Not To Plan = New Lists

Nice peaceful barn

My plan was to get back from OH on Tuesday morning, go into to work for part of the day, and then head to the barn in the evening. Instead I ended up starting to get sick (stomach flu like symptoms) on the flight back. I was pretty miserable yesterday evening and it got even worse overnight. My fever stopped sometime in the morning when I was dozing but by that point I only ended up with about 2ish hours of sleep before my alarm went off. I called into work but still did a few things from home so that we didn't need to reschedule people.

That was miserable on so little sleep and I was so low on calories at that point that with both combined I was still chilled and feeling light headed. I napped a couple more times throughout the day and in the afternoon I managed to keep down some toast and ginger ale.

I was feeling enough comparatively better by evening, and knew that Katai was going to run out of supplements, that I decided to drive out to drop off supplements and check on Katai. I probably shouldn't have since I still felt like crap but I was successful in my mission but napped again as soon as I got back. Not sure if any of this even makes sense since I'm so sleep deprived still but updating lists was something I could get done.

First, to catch up with the last list.

Plans for moving week (Week of April 15th):
-move pony to the new barn - Done
-move stuff to the new barn - Sort of done, still need space for the rest of my stuff but it's living in my car for now
-confirm show plans for the summer/at least the next few months so that I can request PTO
-ride at least 3 times and make use of the move to practice for riding in a new space - Done!
-schedule lesson(s) with S2

She still remembered me

New Lists!

Last Week in April:
-Ride/lunge/hand trail walk at least four days including Saturday
-Ride with M on Saturday morning!!
-Get my car (current tackroom) organized
-Walk Katai's warmer blankets (and get them out of my car!)
-Continue to treat Katai's thrush
-Schedule lessons with S2 (moving from above)
-Determine show plans (moving from above)

First Week in May:
-Try to ride/work Katai 5 days hopefully including some outdoor riding
-Hopefully have a lesson with S2 if I haven't already
-Make sure I get all my coggins and other show paperwork in order
-Register Katai with USEquestrian and NDPC (I already have my memberships but need to get these two done)

Second Week in May:
-Make sure my show clothes and other equipment are ready to go and that I'm not missing anything
-Ride 5 times
-Work on memorizing 1st level tests
-Register for show? (I think it will be this week and hopefully S2 will still think we're ready)
-Book hotel?
-Figure out method for transporting my show stuff
-Ride movements from tests
-Arrange someone to watch puppies

Third Week in May:
- Have another lesson with S2 potentially depending on availability
-Ride at least 5 times
-Ride through tests

Hopefully I'll feel well enough tomorrow even after work that I'll be able to get out to the barn and actually accomplish a bit. Now it's time for bed at 2 hours early.

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!

Announcements!

These may not be exciting to anyone other than me but I am pretty thrilled and want to share.

 

First of all, I believe I mentioned that my friend H had moved to my previous barn, with J as a coach, last summer. I was so excited to have her there but then as things started to go downhill I felt guilty. When I left I didn’t want to put any pressure on her to leave as well since she was in a very different place with J based on her own riding but mostly on her pony since J didn’t think he was “completely worthless”. I talked to her, of course, and explained why I was leaving and she witnessed some of J’s behavior to me but I didn’t want to feel like I was dragging her away with me so I mostly kept my feelings to myself.

 

                    H's Adorable Pony

Fast forward to last week when I met up with H for lunch. We started talking about lessons and how things were going and I could tell she wasn’t happy. She was mostly positive and trying to explain how things were going in the best possible light but she was upset so I talked her through it and eventually, on the drive to a tack shop for some retail therapy, she vented her way to realizing that it was time for her to move. I was still trying not to influence her much but I could tell that she was starting to see a lot of the same things I did when I left so I was glad when she stated that she was going to start looking.

 

I gave her some of the contacts that I knew about and she looked into them but also looked into a few options with contacts that she got from her friends. She was going to set up a lesson with the trainer I’m going to start working with (Y) but there were reasons for her to look elsewhere.

 

H lives about 1-1.5 hours away from where I live and the barn we both boarded at was sort of in the middle. About 25 minutes away from me and about 45 minutes away from her but she had to contend with more traffic. Now I’ll be driving about 45 minutes to the new barn but it would have still been about 35-40 minutes away from where she lives so when she realized that a top dressage trainer had a barn and training program only 20 minutes from her house she jumped on it. Most exciting to both of us, since we both are passionate about ponies in dressage, this trainer is one of the people on the Pony Task Force!! She’s went to see a lesson and has officially got a spot at this trainer’s (who I will call P for Pony) barn. I am wishing her all the best and can’t wait to go see her take a lesson. It’s wonderful to know that she has found such a great situation and I’m extremely happy for her.

 

I do have to admit that I am very slightly jealous. This is such an incredible opportunity for someone that loves ponies and wants to only every ride shorter equines. However, while every review is glowingly positive for P, I actually think that even if it weren’t for the 1.5-2 hour drive to study with P I would chose Y just based on teaching style, personality, and boarding options. I can hardly believe that I get to move a week from Sunday and it feels like Christmas J

 

The other exciting news I have is probably even less exciting to the general public but I am so happy and relieved that I can’t even describe it! As anyone who owns horses knows saddle shopping is like hell. Even if you have an unlimited budget it can be horrific trying to find a saddle that fits both the rider and horse for more than a month and if you add any type of budget to the mix it gets ten times more difficult. Now add oddly shaped equine to the mix and it really seems impossible. I’ve been wanting to consider custom saddles for awhile but my budget is just not $4000-$5000 dollars and that would only buy me a mid to lower end custom saddle brand (at least from the brands I was aware of). However, after much searching I finally found a custom saddle company that will make a completely custom saddle in my budget and that has almost only positive reviews.

 

          I think I'll pair it with this bridle

I believe I’ve narrowed down which of their models I’m most interested in and reached out by email earlier this week to get some more feedback on what my budget will need to be for what I want. I’ve made it my goal to order by the end of May/June and will make that work even if I need to get a part time job for awhile to pay for it. I’ve also listed some of my collectables for sale to help me get to my goal. I am so freaking excited that I finally found the answer to my saddle fitting woes! I promise I will share more information and pictures once I’m sure I’m heading down the right path and then Swanky Saddle here I come!