March Goals

I’m not even going to attempt to recap any goals for this year since we basically haven’t accomplished anything in 2019 yet beyond lots of vacation time. However in continuing with the theme of trying to post more positive things, looking ahead to the rest of March, and what I hope to accomplish, feels good.

Blog More:

My hope is that even if the weather continues to be awful I can still do some more blogging. I’m sure I can find things to blog about even if they aren’t substantial riding updates.

I also want to start trying to get more media even if it’s the snow outside our apartment, Katai eating hay in her stall, or Katai being fluffy and rolling in the arena.

Fitness:

My bf (who has a lot of yoga experience) finally convinced me to go to my first yoga class last Saturday. Unfortunately for him this ended up being a way more difficult class than it should have which made me slightly frustrated and left me feeling a little defeated. I HATE group fitness classes of any sort with a passion and while I was really hopeful that yoga would feel different this one didn’t. We went to a Vinyasa 1 class that apparently was more like a difficult Vinyasa 2 class and the class was packed so the yoga teacher wasn’t able to spend much time with anyone.

At any rate my amazing bf persevered and has convinced me to go to a yoga fundamentals class next Thursday. I’m actually looking forward to this one! I do want to do yoga, I just want to gain some understanding of how to do things correctly and then do it on my own at home and maybe just occasionally join him for a class.

Along with yoga I’m hoping to spend more time in our apartment gym even if that’s just walking on the treadmill and doing core work outs. I really want to get more in shape as I’m increasing my ride frequency.

Bone collection, check
Nap, check

Plan for Shows?:

This one unfortunately is pretty up in the air. I don’t know how I’ll show this year. I’m not sure who I’d trailer with, which trailer I could borrow if any, how much budget I’ll have for showing, or where Katai and I will be riding wise. Right now I’m planning to take things as they come and take opportunities as I can.

I’m very much going to be working to make sure we can show a handful of times this year but if that’s schooling shows this fall that’s ok. For that reason I haven’t paid for any memberships yet but will be proceeding with that if needed. However, I would like to go through and mark some shows that I’m interested in and try to keep those weekends open/start talking with a couple of the people I board with to see if they’d want to join me.

Additional Lessons/Clinic:

I’ve been working with K to do a few weekly lessons (vs. bi-weekly). Unfortunately the weather has been totally derailing this but I’m hoping that the next couple of weeks in March will work for this.

I’ve also signed up for “clinic” with a local, upper level dressage trainer. This person is K’s trainer (KM) and actually the first person I ever took a dressage lesson with way back when. It was supposed to be this past Saturday but, continuing the theme, was canceled based on the weather and was rescheduled for 3/30. My hope is that by then I’ll have had some good rides, a couple lessons at least, and will be feeling more prepared. This person is one option for additional lessons once K moves and I already have tentatively also planned to ride with her on 4/20.

We (the bf, his sister and I) went to Two Cellos
and also got to see Jon McLaughlin who opened for them

Finalize plans for once K is gone:

It’s extremely sad that K is going to be gone the end of this month. I’m going to work hard this month to get as many lesson with her as possible and then finalize plans for once she’s gone. I’ve stepped out of one of my Sunday DnD groups as of last Sunday so I now have more weekend time available which may mean that I can more easily get lessons with K when she’s here. I’m hoping to finalize that within the next couple of weeks.

In addition I’m going to continue to figure out additional options including the following;

• KM may be coming out once per month through summer and will most likely be coming out once per month at least until summer. When I clinic with her at the end of the month I’m planning to talk through plans with her as well as far as when I could get lessons with her.
• The gold medalist instructor who’s lessons I audited this past month also offered a lesson or two on her lesson horses. I may make a plan to do so either this month or next to keep that door open. Of course I also think it would be good for my continuing dressage education to ride a more trained horse and take advantage of any and all lesson opportunities.
• I’m also going to continue to look at other options for moving Katai whether for later this year or in the future just because in continuing to have conversations about it with my support system I think that making sure we have a place to land if/when this place closes is pretty important at this point.

Shifts

It has been so long since I've posted, almost a month at this point, so I'm pretty much giving up on my posting goals for this year.  I'm also tired of doing update posts but I also want to share all of the cool things we've been up to recently!

From this past week. I'm a sweaty mess but she's always gorgeous

First off, no I'm not at a show right now unfortunately. We made the call about two weeks ago that while Katai is making huge improvements in her ground work stuff she still isn't at a point where I can get her attention back on me, at least in show appropriate ways, so we want to get that more solidified first. In that vein, a couple of weeks ago when I had the lesson where we made that decision (on a Saturday) I decided to also sign up for as much training as possible and took lessons on Monday and Tuesday that week (which I had off work) and then another lesson this past Saturday.

S2 has been really complimentary of the training I've done with Katai. She was surprised and impressed that Katai had most of the buttons she needed to do the work that S2 has us doing on the ground and really just needed refinement. I also haven't known when to push, what to push for, and when to take all of the pressure off for some of the minor behaviors that Katai has had so we're working on that. Namely Katai always pushing me around with her shoulders. It's slow because it's a pretty well established habit but we are making headway and it's amazing how helping her to soften and bend her ribcage and move her shoulders around on the ground is helping under saddle.

Katai really loves the new arena except for the side door.
That ear needs to aim in that direction to ensure we stay alive

Then again it should be too surprising because S2 has had HUGE success doing this with her horses and client horses and has her silver medal.

From a dressage perspective I do miss Jane. Her instruction was just so fantastic and her way of teaching really resonated with me. I still don't really think that I'll have a chance to regularly lesson with anyone that amazing again. However, S2 is not only a really solid dressage instructor, she also has the show experience that Jane lacked. She's able to identify in each movement exactly what the judges will want to see and what could lose me points and that is something that's really helpful at this point now that I have a baseline to build on thanks to Jane.

Good side eye
Mare glare was clearly tired of the mirror selfies

I also had the opportunity to go on a trail ride! I was waiting until I could go out with someone way more experience who knew the way and had a solid trail horse and I got that opportunity finally last week. The trail, within riding distance of the property, was very technical with lots of gain and loss of elevation and we did it all at the walk so it was perfect for her busy brain. At first she was just rushing and not listening. She was also tight over her back and trying to trample the (very, very, experienced and patient) trail horse ahead of us. At one point though we headed down a hill that was covered in pine needles and therefore slightly slippery and she realized that maybe listening to me and my half halts was a good idea. After that she was zoned in and while she still wanted to go she was also really listening. It was also an amazing workout for her and she was nicely sweaty and tired by the time we got back. This sort of slow, hill conditioning, outdoor ride is exactly what I was hoping for since trying to build or maintain fitness at our last barn was nearly impossible.

I'm really hoping to find an opportunity to ride along one of the next times that this person trailers out to a trail ride so that Katai can get more off property experience doing something that she enjoys.

Pre-spay happy puppy :)

In other dressage news I also found out that I won't be able to go to the June show. Unfortunately it happens to fall on the weekend that I'll be in NC with my BF at a wedding. Honestly, if I hadn't already bought plane tickets I may have abandoned him haha but with the tickets I was already at the point of no return. It really sucks that a big part of why I moved was to show and now that's not happening but I am looking forward to the opportunity in the future and by the time it happens I should be that much more well prepared.

I also may be able to ride in a dressage clinic at the end of the week next week so fingers crossed for that!

My rides have been cut down to 4 days per week and this past week I only managed three since I ended up coming down with a really bad cold. I have today off and I'm hoping to ride all four days of this four day weekend but Moshy was spayed on Thursday so part of the plan is to make sure I'm mostly around to keep an eye on her and make sure she's not chewing on her stitches at all. She's doing pretty well but is clearly uncomfortable and I feel bad for her.

Autonomy

The last night at the old barn. New barn updates soon!

One of the things about the new barn that I'm honestly looking forward to at this point is actually taking a break from lessons. As a background I've taken weekly music lessons since I was 5, had a brief break when I wasn't taking music lessons or riding lessons and then started riding lessons a few years ago.

I'm absolutely a student and certainly no expert. I will be taking as many lessons as I can afford with S2 (goal is at least monthly if not bi-weekly) and hopefully do a clinic or two but I'll also be spending a lot of time working through things on my own. I'm confident that at the least I know when to involve expert help and at the most that with all of the resources I have at my disposal I'll still make decent progress.

moved the pony and then flew to OH
for work the beginning of this week.

What's funny is that with my history of taking lessons and the way I grew up where learning from experts was the only way we did things, I feel a little like I need an adult to make this decision. Then I realize that I'm an adult and if I don't have weekly lessons in the budget and also just want to have more time to work on homework between lessons that's completely up to me.

This could absolutely still change. I may assess and decide that I really need to prioritize weekly lessons over other items and go back to having them. I'll also hopefully have some eyes on the ground from my friend M between lessons.

Also, right at this moment Katai has more buttons than she has strength. We have a technically correct leg yield, shoulder in, haunches in, walk/canter transition, counter canter, lengthening, etc. but need to practice all of the above and gain strength in all of the above. Of course they can always be improved and I don't want to practice them incorrectly but there are just so many things to practice and get back right now. Especially after this really inconsistent winter I feel like I've got mounds of homework and not enough time to just work on it and practice the things.

Veggie with his favorite
crew/puppy sitter while I'm gone.

I also want to incorporate more downtime days doing ground work, riding on trails, potentially doing trailer practice etc. and with limited time at the barn (hopefully I can still make it out 5 days a week) I really want to be able to do those things and still make some dressage progress between lessons rather than not doing the fun downtime things because I feel like I don't have enough time between lessons.

I'm excited to take this step and whether it works long term or not it will be fun to not have that weekly commitment for awhile.

Lesson Recaps

Katai has been perfecting her judgmental expression

Since I haven't posted in awhile but still want to sort of track what I'm learning I thought I'd post a few of the themes that we've been working on and then dig into the specifics as needed later.

Position:

Sit back! Shoulders back but mainly belly button back. I have a fair amount of forward curvature to my spine from my hips to my rib cage so I need to focus on pulling my belly button back and straighten my back more so I can really sit on my seat bones.

I need to carry my hands more forward in front of me. I also need to focus on holding (as needed) with my right hand and releasing (when appropriate) with my left hand since that's opposite what they want to do. I also found out that I also carry my left hand out, off the neck and my right hand against the neck but not enough for correct bend to the left (needs more) and opposite what I should be doing for the correct bend to the right. To correct this (since Katai is white) Jane wants me to think about getting white paint on the hand that's on the outside and keeping the inside hand clean.

I also tend to open my fingers when I want to give forward rather than giving from my elbows.

We've also found that I grip with the back of my calf on my right leg when I use my leg and need to use the inside of my leg instead and keep my toe pointed forward. I've been working on strengthening those muscles so that it's easier. Currently I'm too tired to continue to do this correctly through my entire lesson.

I've always known that I have a tough time sinking my weight through my left stirrup. We've discovered that I'm not weighting my left seat bone equally with the right. This causes me to drop my shoulder when turning/bending Katai to the right since I'm uncomfortable sinking my weight into that seat bone.

Trail walk on a nice sunny day

Movements:

We've added lengthenings and I need to focus on pushing without quickening my posting tempo as well as giving forward from my elbows slightly.

We've also started doing some sitting trot. The main focus here has been on my position (above) and on controlling the bounce to control the temp and "bouncing" straight up and down instead of forward and back.

I'm really excited that we've added shoulder in and that we're doing it at the sitting trot! I mainly can feel this one (it's way easier for me than leg yield) but I need to focus on my position and shoulder vs hip angle. I also need to use my outside rein correctly to keep her moving forward and not let her get the angle too steep. Mainly though I need to sit back and keep my weight on my seat bones.

Canter is still coming along. I haven't been riding enough canter so when I get to my lesson we both get tired out pretty quickly. I mainly need to work on strength so that we can start to do more fun things than 20 meter circles and straight around the track of the arena. My seat continues to get better here and when she's not too tired her transitions from trot and tempo are really good.

First snow this year!

Partnership:

I've seriously learned so much about me and Katai and how we should function as a team from Jane since I've been working with her :) I made an offhand comment about how even though she could be sassy, I loved how steady and un-spookable she was during a ride where the snow was falling off the arena roof. Jane quickly pointed out that she doesn't actually think Katai is sassy. Just that she's a high achiever and when she's confused she lets us know and really wants to get it right. It's crazy how altering my thoughts about Katai and helping me think about her behavior in a different light completely changes how we interact.

I'm continuing to chew on some of this and alter my interactions with her. It's also weird to switch from her being a "baby" horse that doesn't know anything with me as the expert to a true partnership. I'm getting there for the most part but sometimes it's still tough to process.

Me:

I've been feeling a bit better. As the seasonal change has quieted down a bit and I've been more diligent about paying attention to how much vitamin D I'm getting it's been better. I also moved! I'm not sure if I'd previously mentioned this but my grandma moved to an apartment closer to my parents and they offered me a really amazingly low rate of rent to stay at her house and keep an eye on things. It's about 10 minutes closer to the barn and the exact same distance from work plus it's in a nicer neighborhood and I only have one roommate. I think the change in scenery is helping a bit as well. At any rate, it's certainly not hurting.

I'm also participating in the Equestrian Blogger Gift Exchange this year which is really exciting! I've been doing some sleuthing and ordered a couple of things during Black Friday. I'm looking forward to sending it out!

Unfortunately I'm still not feeling 100% and have been having a really tough time staying motivated to ride or blog or do much of anything really. Work is also going to be getting really busy over the next couple of months complete with a couple more trips to WA so I'm still not sure exactly how much I'll be able to post. I'm going to try to have more posts in December but I'll see how things go over the next few weeks.

Taking for Granted

I’ve been kind of unmotivated and negative about horse things recently. I don’t know how much of it has crept into the blog but between some of the things outside of my control, like weather and work travel, I’ve just figured that I’m feeling less motivated than normal.

 However, during a random work meeting (we weren’t talking about anything like this I was just apparently day dreaming) I realized that I’ve been really ungrateful recently.

The 11 year old me would have been so completely and absolutely happy to just have a horse to groom, pet, talk to, and very much to ride.

The 15 year old me would have killed to have any sort of arena space to ride and to be able to take regular dressage lessons. Plus the things above.

The 19 year old me would have thought that I’d died and gone to heaven to be able to have my horse on stall board and have the opportunity (even if it’s infrequent) to show. Plus all of the things above.

The 24 year old me would have been insanely excited to have the perfect pony with talent for dressage (instead of a horse) at all much less one that I’ve trained myself (Katai). Plus all of the things above.

But, for some reason the 30 year old me is just frustrated that I can’t get my perfect pony on a trailer and that I haven’t been able to show more this season. Of course that’s not all I’m thinking.

I’m grateful every day to have the opportunity to board at such nice places, I’m really thankful that I’ll be saving some more money next month (and I think that some of these more negative feelings are still partially from feeling stressed about money) and of course, I’m insanely grateful that I have Katai in my life. It’s just time for me to take stock of what I really have and get back to a place where I feel like the 11 year old me when I’m driving to the barn to groom MY pony, and ride MY pony, and pet MY pony, and feed MY pony treats. That’s one of my main goals for the rest of the year so here goes, time to stop taking everything I have for granted.

New Barn Decision

This decision has been tough all around. I’m going to miss the people that I board with now so much and over the past couple of weeks as they’ve been finding out that I’m moving it’s been really tough saying goodbyes. I’m sure I’m going to be an emotional wreck at the end of August when I actually move. I’m also going to miss the amazing care that the BM gives Katai and the incredible amenities.

Paddocks to the right, pasture straight out

It’s also been tough to choose between the other two barn options. I’ve even gone so far as to look at a few other barns to make sure that I’m making the best decision but those two barns that I previously listed are still the two clear winners. I was having a really tough time picking one, up until I recently went to that temporary barn because that barn is actually option 2 and is going to be my new barn.

Indoor, heated arena taken in one of the arena mirrors

I can’t quite describe how I felt when I was going on a barn tour with the owner except to say that I felt like I’d come home. It’s not something I’ve ever felt at any other barn but whether it’s the fact that it feels a little like the barn that we kept our horses in when I was growing up or if it’s something entirely unrelated it was an amazing feeling.

Main barn isle, additional stalls behind me and tack room is to my right and behind me

As mentioned previously at this barn I will be able to take weekly lessons from L’s instructor and will be boarding with only one other person who also takes regular weekly lessons and is riding at 3^rd level (just scored over 60% at her first ever show at 3^rd level!!). Although the owner has two other horses there that she owns and there is one horse that’s there temporarily for training. It’s heated and has a heated indoor arena with really nice footing. The arena is only heated when it’s busy or if it drops to colder temps but really all I care about is a heated area to groom, once I’m moving it’s easy to stay warm.

Wash stall to the left (with the front of a tractor) and isle to the bathroom to the right

The whole place has been a horse farm for a long time and you can tell, everything is just where you need it and it’s small enough that you don’t have to go on an adventure to find the things you might need. It’s small with lower ceilings and smaller isles but so is Katai so in some ways it almost feels more comfortable. It’s a really simple set up in an L shape with the stalls along both sides of the small part of the L and the indoor as the long part of the L.

Hallway to the bathroom and small add on in the barn

It’s the smallest barn that I’ve boarded at for quite some time, I think the last time that I had this few people that I boarded with was when Katai was at our first boarding barn together with the one aged gelding where she was just on grass. I’m excited about being at such a small barn that still has active riders and yet I don’t think I’ll be competing for arena space much. The fact that the other boarder shows (very successfully) with her little Arab mare just makes it even better.

Katai in her temporary stall

The only thing that I think I’ll really miss that the other barn had is all of the amazing outdoor spaces to ride. At this barn there is a dead end gravel road but it sounds like even that can be kind of busy. I do think, however, that I’m going to make saving up for a trailer a priority especially since I’ll be saving even more money than I thought I would be. Then I’ll be able to trailer to some of the local trail systems when I want to so that will negate the lack of outdoor space here.

At the end of the main hallway with the arena gate to the left and door out to the paddocks to the right

On Hold

                                          How dressage makes Katai feel

Right now my lessons are on hold because L is in Sweden with a sick family member. While she is gone I’m doing the best I can on my own to continue to build Katai’s strength. We had a really wonderful ride on Saturday where everything just went perfectly. Katai was doing this nice forward, slow tempo, not rushy trot and was really getting the bend figured out. She felt strong, confident and was really understanding everything I asked her for. It was one of those rides where I really feel like she has it in her to be an amazing dressage horse.

 

Then on Monday we had a not as great ride where she refused to bend to the left and was much more rushy. I had noticed that the undermuscle on the right side of her neck seemed tight and slightly large so I’m wondering if she was bitten by another horse and maybe was a little stiff and sore. I still insisted but was a little more lenient about it than I have been because of that concern about her neck. I’ll see how she is during our ride tonight and if she is still just a stubborn we’ll have a good conversation about it J I know that we will have rides like this as she continues to gain needed strength since it’s hard and sometimes she’s probably sore and doesn’t think she should have to work like this without a good reason. 

 

On Friday I have chiropractic scheduled for her and I’m anxious to see how that goes. It will be her first time so I’m sure she’s going to be a little touchy about it but I really think it’s important since we are starting to ask so much more of her. My goal is to do this twice per year and then to add, hopefully, more frequent massage since that seems to be almost more important from a maintenance perspective. After her appointment this Friday she’ll get at least 3-4 days completely off and then I’m thinking that I’ll do a lunging day to make sure she is loose and comfortable before I ride again.

Second Day at the Barn

I had another great day at the new barn! I am still incredibly impressed by the facilities and it is nice to finally have some of the things that I’ve always wanted in a boarding facility. The cross ties and space to groom are wonderful, they have expectations that things will be swept after so everything is always neat and tidy, unlike my last barn, and the arena is just so wonderful and large. Most of all though, it is just so nice and warm!!! It’s just so incredible to be able to spend time with my horse and not be miserably cold. The grooming area is probably around 50 degrees and the arena is closer to 45-40 which is perfect since when you’re moving around it’s so much easier to stay toasty warm and then the horses are less likely to overheat.

Katai was not as amazingly wonderful on Wednesday but I think she was a little stiff and sore from the two, fairly intense, rides on Saturday and Monday and just didn’t feel like working. I also found out that one of the horses in her pen was picking on her a bit and chasing her around. He’s been moved now but I’m sure that just made her more tired and ready to just not work very hard. She was less speedy and nervous about the arena but didn’t want to use her haunches for anything, just pull herself around by her front legs and was very on the forehand. She was also crazy about canter again and wanted to just skip the trot entirely.

I worked her through it and got a few nice moments with lots of walk breaks. She got yesterday off and got today off as well. I think it might be good to give her two days in a row off but then I plan on working her Saturday and know that I’ll ride on Sunday so I need to figure out my plan. When I was working with her consistently this summer I was riding Tue, Wed, Thu, Sun. That gave her four rides per week with a couple of breaks in between and seemed to work well. I was thinking about going back to that plan since it works best with my schedule but with the drive time doubled I may give her Wednesdays off as well, for now, and plan on riding three days per week.

On Wednesday I also met a few more people and was happy to be able to meet two other boarders that just got to the barn the day before I moved Katai. They both also have pasture boarded horses and are both dressage riders. They are also around my age which is cool because normally I haven't found fellow riders that meet that description. I also received another recommendation for both Y and another trainer that I'll call L. After hearing a few recommendations for her I decided to set up a lesson and am having my first lesson with her on Sunday! I'm so, so excited to be able to take lessons again. I'm really hoping to find an instructor that understands why I enjoy my pony and encourages me to improve and show, at least occasionally. I hope L is that person :-)

Moving Barns

So unfortunatly I've moved barns a few times. I thought it would be interesting to share the basics of each set up, the main reason I moved each time and what I am doing to get ready for my next, and final!, move.

Barn One:

In my backyard! The woman I was renting a room from at the time actually allowed me to keep Katai there for free. It was nice to have her out there but there was no safe place to ride, it was kind of junky, and I bought my own hay which added stress every winter as we tried to keep track of who had bought what.

When I moved into a new apartment I needed to move her since the woman I had been renting from wasn't interested in boarding so then I moved to...

Barn Two:

This place was really nice! The guy fed supplements twice per day, that I provided, fly sprayed them twice per day and as you can possibly see in the back of the photo above there was even a fan when it got hot. There was also a stall available if I had wanted to stall her. This was for the price of $150 per month during the summer and $200 during the winter with hay provided.

The main reason I moved was the lack of safe space to ride, no space to ride in winter if it were slippery, and no one to ride with. So then it was on to the...

Third Barn:

This place was good initially but not only did Katai loose gads of weight over the first winter, and she's a chubby pony!, but the footing was almost worse than riding on gravel and it was so dusty that people had to wear masks when they rode. It cost $200 per month with hay included. 

It was so nice to have a covered arena, people to ride with, and the price was reasonable but nothing else was great including the 45 minute drive. On top of that the owner was speaking about selling in the next year so it was time to move on. Right to the...

Fourth Barn:

I LOVED this place and still miss it. Boarding there was the most fun I've had with horses and horse people in a long time. Everything about it was great from the people, to the footing in both arenas, to the tacking space to the incredible pasture management. At $300 a month the board was really reasonable as well and lesson packages were extremely reasonable with a huge savings over paying per lesson.

I felt like both Katai and I were improving in leaps and bounds at first but then I started to see how cruel the owner/trainer was and knew that I had to leave quickly despite how much I loved everything else. So then it was on to the...

Fifth Barn:

I really do like this place. It's huge and there are a lot of people but they've all been great. The arena isn't bad but the footing isn't always looked after and in the evenings there are so many people riding that it's easy to get in traffic jams especially with a greenie that still occasionally loses steering. I've decided that I love stall board and the set up with tack lockers in the stalls is amazing. There is also amazing access to trails and three outdoor arenas that would be awesome in the summer however this was always a short term solution while I looked for a really great dressage instructor and now that I found one at an amazing barn I just can't wait to move there and stay there! The stall board here is $315 per month and I pay extra for a shared paddock so $340. 

In preparation for the move I've started putting some things together for the new barn. At the previous barn we had tiny lockers plus a space to store a saddle. At the current barn we've got nice big tack lockers with space for two saddles, a shelf and tons of hooks. Now at the new barn there's a smallish shared tack room and I'm guessing that space is at a premium so I've put some things together that I feel are the most necessary, at least outside of regular tack items like saddle and bridle.

I narrowed it down to two small storage containers.

The current barn isn't heated so I can't leave any type of liquid but this new place is so I can finally leave those things at the barn. I've got first aid stuff, grooming things, boots, and some odds and ends. Now I just need to figure out how much space I have for things like blankets and extra saddle pads and then I'll get those things figured out and packed.

I've also got two other exciting pieces of news but those will have to wait until my next post!

Credit

I try really hard to give credit when credit is due and it is time for me to give a little more credit to J. I’m not sure if she was just having a bad month or if all of her other students just happened to have the same struggle at the same time but suddenly most of the horses at the barn that were traveling hollow and tense are moving much better. She has them doing more long and low from what I’ve seen and they all seem to be much improved.

 

I also finally got through to her and it didn’t cause her to stop instructing me! I truly don’t feel I am an expert and there was just one main thing bothering me and that was asking Katai to try to carry weight on her hind and slow down into a more collected trot for the whole half hour lesson or even for ten or more minutes at a time. That was causing sooooo much tension from Katai which meant that sometimes she was almost gaiting and was always moving very hollow. Last week at my lesson J and I had an argument for the whole half hour which was even tougher because we had about seven spectators but I did it! I stayed reasonably calm and impartial and didn’t get angry, I just kept making my point and what I was comfortable with and not and she listened. She gave me homework to work more long and low and let Katai go forward but to bring her back for a few strides at a time. She also had me tweak some position things and gave me some help with a couple of other problems I’ve been having.

I was concerned that even with that progress the lesson on Wednesday and my make up yesterday would be exactly the same but it wasn’t! I know that I am no expert and I’m completely incapable of teaching someone else but I’m not a complete beginner and I have good feel especially with Katai who I’ve trained completely so far. For all of her faults Katai really tries hard to understand things and really dislikes correction. Normally if I can just slow things down a little and show her the steps involved she picks it up really quick and once she has something she has it! Even the smallest glimmer of understanding and if I reward it it seems to be habit by the next time I ride her. This is part of what makes her so completely rewarding to ride. I have probably never worked with an animal, of any species that learned so quickly and completely and I know part of it is the way that I have taught her so far. At any rate my lesson yesterday was so wonderful! J asked at the beginning of the lesson for me to show her what we’ve been working on. I think she’s been seeing me ride while she teaches other lessons and has noticed that I’ve been doing my homework and while Katai isn’t great at things yet she is figuring out how to slow down and shift more weight back plus she’s reaching into contact, lifting her back and is so much more relaxed and it’s all because I’m doing everything J is telling me to do with the small modification of asking for only a few strides at a time.

 

Katai was especially stiff and hollow to start out and J was extremely helpful reminding me to bend her which immediately meant that I had a much softer and more compliant horse. J also worked a lot more on my position including putting my stirrups down two holes on one side and three on the other. I told her that I felt like I was riding in the twilight zone but that it felt better overall and I was interested to work that way and figure things out. It did improve my posting considerably. Then we went to a free walk and J was impressed! I’ve got Katai stretching consistently just about as low as she can go and I’ve been getting her back if she starts to lift her head. J reminded me to not nag and once I had the walk I wanted to just let her be. It was really nice to hear that she is happy with the work I am doing.

 

It is making it tougher to move. The move started out partially because she wouldn’t listen to me and I didn’t want to feel powerless as she “made” me do things in my lesson that I was uncomfortable with. It was also because of her attitude about Katai but that seems to have changed as well.

Speaking of giving credit, on Monday this week I was riding while J was teaching a lesson at the other end of the arena. One of her students, who is a retired woman that has no filter, came in to watch the lesson. This woman, I will call her M, always sort of teases me about Katai and we have this dialogue where she calls Katai a baby horse or little horse and tells her horse, a large black thoroughbred, not to step on my pony. I’m used to that type of teasing, about when will I get a “real” horse, and just blow it off at this point. At some point during the lesson J started talking to the student about how she needed to get her on a taller horse and M points to me and says, very loudly, “She’s the one that needs a taller horse!” Without missing a beat J says “Actually Kate’s pretty short.” This is about as incredible of praise for me riding Katai from J as I can imagine. As I’ve mentioned before J had told me that Katai was too small and that I needed to consider getting a different horse. As I’ve persevered with Katai she has slowly seemed to have more respect for her and treats her less and less like a rock stuck in her shoe and more like a legitimate dressage horse but she still could have used that opening to push me again towards a bigger horse. The fact that she didn’t impressed me.

 

Along with that she’s been treating her well in other ways. On Monday this week I had a scare that Katai was having a laminitic episode. She seemed off, not lame but sensitive and too quiet, and we’ve been having unusually cold weather so I know the grass is stressed and has higher sugar content. Along with that she’s gained a little weight since while I was off on vacation she wasn’t ridden as regularly. That evening I emailed J to ask if she would leave Katai in the dry lot and she wrote right back that she could certainly do that. Even better, when I got there on Tuesday evening to ride she said that she’d brought Katai up to the barn to have the farrier, who’s always there on Tuesdays, check her and he didn’t find anything. She also asked the resident vet tech, whose daughter is a student, to check Katai’s digital pulse. The vet tech agreed with me that Katai’s feet felt a little warm but didn’t find anything else concerning. J then left Katai in on Wednesday and was going to fit her up with one of her own grazing muzzles so she could go out the next day. I was able to leave her my own pony sized grazing muzzle but I was completely impressed with the care she was giving my pony which is way over and beyond anything I’ve ever experience with pasture board.

 

I’m not quite sure how I feel about moving at this point. It should still be good in many ways and some of the help I can get there with trailer loading and the available trails and heated arena will be incredible but I KNOW the care here is excellent and now that I’ve been more comfortable in my lessons it is making it tougher for me to be excited about this move.

Matter and Mature

I've had a rough couple of weeks. 

First, in non-horse-related items I let the boy that dumped me in November back into my life. Of course it seems stupid as I type it especially after how he dumped me but I believe strongly in forgiveness and he made a good case. I was only willing to let him back as a friend but after a drunk night of conversation he admitted that he was back because he wanted me back as a girlfriend. I refused to agree to that and told him he better take some time and think about it. I've behaved only as a friend with him since then refusing any advances and to his credit he has been mostly polite and respected my wishes. However it has been extremely emotionally tiring for me. I really did love him and had just really gotten over him when he contacted me and it has been an emotional roller coster for me trying to decide what I want since I have a decision to make. 

I'm still on the fence but the fence starting to lean one way pretty strongly and it is not in his favor.

With all that fun going on my time with Katai and at the barn should have been my escape but that has not proven to be the case. In my last post I wrote about how Katai in heat was a pain to deal with but I was starting to have my doubts that it had anything to do with hormones and with the new supplements really starting to make a difference in her comfort and behavior I have come very strongly to the conclusion that it has more to do with J.

I really, really, really, really didn't want that to be the case. I am not someone who questions her instructors. I've been taking serious lessons since I was five, not in riding, but in music but I gave and was taught to give those instructors my utmost respect and NEVER questioned them. If something hurt or I had questions I asked and we came up with a plan which I followed. I've had excellent instructors my whole life and stuck with all of them for 7+ years until they told me and/or my mom that it was time to move on to someone with more experience. With that being said I have lost so much respect for J after my last few lessons that I am beginning to think of moving my pony.

The issue is the trot. J wants a slow trot, with Katai carrying herself on her hind legs, and with an upright neck and head. Basically a 3rd level+ frame and carriage. I'm no Dressage expert but 

it. is. too. soon.  

and this has of course been proven by Katai's discomfort, tense back, canter/trot/gaiting mess, etc. She is not even a 90 day horse at this point and more importantly, she has an amateur rider. What I KNOW needs to happen is long and low, lifted back, slowly more uphill, and slowly changing the speed of her trot until she can carry herself properly for a few strides at a time and then build on that. J doesn't just want this advanced frame for a stride she wants it the whole, damn half hour lesson and I know it's bullshit. Even if Katai was ready for it, and she is not, I am not. I'm an amateur rider for heavens sake riding a horse that I have made slowly and with great care so as to not screw anything up. I know I take that risk since I am not an expert.

I'm mad, and have been mad, because Katai is my girl. It is up to me to protect her and speak for her and its not something I'm good at but even beyond that J is just so domineering that she will not listen to a word I say. I have been trying to not mess up my pony while J seems to be trying her damnedest to do just that plus I can't get it out of my head that it's because she dislikes Katai and just wants to prove to me that she is unsutable for this.

I'm mad that I put us in this place.

On Monday this week I got us out of the arena, away from J's eyes as she taught other lessons. I rode Katai in an open field and despite all of the things that she could have had issues with and the fact that I have not riden her anywhere but the indoor arena since I moved her to this stable she was perfect. She listened, she generalized knowledge, she realized that she still needed to listen to my leg and seat even in a different and exciting place. Most importantly she troted, fast but even with her back lifted and her head low, curved and relaxed. Her back swung. She didn't duck behind the verticle. I had steering AND brakes. She pushed up hills and maintained her pace and got only a slight bit faster going down them. She evenly and quietly changed to a canter and back to a trot off my seat. She was perfect and I do not deny that without J we would never be here but I can't ignore where she is trying to take us.

I've had three lessons of this madness despite me trying to just get her to let me allow Katai to trot a little faster she litterally takes the reins out of my hands and walks along next to us expecting Katai to trot at her walking speed. This makes Katai try this tense, tiny prancy walk with no carriage and so much tension that she feels like she is going to snap but even beyond this if it were just Katai I would continue to put my trust in J. It's the fact that I've seen more and more of her students ride and almost every single horse is hollow, tense, prancy, and nervous. Not something I saw in the two months I took lessons before moving there but not something I'm going to ignore now.

To me, it's time to move and I have a few options. There are three serious dressage/eventing barns in the area and two barns that are very eclectic both with dressage trainers as well as western, english, jumper, hunter, etc. 

I have mixed feelings because the two eclectic barns are the cheapest but both have trails, indoor and outdoor arenas and instruction. One of the instructors is better than the other but that barn is WAY more crowded and busy and I'm just not sure its a good place to put Katai.

 One of the serious barns is home to a dressage trainer that is on the high performance list for the Olympics as well as an eventer that teaches dressage lessons. I would certainly not need lessons from the dressage instructor but having her available would make me feel like I could stay for the long term. I have actually asked to be on the wait list for pasture since it sounds like it could be a long time and that barn is closest to the location that I hope to move when I'm ready to move on at work.

The second of the more serious barns has a great eventing/hunter/jumper instructor that I've taken several lessons with but they only do stall board and I'm still not convinced that I'm ok with that plus the fact that just stall board is the same price as pasture + weekly lessons where I am now.

The third of the more serious barns is the one that I am leaning to the most strongly right now. I'm not sure if I blogged about it but I've taken a lesson with the instructor and I enjoyed it. It was more fun than lessons with J have been plus she does a lot of natural horsemanship and groundwork with her students. I'm sure she could and would help me with Katai's phobia of fly spray, clippers and help with getting her more relaxed for trailer loading. Those things would be far more valuable to me than continued dressage training at this point. Board, if there is pasture available, plus lessons would cost $5 more per month than I am paying now. Yes, $5. I think my budget can handle that. It's also only about 10 minutes further away and since most of my other choices are 20+ more minutes away it is one of the closest options as well.

I really did not want to be moving again or making this decision again. I wanted to stay at my current barn for years and I know some people who read this will think I'm jumping the gun but seriously, if you saw the way that she is starting to treat my pony paired with the attitudes of the other horses at the barn you would be jumping ship as well.