Easing Back

In a surprising turn of events, I did two dressage rides in a row this weekend on my horse due to my work schedule and (the more surprising part of it) my life outside of work and horses getting in the way of any off property adventures.

The work part of it did include a last minute show for one of my students who earned a couple of 65%+ scores at her first ever dressage show. I had to translate them into event scores for her and then she was very excited.

Life outside of horses and work included this
cup of hot chocolate and one more cookie
than I was initially provided with

TC was still a very good boy for those rides! The dressage is coming along and I figured I'd share in bullet points because I'm tired.

The Good

- We had some of the best quality canter in a long time with a nice big moment of suspension

- On Sunday, I was able to add pressure to the trot without him losing his mind

- The walk pirouettes are still on point and are helping me (and him probably) get a feeling of where I want his balance all the time

- He still has a shoulder-in and haunches-in

- We both had fun!


The... Still Needs Improvement

- With working to get him in self carriage in his larger gaits, the steering has gone to shit, especially at the canter.

- I still want more rideability in the canter in terms of half halts and lateral work

- The sitting trot still feels like I'm holding him back quite a bit

- Everything obviously still needs way more tone, but we're starting to work on that now

He's been napping the last couple of times I've come to get him
and he's so freaking cute

This week he had Monday off because I didn't get enough sleep Friday, Saturday, or Sunday nights and by the time I got to Monday morning I was just NOT having it.

Tuesday (which is happening right now) and Wednesday I'm planning on one long line session and one ride. Then he'll get Thursday off and then Friday another ride before, fingers crossed, Saturday we go on a trail ride. I have a lot of work to do Saturday (phew, as April was not a good teaching month) so it might get in the way, but hopefully we'll hit the trails sooner or later.

In other news, we signed up for our second ever working equitation clinic in a couple of weeks! I'm really excited to play with the obstacle course again. He was so good last time that I think this time I'll be able to relax and have a bit more fun doing it.

Finding a Balance

My blog has gotten pretty boring lately. It's kind of just post after post of me riding my horse on the trails.

As much as I love dressage, I'm really enjoying not having it be my main focus right now. Trail riding is so much fun, and last week I hopped on TC bareback and wandered around the ranch on him one morning.

Where shall we go, TC?

I do want to do dressage though. But I am trying to come up with a way of doing it that is less intense for me. TC is still at a low enough level where he doesn't need to do dressage 5-6x per week to make progress. I went straight from riding Rico at a very high level to then applying a lot of my dedication and type-A-ness on TC. For a while, he was young and then he was on rehab, so I had a lot of down time.

But having 2017 be all about Training Level and 2018 be all about First Level put a ton of pressure on me to have 2019 be about Second Level and then 2020 be about Third Level and then hopefully somewhere in there skip up to PSG for 2021 and go to championships then and then make Grand Prix before he hit a certain age so I could have two years then and then sell him for THIS amount of money and put THIS percentage away and take at least THIS much to buy my next prospect...

I had unknowingly thrown myself back into that intensity. This winter with everything slowing us down just made me more eager, setting up the show season, making plans, putting in the rides even though it was cold and rainy and awful outside and my horse's crazy made me crazy.

So when things got a little tricky with TC (as they always do with training horses), I did what I knew to do, throw myself into it even harder. But the more I worked, the worse things got, and that's when I brought him down to ground work for a few weeks.

Wandering is so fun

Since then, things have been way better and I'm actually enjoying it all a lot more. Not because of the future and what it holds, not because I'm thinking of how much this work will pay off in the show ring, or imagining cantering down centerline in my shadbelly again, but because I enjoyed my ride today. And I enjoyed my ride yesterday. And I enjoyed trail riding this last weekend and riding bareback.

But where to go from here?

It's very true that I am way way happier without doing dressage seriously. I've had moments where I wonder if I should just forgo competing all together and just play with TC. Sometimes that means dressage, sometimes that means trail riding, sometimes that means bareback riding, sometimes that means ground work.

BUT there's more to my life with horses aside from just having a good freaking time. I love dressage, I love tangible progress, I love showing, I love taking lessons, and I love learning. It's hard sometimes but it's all worth it. My Gold medal was worth all the hours of work, the blood, the sweat, the tears (lots of tears).

I've thought a lot about it, a lot, and I think the best path forward is to find a healthy balance. But I am not a person who is good at balance. I go go go go until I burn out and then I get frustrated, take a second, reevaluate, overthink things, and then go go go go again until burn out hits me.

Trails are definitely the cure for burn out

I want my cake and I want to eat it too. I want to wander around bareback, go on trail rides whenever I have a free day, ride TC at the beach, do working equitation, play around with ground work, and just enjoy my horse without my show schedule and goals looming over me. I also want to compete and achieve those goals and get high scores and get pretty ribbons and have a super fun rideable horse in the arena.

It's not rocket science to find a balance. I've put together a sample schedule, it was really easy:

Monday: day off
Tuesday: dressage
Wednesday: long line/ ground work
Thursday: dressage
Friday: day off
Saturday: dressage
Sunday: trail ride

But sticking to a schedule feels like I'm getting all Type-A about my fun. Oh, you can only have non-dressage fun on your assigned non-dressage fun days, the other days are for dressage (which is fun but a different kind of fun, you know?).

More trails please

So I'm not sure what balance will eventually look like. I might have to force fun on myself as I swing back into dressage.

I think as long as I keep trail rides in my calendar every weekend that I have open, and I use TC's days off to ride him around bareback, and I do at least one ground work day a week, I think I should be able to delay burning out again. Who knows? For now, I'm just glad to be back to enjoying essentially every moment I spend with my horse.

L Program: The Beginning

I mentioned in passing a while back that I signed up for the L program that starts this fall! I'm really excited for a number of reasons.

First, other than the Mary clinics (which feel different), I haven't devoted this kind of time to horse-related education in a long time. Don't get me wrong, I take lessons and am nearly constantly disseminating information with Kate, but this involves a test and a body of knowledge that has been prepared for me rather than drawing my own conclusions at my own pace. I love school (I work at one) so it feels more school-like than anything! Fun!

Second, I do want to be a judge in some capacity. It's good additional money and I like being judgmental. But it will also be great to be able to bring a judge's perspective to my teaching. Even the other week I had a young student get a 0 on a test and was able to tell them that the judge was out of line, you should not get a 0 ever (they should ring you off course if you don't perform the movement and you should get at least a 1 or a 2 if you even attempt the movement). But I had to confirm that with my judge friend to be able to say "my judge friend says this is true," vs being able to say "I've had judge training and know this from that."

I'm not sure what my end goal with the judging is. Being an L grad (L grads are not judges FYI) allows me to judge at schooling shows, which is great. But as you move up, the training becomes more expensive and more involved and we'll see if the other programs seem worth doing.

Weeeeee

The L program is split into two parts.

Part 1: "A Judge's Perspective"
Open to all USDF Members

Session A: introduction to judging and biomechanics
Session B: judging criteria for gaits and paces, movements, and figures
Session C: collective marks, equitation, rider biomechanics, and basics


Part 2: "Candidates Evaluation"
Open to Participating Members with 3 verified scores from USEF. Two scores of 65% or higher at the highest test of Second level and one score of 62% or higher at Third level or above.

Session D1: practicing judging full tests in each of the levels at recognized competition
Session D2: emphasis on testing situation and preparation of final exam
Final Exam: written and practical exam

The final written exam is all true/false and multiple choice. The practical exam involves judging full tests and some oral judging as well.

I get a 10 on that last movement
every time

So far, only a part one has been planned for October, November, and January. If they get enough interest, they will hold a part two but there's a chance I may need to fly even further to get a part two in time, but I'm focusing on the part one first.

I've paid the deposit for the first part ($550) and will owe the rest (I want to say $400-800 but you can tell I forget how much it is) in September. I'm also going to be flying there, renting a hotel and maybe a car (or racking up uber expenses), and having to feed myself. Plus the loss of work on those weekends! Luckily I have a ton of travel points saved up so I will be utilizing that for this program. I was saving to fully cover the travel-related expenses for a trip to Europe but I'm like, hey, let's be real here, I'm not going to Europe any time soon on this budget.


I plan on blogging the entire experience, of course, most of my life is on this blog. My plan for this series is to share as much as possible about the process. I want to share the education materials (as much as I'm allowed, not sure what they look like yet), how the program goes for me, and of course, what it all costs.

Has anyone gone through the entire program?

Q1 Goals Review and Q2 Goals

Woops.

At the beginning of April, I should have gone through my first quarter's goals, but I was busy going rogue with that kind of thing. Worth looking back on though, and setting up some goals between now and July!


Q1 Goals (Jan, Feb, Mar)

TC
- stay sane and sound
Sound, yep, sane, debatable but getting better

- TC comes back into work well
Yep!

- fix the corkscrew (tilting off his left hind onto his right side)
I'm not noticing it much anymore! 

- see if the LR change comes on when that is done
It did, but then I didn't work on them

- improve the RL change
It was getting better but now we're not working on them

- perfect the haunches-in
Not working on it

- perfect the counter canter
Not working on it

- shoulder-fore for days, especially in canter
Not working on it

- go on a field trip somewhere
We've been on a ton of trips this year!

- take at least two lessons
I took only one (I've taken two but the second one was in April)

- maybe make our rated Second level debut at Greenville at the end of March
Nope



My Riding
- have fun at the Mary Wanless clinic!
Yes!

- keep working to draw him to my left side by letting go with my left thigh
Definitely improved

- keep working on my hips being a bit less stuck
Still a struggle

- elbows soft in the sitting trot
Definitely improved


Teaching
- keep working on squashing the impostor syndrome
Still really struggling but getting better

- hit 20 lessons each month of this quarter
I did in January and March

- teach 2 new people
I think I did... 

- reach out to pony clubs
Yep

- put up two fliers
No fliers yet... 

- sign up for the L program :D
Yes!


Msc
- find a new crossfit box that works for me
Yes!

- see my massage therapist for my wrist injury at least three times
Looking for a new one, the schedule is too hard to maintain :( 

- get my cardio and strength back to where it was pre-smoke
It's back! It's even better than it was

- PR on anything would be great
PR power clean! 

- more dedication to meal prep & getting enough calories
Now that I'm working out less, calories hasn't been as hard, I've only had a few days where I ate significantly less than I should have

- more dedication to staying hydrated
This has been hit or miss



So it was kind of a bust, but that's fine!


Q2 Goals (April, May, June)

TC
- stay sane and sound
- trail ride a lot
- continue ground work 1-2x/week
- continue working on his aversion to pressure
- slowly get back to work in the arena
- improve connection, esp on the outside, esp tracking left
- would love to be back to schooling all of Second by the end of the quarter
- take at least one lesson a month

My Riding
- work on kneeling on the right side
- fix my weird canter connection issues to the left
- increase bear down
- decrease dependence on thigh at canter

Teaching
- put up fliers
- hit 20 lessons/rides a month this quarter
- teach two new people this quarter
- update website
- post on social media

Msc
- Another PR on something would be nice (as of writing this I've already PR'd my strict press by 15lbs)
- incorporate some strength/accessory work at home or at my work gym (my box programs a TON of cardio, not enough strength IMO)
- see PT for my wrist and anterior ankle impingement
- find a massage therapist in this area for my wrist

Windy Day Wanderings

This weekend, TC and I managed to squeeze in our fourth trail ride of the year!

I was busy all weekend, so I inadvertently set us up for a really bad time. It was cold and windy when I put him in the trailer late on Sunday afternoon. He'd had a day off the day before and as I pulled in, there was another trailer with horses tied to it there to distract him.

Best view! 

Because I'm a smart person, I also decided to go on a new trail for him that day.

TC has been on two trails at that facility, what we called the short loop and the long loop. The short loop is where we normally ride, it's a little over 4 miles and really friendly. The long loop, we've only done once a very long time ago. It's almost 6 miles but has a ton of climbing.

This weekend we did a little over 6 miles with less climbing and despite what I said above, TC was great!

There were a lot of opportunities to be naughty too, like the wild turkey that ran across our path (TC did strongly consider murdering it), all the birds playing in the wind, the very narrow single track trail we were on for a while, and so on.

There were some great views from this trail

I'm still so enjoying trail riding him. I've mapped out a few more trails to try at this facility, and then I think it's time to branch out.

All the other facilities are a bit further. This one is only a 10 minute haul from the barn so it makes it pretty easy to get out  there. The next place we'll probably go is Calero, which is about a 30 minute haul, possibly a bit further because the road gets narrow sometimes and I go slowly.

Bel-Eighted

TC turned eight last week! I was not on top of my game with his birthday celebration so I ended up doing it on Friday and then forgetting that I had the pictures until this week. Oops.

I've been able to celebrate the majority of his birthdays with him so far (four, five, six, seven, and now eight), though the tradition of dressing him up started with his sixth birthday.

He got an 8 made of carrots

When he was six, he was kind of horrified about it. When he was seven, he was still mildly horrified. This time it seemed like he was like "oh this, when she puts weird shit on me" and just let me do it! He's always been really skeptical of wearing things on his head (hates them touching his ears) but another year's worth of tormenting him with wearing everything as a hat has paid off.

I had to scour my pictures to get an unpleasant facial expression for instagram, but look how happy he is!

I ended up moving him out of the sun to get better lighting,
but look at his cute face! 

It's my birthday??

TC's seven year old year was great! We worked hard on the dressage to finish the year as champions at First level for his breed. We also earned reserve champion for First level for our chapter of our enormous GMO.

I'm so looking forward to branching out a bit for his eight year old year. On the docket this year we have lots of trail riding, doing another working equitation clinic, maybe competing in cowboy dressage (they have a ground work test!), riding at the beach, maybe horse camping, and of course, hopefully debuting in the rated ring at Second level.

Happy pony

WW: Current Progress

Kate was so nice to video a ton of my lesson on Saturday! It took me a second, but here are a bunch of gifs. I think for not being ridden in a while, he looks pretty good. I've got plenty to work on myself but I'm not unhappy with the way we look! 

Trot work early on

Definitely haven't sat enough trot recently, yikes

Canter left was only a bit unsteerable

He was such a good boy in the bridle this lesson

Mildly out of control to the right at the canter

I just felt so rusty, but I like how soft he is (both dressage-wise
and non-dressage-wise)