We've had a rash of bad weather....so I don't really expect my rides to be stellar since the horses are all a little high. But even after being inside all last week, my horse was Mr. Chill (see last week's posts). Then this Tuesday, I had the worst lesson in the historyof all lessons! I wanted to attribute it to a cold front coming in during the middle of our lesson. How bad was it? So bad that when I half halted, Red shifted UP not down! We had 4 spooks in 45 minutes!. He went over the edge of sanity, and I followed him there. LeSIGH!
I let my barn owner know so that when my horse was being lunged during this week's bad weather, she would know that he was just a tad fiery. Her description of the experience was as follows, "I would ask him to slow down and relax, and he said, "WHY WALK WHEN YOU CAN TROT!?!?!??!?!"
Later she went into her horse's stall, and saw alfalfa strewn all over. What horse leaves a single flake strewn all over their stall? It is usually the first thing to get eaten. So she did some more investigating. Her Sr. Citizen Schoolmaster and Red are the only ones that get some alfalfa with their dinners. So she went into Red's stall and saw the same alfalfa strewn stall. Then she went to her new part time barn worker and asked him how much alfalfa he was handing out. His answer? 12 inches. uhhh. that's about 4 flakes of alfalfa. He was confusing the alfalfa and the hay. So instead of the 1 psychological flake of alfalfa, they were getting 4 flakes and only 1 flake of hay! No wonder the horses were freaks! They were like tweaking meth heads! Or five year pageant kids high on fully leaded Coca Cola and Pixie Sticks! The barn owner was surprised that either of us are alive to laugh about it! I am so relieved to know where the crazyass behavior came from so suddenly!
Needless to say, our horses are going through alfalfa withdrawals this weekend! The new worker was probably pleased with how well loved and how well he was getting along wtih the cranky redheads...that behavior will soon go away once they realize that they can't score on the alfalfa anymore!
So, I am really looking forward to Mr. Chill returning to me undersaddle as soon as he gets out of Betty Ford for horses!
Friday, February 11, 2011
Monday, February 7, 2011
Super Snow! Super Bowl! Super Horse!
Many people here in North Texas have joked that Mother Nature doesn't like Jerry Jones. It is that or the convergence of so many northern Steelers and Packers fans coming to Texas that brought down what was possibly the worst weather I've seen around here! A week of below freezing weather; an ice storm followed by at least 6 inches of snow!
All the snow drama and worrying about my horse that was 54 miles north of me and the fact that my beloved Saints weren't representing made the Super Bowl XLV pretty insignificant to me.
Our intrepid barn owner, AKA the CEO of Torre Vista Farm managed to keep things under control despite the fact that the property was buried under 6 inches of solid ice, her barn worker blew out a tire trying to come into work and her husband had to make a 2.5 hour commute into Dallas to work the entire time! She entertained herself by sending us pictures of frozen poop in the frozen waterers and making us guess which horse...barn humor at its most desperate!
By Saturday, the snow had softened in the warming temperatures sufficiently that boarders were able to caravan up north to bring some civilization to TVF. Consideringall of the horses had been sequestered in their stalls for five days, they were all surprisingly mellow. Something to do wth the open barn windows and sunshine I guess. All of us boarders managed to lunge and ride around each other, no horse was too terribly crazy. There was lots of horse and snow picture taking!
I think that the barn owner secretly installed a TV with the "Up the Levels" videos in Red's stall during snowmageddon. He came out ready to work, except when we trotted through the melting water from the arena roof....I think he confused the melting snow with acid rain. We worked on our long and low walk for a long time to just get him to stretch out. And then on to our leg yielding and trot circles. We did a lot of walking as I didn't really want him to get too jazzed up our first day back.
By Sunday, Red was definately ready to get back to work. He just shoved his head in his halter when I went into his stall. When we went to the arena, I started out again with long and low walk before moving onto leg yielding across the diagonal. On this day, I really wanted him to work on his lengthenings so after making sure he was nicely warmed up at the trot we worked on our trot lengthenings...left lead is fantast big and forward and steady contact...but I am concerned about the left...he seems to want to break into the canter vs loading up the left hind. I will ask Sue about that on Tuesday during our lesson. And then onto Canter lengthenings with a collection of the stride in the corners- I am using a 10m. circle to help collect him. One thing I have noticed is that I tend to brace my seat as I want to collect him and overuse my outside HH...causing him to break in the canter. I need to remember to make the canter motion but making it smaller without tensing up. I tell myself to CANTER more with my seat as I collect him.
Here is an interesting exercise I've been working on with Sue to help me get the accuracy of my 10m circles and have the correct level of energy. In the sitting trot, a 10m. circcle at every letter in both directions. As you are bending in the 10m' circle, I am really having to increase the tempo and then between letters adding a HH and a little shoulder fore to make sure he isn't bracing. I was really prease with how uphill he was in the shoulders with a very steady contact. I just felt like I could sit there and 'ride the wave' so to speak! Towards the end, I decided to work on some stuff in preparation for our Piaffe/Passage clinic that is coming up in three weeks. We've gotten our half steps down. And our Walk to Piaffe down quite well. One thing that I've seen Alfredo do is go from Piaffe right into the trott to use that collecting energy and the quickening of the hind legs to build your energy/sit in the trot. So, I decided to incorporate piaffe in between my 10m trot circles. I like this because I could use the circles to supple/bend him and prevent him from tensing up before I HH and asked for the half steps and then increasing it to piaffe steps more on the spot.
At the canter, it was more of the same...lengthen and collect...but on this day, I decided to work on my counter canter. I don't tend to over work the counter canter because Red is a bit of the counter canter king...he will go and go in counter canter. So I just did some counter canter across the diagonal and through the short side before the trot transitions...and then asking for asking for counter canter from the walk steps on the long side. I was really please with how loose and bendy he was, especially in the transitions where he wants to throw himself out in a giant sprawl!
Needless to say, after such a lovely ride he got cookies, carrots and an extra serving of Stuf Muffins. I made him a hot gatorade toddy for his stall and tucked him in for his nap before dinner. Later on that evening at dinner feeding, he had his nose to the wall taking a nap. "I R TIRED!" is what he seemed to say.
So here is a picture of myself and Red investigating the snow. Don't you just love my gangsa, "one sock up, one sock down"? LOL!
All the snow drama and worrying about my horse that was 54 miles north of me and the fact that my beloved Saints weren't representing made the Super Bowl XLV pretty insignificant to me.
Our intrepid barn owner, AKA the CEO of Torre Vista Farm managed to keep things under control despite the fact that the property was buried under 6 inches of solid ice, her barn worker blew out a tire trying to come into work and her husband had to make a 2.5 hour commute into Dallas to work the entire time! She entertained herself by sending us pictures of frozen poop in the frozen waterers and making us guess which horse...barn humor at its most desperate!
By Saturday, the snow had softened in the warming temperatures sufficiently that boarders were able to caravan up north to bring some civilization to TVF. Consideringall of the horses had been sequestered in their stalls for five days, they were all surprisingly mellow. Something to do wth the open barn windows and sunshine I guess. All of us boarders managed to lunge and ride around each other, no horse was too terribly crazy. There was lots of horse and snow picture taking!
I think that the barn owner secretly installed a TV with the "Up the Levels" videos in Red's stall during snowmageddon. He came out ready to work, except when we trotted through the melting water from the arena roof....I think he confused the melting snow with acid rain. We worked on our long and low walk for a long time to just get him to stretch out. And then on to our leg yielding and trot circles. We did a lot of walking as I didn't really want him to get too jazzed up our first day back.
By Sunday, Red was definately ready to get back to work. He just shoved his head in his halter when I went into his stall. When we went to the arena, I started out again with long and low walk before moving onto leg yielding across the diagonal. On this day, I really wanted him to work on his lengthenings so after making sure he was nicely warmed up at the trot we worked on our trot lengthenings...left lead is fantast big and forward and steady contact...but I am concerned about the left...he seems to want to break into the canter vs loading up the left hind. I will ask Sue about that on Tuesday during our lesson. And then onto Canter lengthenings with a collection of the stride in the corners- I am using a 10m. circle to help collect him. One thing I have noticed is that I tend to brace my seat as I want to collect him and overuse my outside HH...causing him to break in the canter. I need to remember to make the canter motion but making it smaller without tensing up. I tell myself to CANTER more with my seat as I collect him.
Here is an interesting exercise I've been working on with Sue to help me get the accuracy of my 10m circles and have the correct level of energy. In the sitting trot, a 10m. circcle at every letter in both directions. As you are bending in the 10m' circle, I am really having to increase the tempo and then between letters adding a HH and a little shoulder fore to make sure he isn't bracing. I was really prease with how uphill he was in the shoulders with a very steady contact. I just felt like I could sit there and 'ride the wave' so to speak! Towards the end, I decided to work on some stuff in preparation for our Piaffe/Passage clinic that is coming up in three weeks. We've gotten our half steps down. And our Walk to Piaffe down quite well. One thing that I've seen Alfredo do is go from Piaffe right into the trott to use that collecting energy and the quickening of the hind legs to build your energy/sit in the trot. So, I decided to incorporate piaffe in between my 10m trot circles. I like this because I could use the circles to supple/bend him and prevent him from tensing up before I HH and asked for the half steps and then increasing it to piaffe steps more on the spot.
At the canter, it was more of the same...lengthen and collect...but on this day, I decided to work on my counter canter. I don't tend to over work the counter canter because Red is a bit of the counter canter king...he will go and go in counter canter. So I just did some counter canter across the diagonal and through the short side before the trot transitions...and then asking for asking for counter canter from the walk steps on the long side. I was really please with how loose and bendy he was, especially in the transitions where he wants to throw himself out in a giant sprawl!
Needless to say, after such a lovely ride he got cookies, carrots and an extra serving of Stuf Muffins. I made him a hot gatorade toddy for his stall and tucked him in for his nap before dinner. Later on that evening at dinner feeding, he had his nose to the wall taking a nap. "I R TIRED!" is what he seemed to say.
So here is a picture of myself and Red investigating the snow. Don't you just love my gangsa, "one sock up, one sock down"? LOL!
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
I am a dressage groupie!
This is probably something many don't know about me. But I am a dressage groupie. I love reading the blogs, websites of the top riders and watching the youtube videos. I've had the pleasure of going to several World Cups and have gotten some great pictures. I thought I would share some of my pictures with my dressage idols.
WC 2005- I remember being completely blown away by how beautifully Andreas Helgstrand rode Don Schufro. Just a beautifully correct seat. It was his first year riding Don Schufro. This was the night of the finals, I had just seen his trainer and New Dressage God (NDG) Rudolf Zeilinger walk in...so I thought that Andreas would be around soon. I managed to stop him on his way into the T&M, I think he was surprised that he was recognized by an American. He and his companion were very happy to stop and take a picture.
A few minutes later, I caught up with David O'Connor! He was on his way to his book signing but he also stopped for a picture!
I regret the fact that I was too shy to ask for a picture of Edward Gal when he was still riding Lingh, but I think I was in AWE by him. I remember giggling that I could see his orange boxers through his show breeches. I also so Ann-Kathrin Linsenhoff and Imke Bartels but wasn't in a spot to take a photo with them.
WC 2007-My WWGM moment. I saw him sipping on his Pepsi in the stands watching the dressage warm up. I couldn't not get my photo with THE George Morris! I made my friend come with me to take a picture with her cell phone! I thought he would totally cuss me out, but once again- I was impressed with how open and appreciative our equestrian idols are with us crazy fans!
This year, I also saw Robert Dover and Guenter Seidel. The were pimping tickets for a dressage event that Dover was hosting for Equestrian Aid...But Robert Dover wouldn't agree to take a picture with me or my friend unless I bought a ticket. I was bummed but whatevs! Catherine Haddad was at that year's event. She was very nice and got to meet her at a meet & greet.
WC 2009- Dressage Divas. It was a great year to take pictures with my dressage idols.
On the first day, we saw ANKY. She rode the bus like everyone else. She had been hospitalized the day before for an allergic reaction and she still was willing to take pictures with us. That's classy!
This was the year of Brentina's retirement so Debbie McDonald also there to promote the USEF and I totally stood in line for 30 minutes to make sure she signed t-shirts and took a picture. Debbie is the Grande Dame of US dressage! I am 5'11, she was in a tall studio chair and I still practically knelt! She is tiny, tiny, tiny, tiny!
The most heart breaking moment of the WC was having to see Kingston withdraw after being uneven after his first HP. Many of us were looking forward to Leslie and Kingston's comeback after watching them electrify the arena in 2005. I ran into Leslie the following day, and told her how sorry I was about what happened and how I had looked forward to seeing them together. You could feel how heart broken she was and how appreciative she was of the support. Let me apologize about how stalkerazzi I look in this picture...totally wearing her like last year's gucci! LOL! I think I'd had a couple of beers! LOL! For shame!
Finally, my Steffen moment! You can't even imagine how thin and wirey he is in real life! A perfect riders physique. Look at me...again, with the beer!
The only one I am missing to make my dressage stalker self feel satisfied is a photo with Isabell. Based on the number of up and coming horses, I think I still have some time to plot my photo op!
WC 2005- I remember being completely blown away by how beautifully Andreas Helgstrand rode Don Schufro. Just a beautifully correct seat. It was his first year riding Don Schufro. This was the night of the finals, I had just seen his trainer and New Dressage God (NDG) Rudolf Zeilinger walk in...so I thought that Andreas would be around soon. I managed to stop him on his way into the T&M, I think he was surprised that he was recognized by an American. He and his companion were very happy to stop and take a picture.
I regret the fact that I was too shy to ask for a picture of Edward Gal when he was still riding Lingh, but I think I was in AWE by him. I remember giggling that I could see his orange boxers through his show breeches. I also so Ann-Kathrin Linsenhoff and Imke Bartels but wasn't in a spot to take a photo with them.
This year, I also saw Robert Dover and Guenter Seidel. The were pimping tickets for a dressage event that Dover was hosting for Equestrian Aid...But Robert Dover wouldn't agree to take a picture with me or my friend unless I bought a ticket. I was bummed but whatevs! Catherine Haddad was at that year's event. She was very nice and got to meet her at a meet & greet.
WC 2009- Dressage Divas. It was a great year to take pictures with my dressage idols.
On the first day, we saw ANKY. She rode the bus like everyone else. She had been hospitalized the day before for an allergic reaction and she still was willing to take pictures with us. That's classy!
This was the year of Brentina's retirement so Debbie McDonald also there to promote the USEF and I totally stood in line for 30 minutes to make sure she signed t-shirts and took a picture. Debbie is the Grande Dame of US dressage! I am 5'11, she was in a tall studio chair and I still practically knelt! She is tiny, tiny, tiny, tiny!
The most heart breaking moment of the WC was having to see Kingston withdraw after being uneven after his first HP. Many of us were looking forward to Leslie and Kingston's comeback after watching them electrify the arena in 2005. I ran into Leslie the following day, and told her how sorry I was about what happened and how I had looked forward to seeing them together. You could feel how heart broken she was and how appreciative she was of the support. Let me apologize about how stalkerazzi I look in this picture...totally wearing her like last year's gucci! LOL! I think I'd had a couple of beers! LOL! For shame!
The only one I am missing to make my dressage stalker self feel satisfied is a photo with Isabell. Based on the number of up and coming horses, I think I still have some time to plot my photo op!
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