Upward transition? No problem, he is through and straight. Bend on all the circles, no careening in sight. 

So we cantered! And the canter still leaves a lot to be desired. One thing I will say is that he was much rounder in each direction and was bending very well to the left. I think I would have been more excited about it if I hadn't just gotten the best trot work of his life out of him earlier. Like it was good, but surely a horse who trots like that can canter better...

But I knew the canter with this horse was going to take a while and I need to just sit back and let him learn. It's hard because I'm impatient. Plus almost all of the horses I ride regularly have amazing canter work. It's not fair to compare TC to them, but I totally do. One day he will figure it out, and the longer I wait to improve the canter, the better the canter will actually be. I don't want him thinking he has to break down the quality to meet my expectations for roundness or slowness. 

Took advantage of him eating to get a side shot, the light makes
his butt look lumpy but other than that he is looking like a real horse

Today I'll actually be going to the barn, but not to ride TC. Ali is sick and I'm getting the chance to pay her back for all the trailer rides and help she's given me (and um letting me ride this horse for free) by schooling her dressage horse through the weekend. He's super fun! And TC will get brought in for food and given lots of pets, I'll ride him tomorrow. 

2015 Q2 Review and Q3 Goals

I can't believe we're half way through the year. Isn't it March?? Time for another goals analysis.

2015 Q2 Goals Review

TC
- move forward with purchasing him (either getting a real job, saving money, seeing what a trainer thinks of him)
Getting a real job, not so much, but I have been saving money like my life depends on it and I did get Tracey's a-okay for buying him!

- continue to school off the property
A couple of times! We went to Woodmyst and Woodside (which was technically for a show), and about half of our rides are at the neighbors' place.

- show at a schooling show, hopefully twice
Well, once! Mostly because our May AND second June shows were canceled on us. 

- start riding training level tests at home
Kind of, we're schooling all the movements if you can count galloping around slightly out of control on large circles schooling a 20 meter canter circle

- take a clinic on him
Yep! Rode with Tracey and have another one planned for August

- improve quality and roundness at the canter
So much better than it was, especially with our recent breakthrough, but we have a long way to go. The quality is better now, but the roundness needs work. 

Bonus- we went on xc!

- improve lateral balance on circles and in corners
Definitely has improved, still working on the left shoulder falling over, but it has gotten much better since I am able to sit up like a normal human now. 

- improve bend and alignment on circles
Definitely better, especially when I take my left shoulder back and use my left leg properly, weird. 

- improve throughness in transitions
Getting much better, although he still sometimes leaps into trot/canter, also working on straightness in these. When he's forward, the throughness is there, I need to remember that. 

- install a stretchy trot
Yep! It's not good but it exists in a much more real way than it did three months ago, especially to the right.

- start leg yield at the trot
Yep! It's kind of on hold now because I'm focusing more on transitions and throughness than lateral work. 

- start shoulder-in and maybe haunches in at the walk
Both! He does shoulder-in pretty well but is struggling with haunches-in. I'm putting that on hold until the canter is solidified because the canter aid is too similar. 

- start lengthening trot and maybe canter
Started for sure in trot. He is not quite ready for the canter yet.

And jumped! In a dressage saddle... 

Rico
- go to his old owners' place (we'll see)

Yeah I couldn't get this shit done, I REALLY need to either get on this or eliminate it

- go to the beach

Nope

- trail ride more
We have been trail riding about once a week, which I think is pretty good!

- ride as much as he and I can handle (soundness and schedule-wise)

Yeah we could be riding more

- enjoy hanging out with him before my life gets crazy
Definitely been enjoying every moment with him!

Love this guy

My Riding- work on my position on TC

So much better! I still need to get my leg down and around him a bit more, not tip forward with my left shoulder, and stop. fucking. looking. down. But I've been working on that for years and nothing has come of it. 

- continue getting on client horses to work on my position
Yep! I work really hard when I ride those suckers. 

Grad School/Work- graduate!! and don't trip on stage because I don't wear heels ever

Yes!!! I didn't wear heels because of reasons. No regrets. 

- work on and hopefully finish my thesis even if it kills me

Ahahaha... haha.. hah. Well it has gone from 12 to 50 pages in the last two months so boom

- defend my thesis or at least work on it even just a bit this quarter

Yah just a little bit... 

- get a job (or be actively applying to jobs)

Working on this!

Graduation: Check. Everything else: Uhhh

Msc
- go hiking more often

Not as often as I would have liked, but I want to go every week and that's not all that possible

- read another book that isn't academic or horse related

Fail. I did read a lot of journal articles

- continue with crossfit as long as I can

Yep! I slacked a bit in May and the beginning of June because of a random hip strain, then I hurt my back at the end of June. Boo injuries. 

- find another way to exercise if I can't do crossfit

Still going at it! We'll see what happens when I find a job. 

- enjoy the final months before I turn 29

Definitely! I'm not too freaked out about 29 or 30, I already feel like I'm in my 30s. 

Q3 Goals (July, August, September)

TC
pending job status
- vet check
- buy the horse! If he doesn't pass the vet, start shopping but assuming he does pass... 

- get my saddle fitter out
- move him to a new barn
- buy a snaffle bridle for him IF we're going to show

doesn't matter about job
- continue to work on the canter quality and roundness
- continue working on the throughness to the left at all gaits
- build his confidence in being reliably forward and responsive
- continue working on lateral balance and suppleness

- work on transitions into canter and from canter to trot

- continue to make leg yields better in trot

- get the stretchy trot solid

- ride in another clinic or two

- ride a training level test at a schooling show

- think about doing a rated show at T1 and T2

Rico

- ride him as much as I can manage
- go to the beach 

Rico at the beach now will probably be more fun than Rico at
the beach in this picture (2009)

My Riding

- continue to work on my position

- sit on my right seatbone better

- LOOK UP 
- audit some clinics

Grad School/Work

- find a damn job
- quit my part time job
- finish first draft of thesis
- finish final draft of thesis
- submit thesis
- defend? I forget when I will be doing this

Msc

- find a place to live after finding a job
- continue with crossfit as long as I can
- read a book, a real book, not a journal article that I try to pass off as a book