In my last post, I left off with having a couple of months freed up to prepare Ivan for the RRP Thoroughbred Makeover. We had worked on the basics all summer and it was time to introduce Ivan to the wonderful world of showing.
Looking like a real show horse, obviously.
With my fingers crossed that I would not meet my early demise, we went to school at a h/j show at the National Western Complex. The trainer and I loaded Ivan and another horse into the trailer and headed on our way.
The other trainer at the barn told me that if Ivan could stay sane in that coliseum, he could stay sane anywhere. She said it could be very intimidating to horses. Keep in mind he only retired from racing a little over three months before this excursion and was still a bit “racey”. It would be interesting to see how things went.
Intimidating, but still cool.
She wasn’t lying about it being intimidating. It’s in Denver and right next to busy train tracks. The warmup area is small and can get hectic. The loud speaker echoes throughout the complex and it’s LOUD. I started out with hand-walking and Ivan was being pretty good, until the announcer started talking. If he’s sensitive to anything, it’s noise. After a good lunge he settled back down. My trainer rode him, I rode him. We didn’t die.
“So...what time do I race today?”
Really, Ivan was very good despite some tension. It wasn’t the type of tension that you felt like you were on a ticking time bomb or where he looked like a llama, more like Ivan was thinking that he wasn’t 100% confident in this situation. I was just happy that he kept it together in an environment that he wasn’t totally comfortable with. It was a great opportunity to be able to put him in a show setting without having the added pressure of actually showing.
With that out of the way, the time was drawing close to our first dressage show.
I had a short time frame to get Ivan exposure. Normally, I would have just shown at a quiet schooling show for his first outing. What are your favorite ways to introduce a horse to the show world?
*This post contains a graphic image of an eye injury.
Wow! It’s been a long time. No excuses, I’m not even sure why I haven’t posted. Life in general, I guess.
There’s not much need to backtrack, so I’ll just start with where I’m at now and introduce you to Ivan.
I sent in an application to be one of the trainers for the Retired Racehorse Project Thoroughbred Makeover. This hadn’t been something that I had completely been planning on this year, but then Incremental came along.
Okay, so he had been in our barn for over a year, but I didn’t own him. Last fall, Incremental (barn name Ivan), had won a race at Zia Park. He had gotten hit in the eye with a dirt clod during the race. It was clouded up and runny. Our vet spent a week treating him, but he continually got worse and the vet said to get him to a clinic.
The vet at the clinic spent several days trying to save it. It wasn’t getting better. She called The Fiancé and Ivan’s owner to tell them that they could do surgery or remove the eye. Long story short, T.F. and I become Ivan’s proud new owners for the price of the future vet bill. We needed another horse like a hole in the head, but we decided to take him anyway. I’ve seen one eyed horses go on to do amazing things. Still, after talking to the vet and being given a 50/50 chance of being able to save his eye, we opted to do the surgery. She put in a corneal disc and the it gradually started to get better. After 45+ days in the clinic, Ivan was ready to come home.
Good luck trying to say “No” to that face.
I guess that I should have started by saying that Ivan was T.F.’s favorite horse to train at the track. He adores that horse, even if Ivan didn’t win that often. The vet said that it wouldn’t hurt to try putting him back in training and see how he handled having not much vision (due to scarring) in that eye. We did and after a couple of days, he had adjusted like everything was normal.
When we agreed to take Ivan, my first thought was that I wanted to do the TB Makeover with him. T.F. and I had talked about how he would make such a nice saddle horse since he’d first come to our barn. It’s something I had wanted to do for years, but wasn’t sure when I would get the opportunity. The fiancé and I agreed that we would run him once and retire him immediately if he didn’t run well, but that he would retire no matter what (even if I didn’t get accepted for the TB Makeover) once the meet in Denver started.
His first race back after his eye injury. I was really proud of him from running as game as he did considering I thought that he’d need a race.
The Fiancé sewed a special cup on Ivan’s blinkers to protect his eye while training and racing and he won his first race back at Sunland Park. Then he won his next race. Then he ran 4th in a $75,000 Stake. Then he won another race and we retired him while he was still sound and healthy.
Ivan’s first dressage ride just after he won his first race back.
Once we were all moved in at Denver I took Ivan over to a H/J barn that I had boarded at before. While we were in El Paso, I had hauled him out to where I boarded Indy for his first dressage rides. It was pretty neat to be able to introduce a racehorse to dressage and have him win two more races at the same time! He began officially training for his second career in the middle of May, this year.
It’s been an adventure, one that I’m loving. It’s not always easy to train a horse that has immediately left the track. Actually, it wouldn’t be that hard with Ivan if I didn’t have to aim for a deadline. I’m very happy with his progress in the last four months. It may not be enough to do extremely well in Kentucky, but it’s enough for us to go and have a great time while getting more experience. I’m just enjoying riding him.
I wasn’t able to get away for shows during the race meet, which we would need to do before going all the way to Lexington. It was time to move to New Mexico for the winter, but they don’t have much for horse shows down there this time of year. I also didn’t want to put Ivan through the stress of moving to Ruidoso, then to Hobbs, and then having to ship back and forth to Lexington within a few weeks. The Fiancé told me that it would be okay for me to stay in Denver until I get back from Kentucky.
Having basically two months where I don’t have to do anything but ride and show one horse has been a bit of a shock to my system after having 95% of my energy go to a barn full of racehorses almost every day for nearly a decade. I seriously had no appetite for a week after they all left. Not because of stress, just restlessness. I’ve adjusted now and I’m having a wonderful time with my boy. We’ve had our rough patches, but he truly amazes me.
Now that I have time, I’ll post about Ivan’s first dressage show soon.
*A huge thank you to Dr. Bessire of Brock Veterinary Clinic in Lamesa, TX. She is not only a wonderful vet, but was very kind and amazing about communicating with us. The care that Ivan received was amazing and he was truly happy every time I went to visit him. You could tell that he was getting groomed regularly and received a lot of attention. He became a much more affectionate horse while he was there.
Since it's been so long since my last post, I'll start this with a quick catch up. After Turf Paradise finished in the spring, we went back to Colorado for the season at Arapahoe Park. We had a very good meet there and then opted to go to Zia Park in Hobbs, NM, instead of Phoenix, where we also had a good meet. There aren't any dressage barns there, but I found a nice western barn to board at. Little did I know, it was exactly what I needed. The barn owner/trainer is an amazing horsewoman and an even better person, now she's one of my dearest friends. I ended up leaving Hobbs with a completely different mentality about riding and now find more joy in it than I ever have before. We are currently in El Paso. I don't have much love for the city itself, but Sunland Park Racetrack is clean, nice, and feels much safer than when we were here the last time. I'm boarding at a friend's and am really happy there. The night the last load of horses arrived, Indy kicked the living hell out of Summer. At first we thought that she broke his hock, it was just horribly cut up. The vet stitched him up the best he could, saying they'd probably only hold for a few days. They lasted a week. So begins the saga...
This is CD. He's pretty much the coolest horse ever. The little firecracker would squeal at the flag when he started working it. He wasn't hard to ride on the flag, but he'd get down and hit it when we worked cattle. He's quick! I came really close to eating dirt a couple times and have never had more fun almost falling off!
When your horse literally almost kills your other horse, it makes you angry. It was Indy's fault that I was standing there crying as I knocked on the vet clinic door at 7:30 pm on a Saturday, interrupting their Christmas party. It was because of her that my heart sunk as everyone in the clinic turned their back to me, clearly not wanting to be bothered, while Summer bled all over the place in the trailer.. None of the emergency clinics had returned my calls. This clinic was my best and only option and it wasn't looking like they were planning on helping my horse. It was beginning to look hopeless, all because of Indy.
The stitches go along the inside of the hock too.
Before the stitches ripped out.
Fortunately, my friend showed up. Her husband had given me the vet's number and when they hadn't answered my knocks or call, he called the owner of the clinic, who wasn't in the room full of vets ignoring me at the time. The on-call vet finally opened the door and she was PISSED.
I got to ride my friend's awesome QH jumper while she was gone for Christmas. He's 17+ hands of awesomenes and you'd have a hard time believing he wasn't a WB if you saw him in person.
I stood there sobbing and apologizing, telling her I didn't know where else to go and that it really was a real emergency and that I certainly didn't want to be there interrupting their party. My friend stood her ground with the vet a bit more than I did, telling the vet that her husband was on the phone with the boss and that they needed to come out and help my horse. Then the owner popped his head out and saved me. We had used him when we were in El Paso before and had had a good relationship then. He's a good vet.
Even though I know I wasn't wanted there, him and another vet were very kind. He offered us food, saying there was plenty. I couldn't eat, but it made The Fiancé happy. The on-call vet warmed up and started being nicer. She was fine by the time Summer was finished with X-rays and sewn up. She had been up for an ungodly amount of hours, so I can understand the grumpiness. Long story short, they got Summer patched up the best they could and he stayed at the clinic overnight. That left Indy.
I still love the heifer.
I was a little less mad at her once I learned that Summer's hock wasn't broken. At least, I got to the point where I quit threatening to kill her. She was just being a horse. I still gave myself a day to cool off, and to recover from the mental exhaustion from the night before, before riding her. Riding exhausted and infuriated is never a good combination.
That first ride was a tough one, mentally. I was still mad, but I knew that it wouldn't be fair to ride her angry. She obviously wouldn't understand why. The entire time spent tacking her up, I drowned out any thought of Summer with what I wanted to accomplish that day. Her first ride at a new place is always a challenge, my mind stayed on what excercises we needed to do to keep her focused. It was hard to separate the past from the present. That's where maturity comes into play because ten years ago, I probably wouldn't have been able to accomplish that. Detaching myself from the personal aspect and approaching that ride from a professional perspective was the only way we were going to get through it without a meltdown.
The moment I got on her, she wasn't my horse. My goals and dreams with her in the future no longer mattered. I wanted to work towards developing a horse that anyone can ride, that people would actually want to ride. One that was getting ridden hard enough to not have the energy to do nasty things. There was no more making excuses for her, absolutely no babying. She was going to work in a respectable manner. Key word WORK. I went from being the owner to being the trainer, no longer stressing over the injury that she was given way more than enough time to heal from. She became a job, not my pet.
Don't mind my hands. My neck injury had flared up and was bothering me really bad. I didn't have much strength in them to keep the reins from sliding some. We're still working on her not swinging her haunches in. We have a ways to go, but she's getting a lot better about it.
In a horrible way, she gave me the right mentality to actually accomplish what I want with her. Our rides are no longer spent with me wondering what she's going to spook at. I'm done finessing around resistance. If Indy wants to flip her head and fight me, we gallop forward until she relaxes into my hands and gets over it. There's no more baiting me into a fight. Any antic she has thrown at me gets ignored and ridden through. She's expected to give me an honest attempt the first time I ask, not whenever she feels like it. She gets rewarded for the good, and the bad results in her working harder. Everything has become much more black and white. An honest effort is all that I'm really looking for while she gains her strength. Indy is allowed mistakes, she's allowed an opportunity to process things, and she's allowed a fair chance to comprehend what I want. She isn't allowed to flip me the bird and take over.
Being pretty helps.
My trainer in Phoenix would often say that Indy was lucky to have me as an owner because not many people would be as patient with her as I was. I'm still patient, but the days of worrying about what she might do and trying to prevent it are over. There's no more avoiding the things that piss her off just because my only goal is for her to have a "positive experience".
We've had nothing but good rides since she almost killed Summer. I haven't had to deal with very many behavioral issues. Indy loves the part of our warm-up where I go into two-point and let her really gallop forward. We're doing more canter work than we ever have and it's improved immensely. She's happy in her work. I'm braver and more confident on her than I have ever been.
I'm proud of Indy every second I spend with her. The anger at her comes back out when I'm away. It comes every time I have to change Summer's bandage because you have to change a hock bandage frequently to keep it from sliding down. It hits me when I have to ace him to keep him calm in the stall because he hates being in a stall and gets frantic. I get disgusted with her while I'm hand-walking him and he seems so grateful just for the sunlight, when he puts his head against my chest for comfort, and when he's standing there drenched in sweat from stressing. I just make sure to separate myself from that anger every second I'm around her.
Has anyone else been in a similar situation? How did/would you cope with it?
I've been looking forward to going to Breeders' Cup at Del Mar for a very long time, since I knew that it would be held there, and it's FINALLY here! There are a couple of bloggers that I know are going. My plans have been a little up in the air, so if I haven't reached out to you, I will soon. If there are any other bloggers going, feel free to give me a shout. I'd love to catch up with you where the turf meets the surf!
The day after BC at Keeneland 2015
BC Santa Anita 2016
Bourbon BC 2015. Because bourbon.
Freaking love Tourist! Can't wait to see how he does as a sire.
I have a hard time turning down an opportunity to ride in a clinic. I LOVE them! As much as I enjoy showing, clinics are even more fun to me. So, when a friend in my barn was bringing in Siegfried Winkler and needed more spots filled, I decided to sign Summer and I up.
Watching us warm up.
I was worried how Siegfried would feel about a green OTTB, but was assured that he is very kind and gladly works with all levels of horses and riders. My main concern was over-facing Summer and everyone agreed that Siegfried would not do that. With that in mind, I figured that it was only money and my pride at risk, I might as well give it a try
.
Summer was really excited about it!
Six weeks after his last race, Summer and I participated in our first clinic. Siegfried was amazing! He is kind and patient. He pushes, but not past your and your horse's limits. He points out everything that needs to be fixed, yet let's you know every time you and your horse do something correctly. There were lots of walk breaks in which he made sure that I understood what he was saying and why it was important. One thing that I really loved about him is that he taught everyone with the same amount of enthusiasm, it didn't matter what kind of horse the rider's had or what level they were at. It's very obvious how much he loves horses and his job.
I had only signed up for two of the three days, figuring that three might be too much for where Summer is at mentally and physically. He's still only four and I do my best to remember that.
Working in the quality of the walk.
The first day of the clinic was fairly easy. We just walked and trotted, as I told Siegfried that we hadn't done a whole lot of canter work yet. Here was the focus on day one:
Keeping my lower leg closer to the girth. I ride with my stirrups shorter on Summer, which jams my long legs up into my thigh blocks more, which causes my lower leg to come back too far. I can keep it where it needs to be, but it was something I wasn't even aware I was doing until Siegfried pointed it out. Keeping more weight in my heels and not letting them come up in the transitions was also part of this. He had me do this to help keep Summer more forward (especially when he tries to pull down) and to help with him wanting to drift over a shoulder.
Play with the bit and supple, don't hold. Summer steers pretty well, but not great. Sometimes, I use the inside rein a bit too much to get him lined out since he doesn't quite understand the outside rein concept yet. We worked on this a lot with supplying to the left and right.
Turning my shoulders to weight my inside seat bone to create bend. I was keeping my outside shoulder back too much, so when I was trying to get Summer to circle left or right, my shoulders were positioned as if we were going straight. #dumbass Between correcting this and the previous two issues, Summer's steering improved immensely.
Keeping my shoulders back. I do this well in sitting trot, everything else, not so much. Especially, when I'm riding green horses.
Downward transitions when Summer wants to start pulling down.
We worked on these things in the walk and trot, doing lots of transitions and introducing some leg yielding. I had a much improved horse by the end of my ride.
On day two, we worked on pretty much the same things, only we added canter work. Siegfried worked us both A LOT harder. Summer started out even better than he had ended up the day before. Having the time to process everything the evening after my ride really helped. We struggled with picking up the correct lead, especially to the right. Summer would pick it up when we were going to the left, but not when we were going to the right. Siegfried suggested that I should continue on and then change my direction to the right when he picks it up like that, just so Summer starts to associate going to the right with his right lead. I'm not too worried about it. At least he can canter on both leads, it's just a lack of understanding on something that we've barely worked on. My little guy is smart, I have no doubt he'll understand the concept soon. This is a short clip towards the end of our lesson on the second day:
This video makes me want to smack myself, but love Summer all that much more.
Summer was so good as far as behavior. He never set a foot out of place, even when a guy was cracking his whip while free-lunging his horse a hundred miles an hour in the pen next to the arena. He gave me 100% even when he was beginning to get tired on the second day. The improvement he made in two days was incredible.
I am definitely looking forward to riding with Siegfried again in Colorado. I was ecstatic to find a clinician that frequently goes to both cities that I bounce between throughout the year. Riding with him was one of the best investments I've made in my riding education.
Summer was trained by my good friend's husband. After the meet at Denver was over last year, his trainer decided to take a short break before Turf Paradise started. Summer had just broken his maiden and his owner didn't want to interrupt his training. The Fiancé and I ended up taking care of Summer for a few days before he was shipped down to Albuquerque to another friend of ours.
The Fiancé had me tack up Summer one day for him to ride. After being on him for a few minutes, TF told me to grab my helmet. I had SO much fun riding him! Afterwards, I said that I wanted this horse when he was done running. I didn't expect that would actually happen, or that it would only be a few months later, or that The Fiancé would agree to another horse (especially since I splurged on a new pony-horse the month before that). The stars aligned and now Summer is mine.
This is a very short video from that day. Summer was three years old. I wasn't planning on riding that day, so please excuse the sloppy tank.
Everyone, meet Summer Meeting. He is a four year old off the track thoroughbred by Cause Ur Mine (Giant's Causeway) out of a General Meeting mare. He last ran February 22nd, ending his career with 14 starts and 4 wins. Summer was a gift, both literally and figuratively speaking.
Summer AKA #themaskedbandit
I'll get more into the details of Summer in another post, but I wanted to talk about what it's like to be riding an OTTB straight off of the track again and how he reminds me of what is important every single time.
RIDING THROUGH
When I first started riding Beefheart after he retired, I made a lot of mistakes. I didn't use enough leg, because he was naturally sensitive and forward. I didn't keep enough contact with his mouth, because he stayed in a frame and was super light in the mouth. Doing less seemed like the kindest way to start him out, but it certainly wasn't the best way to go and created a lot of issues down the road. I left a lot of holes in his foundation.
Love his sweet face!
My first ride on Summer, I tried to make sure to keep my leg on and to keep focusing on getting him to step up into a contact. If he wanted to drift over his outside shoulder, which is a pretty common problem with horses off of the track, I increased my aids to make sure that he stayed as in front of my leg as possible, focusing on keeping his hind end active without quickening. I'm lucky in that he naturally keeps a fairly steady rhythm and tempo. Summer still drifted a little on the circle, but not nearly as bad as he would have if I had taken my leg off and tried to guide him with just my hands. He didn't pull or get iron jawed and stayed in a fairly steady frame as long as I rode well enough (easier said than done). It wasn't perfect, but there is definitely a lot of promise there.
After a few more rides.
TRANSITIONS ARE MY BEST FRIEND
Here was another mistake I made with Beefheart. He did pretty good transitions from the get-go, so I didn't do enough of them. We would just kind of get into cruise control and go several minutes without doing a full transition.
After a few rides on Summer, he started to try to pull down on me. It wasn't bad and he wasn't trying to run off, but I could feel him just daring me to pull back on him. I tried to focus on keeping his hind end active in the gate we were in, but that didn't always work, so we started doing LOTS of transitions. A quality transition along with some well-timed half halts did the trick. I couldn't do too many. Again, it is all about being very conscientious to keep his hind end active in the transitions.
MIX IT UP
I was riding Summer in the arena one day and was getting way too caught up in the training aspect. The Fiancé stopped me and said, "Come on, let's go."
He opened the gate and Summer and I followed him onto the track that goes around the outside of the property. We walked on it, then toodled around the trail course some. I trotted him on the track a little and then we walked around on it to get back to the barn.
Car washes are meant for Summer.
Afterwards, The Fiancé reiterated the fact that even though Summer was dead fit for racing, our dressage work is a whole different group of muscles and riding in the arena for very long is tiring for him. He said I need to make sure to do lots of serpentines (rather than too many circles), both shallow and large in the arena, and that I need to do some straight work along with some shallow serpentines on the track every once in a while too. As much as it pains me to admit it, he's absolutely right. It's not right or healthy to take a horse straight off of the track and constantly hone on their training in the arena. Especially, with a horse as kind and willing as Summer.
IT NEVER HURTS TO KNOW HOW TO GALLOP
I really don't like galloping at the racetrack. It's not the horse, but the traffic that gives me anxiety. To me, it's about like driving on a freeway with way too many idiots and jerks. Yeah, there's a lot of people that obey the rules and pay attention, but it only takes one ignorant asshole to get you killed.
That being said, knowing how to gallop helps a lot when you're riding an OTTB. I never take a cross on one for training purposes, it could easily become too tempting to use it to force a frame instead of developing one correctly. However, knowing how to use one when things start to get a little out of control can come in handy.
He's so cute! Don't worry, I bought him a better fitting girth after having to make due for a couple of rides with this one.
Summer is pretty solid guy, he's not spooky and is rarely reactive. Still, he's only four and not entirely bombproof yet. The other day, a bird flew out of a barrel right in front of him. He ducked sideways and then bolted. I had just gotten on and was walking him on a loose rein when Tweetie decided to make an appearance. As he took off, I was still scrambling for my reins. He didn't go more than a half a lap before I got him to come back, but if I hadn't known how to take and use a cross, it could have been a lot worse. Summer had just raced less than two weeks ago and I would have never had the strength to stop him if I had just pulled back on the reins.
ENJOY THE PROCESS
I was extremely blessed to be gifted a horse with such a great head on him. It keeps it fun. It can also make it easy to put too much pressure on myself. He was going so well from the beginning that I started getting down on myself if I felt like he didn't make enough progress during our ride. I'm always proud of him, I'm a HUGE hardass when it comes to me. Trying be as perfect as possible can end up putting more pressure on him too though. Once again, The Fiancé chimed in and told me there is no pressure, just have fun with him. Damn it! Another time he proved himself wiser than I ever wanted to have to admit.
It's more fun outside of an arena!
*On another note, TF wanted to get on Summer one day to see what he felt like. He said that I've done a good job with him. The man doesn't say anything he doesn't mean, so I glowed a little with pride on that one.
YOU DON'T HAVE TO HAVE AN IDEAL HORSE
Summer isn't very tall. He's 15.1, yet he's broad and deep enough that my 5'11" frame doesn't look completely ridiculous and my long legs don't go down to his knees. I've never minded riding a smaller horse as long as they had some substance to them. When a lady at the barn told me that Summer was the perfect height for me, it made me chuckle a little. I just hadn't expected anyone to say that.
He thinks that turnout is the best thing ever.
Summer may not be tall, but he is strong and athletic. He has a really good mind. He's EXTREMELY smart, but uses it in a way that makes my life easier instead of more difficult (unlike a certain elephant-horse I know). He's taken everything I've thrown at him in stride and has never lost his cool (the bird incident doesn't count since he went right back to his normal self right after). He may not have "10" gates, but he has solid gates that will be able to be improved because of all of his other good attributes. Summer is cute and he's fun. The horse is kind, willing, and forgiving. I may make a thousand mistakes throughout the training process, but he's not going to hold it against me. Summer is ideal in all of the ways I need him to be.
As the Oh-So-Wise and honest to a fault Fiancé has said many times, Summer is a nice horse. I guess I'll have to admit that he's right AGAIN.
I've been pretty conservative with bringing Indy back from her injury. According to the rehab protocol, we could have started cantering a couple of weeks ago. Giving her an extra month didn't seem like such a horrible idea, so I was going to wait until early February before getting back to any canter work. How silly of me to think that I could stick to anyone's time schedule but Indy's.
What more could I possibly need?
At our lesson the week before, Indy had gone FANTASTIC and my trainer said that if she was going like that again, it probably wouldn't hurt to do a small amount of canter work. You know, because it's the elephant horse and any time she is doing things correctly and willingly, you might as well take the opportunity to do a bit more.
Blurry screenshots because YouTube hates me. I'll edit this with video if it ever uploads.
*Before anyone starts wondering why I'm taking lessons on a horse being rehabbed, you should know that the lessons are aligned with the rehab protocol. They aren't ultra long lessons and have been just walk-trot up to this point. Basically, my trainer is just helping me with managing and getting quality work from Indy through the process of building her up to full work.
A couple of days after my lesson, Indy had a ton of energy. She wasn't doing anything bad, but I could feel her just wanting to go. I'd go as far to say that she was trying really hard to be good, yet was begging to be able to get some of that energy out. I mumbled something to myself about how she damn well better not buck me off and asked her to canter.
She doesn't do resting bitchface anymore!
Much to my surprise, she gave me a gorgeous transition and went on with a lovely, balanced canter. It shocked me so much that I just sat there like a dumbfounded sack of potatoes, being nothing but a passenger, and she STILL cantered around like a pro. On a circle. This mare can canter balanced for days in a straight line, yet 20 meter circles have always been a challenge for her.
I don't know how much I've talked about this, but I've gone through HELL with this horse and her canter work. Seriously, everything. All of it. I've had to make her gallop very FORWARD to get in front of my legs, which wasn't all that fun at the time since her steering wasn't the greatest and if I used too much hand her head would be in my face, which led to having to galloping even more forward. If we weren't forward enough, I had her ears up my nose. Then SHE decided that forward wasn't forward enough and that the thoroughbred side of her needed to be shown off. After that we went through a cantering sideways stage, which involved kicking at my leg every time I tried to get her in front of it. That was followed by drama llama canter transitions. Oh, and let's not forget the stage where she thought charging at other horses would be fun. There's more, but you get the general idea of her masterful evasions. Submission has definitely not come easily with this horse.
Hopefully, I can get some canter pictures soon. Until then you're stuck with boring trot pictures.
Back to the present, Indy gave me three good circles to the left and I asked her for a downward, which she did flawlessly. Obviously, I had to canter her to the right too. The transition was decent enough. She was a little fussy and wanted to drift over her left shoulder. We went back to the trot. I let her settle and reminded myself that I might actually have to ride her instead of just sitting there. I asked again and it was better. It took a circle to get everything togther, then she gave me the same beautiful canter that she had given to the left, which was followed by another beautiful downward. What the holy hell?!
So we cantered. In a respectable manner. After not cantering for almost eight months. It wasn't 100% under the terms that I had originally wanted, but maybe it was good for me to be reminded that waiting for near perfection isn't always ideal. I would love to say that we're over the hump and we'll continue to get this quality of work that we can really begin to build on. However, it's day by day with horses. With Indy, it can be minute by minute. We'll still have our good and bad days, like anyone. I'm very glad for the good moments I get from her because they bring promise to the worse ones. They remind my of why I've stuck it out with Indy for as long as I have, of why I've always maintained hope for us. And the bad moments; I know we will get through them in time. Stride by stride.
I have one dreaded excercise when it comes to dressage (or riding in general): turns on the forehand.
That moment when you ask for a turn on the forehand and your horse finds attempting to piaffe backwards easier. I can't even blame her, it sounds easier to me too.
Yes, I understand the purpose and how to ride them and how a correctly done turn on the forehand should feel. That doesn't make them any easier or enjoyable to me. I try and do them a lot with in-hand work and Indy understands them from the ground. In the saddle it's a completely different story and absolutely the best way to piss her off. They're getting better and help with the rest of our ride IF we can get them right. I still don't get any enjoyment out of doing them.
So what are the excercises you would prefer to avoid in your lessons and daily riding? I'd love to hear about them.
No, this post isn't based on an angry rant. At least not one coming from me. Indy, on the other hand, decided to dub "Piss Off" as her own personal anthem for the Tracey Lert clinic this weekend.
Saturday
Saturday went fairly decent. Indy was a little fussy and distracted. It wasn't horrible though and I wouldn't want her to be perfect because it's the times that her attitude pops out that I need the most help. Some days she's very good. Others, not so much. Some are in the middle. Yes, this is pretty much typical of all horses, I fully understand that. However, Indy is much more extreme. One day she is a cute and furry little Mogwai that is oh, so lovable and the next I'm wondering what asshole decided to feed her after midnight (these are references from the book and movie Gremlins in case you weren't born between the 40s when the book was written and the 80s when the movie was made). Some days it's like someone threw water on my little darling and all her alter egos morph from her.
Oh yeah, back to the clinic.
Anyway, Sunday, was not a pleasant experience, which made it a very good learning experience. It was pretty obvious from the beginning that Indy wasn't in the mood to play. Everything I asked was answered with a huge "GO AWAY!" followed by grabbing the bit and pulling it in directions that I'm still a little surprised a horse's head can go. At least she's flexible.
This is pretty much how it went:
I put my leg on.
Indy- "Take that leg and shove it. I don't want to go forward. I think I prefer shuffling. Actually, maybe any lateral direction sounds more fun."
I pick up the contact.
Indy- "OH HELL NO! You did not just touch the reins that touch the bit that is in my mouth! How's my head feel in your face?!" *flips me off*
Tracey tells me to halt.
Indy-"You can't make me! Haha!" *flips me off again*
Tracey has me try a turn on the forehand.
Indy-"HORSE ABUSE! CRUELTY TO ELEPHANTS! I will not stand for this! I shall fight until it stops by moving my body in every other direction than the one you want. Backwards and upwards or stomping/kicking sounds like a good defense to ward off this evil attack from your leg." *flip off number three*
We eventually get to trot.
"Look at me, I'm going so pretty! JUST KIDDING!!! Since you want me to bend left, I'm just going to lean against all things left and start head banging!" *insert the double bird*
I wish that this conversation was a dramatized version of the story, but it's really pretty accurate.
That moment when she finally started thinking things through.
I like riding with Tracey. She's fair and she's not mean, but she also isn't going to take "almost there" as being good enough. Once you get one thing fixed she will immediately go to the next thing (and you're doing well if it is only one thing instead of two or three or ten) that isn't correct. She will push hard. She will call it like it is and draw attention to every mistake you're making in the present, but also the ones that you probably made in the past that have led to the issues now. She will adjust every flaw in your position, you will learn to post perfectly, the basics will be hammered into your brain until you get it. She will not baby you.
It's worth it though. If you can handle all that she throws at you, you WILL come out better. So far it seems like I did. I tried hard, I drew a line, I didn't lose my composure during the lesson. I learned to be tougher, to disconnect from the personal aspect (she's a horse being a horse, her problem, not mine, etc.), to make sure that I didn't go away no matter what fuss Indy put up.
We made it through alive. I was actually happy with what I learned. I didn't mind Tracey pushing for more or calling me on everything that I was doing wrong. It would have been way more insulting to have her think that my horse and I aren't capable of more.
That didn't keep me from leading Indy out of the barn and bursting into tears. I don't know why. Mental and physical exhaustion? Release of tension? I can't remember the last time Indy made me cry. I vowed a long time ago not to, no matter what, because owning and riding her is an opportunity and that's enough to be grateful for, I'm not entitled to have good rides every time. We'll just call Sunday an exception and move on.
I gave Indy Monday off, we both needed it. After having a day to process everything I learned, I was able to apply it better. We've had nothing but good rides since and my lesson today was full of very excellent quality work from Indy.
Back when I played basketball my friend would always say, "You're the only person I know that can be upside down, backwards, and surrounded by players and you'll usually make the shot, but when you're open and in the clear, you miss it almost every time." The fact is that this really relates to my riding. I needed to be pushed, to get knocked around, to have to perform better. I needed the extra pressure that day. It might not have come easily, but what I learned in that clinic will stick with me always. Like The Fiancé said, it needed to happen. It did and Indy and I are that much better because of it.
That being said, that's what clinicians are paid for. They come, they push, they leave. I sure as hell wouldn't want that type of intensity every single lesson, just like I wouldn't have wanted that kind of pressure every time I shot a basketball in practice. Getting back to the normal grind with my trainer in my lesson today was a very refreshing experience. She still pushes me, but I get a little more time to take all that she is telling me in. Riding with her is very calming, yet still challenging, to me and that is more what I need on a regular basis. Especially with Indy.
