Essentially, My Pony is Amazing

Oh lordy, it's been a month since I last posted a blog. WHOOPS dropping the ball, just a bit. And, truth be told, I am completely defying what all my english teachers painfully tried to instill in me, and writing without a clue as to where it will end up. Ah well.

So, I think I left off at waiting for the Waylon clinic. Short version: Flora is actually amazing. I don't know how many times I can say it. She jumped bending lines, in and outs, and even the liverpool, no problemo. I always thought she'd be a hunter with her movement, look and attitude, but after the clinic, it was quite clear she was talented to do whatever I/she wants. SO PUMPED! I posted some pictures of her below, all courtesy of GRS and Emily Martin.

Afterwards, I started looking for shows to bring Flo to, and planning a fitness schedule for her. As my luck would have it, not only was the truck (a somewhat important part of the truck-and-trailer duo) stuck in Nova Scotia until June, but Flora decided she liked giving herself an excuse to shop for shoes. Aka pulling shoes like nobody's business. And THEN, I went on "vacation" for a week, and by vacation, I mean a visit-for-two-days-then-get-put-to-work-painting-and-cleaning-cation. Needless to say, Flo and I are less than ready for show season. Sigh.

I got home late last night and was wayy too exhausted to ride (plus, hey, what's one more day after 12?), so I put off my first ride back on Flo until today. It was realllly hot, at least for me. Thirty degrees is a bit above my comfort level in breeches, but I figured I may as well ride and start getting used to the heat. Miss Flo seemed to enjoy the attention of grooming and was even good for her bridle (she can be a bit a princess sometimes). I almost didn't lunge her, but figured that if I didn't want to die, that I probably should. I threw her on the lunge for all of about 3 minutes, which consisted of me chasing her into the canter, and her promptly breaking back into the trot, before deciding it was probably safe to get on.

No, seriously? How did I get such an amazing horse?! She wasn't just quiet, she was... like, pleasure hunter quiet. When I let her, she stretched her nose all the way to the ground and trotted around on the buckle. Then, after some nice canter work, I felt it for the first time... a REAL connection at the trot! FOR REAL!! And when I asked for the walk... she didn't raise her head and tighten her back in protest. Serious progress!! Let's hope it keeps up all summer... and maybe we'll make it to a few shows after all :)

It's Not Me, It's You.

You've heard it a million times, that horrible cliche, and if it has to be said, it's probably not true; "It's not you, it's me". But have you ever heard it the other way around? I actually have, but not in the sense that the original statement came from, and it's taken me a long time to realize how true it can be.

"It's not me, it's you". What I mean is, of course, in riding. This past week I've had a few mini breakthroughs with some of the horses I've been riding, and it's made me realize that sometimes you just have to wait it out, that sometimes you're not doing anything wrong- it's just taking some time for them to figure out what you're asking.

Sometimes, you need to set the ride, and stick to it. A young horse of mine used to bulge and twist and fall in and everything else you could imagine on a 20m circle, and it drove me crazy. I would get all caught up trying to fix each individual flaw- outside rein to block the shoulder, inside leg to bend his body around the circle, outside leg to keep the shape, and inside rein to get his nose just in slightly... and then repeat all steps at random intervals, as needed. It was extremely frustrating, and I could never seem to get THE perfect 20m circle with him. One day I gave up, set my body exactly how it would/should be around a 20m circle, and kept to that ride. And what happened?! He yielded and suddenly he was like a ping pong, bouncing around between my aids until he realized what he was supposed to do, and I finally got the circle I'd been looking for. All I'd needed to do was ask and wait.

Similarly, in lessons jumping young horses, I've been caught up in the push/pull, chip/long spot battle, where you can't seem to ever gain control or know what's going to happen in front of the fence, because everything is always changing.

In one instance, I was riding a huge, strong, and green baby. My coach told me to make him wait to the jumps, so I tried to keep him balanced between my hand and my leg to wait for a close distance. Instead, he took off about a stride early, and me, having been set to wait, got left behind. Never a pretty sight, right? I was embarrassed, but instead my coach said "No, that was the right ride. Come again and don't change a thing". So I did and hey! He waited! All it took was for him to not listen once and have to go through the uncomfortable event of me being left behind to realize it was better for him to not always make the decision.

"That was the right ride, do it again and don't change a thing", "put your leg on and wait", "Don't fuss, just keep your hands steady". It all means the same thing: have some confidence and some patience, because you're doing it right already, your horse just needs some time to figure it out. Sometimes it's not me, it's you :)

Fake it 'til you make it

Fake it 'til you make it. Did you laugh? I did the first time someone said that to me. But you know what? Everyone should do it. It sounds silly, and sounds like it will make you look silly... but it doesn't. If you've ever read or seen "The Secret" or have read any of Wayne Dyer's work (or the numerous positive thinking/holistic lifetsyle approach literature), you'd realize it's all the same; thinking positive, and thinking of yourself a certain way, until you actually become that way. Pretend to be happy for long enough, and you will actually become happy. Pretend you are a professional horseperson and real estate investor, and you will actually become so.

Now, I don't know if it's this crazy, awesome weather, or what, but things are really coming together for me. I remember during my last year of university, people asked me (my lord, how many times??) what I was going to do when I was done school. I told them I was going to ride, train and coach, and work flipping houses, both part time, and see which would take off first. It sounded kinda of silly, and I wasn't sure I even believed in myself. The last few months, I've been doing both sort of half-ass, yet not letting myself believe that either dream was over, either. All of the sudden (seemingly), I feel like a professional in both occupancies.

Between horses, I'm on the phone making appointments to see houses. I check out potential projects, or check up on current projects, sometimes throw on the painting clothes and paint for a few hours. Then I go home and spend the rest of the night working on budgets for potential projects. Today, I was told just how appreciated I was at my riding job, and that everyone was really happy with me. How nice is that?! I spent so long pretending to be a professional at both jobs (why else do you think I started this blog?), that I now feel like I've earned it. Would I compare myself to Ian Millar or Scott whathisface from Income Property? Hell no. But it's definitely a start :) Fake it 'til you make it, people! It's what I'm going to keep doing, and maybe one day I will, truly, "make it".

The Importance of the Leg Yield

Oh, the leg yield. Seemingly so simple, it's included in the First Level dressage tests all over North America. Many people take it for granted, and I used to be one of these people until the last few weeks. After spending several weeks trying to teach certain horses to bend to the inside AND keep the outside rein AND respect my leg, I am now a true believer.

The point of the leg yield is not, as one might think, to just go sideways. Yes, that is the final result, but it's not really the point. The point is that, in doing a leg yield correctly, you have achieved some of the most important goals in your riding.

A proper leg yield needs several things to happen cooperatively. The horse needs to move away (and therefore respect) your leg, use their inside hind to step under himself and into your outside rein, softly bend to the inside, giving on the inside rein, and accept the outside aids as guidance.

In my (very humble) opinion, as soon as a horse understands basic forward and steering aids, it is never too early to start teaching the leg yield. Not only does it strengthen the horse, but it softens them to your aids. If a horse respects your leg enough to move away when you softly ask them to go over, you can bet he will also respect your leg when you ask him to go more forward, or even push him further into your hand. Likewise, if the horse understands how to bend around your leg, you can bet your circles and corners will be much nicer.

The impact of working the leg yield is practically exponential. So get practicing :)

Moments

I've always enjoyed teaching, whether it be teaching people on horseback, tutoring in school, or helping horses underneath me understand what they're supposed to do. I've always gotten such great satisfaction from the results, but especially when my student has that "lightbulb" moment, that moment when I realize that I actually made a difference. That, to me, is the sweetest moment there is.

Amazingly, I've had a few of those these past couple of weeks. The barn that I'm riding at had a rider who was, I guess, too "controlling", a push and pull type, which is why I managed to get the job. It's quite obvious when I started riding there; I'd put my leg on to try to push them into my hand a bit more, to try and get just a bit better of a connection, and many of them would pin their ears, stick their neck way out, and pullllllll. My response, at first, was to relax my hand and leg. I didn't want them to get away with it, but  more so, I didn't want them to think I was trying to trap them. I just wanted them to relax.

One of these horses was also extremely unfit and, when cantering, felt like he was pretty much scrambling around on his face. Being 17.1h, it was a tad scary. But, last Friday, I felt the change. Cantering around the ring twice each way is an accomplishment on its own with this horse, but that day, not only did he keep the canter, he was round and soft, not pulling me around the corners and down the long side. It was amazing, and I was so proud. I've had a few more of those "moments" with those horses, most notably with a 4yr old who, when I started riding her, wouldn't go forward if a bomb went off under her tail. But something has clicked and I actually noticed myself needing to half halt this week.

I could keep going on and on about those moments, but I promised to update everyone on how Flora was during her first jumping clinic. One word: spectacular. She did her first trot poles, and eventually her first grid. It took a LOT of leg to get her to actually jump and canter away from the cross rail, but by the end of it, she was cantering all the way through the three jump combination. SO PROUD! It was honestly amazing to see her come so far in just one lesson. Waylon said she just needed to get some confidence, and today, I think she found it. I did trot poles to a cross rail, 4 strides to a small vertical and then HER FIRST OXER EVER!!! I was definitely more excited than her... I don't think she really even noticed. BUT YAY FLORA!!! I went and got all my memberships in preparation for show season... it's gonna be a good one!

One last thing... I'm sorry to anyone who actually reads this for how long my blogs are!! I just can't help it, I love my pony :)

Be Thankful For What You Have

I totally started writing a blog post this time last week, about how lucky I was and how I felt like everything just seemed to be going in the write direction. I took a break to go out and get stuff for dinner, and promptly got my first speeding ticket, ever. Even though he dropped it down to a minimal fine and no points were deducted (honestly, I'm surprised I'd never gotten one til then), it's a total pain in the butt. It also sort of made me feel like a complete liar/killed the writing mood, so I decided to wait til the end of this week to announce my exciting news: I managed to land an AMAZING riding job.

Through a connection - apparently I have them! - I was able to be hired by a warmblood breeding facility as a rider for their young stock and some of their older, more "going" equines. So far, it's been great. I mean, really, it's pretty much my dream job. I show up, the horses are groomed for me, I just throw tack on, and go. The atmosphere is phenomenal, and my boss doesn't belittle me if I happen to make any mistakes- something I've found fairly prevalent in the A circuit world. It's just so nice.

Needless to say, after riding 5-6 horses, 4 days this week, and two days last week, I am exhausted. I was once used to that sort of riding, but it seems oh so long ago now, and I wondered if I'd ever be able to do it again. It's pretty hard to get riding fit when you're only riding one of your own babies, three times a week. What's reallly nice is that I've managed to lose some of that weight that crept back to me over the winter- take that, flab! However, poor little Flora has mostly been ignored since I started.

It's funny how you manipulate things in your mind to make them seem just how you want them to. In my mind, because I'd get home exhausted, freezing, and starving, I couldn't be bothered to do anything with Flora. In my head, these purebred warmbloods I was working with were way nicer than her, and I got super bummed out, wondering what I was going to do with her, if doing anything at all was even worth it.

Well, today, I got a kick in the pants from yours truly. I managed to convince myself to go ride her, and what a treat! I couldn't help but think that my little dutch warmblood/tb mare was easily as nice, or even nicer than half the horses I've been working with. She understands what my leg means, not only to go forward, but to bend around it. She knows how to work in a frame, and lord does she ever have a big, beautiful canter. It's pretty crazy the things you (ie: me) take for granted, but it made me feel really lucky to have her, and was definitely encouraging.

After our ride, I decided to confirm my spot in the jumping clinic taking place at our barn on Sunday. We're just doing the 2' class, but I'm really looking forward to it :) Updates - hopefully good ones - on that to come later :)

A Day of Firsts and Lasts

I've been holding off writing a new post for a few days, because there's only been one thing on my mind, and I didn't want to jinx it. Jake, selling. But now that the contract is signed and the trailer is coming tomorrow, I think I can come out with it. It's such a strange feeling. I'm so glad I was able to sell him for his owner, and was so happy at first. But today, I had my last ride on him.

And he was soooooooo good :( What a nice horse. His new owners are so incredibly lucky to be getting such a nice, talented and well mannered horse. It's not very often (like, almost never), that I choose to go back to my dressage roots, but Jake honestly made me think about becoming a serious dressage rider again. I am so looking forward to following his progress with his new owner this summer at the shows. And I hope I can hold it together tomorrow and not shed any tears when he leaves.

On a happy note, FLORA IS AMAZING!!! I don't ride my young horses very often, but today was the first time I've ridden her two days in a row. She is such a princess, that I thought she was going to be really mad, but she was a-mazing. She was willingly bending in both directions, and, for a horse who is normally very fussy in the mouth, was sooo soft and quite consistent in the mouth. It made me think there was hope after all ;)

I decided to do, or at least attempt, a small exercise that I did with all the babies at Looking Back Farm. All it is, is a 9' rail in front of a cross rail, with five strides to the next fence- a small cross rail or vertical. Trot in, canter out. Of course, Flora had never done more than one pole in a row, so we first had to get her used to trotting over poles that were 9' apart. No problem. It was like she'd done it a million times before. Then we had a 9' rail set to a crossrail, with just a pole on the ground 5 canter strides away. Again no problem, except Flora believes in using as little energy as possible, and therefore did not canter away from the cross rail even once. She didn't even bother actually jumping the cross rail after going over it a couple times, apparently it wasn't big enough to bother.

So then we put the pole on the ground that was five strides away up to a small, very small vertical. It was the first time Flora had even faced a vertical, and she took it like a pro.... even though she hit it down about five times in a row. Her stride is, apparently, larger than I thought. In my opinion, when a horse is learning to jump lines, they shouldn't need to also think about the striding. They're too busy thinking about where to put their feet as it is, so we moved the jumps out until it was a perfect five stride for her. Then she loped down the line (I had to canter into the exercise so that I could canter down through it! Normally I'd be against it, as I think cantering in too early might make a horse rush the fence. Not in Flora's case, though.) in five perfect strides, and left the jump up. It felt like a pretty cute jump! So we left it at that.

That's the fun thing about babies: small accomplishments. I mean, only with a baby would you be ecstatic to hit down the same jump five times in a row. Seriously. I started to get a little disheartened, but then, it's only her first time going down a line, and the distance wasn't great until the end. Might call for some free jumping to let her figure out her feet on her own. Again, I don't think free jumping is for all horses, but judging by the way Flora has been taking all this new jumping stuff in, she will be fine. In fact, I was cantering down the long side on her in our warm up, and she actually veered off the track to canter over the pole!! I'd say it's a good thing :) I can't wait to do more with her.