An Ideal Day

I'm sure that many of us have ideas of what our ideal day(s) would like like. There are so many things that I think would make up an ideal day. A beach in Greece with a Mimosa would certainly be an ideal day for example ;) This past Saturday though was the most ideal day, especially horse wise, that I've had recently.

To start off I got to sleep in and then had some of my homemade cold brew coffee with my favorite vegan creamer. I pulled Youtube up on my tv via ChromeCast and watched a bunch of riding videos.

I had a delicious lunch and then took a break to bring the Vegetable out for a walk. Around 12:30 I headed to H's barn for a Janet Foy clinic! What's really cool about this barn and these clinics with Janet is that it's a really small audience and most of the people watching are also riding. I think I was actually the only auditor on Saturday. They aren't advertised beyond an occasional Facebook post by the owner (H's trainer) and with the small number of people watching (2-5) every time I've been there Janet really interacts with everyone.

The other thing that makes it fun is that this barn has the highest concentration of upper level riders in my area. Around here there aren't many people riding above 3rd level but on Saturday I watched two riders that were competing at Prix St. George, one at 4th, and one that was training Grand Prix movements on her baby horse that still isn't showing at that level. She did a couple of PERFECT one tempis and I got to watch as they introduced canter pirouettes, and worked on getting better piaffe and passage.

Ignore my inability to get a good canter picture, this pair was AMAZING!

H was the last ride of the day on her pony and it was really great because they worked on stuff that I can (for the most part) do even if we're not as good or consistent at it yet. They focused a lot on straightness since he's wiggly and then did some lateral work and ended with counter canter. H did a great job and it was great to be able to learn from Janet while watching someone riding at a similar level to me :)

Hungry pony after a great ride :)

I'd worn my riding clothes and went out to ride my pony directly from the clinic, after stopping for my favorite Starbucks drink (which I got to use my free drink stars for!) and stopping at Chipotle for dinner.

I got to the barn and the weather was so perfect that I decided to ride outside. I've been using the extra oomf from riding outside to really work on canter since Katai doesn't keep trying to quit on me. I really focused on maintaining the rhythm in the canter and getting it slowed down while maintaining the jump and longer stride length. I also did my 5-10 minutes of sitting trot and started to feel like I was actually getting somewhere. After another little walk break I did some walk/canter and canter/trot/canter transitions. She did so well! She was more hot about the walk/canter on Saturday and was launching more. I'm curious to check with Jane to see if it's good launching (powerful and engaged) or if she's launching so that she doesn't have to step under and carry herself up into the transition. As it was, since I didn't know if it was good or bad I just giggled and carried on. The canter/trot/canters across the diagonal were beautiful as well! She did fewer trot steps and maintained her rhythm better. Plus we got the correct lead every time!

These gifs aren't from Saturday and she's been getting better and better outside so I'll need to get some new footage soon but I realized that I'd never shared these.

The trot is getting so much bigger and more uphill! (I was pushing her sideways in the second one trying to get her off my left leg) 

Since she did harder work and spent a lot more time in canter along with needing to work harder with the uneven terrain I kept it shorter so our total ride was more like 35 minutes than 45 but that was still an improvement so I'll take it!

Slowly but surely getting more strength at the canter :)

It was an amazing, relaxing, but productive horse focused day :)

QuietRide

Close enough...

This has been a bit of a quiet week for rides. A couple of weeks ago it was the heat, then we had a 5 ride (or 4 ride one lunge) week and now this week it's probably going to end up at 4. This week it's more because I've been focused on other things.

I've needed to do this for awhile but I was sort of stuck in my winter routine of work/home/barn and didn't feel like doing more than that. I've pushed myself to do more outside of the barn this week though and it was a good break. On Monday I just took the evening off riding and then on Wednesday after work I went out to check out a vegan donut shop.

A small sample of their vegan menu.
Not shown, my maple donut or the Sriracha/peanut butter donut 

Unfortunately I didn't think to get pictures but my vegan maple donut was spectacular. Then on Thursday after work I went to the Mall of America with my sister. We got drinks, food, and did some shopping.

Mini story break here. I've had and consistently worn the same sandals for the last 19 years. Very sadly they gave up finally last week leaving me walking home with on bare foot. I wisely decided it was time to get another pair of sandals especially since I wanted something to wear for pony cup next week.

If you want the most comfortable sandals in the world
that will last forever try Speedo

I did manage to find a very comfortable pair of sandals but they just aren't the same as my favorite pair so my heart is still a bit broken ;)

Both days are typically Katai's days off so it was just the fact that I felt a bit burnt out on Monday and took that day off that will mean I have fewer rides this week. At any rate, it was needed and I'm feeling more motivated again after my mini break. Luckily it's just in time for the holiday weekend!

This weekend is going to be awesome because I'm going to watch H ride in a Janet Foy clinic. She's riding her pony cup pony in the morning and then her pony in the afternoon. I'll probably only be able to make one of her rides but I'm hoping to see a few other people ride as well. I may also check out my favorite tack shop (which is over in that area) because it looks like they're having a great Independence Day sale.

On Monday I'm "working" from home. Even my boss has said that there's unlikely to be anything happening so I'm going to be pretty free beyond checking my email periodically for emergent issues. Then of course I have Tuesday off so it will be almost a 4 day weekend. I'm back in the office for Wednesday and Thursday and then off on Friday when I'll be flying to Pony Cup.

I'm so excited!! 

Another One: Lesson Recap 1/26

Not sure if I mentioned it in this blog but Katai completely
destroyed the tail flap on her blanket.
I got it fixed but it isn't pretty if you look close haha

I have a second lesson recap for you this week but his time it wasn't my lesson but my friend H's! I've talked a little about H and having her watch my lesson here and now it was my turn to go to her barn and watch her lesson. I was also really excited about meeting at least a few of the GRPs that her instructor recently bought.

I picked up my new Hufglocken boots on the way there and will be posting a review very soon! I also discovered that with my new living location, where I'm about 31 minutes from Katai, I'm actually only about 32 minutes from H's barn. The distance to that side of the cities has been at least one deterrent for me about boarding there (along with the very high price) so with that out of the way I was curious how I'd feel once I was there and how I would feel about H's lesson.

I had left work a bit early to get there and so I stopped by Chipotle and got a vegan burrito salad which was delicious and which I ate while H tacked up her pony. We talked a lot about how she's been and also about her watching Veggie for me soon since I may be losing a roommate and then it was time for her lesson.

I walked over to the seating area and watched her warming up. I always learn so much from watching other riders and was really interested to see how much lateral work she did at the walk to warm up. I ended up already incorporating that in my ride on Friday and it worked great. Then her instructor showed up and she started at the trot.

Her instructor had her start off with some 20 meter circles and changes of direction. Her pony was tight through the back and wanting to keep his neck up and short/stiff rather than reach forward and work through his back. Her instructor also thought he maybe had a bit of a painful belly since he had more gas than normal.  It was one of those lessons where I feel like H never really got him where she wanted him, he was resistant the whole time, and never really bent when going to the right. I felt for her because her pony and Katai are very similar in their resistances and I've certainly had my share of lessons like this.

A few things I took away:

-Despite not feeling like I have as many opportunities as H I'm working an many of the same things. Not with as much knowledge or technique but it feels good to know that we both have our own struggles with shoulder in for example.
-I actually wasn't as wowed (seriously been hero worshiping him for the past year or so) by her instructor as I have been. This is the first lesson I've watched since I've started lessons with Jane and while he is an incredibly wonderful and successful instructor as I've said before, Jane is who I need right now and is much more effective with me and Katai than I think this person would be (all based on a guess of course since I haven't ridden with him).
-I'd really like to take a lesson with him now that I've started with Jane because after seeing this lesson with H I don't think I'd be wasting his time or feel as intimidated as I would have last year.
-I'd also really like to ride with Janet Foy if I ever get the chance. H rode with her and I'm close enough that again, I don't think I'd be wasting Janet's time.
-Dressage is hard and even when you get to a point where you might be thinking of moving to 2nd level, you may still have days where you struggle to get your horse on the contact and/or with doing a correct shoulder in.

-The importance of having a great horse/rider relationship can't be understated. I could tell that H was getting really frustrated at times and her instructor mentioned it as well. Last year I would have been in the same place. She handled it well but it did create more tension and I really think that it's what caused Katai to be so unridable up until this past few months. It was a good reminder not to go back there.
-It was also a good reminder of why it's good that I just have Katai. H has been able to ride all these amazing school masters and naturally talented riding ponies which would certainly make my fuse for my own pony much shorter

After H's lesson I stuck around and met one of the sport ponies. She's a 5 year old with about a year of professional training but was just transported up to MN from FL about 1 week ago so they just did some trot with changes of direction. She was gorgeous, such a nice little mover, and just completely in your pocket. I still like my little girl more though which always makes me happy :)

I just love her, even when she's makes faces like this

Review of 2016

I've been having so much fun reading everyone's review of 2016 so even though I'm way behind with blogging this year I wanted to make sure I get this one out before 2017 starts.

2016 has been a great year for me overall and while some tough things happened there has also been a lot of good. It's also been a year of less change, overall, than what I've experienced in past years so I think the stability has allowed me to really put my focus on riding and riding related things such as blogging. It shows since I've reached a new high of over 140 posts this year compared with my previous record of 90. I think it's also shown with the improvement that Katai and I have made both in our rides and our relationship.

Without further ado...

January

Started with a bang as I was invited to ride in my first ever clinic, a Dressage clinic with Susanne Winslade.  I also had a rough saddle fitting experience, posted an update on the tack locker I was (still am) working on with my dad, and reviewed my fall favorites.

February

Was a a tough month and was my lowest posting month until November. It started off with an unsound pony who needed a week off and then I spent some time reflecting while Katai was off work. February then progressed with a more unsound pony who needed additional time off. It ended with more reflection on my relationship with Katai and mindset when riding her.

March

Wasn't much better than February for me and the pony. I had a few great lessons and an amazing clinic with Susanne. Then I "broke up" with my trimmer (still one of the best things that happened this year but tough at the time) and had an interesting lesson when Katai was extremely reactive as I mounted. I posted my winter favorites  and then Katai was an unsound pony again.

April

Was a little better and I started off with a tough lesson where I learned some position things to work on. There were some great rides and then another tough lesson where L focused on my position. I also posted about my new farrier and went to the MN Horse Expo and audited a Janet Foy clinic.  

May

I mentioned that I was shopping for a new saddle and posted about a second clinic with Susanne. I posted my spring favorites and then had a great post about a trainer ride for Katai where I finally got some more pictures. Finally, after attending my first show with Katai I posted recaps here and here

June

I was still recovering from our interesting show experience and posted about getting Chiro done for Katai. Then Katai was unsound again  and I posted about lunging and riding L's baby horse. Finally I tried to ride outside more but was thwarted by horseflies. 

July

Tied for my highest posting month with 16 posts. I mainly posted about saddle trialing and going to the National Dressage Pony Cup. I wished I had taken more "bad" pictures of Katai as a baby. I gained more confidence in Katai, finally started looking for a more affordable barn, had my first trial lesson with Jane and decided to move Katai to Jane's barn.

August

Started off with a trailering adventure and then felt a bit odd as I "waited" to move to Jane's barn. I also had SO MUCH FUN at a Hunter Pace and got further in my saddle fitting adventures. I shared a post that really sort of recaps how I felt about the whole first half of the year from a riding perspective. Finally I got moved to my new barn!  

September

Felt like the first month where things really started to fall into place for me and Katai. It started with some fun with friends at an amazing eventing facility and then Katai tried to start the pony apocalypse with Bridget from Oh Gingersnap! I posted about my breeches collection  and I continued to improve by leaps and bounds with Jane as an instructor.

October

Started off with me and Katai's four year anniversary! Then I had a great lesson and a not so nice relationship thing.

November

In November my blogging, and other things, fell apart a bit with some seasonal depression and a tough change of season. In fact in November I only posted twice including this really cool improvement video of me and Katai.

Roommate and friends (from AZ) playing Croquet in the -10*
temps we had the weekend before Christmas

December

This is where things really started to fall into place for me riding wise. I'd been having great lessons throughout November (despite my seasonal depression and not posting much) plus some other personal things fell into place later in the month. To start off I posted this recap of what I'd been doing since I last posted and then I joined the blog hop that was all about location. I complained about the weather and then got into a car accident :( I ended the month with some reviews on my Christmas presents to myself, namely the Stretchtec Girth from TSF and the Flying Change Bridle from PS of Sweden!

I have enough to post about goals that I'm going to do that in a separate post and that will be up soon!

Spring Schedule and Ride Recap

I have so many fun horse things coming up over the next 1-2 months!

To start off, this weekend I ride on Saturday, lesson on Sunday and then I’ll be going to see H ride in a dressage schooling show at a gorgeous facility on the west side of the twin cities!

The following weekend I don’t have any current horse related plans but then after that (sort of the following weekend) I’ll be riding in another Suzanne Winslade clinic on May 9^th! So excited for that one.

Then, next weekend I have vacation Thursday and Friday with Friday being the start of the MN Horse Expo!! I LOVE going to the horse expo and usually take a day off so that I can spend a ton of time there. In the past it’s been an hour drive for me but now it’s actually within walking distance of where I live (I’ll be driving so that I can do more shopping but it will be a short drive) so that will mean that I can literally spend the whole day there on Friday. On Saturday I’ll be watching H ride in a Janet Foy clinic (!!!) and then we’re going to the expo after and finally I have my lesson on Sunday.

Then there will be another couple of quiet (maybe) weekends and finally on May 29^th Katai and I will basically be doing our first real show. We did do one previous schooling show but I rode in the ring that I was used to having lessons in, with my instructor as my judge, and before the show actually started since I was able to be there then so that doesn’t really count.

To prepare for the clinic and show I’m working hard to make sure that Katai and I are both prepared even though I know the wheels will come off at the show. At least I won’t feel like I didn’t prepare her which will mean that I can be more relaxed.

Speaking of that, I’m so proud of both Katai and myself for our ride last night. To start off I really was thinking about not going. I know, I know, I’ve been trying to actually get 5 rides in for a few weeks now but it was gorgeous out and the plan for riding was to ride indoors. Plus, the next day was supposed to be nice as well and I was going to spend the afternoon/evening at the barn again getting Katai’s feet trimmed.

However, I did make myself go and was so happy that I did. It was very quiet at the barn, probably because everyone else was outside enjoying the gorgeous weather, so that meant that I got the arena to myself and we used all of it. To start off Katai was a little bit short and seemed stiff. I’m sure it was because she tore around on the lunge line yesterday in deeper footing but it did make me wonder how productive our ride was going to be. I ended up being surprised and pleased with her behavior since after our warm up she went right into work mode.

We did a lot of our ride using the whole ring including working on some leg yield. I definitely need to get my body in the right place but right now part of the problem is that when we start going straight down the quarter line Katai knows what’s up and gets fussy. That then makes it hard for me to concentrate on what I’m supposed to be doing and just doesn’t set us up for success. The focus last night was to get rid of that fussiness and make this just part of the routine so that Katai continues in the same balance and remains on contact. Then L can help me focus on myself. 

After we did several of those in each direction, playing with staying on the quarter line or sometimes doing a leg yield in either direction, and Katai was calmer and less fussy and took a brief walk break we did some walk/trot/walk transitions. This has always been a struggle for Katai but last night they were better than they’ve ever been. She was staying on the contact and not flinging her head in the air and I could really feel the power coming up and through from behind rather than feeling like we were falling apart on the forehand. She was also really responsive to my leg and going right into the trot when I cued rather than making me beg for it. Even better, she didn’t lose her mind the third or fourth time that I cued for it which is a huge improvement since these normally make her pretty hot.

Finally I decided to ask for a small amount of canter in each direction. Instead of asking her to do it from a slower trot I sort of let her run into in but I was concentrating on myself and making sure that I wasn’t hindering her forward movement by grabbing. Probably because of this, she did a really nice transition without throwing her head in the air and she remained calm and cool through the circle or two that we did. Going to the left, my tough direction from Sunday, I was focusing really hard on my left hand and keeping it forward (again I didn’t have enough contact but that’s better than jerking back as she makes the transition) and we had a lovely transition. She really sat and pushed forward and again remained calmer than she has.

The wheels fell off a little when we came back to trot. Katai was bulging her left shoulder into the circle really bad and didn’t want to bend. Plus she was like a runaway freight train and not listening to my cues to slow down. I got a semi decent half circle and then called it. I really didn’t want to work her into the ground especially after the rest of our ride was so nice and she normally has been doing really well in her trot after canter.

I Have My Pony Back!

I have a whole post typed up about drill team and my amazing day at the Janet Foy clinic today but first of all I need to catch everyone up on what I've been doing recently. 

Two Wednesdays ago, more than a week and a half now, Katai had her feet trimmed and was abnormally sore afterwards. She is often a little tender, especially on concrete, after her feet are trimmed but normally it goes away in a few days and she is still very comfortable on footing.

Unfortunatly that wasn't the case this time and it took her really until today to feel comfortable. I had planned on giving her Wednesday evening off and then riding in drill team that thursday since it's really mostly walk/trot. Unfortunatly that clearly wasn't going to happen so instead I just went out on Saturday and buted her. I also canceled my lesson on Sunday but lunged and she seemed pretty good, just a little short on the front right.

On Monday I tried a ride and attempted to keep it to mostly walk/trot but pony was bursting with energy so we ended up with a little canter. She still felt slightly off but was never at the point where I felt like she was lame or uncomfortable at any gait. 

On Tuesday I had a rescheduled lesson and she was clearly more off then she had been on Monday which made me feel like a bad horse owner. Because of that we just kept it to a walk and worked on flexions at the halt as well as her neck position and balance at the halt and on transitions from halt to walk. This was something that we really needed to work on anyway so it was actually a great lesson! I gave her Wednesday off and then rode in drill team on Thursday and she finally felt pretty good. 

I decided to be cautious and gave her Friday off as well and then rode tonight and she felt great! Again, she was bursting with energy and had forgoten a few things like how to not freak out with contact from my legs so I'm going to post this again just in case she decides to read this blog ;-)

I have a lesson scheduled tomorrow and can't wait to ride!! I'm pretty sure that the pony will be like a stick of dynamite but I'm hoping that my ride tonight took the edge off. Next week I plan to get back to my regular schedule since the only thing I have planned in the evening coincides with her normal day off (Monday). It will be so good to be back at the barn, spending time with my girl on a regular basis :-)

Clinic Season

It seems we are well within clinic season here in the midwest. Fall temperatures mean it's dipped below freezing a couple of times now and the show season is pretty much over. Through November I think i just about have a clinic every weekend.

To start it off I went to a Jennifer Truett clinic today. This is the second clinic that I've attended with her as a clinician and I really enjoy her. She is great with people of all levels, is comfortable and able to climb on horses if needed, and will teach anything from proper saddle fit to biomechanics, to just good solid dressage principles. I think one of my favorite things about her as a clinician is that she also does work in hand that would sort of be "natural horsemanship" but only in that she uses a rope halter and lead and moves horses around on the ground. What I really like about how she does this is that she mainly focuses on their mental stability and focus rather than just moving them around until they submit. 

          Photos from http://www.mydhf.com/jen-truetts-clinics.html

The first lesson was someone who hasn't been riding for very long but had a good grasp of basics. It was wonderful to see some amazing improvements after a 45 minute lesson and I, as always, learned a lot. The second was a women who has an advanced level dressage horse that has such major anxiety that she's never been able to show him. Jen had worked with them on Friday as well and by this lesson on Saturday he was soft, listening, and licking and chewing. People who had seen him both days couldn't even believe the difference and based on the horse she had today the rider was going to try to ride on Sunday!

There were two more intro - training level riders one of which just did a lesson on saddle fit. It made me check my saddle fit as soon as I got home but, other than still being slightly wide in front from the flocking settling (I do have it shimmed in front and that's working for now), it's fitting wonderfully.

Then I watched two training - first level riders and learned even more. The emphasis was on adjustability within the gaits and straightness. I've been starting to work on adjustability within trot and canter in my lessons so it was good to gain some more insight in this. One of the riders was also doing too much to balance her horse through the reins which is something I used to do a lot and still do at times. It was another great reminder to me.

After the clinic I went to the barn with two goals in mind. Straigtness and being able to send her forward or slow her within trot and canter. I also wanted to work on not loosing her shoulder. I decided that based on the weather, and for a chance to change things up a bit, I wanted to ride her outside. This was the second time that I've riden her outside so I figured she might be a little flighty. After pulling her into the barn and tacking up quickly I headed outside to make the best of the daylight. 

Indeed pony was quick and rushy so at first I just worked on getting her settled a little and slowing her tempo while lengthening her stride back to its new and improved length. I wasn't going to push for any kind of extension but just a good working gait. In a fairly short amount of time I was able to get her back to a good quality working trot so I went right to a canter. It was amazing!!! I swear she's been doing homework since it was one of the better canters I've gotten. I was also proud of myself because I put on my big girl pants and galloped her even in the new ring. We felt a little like we were going to win the Kentucky Derby (short pony legs eddition) and then when I asked she went right back to a nice working gait without any sass!

I was really impressed and ended with that especially since it was starting to get dark. I'm looking forward to my lesson tomorrow! Then next weekend Susanne Winslade will be teaching a clinic at my new barn! L really wants me to ride with her when she comes back next time (I think early next year?) so I'm going to go watch her next weekend. I'm especially excited about this since I know L wants me to ride with her :-)

Then on November 14th my friend H is riding for Janet Foy! I've never seen such renowned dressage clinician and having H actually ride for her is especially exciting! I can't wait to go to that clinic either.

I'm not thrilled that it's already late October but I'm so truly enjoying all of these amazing opportunities that I'm not even too unhappy that winter is coming.