No Longer Waiting

Oh goodness has it ever been a rollercoaster around here recently!

I had mentioned in a previous post(s) that I just felt like I was waiting for everything, well for the most part I’m not waiting anymore. Now I can finally talk about what has been going on. Without further ado, in no particular order, some of the big things that have been happening in my life recently!

First, I’ve been looking for a new job since the end of last year. I believe I started really applying at the end of November. Starting in January I started getting some interviews. Each time I made it to the final round and at least in two cases I was the 2nd place candidate. It was tough and I just tried to move on. I always feel like everything happens for a reason and so was the case with this. Then, in June I began interviewing for a major healthcare company in MN and this time I made it through and received an offer! Not only was it exactly the job I was looking for but my eventual offer was WAY more than what I I’d have been making at the other jobs I came close on. It is significantly more than what I make now which opened up a whole bunch of opportunities.

Second, a couple of months ago an opportunity came up to purchase a friend’s house. They’re moving out East and would prefer that their house, which they love, go to someone in the friend circle vs. to a stranger and it happened to be offered to us. Bf and I talked about it a ton and were interested but trying not to get too excited about it. Turns out that if you aren’t planning to buy a house you probably aren’t putting much into a down payment and a house in Minneapolis needs a pretty good sized down payment. We had a mortgage meeting scheduled but then when I knew an offer was on the way we delayed it so that we had that info. Very luckily in the meantime the bf got a promotion!! We talked with the mortgage person on the 3rd and it turns out that if we put all of our “extra” money into savings for the house we’ll be able to make it on time with a very small buffer. If it hadn’t been for my job offer and significant increase and my bf’s promotion we likely wouldn’t have been able to make it happen but now we can!!! We’re going to go ahead with it because at the worse we’ll have a bunch of money in a savings account that we can put toward a future house. That of course brings me to my third thing which is barn/boarding stuff.

Not that I have annnnny anxiety about this....

Barn boarding stuff has been up in the air for a little while. I know that my barn is going to close down at some point. At the soonest that will be the summer/fall of 2020 but there is some chance that it could be much further out. All of that is being determined now but what I don’t want to run into is trying to find a place in the last couple of months along with the other 20-40 boarders (tough to get a good count with how many people have multiple horses there). With that in mind I’ve been looking at other options for a while. During the winter I stumbled over the website of a barn I’d never heard of that’s to the SW of Minneapolis. I did some digging and it looked like an amazing set up. However, after my experience at the previous barn with S2 I was a little gun shy about “fancy” barns.

I bookmarked that website and moved on but I couldn’t quite get the barn out of my mind. I don’t remember exactly what prompted it (maybe the extremely cold winter) but at some point I reached out to the owner and set up a tour. I went out at some point in February on an EXTREMELY cold day and got a tour. It’s amazing. There are a few gold medalists that either train or clinic there and the indoor arena is enormous and amazing. There are serious dressage peeps but also lots of people who trail ride, ride western, event, etc. They even have an evening each week where they do horse agility! The property has a pond that you can ride in and access to TONS of trails. The outdoor arena is also very nice and they have a round pen that actually has great footing. This place gets fantastic reviews and the owner is a true business woman who seems to also really understand horse people (and owns a horse herself). I took a spot on the waitlist for a pasture spot because they still feed supplements to pasture horses and it sounds like the grass isn’t that rich but ideally I wanted to get a stall there eventually.

Then I went back and watched the resident gold medalist dressage trainer (who also events) teach a few lessons and that REALLY made me want to move. She was awesome. She taught in a light hearted but honest sort of way that was really refreshing.

Sushi dinner!!! with my bf :)

Fast forward to end of April. I was still on the waitlist at that barn. I went to the horse expo and just as I was leaving I saw Jane’s SO and then Jane. I actually teared up and when she saw me she did as well. We hugged and then I let them know that I’d been wanting to call and check in. Jane’s SO said “you should come see our new barn!” I kid you not the first think that I could think of was an amazing local barn that I’d seen for sale on Facebook. Sure enough he confirmed that’s what they were in the process of purchasing. Back in this post I went to see a potential instructor teach a lesson at this barn. After that I put it on my list as a backup place but then it sold to someone who didn’t want to operate it as a boarding barn and became a private stable. I seriously had goosebumps as Jane and her SO were talking about it. They invited me to move Katai there and I was seriously pumped about the opportunity.

That pretty much brings us to today. Ever since the horse expo I’ve been excited about both options. The issue currently is that both options with a stall are about double what I’m paying right now. I would be able to afford that, however, now since meeting with the mortgage person and deciding to purchase the house both options are out. I called Jane this week and let her know and she was really happy for us but sad that we weren't able to move there. It’s really bittersweet right now but I also am SUPER excited about buying a house and ultimately since that’s next spring it won’t be long and I’ll be able to move pretty much wherever I want at that time. In the meantime I’m still on the waitlist for the other barn for a pasture spot. If that opens up I’m going to make it work so that I can have a heated indoor sooner and also because that waitlist is seriously long and I don’t want to miss out on the opportunity to be there. Mostly I’m just happy that I’m no longer waiting on everything!

One Year With Jane

What can I say really. Jane is someone that I've learned way more from than just riding. Her way of handling things, her message about training horses (especially mares), and her support of me even with things like stressful work situations will always stick with me.

I'm so glad that I decided I couldn't afford my previous barn anymore and even more lucky that my previous BM recommended that I move to Jane's barn.

Prior to L

Jane's instruction, from a riding perspective, is something that will stick with me for my entire riding career. When I started working with Jane my position was a mess, I rode a lot with my hands, and had lots of well developed habits. Sure, I've worked hard too to overcome a lot of this but I've always worked hard to overcome those things and to learn and improve it just wasn't until I started riding with Jane that I actually started to see progress.

Really great example of how things were going before Jane.
Already much improved by L

Even more impressive to me is the subtle mental shift that's been caused by Jane and how it's also completely changed Katai's attitude about being ridden. Some of that, of course, is that I'm riding better so she can actually be more comfortable in the work but it's also the way that Jane encourages me to think about training a horse (mare) and how gentle Jane's approach is. Her message, that sometimes it's important that mares get to be right, isn't something I've ever heard from any other instructor and yet it's made a huge difference in my work with Katai.

Katai's thrived from the new work as well

I will study with Jane for as long as I can and I hope that her retirement from teaching is far out on the horizon. She has even caused me to be less enthusiastic about looking at relocating out of state because I can't quite imagine leaving her program. Right now, the thought of trying to find another instructor in a new place that can meet her ability to make changes with Katai and myself makes me feel slightly overwhelmed and ill.

I don't know what the future holds and I do still plan to relocate at some point but no matter where I end up or when, Jane's instruction has made a huge impact on me and for that I'm truly and completely thankful.

For the present I'll continue to enjoy every single lesson with her and absorb as much knowledge as I can. Here's to another fantastic year!!

Starting to look almost as good at a show as we are at home :)

Also, this sort of makes it sound like I'm planning to leave but that couldn't be further from the truth. I'm positive that I'll be working with Jane into the near future and will likely push my plans to relocate out even further so that I can continue to work with her. I'm just hoping that she doesn't have any plans to retire any time soon.

Best Night

Old picture from my first spring with Katai

All of my nights at the barn are wonderful so when I tell you that Thursday night at the barn was the best night I've had in a long time you should know that it was pretty epic.

I've mentioned in the past that one of the big things I was worried about with this barn was that I'd miss the camaraderie of being around other horse people. I really like the people at this barn, it's just that our schedules don't work out often and there aren't as many people there so it's rare that I actually get to ride with anyone else. The person I'd most like to spend time with (K) is the other rider who works with Jane and rides Dressage but she works a very different schedule so is out often during the day when I'm at work. While it hasn't been that big of an issue for me, and I possibly actually get more done since I need to just concentrate on riding my pony, I do miss having more people around when I'm at the barn.

However, I finally got to spend some time with K on Thursday.

Also not from Thursday but from my first real trailride with Katai
This would have been late 2013 or early 2014

When I got there my plan was to first get Katai outside for a bit to practice trailer loading and hand walk her down the road. Since she's mainly indoors I wanted to make sure that she spent some more time outside to prepare her for the show. Both trailer loading and walking down the road went really, really well and she was as calm and relaxed as she's ever been. Plus, it was an amazingly warm and sunny spring day so it was very nice to spend the time outside.

After that I brought her back to the barn to tack her up for riding and with perfect timing K showed up just as I started grooming. We were able to talk a bit and Jane came out to feed so we all talked about show plans (K is my ride to shows this year). It was so much fun to get to hang out and talk. Even better, as we were getting ready to head into the arena Jane suggested that we ride down the road together. I'll admit that I probably wouldn't have been brave enough to ask but K agreed that it sounded like fun so we headed out and with some help from Jane (to hold Katai for a minute) we mounted up and headed off.

Since this seems to be the post for #TBT pictures this one is just so cute!

Katai was HOT but settled pretty quick and we proceeded to have a really nice ride. She was pretty up and it's a road that gets a bit of traffic so I didn't ride on the buckle until we got back to Jane's driveway but it still was able to be a relaxed ride with a bit of trot and mainly lots of walk. I was SOO happy with that!

Then, once we got back to the barn K and I rode together in the arena for awhile. K is showing 3rd level and hoping to get the last scores for her bronze this year. When she was taking a break she was my eyes on the ground and gave me some amazing suggestions for my transitions. We also commiserated on how hard this dressage thing is (but how much we love it) and how we have lots of the same crookedness's so we make Jane's job easier haha.

Last one ;)
"Does it look like I'm wearing my mom's clothes?"

After we finished up we untacked together, talking horses the whole time of course, and left in the dark. It was so, so, so nice to be able to talk with someone else that's on the same path. K loves dressage like I do, cares deeply for her horse, and rides an "untraditional" (small grey arab) horse in dressage but thanks to Jane has worked her way up the levels. I always enjoy talking and spending time with horse people but those similarities that put us on the same page make it even more fun.

It was an amazing night and I'm even more excited for shows this year and to get to spend more time with K.

Moving Day, Weird Day

Ever since my moving plans were finalized I've been thinking that I'd move Katai on the 31st. I've planned out my month with the idea that I was going to be at my old barn until then but on Thursday last week when I checked with my BM about trailering she mentioned that Jane was planning to come pick up Katai. That was a little surprising to me but I took it as a good sign that even though Jane knows that Katai is tough to get on a trailer sometimes she wanted to come pick her up. I let my BM know that I'd call Jane and talk through the details which I did on Friday.

When I spoke with her we discussed when I was going to take lessons, TBD, and also that she planned to pick her up on Sunday, today. I let her know that I had a lesson with L but that we could certainly trailer her right after that.

I was honestly, a little shell shocked. I guess I'd just planned on having another three days at the barn, three days to ride Katai in her comfortable environment and three days to say goodbye. I started gathering up all of my stuff on Saturday and put the final touches on the rest of the packing that I'd been preparing.

On Sunday I got to the barn for my lesson, got Katai and started getting her ready but when I went to brush her back she was really flinchy. I poked and prodded around but from my determination she wasn't going to be rideable. I went and told L and she checked her out as well also declaring her unsound. However, she told me to get her young horse and that she'd give me a lesson on him instead.

It was a good but weird lesson and I worked on different things than I'd work on with Katai normally. However, he is also very honest and wasn't compensating for me at all so I learned a LOT of things that I'm doing inappropriately with my body, things that Katai doesn't directly tattle on me for but that now I can focus on when I'm working with her.

I'd been to the MN state fair and the dog park the day before so between noodley legs and just having bigger gaits so requiring more physical strength than Katai does, I only lasted about 20 minutes. After that ride I pulled Katai out to lunge her but she was clearly stiff so after a little trot in each directly to try to give her a chance to loosen up I called it. L's next horse was lame and we are pretty sure that with the weather changes all of the mares (both Katai and this horse) were running round like idiots and very likely did a number on themselves during turnout last night. It was just a really weird day at the barn all around.

I got the last of my tack, which I'd been planning to ride with ;) in my car and then when D (Jane's SO) got to the barn to pick up Katai we got her loaded, with some convincing, and to the new barn. She unloaded well (I really like Jane and D and I'm happy to be there) and was happy to find some grass in her pen and roll.

I also got to really meet C who is Jane's only other student that boards at Jane's barn. She had just gotten done with a lesson where for the first time she'd done 3 flying changes across the diagonal. I was so excited for her and excited to think about my future with Katai at this barn!

More photos and information about the barn and my upcoming lessons to follow!

New Instructor: Lesson Recap 7/24

As I've mentioned previously the barn that I had Katai at temporarily is going to be my new barn and L's instructor who I'm calling Jane is going to be my new instructor. It's really bittersweet because I really like L as an instructor and as a person. We get along really well and we've come through a lot with the pony together. She knows and gets both Katai and myself and is the first instructor I've had that seems to understand my goals. She actually wants a pony (probably a GRP) and it's fun to be able to talk top ponies with her.

Mostly she's just taught me so much and took Katai from a disaster to a really amazing and talented dressage pony. I'm sad to be leaving her and frankly if this weren't about my budget I wouldn't be leaving her. However, I'm very excited to be going to a barn where I can take regular lessons with a dressage instructor and specifically one that took L up the levels!

At my lesson with Jane this past Sunday unfortunately (fortunately?) Katai wasn't her normal self. She normally settles right in at a new barn but as soon as I pulled her in to tack her up all of the horses started running and screaming and that was just too much for her. She panicked and I had to fight with her just to get her saddle on and then she was very up when we got her to the arena. Jane was really helpful and gave great and calming advice about how to get her lunging better and once she was in a good place I got up.

She lost it a bit, more horses screaming, while I was trying to get her to stand still as I mounted but eventually I got on and as normal she was much easier to deal with. However, she was still having a pony mare meltdown and was tense and less compliant that she has been. She was also rushing badly, tight through her back, and not listening to my leg aids, just using them as an excuse to go faster. Frankly she wasn't that much better than she was when I moved to my current barn.

Luckily she got better quickly but still just wasn't herself. I didn't mention any of this to Jane since what was important was riding the pony that I had then and Jane ended up focusing more on me anyway. In our 45 or so minutes she identified a few things that I've been struggling with but didn't even realize that it was why I was struggling. The first is that I'm arching my back.

Great example of the arching

I know that I have been but it hasn't come up in lessons so I haven't done anything about it. It mainly crops up when I'm tensing up because Katai is rushing or not listening but it's sort of there all the time. When I was working with J I got waaaayyy better at this. She worked on this with me a lot and I never felt more proud of my position but of course everything else fell apart with her and I guess I wasn't quite sure what to keep from her and what to let go so this fell away along with pretty much everything else I learned when I was working with her.

The other thing that Jane focused in on is something that is completely new to me. She let me know that when Katai is losing momentum I sort of push her forward with the front of my pelvis. She said that I sort of "throw" the front of my hips at her like I'm trying to make a swing go higher. That throws my position off and, more noticeably, makes her hollow her back and throw her head in the air. I felt like a lightbulb went off and for the first time I understood why I've been struggling with transitions.

Jane had me sit into the transition, she told me not to be in a hurry to post, and keep my position more stable. Then once Katai was going nicely she had me start rising while focusing on "pulling" my belly button back into my spine. It was amazing the difference in Katai when I did this.

During the lesson I felt huge improvements but of course when I tried it on my own, once I got back from WA, I felt all over the place and Katai wasn't as inclined to listen since I'm sure I wasn't being as consistent or honestly even getting it probably. However, she still was really good and in the moments when I think I was close she felt great.

I'm looking forward to resuming lessons with J in September and until then I'll be working on my homework!