Again.

​This is at least the sixth time. While he might not always be going for death, I think dismemberment might be one of his goals as well.
Let me recap:

• He tried to debone his own leg last January.
• He tried to hang himself from a swinging Jolly Ball (barn owner saved him).
• He tried to dislocate a leg by getting hung up in a rubber feed bucket (another barn owner save).
• The farrier rescued him from a Freedom Feeder hay net when his first two attempts at ripping off his leg failed. 
• I found him with his shoe (still attached to his foot) hung up on the neighbor's fence.

And then last week he tried to break all four legs at once by getting cast in the wash rack. To tell you the complete truth, I do not know what happened other than it was pretty terrifying.

Essentially, I hosed him off, walked away for minute, and heard grunting and scrambling. I turned around and ran back to the wash rack (20 feet) where I saw Izzy lying on his side with one of his front legs on one side of the wash rack's front leg and the rest of his legs on the other side. The cross ties had snapped free like they are supposed to do, thankfully. ​

Izzy got cast on Friday night, the evening before I left for Horse Expo. I gave him some Bute that evening and was pleased that he looked no worse for wear the next morning when I arrived to load up Speedy. Even so, I knew he was going to be sore.

The chiropractor came on Monday, and I was right, Izzy was sore from nose to tail. It took more than hour to get him feeling better, but after some body work, Izzy was good to go.

To my relief, the chiropractor didn't find anything other than some muscle soreness. There was no heat or filling anywhere, and he trotted off sound. I rode him on Thursday and then again this past weekend. Other than being a jerk, he's as sound as can be. Not bad for a horse who keeps trying to break his own legs.

First of all  ... HALLELUJAH ... If you've ever been without internet, you know my pain. We went silent on Thursday and weren't back up and running until Monday evening. It was the longest weekend of my life. It is amazing how much of our lives are conducted on the world wide web. I have an iphone of course, but checking bank balances, researching puppy food, and paying taxes are not so easy to do with a tiny screen and mini key board.

I must apologize to my trusty modem - sorry, Dude, you weren't to blame after all. Anyone want to guess why we lost connectivity?

Why yes, yes it was little Miss Brienne of Tarth. Booger. The puppy found the internet line and worked on it until she successfully disconnected us from the world at large. The new line has been installed at about five feet above the ground. By the time she can reach it, she should be long past the chewing stage of life. 

While I am sure that you find all of this incredibly fascinating, it's not what I've been wanting to write about. And frankly, now that more than a week has passed, I am over the whole Expo thing even though I had tons of stuff left to share. I'll give it a shot though.

Last week, I mostly talked about the nuts and bolts of Chemaine's program. By the way, before I forget to mention it, she's been invited to be the dressage clinician at Horse Expo in Sacramento in June. I am not sure if she has accepted the invitation or not, but I already know I can't go. As luck would have it, we leave for Italy that very same weekend. That's not on topic either. I leave the blogging world for an extended weekend and suddenly I am an incoherent writer.

What I wanted to say was that being a demo rider is really one of the coolest experiences that I've had. I can't imagine any show that I would attend ever being any more daunting than riding in an hour-long demonstration. What I most loved about it was that I was able to completely tune out the audience and just ride. I cannot begin to describe what a liberating experience that was. ​

Even though I tuned the audience out, I was still very much aware of the deficiencies in my riding. When I asked my best friend how we came across to the audience, I think she was honest in her response when she said we looked really good. I think she was actually a bit surprised at the quality of our ride - she's known me for more than 20 years, so she's seen all of the before. 

​She wasn't saying we were brilliant or anything, and she quickly added that we have stuff to work on, but her point was that we looked like we belonged there. I think she was impressed by our progress. That was a huge relief to hear because I work hard, but I don't usually see the improvement.

Knowing that we have said deficiencies made the whole endeavor feel so intimidating, but I approached it like I do this blog. From my own experience, I know there are far more riders out there like me, struggling, than there are finished riders.

I rode for those people, the ones who need to see a horse and rider messing up because that's what happens to them at home. By watching me struggle, they were able to listen to Chemaine's corrections and maybe take away some ideas to help them fix something at home.

So there you go - my final thoughts on being a demo rider at Horse Expo. There was much potential for humiliation and failure, but I focused on compartmentalizing those concerns and locked the doors tightly. Instead of riding with those fears, I focused on how I could help riders like me see solutions to our common problems. I hope I was successful.

While we consider ourselves to be fairly techie at my house, we also operate under the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" mentality. That means that we still have DSL at our house. Sort of. Last weekend, our modem 11-year old modem finally gave up the ghost.

When I went to replace said modem, I was met with the reality that we are quite a ways behind the eight ball. Replacement modems of the sort that I need are no longer readily available on retail shelves. My internet provider had one, for a whopping $100, but the decision was made to simply upgrade to a cable connection.

So. This morning, my DSL light blinked a steady red warning which meant I was forced to write a quick post from somewhere else. I have more to share about Expo, and I definitely want to reply to your comments. I also have some posts about Izzy trying to kill himself (spoiler alert: he's fine) and reviews about my new boots and breeches, but my updated internet service won't be hooked up until Monday afternoon.

With that, have a great three day weekend, and I will see you all on Tuesday!

Sunday dawned warm and sunny. I had been really anxious about the weekend, mostly out of fear of making Chemaine look bad, but after watching everyone else's rides on Saturday, the anxiety disappeared.

Chemaine did a really good job of describing each rider's ability while also letting the audience know that each horse and rider team would perform the exercises differently, depending on the horse and rider's level of training. Knowing that the audience wasn't going to expect Speedy and me to look as good as Jackie on Chemaine's Grand Prix horse was very liberating.

Just so you can see what the warm up was like, here's a short video that shows the group that rode in front of us leaving the arena as we entered. The ring was a bit chaotic as they left and we started warming up. Speedy was a bit silly, and for a moment or two, I wondered if he was going to be able to focus on his job.

Once it was just us riding, Speedy started to really settle down and focus on what I was asking him to do. He didn't turn into an upper level horse or anything, but he was pretty business like.

Chemane started things off by giving a quick introduction of each of the riders. This clinic was titled, "The Horse You Rode In On," so Chemaine had a variety of breeds and disciplines represented. There was me on an Arabian who had started life as an endurance horse; Marie on her Quarter Horse, Frankie; Shauna, a jumper, riding Van; and of course Chemaine's assistant, Jackie, riding Chemaine's horse, Belle.

We started with easy exercises like bending, but then we moved on to a counter canter exercise. We've struggled with this a bit, but with Chemaine's commentary, I didn't feel like a failure for not getting it the first time. In fact, if you listen to Chemaine's comment about my attempts, you get the sense that she expected us to need several tries, just like the audience would if they went home and tried it for themselves. I think that by having "real life" riders, and not just the finished product, the exercises looked more accessible for the average Joe/Josephina.

Chemaine also took a moment to show the audience how to check if your horse is truly supple. She does this neat demonstration where she changes the bend while standing on the ground. Watch for yourself.

My portion of the demo was to show the different ways you can ride 10-meter circles within a serpentine.  As you ride a three loop serpentine, you can do a figure eight at the center line. We started with a trot on the three-loop serpentine, but we used the 10-meter figure eight to change the bend through a walk.

After doing the exercise at a trot, we moved on to the canter. When we got to center line, I was supposed to canter a 10-meter circle, walk, change the bend, and pick up the new lead into another 10-meter circle and then continue on with the 3-loop serpentine, repeating the two 10-meter circles on the center line. 

This exercise is challenging. First of all, getting the geometry right is harder than it looks, Secondly, if you don't get a correct change of bend, the horse will pick up the wrong lead. While riding the exercise, I didn't stick to the structure of the exercise as much as I focused on getting the bend and the correct lead. Chemaine didn't hassle me about it even though I am sure she wanted the audience to see it done correctly. 

After I rode, Chemaine had each of the other ladies demonstrate a different exercise. Marie rode the 20-meter circle wth the 10-meter circles off to the side (think of a Mickey mouse head); Jackie showed off all of Belle's moves which included an unbelievable extended trot, piaffe, and passage; and Shauna showed how lead changes learned through Van's dressage work help her on a jumper course.

While riding was undeniably awesome, visiting with the crowd afterwards was almost as much fun. I knew Speedy would totally dig this part as he is a total show off and loves his "fans." Again, not every horse would have been comfortable standing at the fence line as a crowd of people clambered down from the bleachers to get closer. All four horses took it in stride.

It was great fun chatting with the crowd. I met two blog readers (Hi, Ladies!) and a mother with her two young daughters. The youngest girl rode dressage while her slightly older sister was a jumper. They were simply adorable. I spent quite a bit of time asking them about their own horses as they stroked Speedy's neck and face. He ate it up, the little diva.

All I can say is what a weekend. I can't thank Chemanine enough for giving me the opportunity to ride in such a "big" atmosphere. It was a great learning experience for both Speedy and me. Now we'll be ready for the big time!

Before doing the demo ride on Sunday, I asked Chemaine if we could do a lesson on Saturday night. I was thrilled when she made time in her schedule to school us through the exercises that she wanted us to demonstrate the next day.

I should point out that being one of Chemaine's demo rider ranks up there as one of the most enjoyable, exhilarating, and awesome things that I have had the opportunity to do with horses. And I have completed 100-mile endurance rides, ridden across the Irish countryside, galloped on the beaches of the Pacific Ocean, jumped fallen redwoods in Redwood National Park, and ridden horses in at least five different countries. Even with all of that, being a demo rider was pretty damn cool.

Even taking a lesson at the Fairplex was exciting. We rode in the racetrack's infield, just behind the main arena with music blaring and the announcer calling out introductions. As my lesson started, the track's lights came on, and the atmosphere became almost electric. Speedy sure felt it!

Chemaine had us start with a changing the bend exercise. Basically, it's a figure eight, but in the straight section, the rider 1) takes up the outside rein, 2) weights the new inside seat bone, 3) sponges the new inside rein to get a bend, and 4) RELEASES the new inside rein. The exercise can be done at the walk, trot to walk to trot, trot - change the bend - trot, canter to trot to canter, and even canter to lead change to canter.

The video is super short, but it shows how we started: trot a 20-meter circle, walk, change the bend, trot the other 20-meter circle. The exercise just builds in complexity from there. After we warmed up by doing it at a trot, we moved on to the canter.

For the canter, I brought him back to a trot and then a walk where I changed the bend and then changed the lead. As the exercise gets more complex, the downward transitions become canter to walk transitions in preparation for Second Level Test 1, and ultimately for flying changes.

This little video clip is funny because my friends are heckling me as we struggle with getting the correct lead. I am including it just for fun.

As it got darker, more and more riders came out onto the field in preparation for the evening program that was gearing up in the main arena. Speedy started woohooing, and my support team/photographer took a few minutes to poke fun at us. So, for all of the Speedy fans out there who don't believe that he can be a jerk, here's proof that he can be full of piss and vinegar. 

For the rest of the lesson we focused on the counter canter. I play around with counter canter all of the time, but not picking it up. If we're cantering on a left lead, I'll circle around and do a 20-meter counter canter circle but then return to a true canter. Chemaine wanted me to be able to pick up the counter canter on the long side for the demo ride.

Speedy can pick up both leads equally as well when the direction of travel is obvious. If we're circling right, he gets the right lead. If we're circle left, same thing. On the long side however, I am not as good with my seat aids, so he simply defaults to a true canter lead, or a left lead if the option isn't super clear. In this last video, Chemaine was really encouraging me to look in the direction of the lead. For me, picking up the right lead was the most difficult as my right hip has trouble coming forward.

I really enjoyed this lesson because we worked on some new things in a huge, wide open field with a lot of distractions. There were riders carrying flags, western horses schooling their stuff, lights, and the loudspeaker blaring music and voices. Through it all, Speedy mostly did what I asked. Even though we struggled with some of the exercises, I was really proud of him as a lot of other horses would have lost it in those conditions.

Tomorrow: the demo ride!

Kathy and I had Speedy G loaded and on the road by 7:00 a.m. Pomona is in the heart of southern California which means tons of freeway interchanges and heavy traffic. We've done the drive together many times by car and one other time with Speedy, so the traffic was no big deal. We laughed the entire two and a half hours and arrived just in time to catch Chemaine's first presentation.

We spent the rest of the morning shopping; how did I spend so much yet come home with nothing? We grabbed some burgers and then zipped over to the main arena to watch Clinton Anderson. He was riding his gelding, Diez (holy cow is that a nice horse!).

Clinton Anderson is hands down my favorite of the big name trainers, and I am pretty much on board with most of his method. And even though he started off by poking fun at dressage riders and all of their fancy "speak" for what he thinks of as stuff a suppled and obedient horse should be able to do, I still found him highly entertaining.

We saw him just after watching Chemaine's presentation. Kathy and I laughed hysterically because his program was nearly identical to hers. He stressed that everything you ask of the horse should be broken down into simple steps, and then he described Chemaine's change the bend with a 1-2-3-4 count. It was almost as though he had gone to see her technique and incorporated into his own show.

He hadn't done that of course. Good training is just good training, and no one has a monopoly on what is effective. Clinton then went on to demonstrate how haunches in and shoulder in also help supple horses. It was really validating to watch my dressage trainer's exercises being done by a world renowned trainer on a western horse.

Later in the afternoon, we went and watched Chemaine doing her yoga ball presentation. The crowd really enjoyed it, and most of the women, while a bit shy, really wanted to get up there and use the yoga ball along with her. Chemaine had attached reins to the benches in front of the yoga balls so that riders could practice using their seats while feeling whether they were balancing on the reins or using their seats independently.

Chemaine had a Symphony Dressage Stables booth set up in the building, so we made sure to stop by so that I could pick up my Team Symphony t-shirts - a short sleeve and a long sleeve.

Once Chemaine was finished with her official duties as an Expo clinician, she met me out on Pomona's now defunct horse racing track for an evening lesson under the lights, but that's tomorrow's post.

I had a great weekend and can't wait to tell you all about it, but we are currently experiencing technical difficulties. My modem is failing, so I can't write a real blog post today. I am hoping to have everything up and running for tomorrow.

So for today, here's a photo of Chemaine after she put Speedy in his stall for me while I was off shopping at the Expo's vendor area.

It is slightly disconcerting to feel over-the-moon excited while at the same time feeling terrified down to my toes. It's left me feeling a bit out of sorts over the past week or so. I haven't written about it because I call it "borrowing trouble." Nothing has happened ... yet, and for all I know, things are going to go better than I expect. 

Chemaine Hurtado, owner and trainer of Symphony Dressage Stables based in Moorpark, California, is the dressage clinician at this year's Horse Expo in Pomona. She's also my dressage trainer.

This is a fantastic opportunity for her. She'll get to share her "brand" of dressage, and since Pomona is only a short drive from Moorpark, she'll have the chance to connect with other well-known trainers and future clients.

Chemaine's clients are affectionately known as Team Symphony. Whether you have a horse in full training or you just catch a few lessons a month, like me, you are part of the team. Chemaine's clients proudly sport the Symphony logo on everything from saddle pads, to window stickers, and of course on t-shirts and jackets.

All of this sounds great, right? So where does the terrified part come in? Well ... Chemaine asked me to be one of her demo riders. Before you get too excited, I think her pool of eligible candidates was fairly small. You see, I was asked to be a demo rider for her third clinic which is one where she wants to focus on non-traditional breeds doing dressage. That's us.

Each day's riding clinic focuses on something different. The first two days are pretty traditional. For these two days, Chemaine's assistant, daughter, and my dear friend, Jen (who this year moved to the FEI level) will be her riders.

On Sunday, I will be riding Speedy G along with Sarah and her quarter horse, Reno, and a third rider who will be aboard Van, an event horse.

I tried to talk Chemaine out of using us, not because I don't think it will be a super awesome experience, but because I worry about not being good enough to be a demo rider for an event that attracts tens of thousands of people. ACK. I am freaked out just writing this.

I am not worried about looking like an idiot and embarrassing myself. Seriously - I do that all the time on the internet. I am more terrified of blowing Chemaine's opportunity to showcase her program. What if people look at me and think, Crap! That's the best this trainer can do? 

Chemaine asked me to be a rider at least a month ago, but I hesitated to share the news because a) Speedy was lame and not looking like he was going to make it; and b) I didn't want people to get all excited for me before I had done anything worth getting excited about.

It should not have surprised me that Chemaine insisted I wasn't going to ruin her chances at making a good impression. And really, if the topic is "The Horse You Rode In On," we should provide excellent fodder for how great dressage is for every horse. I've insisted that Chemaine correct all of our goofs as I don't want her audience thinking she's an idiot. Me, fine, but she should look like she knows what she's doing.

Besides doing riding clinics, Chemaine is also teaching her yoga ball series. She'll have an area set up with yoga balls for attendees to come and try out her yoga ball techniques. It's also a way for people to get to meet her and ask questions. Chemaine's schedule for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday is here. Check it out.

I am leaving early on Saturday morning with best friend coming along as groom and my moral support. We'll get Speedy checked in, and then we'll spend the day checking out the vendors and other clinics. We'll definitely be at Chemaine's presentations as well.

I ride on Sunday. If you happen to be at Expo this weekend, please look me up and say hi. You can email me from the link above or message me on Facebook. I hope that at least some of you will check out Chemaine's clinics. it's going to be a good time!

​See you all on Monday!

I mentioned the other day that Izzy's progress is giant-strided right now. I am wrapping myself in that blanket of goodness because the day will probably come when I am once again writing a for sale ad in my head. Right now, he is decidedly NOT FOR SALE.

I hate writing those blow by blow training posts, but I am feeling the need to articulate not only what's going so well, but why. 

During my last lesson with Chemaine in the middle of January, we worked on getting some inside bend by spiraling in and then leg yielding out. During all of this spiraling and leg yielding, the most important thing was to KEEP THE BEND.

It was such an important idea, that I found myself singing, "It's all about the bend, 'bout that bend, no trouble." And really, it helped. A lot. The more inside bend I was able to achieve, the less trouble Izzy was able to get into.

I've started the exercise at the walk each day that I've done it. Once he maintains that inside bend with no help from me, I repeat it at the trot. The first few days I tackled the exercise, there was trouble. Lots of trouble. I don't know if he finally realized it was not hard or maybe his ribs and neck started to stretch, but after a few days, tracking left got so easy that I didn't really have to do it at the walk to prepare him.

Working to the right took longer. I had to start with his haunches. I found that if I just got a good inside bend, his haunches swung out which let him basically pivot around my inside leg like a merry-go-round horse. That didn't seem right. Once I got his haunches in, I worked the inside rein. It is now almost as soft as when we track left.

Getting all of this inside bend helped us both feel what it's like to be soft on the inside rein. As we schooled the canter, I could feel this big mental block shifting. I haven't had one of those AHA moments in a while. What I started to feel was how how important it was for him to be soft on the inside rein. I also started to feel how I had to "make room" for him to canter.

Chemaine said something that really stuck with me, "Only canter when you have that good boy." She meant when Izzy was bending and being soft on the inside rein. When I ask for the canter now, especially with the right lead, I make sure my inside hip is forward and my outside leg is back. And then I just wait. If he tries to lunge into the canter, I half halt and keep him at the trot.

Here is where my ability to articulate clearly is going to vanish.
​
In my mind, I keep telling myself to just wait for it. All I need to do is give him a space in which to canter. I can feel that the space is where he's soft to the inside rein. He can canter within that area that I've outlined. When I wait for it, he lifts into the canter rather than lunging forward. As soon as he gets the lift, the canter is absolutely amazing from the very first stride.

On Saturday, I was laughing out loud while my heart sang. He was so light in the canter that I was able to ride with my finger tips. We rode a giant square into a 15-meter circle and back to the square. We cantered the long side, spiraled in, and then want back to straight lines. It was utterly fantastic.

Cue ominous music here: cantering to the right isn't there yet. I need some help from Chemaine with that, but even there he is showing progress. Instead of throwing gigantic fits and trying to bolt for the gait, he just shortens his stride and kicks at my inside leg. His counter canter is fantastic; I just can't get and keep a right lead. If he picks it up, he almost immediately swaps to a left lead.

Following Chemaine's suggestion, I just keep on cantering and asking for an inside bend even if it is on the wrong lead. And to make the work even harder, I've been asking him to spiral in on the counter canter lead. Believe it or not, he can pretty much do a 10-meter counter canter circle. I'm hoping he starts to realize that being on a true canter would be a lot more comfortable.

It seems like this winter has been a turning point for this horse. I shouldn't be surprised as I've now had him for just over a year. Even though I haven't been riding him for the whole year, it does seem like the one-year mark is a point at which big changes start to happen. Right now, I could not be happier with this horse.

On Monday, I showed the effects of an El Niño storm on my little neck of the woods. I sensed some raised eyebrows and a bit of skepticism. An inch of rain? Phhhhttt.

I know. It doesn't seem like much when your normal is 20 - 30 inches of rain, but the effects here were of nearly biblical proportions. I started looking for Noah and his ark - I had my two horses ready at the front of the line. 

The next morning, the sky was bright blue and most of the water was gone or hiding out in the deeper recessions. It was so "dry" in fact that my class was able to have its regular P.E. out in the field, mud free. 

My stalls didn't fare so well. Both boys have mud that's nearly a foot deep. But you know Speedy, he hasn't stepped outside since it rained. He is the most fastidious horse I've ever owned. His regular poop spot is under water, so he carefully moved the restroom facility to the farthest corner of his dry spot and has kept the poop very neatly in that one small area.

Izzy doesn't enjoy the mud, but he isn't deterred by it either. He had mud splattered all over his legs and belly, and I think there was even some on his back.

I did ride the day after the storm, but I kept to the neighborhood loop. The arena's footing would have held up for a ride, but I didn't want to test it out. My barn owner turned her horse out though and he galloped around without issue. The footing was perfect for riding yesterday.

The day after the storm, that huge "puddle" that I had to drive through was gone. It was dark when I went home that night, so I didn't get a photo. Here's what it looked like coming home yesterday.

There is no more rain predicted for at least another week, so my stalls will have a little time to dry out. California is not out of the (drought) woods yet, so we need El Niño to make a few more visits. Hopefully he'll be back for more in February.