Not-So-Speedy Dressage

Flying Changes on Speedy

5/30/2023

Speedy hasn't seen much action lately, and that makes him cranky. Since his newest lady hasn't been out in a month or so, he's had to put up with me riding him, and he. Does. Not. Like. It. Two weeks ago I took him out around the neighborhood, and that he liked. We tootled, we ambled, and we took our time. By this weekend though, he was giving me dirty looks, so I saddled up for a similar ride.

On my way to the golf course part of the loop, I stumbled over a very large turtle. With the river so high, it seems as though some of the wild life is heading our way. I stopped to take its picture which it found quite annoying. We then headed out towards the cherry orchard which is loaded with cherries I dare not eat. Ten years or so ago the property owner erected a substantial brick wall to keep people out of his orchard, so I ride through without picking anything. I don't want to get kicked out, but they were tempting. Instead of walking along the river, I stayed well cleared and circled back behind the houses.

He was easily a foot long.

As we made the turn for home, Speedy's plodding steps took on a new life and he fairly danced toward the ranch. I let him trot home even though his head was in the clouds and he was shaking it saucily. Little stinker.

I rode well clear of the river or anything that might contain quicksand.

Given that he felt so sassy, I decided to do a little bit of work in the arena. Oh my. He was a real booger. I was riding in a dressage saddle, but like always, I opted to ride in a riding rope halter. I don't need a bit when I ride Speedy. As we headed in through the arena gate, Speedy's perky little attitude went flat. He did not want to work, but I wanted to see what he still had. It took a bunch of work to get him to pick up a canter, but he finally did it even though it was flat and he was glaring at me every time he flung his head in an effort to show me how grouchy he was.

Despite the attitude, I asked for a flying change. He missed it, but on the second ask he gave it to me. The same thing happened on the opposite lead. Just like in the "old days," he popped into both new leads cleanly. After we got the second one, I praised him like crazy, and all was forgiven. On both sides.

I am once again looking for someone who wants to ride a very willing schoolmaster. He's not thrilled about having me work him in the arena - I think he knows I'll ask him to really work, but he loves working for other riders, particularly riders who are new to dressage.

Reach out to me if you need some saddle time. Speedy would love it!

Memorial Day Sales

5/29/2023

I mostly made it through Saturday and Sunday without doing too much online horse shopping, but the sales aren't quite yet finished. Two of my favorite places are having sales that are making it very difficult to resist.

#1 Esprit Equestrian

Esprit Equestrian doesn't do a lot of sales as their breeches are already priced pretty competitively, so when they knock off $5, my instinct is to BUY BUY BUY! I've had my eye on a pair of Classics in Slate Grey, but I am trying to resist, especially since we're leaving for Europe next week. I already have the Classics in Mahogany, Navy, Black along with the White PROs 2.0 and Hunter Green PROs which are no longer available. And of course I have two surcingle belts that pair with the breeches perfectly.

If you're looking for a comfortable pair of tights/breeches, get these; you won't be disappointed, but hurry. Today is the last day of the sale. Oh, and if you do order a pair, you might try my discount code for a few bucks off: bakersfielddressage.

#2 Riding Warehouse

Today is the last day of Riding Warehouse's Stock Up for Summer Sale. I had planned to resist entirely, but then I remembered that I had a little left over on my Riding Warehouse Gift Card that my mom sent me for my birthday. As soon as it got hot, I pulled out a brand new fly mask for Izzy that I ordered at the end of last summer. Within two or three days it was shredded to nothing. Jerk. I had just enough left on the card to get him a new one. Again, jerk! I went with the Kensington 73% UV Fly Mask w/Web Trim - Exclusive. At under $30, I was willing to give it a try.

While the sales aren't over yet, I am trying really hard to leave my credit card in my wallet for the rest of the day. What about you?

Hitting the Dirt

5/26/2023

In the eight or nine years that I've owned Izzy, I've yet to come off him while he was still vertical. That doesn't mean we haven't had a spill because we have, twice, and one of them happened on Monday. Seven or eight years ago, we were cantering. He lost his balance and did a mini somersault spilling us both to the ground. I was unhurt, but he came up sore.

It was close to 100 degrees on Monday, and I was not up to doing any real work, so I opted for a short trail ride. I chose a route that Speedy enjoys even though I knew it might challenge Izzy a bit. You can see from the map that there is nothing inherently tricky about the loop. I follow an unpaved road until I cross the old golf course, then circle counter clockwise through a cherry orchard, and then meander along the river until I cut through a hedge to get back to the barn.

Izzy was being his regular tense and high headed self. He simply can't just mosey along. No matter how many trail rides we've done, his default is still to be high headed and on alert. He is certain dragons are going to swoop out of the sky and cart him off for dinner. I manage him though and we always get home safely. In the photo above, you can see where the Kern River normally is. That's not where it is right now. The river is creeping up closer and closer to the row of houses that dot the landscape above the river.

As we headed toward home, the lower half of the blue-green line, I rode across the neighbor's lawn, almost at his back door because his lawn was saturated with water. Without being able to follow my regular route which tracks closer to the river, I had to find a way around the next house that didn't have me traipsing across his lawn. I saw a small ditch filled with dead foxtails. I paused on the berm as I looked both left and right for the best path to get back on the dirt road.

I turned Izzy to the left and asked him to step forward. Without hesitating, he stepped down into the ditch and quickly sank to his belly in quicksand. He heaved and lunged as he tried to pull himself out, but with my weight on his back, he wasn't going anywhere safely. I quickly stepped out of the saddle and backed up onto the hard packed road. I tugged on the reins to turn Izzy's head my way and encouraged him to push out. He gave a massive grunt and leaped beside me.

He was pretty rattled but otherwise fine. I gave him a quick going over making sure that he was uninjured and that his shoes were still attached. I dusted both of us off - we were both covered in sand, and led him over to a tractor that I used as a mounting block. After patting his neck for a bit, he sidled up next to the tractor and let me get back on. We headed back home where he was quite relieved to get a cool shower and a chance to graze on the lawn.

Red faced, dirty, and dusty - but still smiling.

Throughout the whole ordeal, I kept my wits about me. Surprisingly, this was not my first encounter with quicksand. It wasn't even my second (or third). Living on a river that rises and falls depending on rain or snow melt means that there are frequently boggy or deep sandy spots like the one I stumbled into. The quicksand we found was very dry on top, but I think that deep down the water table has risen so high that it is seeping up towards the surface.

After I untacked Izzy, I gave myself a quick check and discovered sand deep in my boots, down in my sports bra, and even in my ears. I don't think I actually hit the ground as I was mounted the whole time, but I think when Izzy dropped so suddenly through the surface of the sand, we both scooped up a lot of dirt. It was definitely not the ride I was expecting, but I was really pleased with how trusting Izzy was. That is one thing I love about this horse. When he's in trouble, he always waits for a human to help him out.

I am glad he trusts me, but he might really hate trail rides now.

Body Awareness

5/25/2023

Over the past two years, and especially over the past few months, I have seen some profound changes in my riding. For so, so long, I struggled to simply not suck. Forget about being good. Being "good" is of course relative. To my utter embarrassment, my mom constantly tells people - quite often complete strangers, what a fantastic rider I am. In my mom's opinion, I am Olympic material. Compared to non-riders, I am a fantastic rider, but compared to the Charlotte Dujardins of the world, I am just trying not to embarrass myself. Even with understanding that being good is relative, I have begun feeling pretty positive about my effectiveness as a rider.

Over the weekend, Izzy gave me some less than pleasant rides. And even though he was a bit of an ass, I still felt great about what we did. Sean Cunningham, owner and trainer at STC Dressage, has given me some especially powerful tools. And even better is that I know when and how to use them. During Sunday's lesson, Izzy decided to spook at the ranch owner's horse as they walked by. I am okay with spooking at unusual stuff, but a horse calmly walking by is not one of them. I didn't get frustrated or angry; I simply slowed everything down so that Izzy's mental hamsters could get back on their wheel.

I was rewarded with a horse who got right back to work. Now that I have control, Sean is able to help me work on real stuff. Lately, that has meant tweaking my aids and my position which has allowed me to feel some brand new things. The more relaxed and loose I am through my body, the more I have been able to positively affect Izzy's body. I am starting to feel subtle things that simply weren't there even a month ago.

I've always known what was meant by holding the horse with your seat, but I was never strong enough or balanced enough to do it. Now, my seat plugs into the saddle, and I am relying less and less on my reins to slow down or even halt. My control over Izzy's shoulders is also vastly improved. Sean had me really think about how I could move Izzy's shoulders around by riding renvers. To my surprise, I felt exactly what he was talking about.

I've also been working on my chicken wing elbows - I find that my right elbow wants to stick out. After watching me for a few moments on Sunday, Sean pointed out that my right elbow sticks out when I pull on the inside rein. I do that because I can't get the inside bend. Sean commented that it wasn't a bend issue. Instead, he explained that it happens when I let the left shoulder fall out. By straightening the shoulders and getting them in front of Izzy's haunches, I was able to put Izzy on the outside rein which allowed me to carry my right hind in front of myself instead of back and out.

The work I've been doing with Sean has been so subtle and very specific. The more balanced that I get as a rider, the more effective I become with just small tweaks here and there. By staying loose through my ankles, knees, hips and shoulders, Izzy stays softer which gives me even more control. When I watch videos of my rides, I still don't recognize the changes in my riding, but I definitely see how much fancier Izzy is beginning to look. He doesn't have the sewing machine trot from just a year or so ago, and he's beginning to get some bounce in his stride. This tells me I am riding better and better.

When I quit trying to succeed and ride my horse instead, my riding gets a whole lot better.

M.A.R.E - Week 17

5/24/2023

Today is my final day as a MARE volunteer. While I am looking forward to having my Wednesdays back, I'm also a bit sad to be leaving. Being a volunteer has been a very rewarding experience.

Wednesday afternoons have really filled up. We have four kiddos that ride in three lessons while I am there, a little boy, two girls, and the 5th grader that has quickly become my favorite. Last Wednesday, our first little guy was a no-show which was disappointing as Trainer 2 had worked on some songs to try to get him to engage with us. The two girls showed up for their lesson though as did our last kiddo of the day.

Me with Cricket the Haflinger.

My little lady rider got to use the reins for stopping and turning. Since she's a little uncoordinated, the reins were clipped to the riding halter so that she wouldn't annoy Cricket. Instead of the rides where the kids find puzzle pieces or toss bean bags into buckets, the lesson was about influencing the horse with the reins in order to execute right and left turns.

For the 5th Grader's lesson, he was working on go, whoa, and turning almost solo. My job was to be there in case of an emergency or spook. He used a side walker for one lap around the arena, but after that it was just him and me with Trainer 1 keeping a close eye.

Cricket and Haven

It was by far the funnest lesson I've done at MARE. T1 set up a speaker and asked our 5th Grader what kind of music he liked. She had him do a Red Light- Green Light sort of game where he whoa'ed Smoothie when the music stopped and then sent him forward when the music started up again. For turning right and left, she had him follow her around the arena as she weaved between cones and did figure eights.

It's a challenge for the horse handler to keep control while still allowing the rider to be effective with the aids. Smoothie followed T1 to some degree, and I am sure my body position affected him in the turns as well, but I really did try to let the rider make the turns without my help. It was so much fun to see our rider feel empowered as he rode.

There was talk that this particular rider might get to ride on his own this afternoon. I sure hope so!

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