Part 1
Part 2

​Izzy and I were the last to go on Saturday. And even though Chemaine's day had started with a two-hour drive, she was just as friendly, relaxed, and encouraging for her eighth lesson as she was for her first. If you live anywhere near southern California, you really need to check her out. She's a remarkable trainer, show coach, and all around lovely person.

​All photos by Edyta.

Since Izzy is still a green bean, there are too many things to list as problem areas. With Speedy, both Chemaine and I know what we need to work on. With Izzy, we're still just working on the basics: go when I say, seek the contact, and keep your shoulders where they belong.

When the first trailer pulled in and Leo was unloaded, both of my boys hit the roof. They were both wound up and way over-stimulated. There is rarely any activity at my barn unless I cause it, so for them, the day was quite exciting. It turned out to be an excellent opportunity for Izzy to experience a bit of a show atmosphere from the safety of his very own home.

By the time I hopped on, he had watched several hours of exciting action, and it was pretty warm, but he was still charged up and very forward. I ditched the whip rather quickly as he didn't ever balk or get stuck behind my leg. 

For this lesson, Chemaine had me focus on three things. The first she called structure. Speedy is such a rock star that I can get away with losing focus or not riding every single stride. When he's in the mood, he'll even try and pick up the slack.

As an example, Chemaine got on him on Sunday and tried to ride him between the poles to work outside of my dressage court in a larger area. Speedy assumed she had made a mistake and veered so that he remained within the court. Chemaine laughed at how well "trained" he is. But that's what I mean about him picking up the slack; he more or less knows his job and can do it even if I am not directing him. I can't do that with Izzy.

​​Riding Izzy requires that I give him something to do and think about every stride. I can't let myself be lulled into a sense of ho-hum. When he feels my lack of direction, he tries to fill in the blank, but not in a good way. JL used to call it riding a loose horse. Chemaine's use of the word structure resonated more with me as that's what I do with my students. I structure the day so they are never at loose ends; they always have something constructive to do or think about.

So with Izzy, I need to keep my reins shorter and keep expecting him to soften, go forward, and so on. He doesn't get to just skate by. He needs to be actively working.

​Once I had the understanding of providing structure, we worked on helping Izzy to soften to the inside rein. Like Speedy, Izzy has problems with the left rein and both shoulders. To the left, Chemaine had me hold the inside rein really steady at my knee or the saddle so that I could work the outside rein. 

Chemaine called it "chainsawing," but she certainly didn't mean I should saw away at his mouth. Instead, she wanted me to give several sharp, firm pulls to very clearly tell him to get that outside shoulder back in line. While I worried about the "severity" of my corrections, Chemaine stressed that quick and firm is far better than nagging repeatedly with an aid that he can't hear or understand.

You can see from this series of photos that he is softening very nicely to that inside rein. Once I had his outside shoulder under control, I could then start to sponge or play with the inside rein. In the picture just below, you can see that the inside rein is actually loopy. And by the next picture, it is even more so. We've also lost some of the forward energy that he was carrying, but I love how relaxed and supple he became.

The third exercise that Chemaine had us a do was one where I slowly moved Izzy down the arena towards the spooky end without him knowing it. We started with a 20-meter circle at A, but as we neared the top half of the circle, I leg yielded him out towards C. As we circled back to A, I used a firmer outside rein and pushed him into the circle (think half pass), effectively lopping off the bottom of the circle.

Each time we came around, I leg yielded him farther toward C and pushed him into the circle at the bottom. Before he knew it, we were deep in the spooky end of the arena, circling. From the C end, we crossed the diagonal back to A and repeated the exercise tracking the opposite way. 

Chemaine really likes this exercise because it encourages the horse to really focus on the rider, so the rider can do small leg yields to move out on the circle and then collect the horse and move his shoulders to make the circle more shallow.

Chemaine was so pleased with how well he handled being put into the spooky end of the arena that she had us try the same exercise at the canter.

Even at the canter, Chemaine had me steady the inside rein and really work that outside rein. His left lead canter is more balanced than his right.

While I love Speedy to death, he just won't ever have the same expressive gaits that Izzy is developing. Even as a green bean he wants to be uphill.

​Still on his forehand, but since I am not losing his shoulder, he's a lot straighter.

Moving him down the arena in Chemaine's exercise also helps the inside hind step deeper which in turns helps him get a little more uphill.

And now you can really see that deeper stride, although I've lost the inside bend.

My take aways for the first day's lesson are three-fold: provide structure, get the inside bend by first gaining control of the outside shoulder, and work on pushing him out on the circle and then collecting him on the bottom of the circle to bring him in. 

Tomorrow, Chemaine gives Speedy a bit of a butt kicking!

Part 1

Now that I am committed to working with Chemaine once a month, I feel like Speedy and I are making faster progress. I can't even imagine how totally kick butt we'd be if I could ride with her every week!

For this lesson, my main goal was to work on the leg yields. I know I'm losing Speedy's outside shoulder, especially to the left, but I was also struggling with knowing whether the inside hind was truly stepping under or not.

After warming Speedy up for a minute or so, Chemaine put us right to work on the leg yields. The problem wasn't the inside hind, Chemaine assured me that he is crossing over just fine. The issue is indeed with the outside shoulder.

Speedy will move away from my inside left leg into my outside right rein pretty well as long as I am effective and steady with the outside rein. In everything we do, it is the left rein that gives us trouble. He just doesn't want to soften to it ... ever!

To help both of us figure out how to solve this, Chemaine had me try a few different things. First, as I asked him to move over, she had me ignore what he was doing with his head and simply focus on his hind leg. When I try to get him to give to the rein and step over, I usually lose all of the forward motion, and he simply stalls out.

When I kept the left outside rein steady and low, I could at least get Speedy to step under and over with the inside hind leg. And when he continued to be a brat, she had me finish out the leg yield at a walk. The purpose was to show him that he could step under with that inside leg. Chemaine said it was non-negotiable. I like thinking of it that way as it means that I am not asking for too much. Speedy simply has to do this.

Once Speedy was definitely stepping under, Chemaine had me play around with the outside rein and almost counter flex Speedy so that he had to soften to the outside rein. This is not easy to do. The idea was to keep him straighter so that I don't lose his outside shoulder.

When I got the left shoulder straighter, he threw a little hissy fit which involved kicking out, small rears, and stamping his little front feet NO. Fortunately, I've had him so long that nothing he does is in any way scary. I just laughed at him and gave him a bit of a spur.

We never got it perfect, but I've since watched the video of me schooling that leg yield, and I can at least see what I need to do. Keeping that shoulder straighter without letting him bulge out to the left will help a lot.

We also played around with the trot lengthenings, but Chemaine thought I was improving those pretty well on my own so we moved on to shoulder in. This is not something I school, but Chemaine had a great exercise for them that is an excellent addition to an exercise I already do.

Before I work on the trot lengthenings, I do a series of three, 10-meter circles down the long side. I then half halt in the first corner, use the short side to regroup a little, and then half halt and straighten as I come out of the second corner. After all of that collected work, Speedy is usually thrilled to lengthen his stride across the diagonal.

To add shoulder in to the exercise, Chemaine had me keep the bend of the 10-meter circles along the long side and just when we started to lose it, I put him back in a 10-meter circle. As we finished the next 10-meter circle, I maintained the bend and pushed him down the long side again. In this way, Speedy only had to hold the shoulder in for a few strides before he was doing another 10-meter circle.

The added benefit of this exercise is that when he drifted off the rail, I could leg yield him back without him thinking that it was a leg yield. Win-win!

After my lesson, Chemaine let me know that she was staying the night in town and could do a follow up lesson the next day. I was thrilled! That meant that I actually had four lessons this weekend.

​Tomorrow, my first lesson on Izzy. 

I may have mentioned that I was riding with Chemaine this month, but I didn't really elaborate or clarify. What started as a few lessons split between me and another rider across town ended up being an actual clinic, albeit a very casual one.

In all started in late July when Chemaine suggested that she could drive the two hours to Bakersfield to give me (and another rider) lessons. She stipulated that she needed at least four lessons between us (we both have two horses), but more riders would make the trip worth her time. I started sending out message to anyone who I thought might be interested. In all, we ended up with eight lessons, a full day!

I will say that organizing a clinic, even a casual one, is not for the faint of heart. I don't know if it's just riders or people in general, but we're a fickle, high maintenance group of individuals. We had riders who don't deal with the heat, riders without trailers, riders who live across town, and riders with at least one crazy horse (I am raising my hand). I have put on one other clinic, and I've certainly attended a few, so I felt pretty confident that I could pull it off, even with all of the special requests.

Chemaine and I messaged back and forth until we had her travel arrangements sorted. From there, it was just a matter of scheduling the rides. In the end, the first three rides were scheduled at a barn on the west side of town. This worked out fine as that barn wasn't too far off the highway. From there, Chemaine ended up traveling another 40 minutes to reach my barn which is on the extreme east side of town.

 Even though the clinic was to be casual, I wanted everyone to feel relaxed and comfortable, so I loaded up the ice chest with a case of bottled water and snacks galore. My husband, who works for a major table grape grower, stopped by one of the vineyards on Friday night and hand picked a box of grapes for us - delicious!

While the original plan was just to have a lesson or two, I realized that if I was having company, I wanted to make sure the barn was extra clean and welcoming. During the week, I printed out waivers, made directional posters, planned for chairs, swept, cleaned out the arena water trough, and made sure that the poles that form my little dressage court were straight and accurate.

The morning of the clinic, I set up a small "hospitality" area with snacks and drinks and chairs (later manned by Chemaine's fabulous family crew). I dragged my sprinklers around for several hours, soaking the footing. When there is no breeze here, the dust hangs in the air which is a real nuisance. 

Once everything was in place, I jumped in my truck and zipped over to a nearby barn to pick up our trailer-less rider. Her boy hopped in with nary a complaint and unloaded just as nicely. Since he was to be at my barn for the entire day, I had arranged for him to hang out in the turnout next door, the same one that I use for Izzy. Just as we were finishing turning him out, our first rider pulled in.

Our two riders with heat sensitivity rode first, even though the coolest part of the morning was long past. Chemaine started teaching at 7:00 a.m. across town, but it was 10:30 before our first rider was able to start. By then it was already 88℉ and climbing. 

Even though it was toasty, everyone kept a positive attitude about the heat. There was a small bit of shade in the arena, so Chemaine was able to escape some of the sun when she needed to cool off. The rest of us had a lovely shaded area in which to hang out and watch the riders. Our wash rack is right next to the barn and arena, so each horse was able to have a cooling shower after their ride.

Since I was riding two horses, I rode third and fifth. The rider in between my two lessons does western dressage, so that was a lot of fun to watch. She's an excellent rider and her horse is very well schooled. 

As I was cooling off and untacking Izzy, the group jumped in and put away the chairs and packed up the food and drinks. We had a late lunch/early dinner reservation at a nearby Mexican restaurant so Chemaine and her awesome teens went to my house to regroup while I drove our trailer-less rider back to her barn. 

Dinners with Chemaine are always a boisterous and fun affair and this one was no different. Nine of us ended up sitting around a large round table. We shared funny stories and throughly enjoyed ourselves. And of course, every one wanted to know when Chemaine is coming back.

I am working on it, ladies!

​Part 2 tomorrow ...

There are a lot of different European Warmblood Registries: Dutch Warmbloods, Holsteiners, Hanoverians, etc. Imperioso, barn name Izzy, is a Zweibrücker - a warmblood registered with the Rheinland Pfalz-Saar International registry, a region in Germany. I've shared his history here and here. 

Many European Warmbloods carry a brand near their left hip denoting from which country they were approved and later registered. Lately, there has been a push to ban branding in favor of microchipping, so not all warmbloods, especially those that are imported, will have a brand.

Your warmblood's brand and registration number not only help you identify your horse, but they give you information about when and even where your horse was born. My Arabian mare, Montoya DSA had a very interesting brand that I've already written about, and so did Sydney, my New Zealand Thoroughbred.

In Germany, each breeding district is assigned a numerical code. The Rheinland Pfalz-Saar region uses the number 51 - see the lower left corner of the map. Each German breeding district uses several different brands. These brands are for the warmbloods, ponies, draft horse breeds, specialty breeds, etc.

Most European registries use a 15-digit Registration or Life Number. The first two/three characters indicate the country of birth. Dutch Warmbloods carry an NLD (Netherlands) while the Belgian Warmbloods use BEL. The German Warmbloods all carry the letters DE at the beginning of their Registration numbers signifying they are from Deutschland, or Germany.

The next character, a 4 in Izzy's case, indicates when the horse was born. The number 3 signifies a horse that was born before 1999, while a 4 shows that the horse was born after 2000.

The next two characters, the 51 in Izzy's number, refer to his German Breeding District. While not born in Germany, Izzy is registered with the RPSI whose home is the Rheinland Pfalz-Saar region of Germany. 

The last two digits of the Registration Number indicate the actual year of birth. Izzy was born in 2008, so his final two numbers are 08. The two numbers before his birth year, 36, are the final digits of his seven-digit individual Registration Number, so they are included in his brand.

Izzy's Registration Number indicates that he is from the Rheinland Pfalz-Saar region of Germany, born in 2008. A quick glance at his brand would tell someone that he is registered with the Rheinland Pfalz-Saar International registry, and that his individual registration number ends with a 36. The RPSI would immediately know to look for a horse with the number DE _51_____36__.

Just like cracking a code!  I think it's a pretty interesting system.

See this link for more information.

I am not much of a bridge burner, but there are days when I really want to just flip someone the bird and burn that bridge to the ground. 

It is really annoying to be a responsible adult. 

It is even more frustrating to be an over-achiever with a perfectionist streak. Type A personalities don't typically burn bridges as it is a messy process that ultimately creates more work for the person that needs everything Just So.

So, while I would love to torch that mother forklift, I'm going to let it stand. It's probably going to slowly rot away, unused, but at least it won't ruin everything else residing next to it.

I think a lot of bridges are burned in the riding/showing/training world. How else do you tell your trainer that you want to work with someone else? How do you tell your barn owner that you're moving across the street? What about your farrier? Picking a new farrier clearly tells the old one, "you're subpar."

Choosing different professionals to either work with the rider or the horse, generally tells that professional you're fired. I've been down that path a few times, and in my case, it wasn't that I meant to burn the bridge, but I needed something that the trainer or farrier couldn't give me. I was respectful and forthright, but no matter how you slice it, getting fired is getting fired no matter how you sugar coat it. 

What makes burning bridges where I live even more precarious is that we don't have very many bridges. We're a large city with a very small town atmosphere. If you start burning bridges here, you had better be prepared to go the long way around.

The dressage community is particularly small here. There's me and about 5 other ladies. There is one "big name" trainer, but she's not easy to get a lesson with as her schedule is pretty packed with her full-time horses. Early on I decided that I needed to go out of town for lessons which is why I ended up riding with Chemaine Hurtado and Dr. Christian Schacht. Like I said, not many bridges ...

I constantly wish I lived in a dressage-dense community with lots of choices in trainers, riding venues, and other dressage riders. It's not like I would be running around torching every bridge that didn't meet my expectations, but it would sure be nice to at least occasionally be able to flip the bird and ride away on my high horse.

How about you? Have you burned any bridges lately?

I know you are bored with hearing about Izzy and his toys, but I feel as though I am now on one of King Arthur's quests: find the perfect toy.

At this point, Izzy now owns two jolly balls, a feed pan, a traffic cone, a giant ball, a feed sack, and a rolling treat dispenser. He also repurposes his feed bin and water trough into toys on an as needed basis.

When I got to the barn on Thursday afternoon, Izzy revealed that he can now fling a 30 inch ball up and over a five foot fence.

Matilda suggested I try one of those treat dispenser toys, so I ordered one of those recently. He doesn't find it as entertaining as the giant ball, but it was empty of the hay cubes and rice bran I had shoved in there the night before.

It was at least fun for me to watch him figure the thing out. The horse is smart. He knew there was food in there so he kept rolling the ball and snuffling along in the dirt behind it picking up what fell out. I don't know how he figured it out so quickly, but he did.

Why this particular horse has such an active mind is a mystery to me. Maybe all horses sit around thinking of stuff to do but aren't creative enough to turn their stall into a playpen. I watch Speedy who seems perfectly content to stand in the shade swishing his tail at flies. He wouldn't come near any of the things that I've given Izzy over the last few weeks.

Izzy is only seven, a teenager in equine years. Hopefully he'll start to settle down as he reaches the maturity that comes with full adulthood. If not, my barn owner is not going to be too happy when the barn comes tumbling down around our ears!

I ride nearly seven days a week. Both boys get ridden on the weekend days, and then I alternate who gets ridden after work. Speedy only needs three or four days of under saddle work each week, so most afternoons, Izzy is the one called to the batter's box.

Wednesday was Speedy's day though. I don't know why it is, but I seem to have my best rides on him when I don't have all the time in the world. And as our daylight hours continue to wane, our weekday rides will naturally get shorter and shorter.

During the weekend, I often feel compelled to Get a Lot Done. I wonder if Speedy is aware of my sense of urgency and replies with tension? When I ride during the weekdays, my attitude is more relaxed as I know I probably won't get to accomplish much. Yesterday was one of those days.

For once, we had a break in the weather so rather than ride when it was 100 and climbing, it was in the lower 90s with a refreshing breeze.  That was enough to leave me feeling relaxed. I slowly worked Speedy at the walk asking him to soften his poll and move his shoulders. We did some stretchy trot, and when I felt he had warmed up enough, we moved on to the leg yields.

To my surprise, he did a fairly decent leg yield in each direction. Given how much we've fought over that in the past few weeks, I patted him on the shoulder and moved on to to the 10-meter trot circles. I like doing those before the trot lengthenings. I think they get Speedy a bit more connected and working from his hind end.

I like to do a series of three, 10-meter circles down my (short court) long side and then come out of the second corner into a trot lengthening. I think he's just so happy to really stretch after those little circles. 

Again, he got a pat on the shoulder and we moved on to the canter work. I've been really mixing up the canter work: canter lengthenings, 15-meter canter circles, counter canter, and so on. On Wednesday, I did lengthenings and some 15-meter circles, but then for fun I decided to work on the walk to canter transition.

Walk to canter appears in Test 1 of Second Level. Sydney found it super easy to do, when he was focused and relaxed, but Speedy has found it to be a challenge. It's not that it's mentally difficult for him, but he's a smart little fart, so he knows that he has to sit deep and really push off, and that's hard work.

I don't play around with it too often, but on the days when I feel that he is in front of my leg, I use it to work the canter without drilling the canter. It's a little like working walk to trot to walk - I feel like it sharpens him to my aids.

I worked the walk to canter just like Chemaine had me ride her horse, Belle, at the piaffe: think trot, but don't. As I rode Speedy, I thought, canter ... but don't. I could feel Speedy's engine getting revved ever so slightly. When I was pretty sure he had enough impulsion, I slid my hip forward and pressed my inside leg. 

From the first request, he lifted rather neatly into a canter. After two or three strides, I asked for a downward to trot and then walk. We played around with the exercise to both the left and the right. He got better and better at the transition until he was anticipating the canter, beating me to the aid. I was okay with that. I really appreciated his willingness to try.

So, my best rides seem to come when my agenda is non-existent and the daylight hours short. I think I might need a weekend attitude adjustment. When do you have your best rides?

Everything is a toy in Izzy Zweibrücker's eyes, even the water hose! If it wiggles, moves, clangs, bangs, splashes, bounces, clunks, or thunks, he finds it uproariously entertaining.

He dumped over his massive water trough the other day and then dragged it at least 15 feet to the far side of his paddock. That thing is heavy. Even empty, I can't pick it up, yet he dragged it across his paddock for fun. 

I had to drag it outside of his stall to scrub and hose it out, it was full of dirt, and then drag it back inside. How he did it with just his teeth is a mystery to me.

To fill it up, I shoved the hose down into the bottom and tried to walk away. Before I had even turned my back, Izzy had the hose in his mouth, shooting water everywhere. No matter how I positioned the hose, he managed to grab it from me. 

I finally pulled the hose through the fence and simply let it spray into the trough. Even that was fun. For at least twenty minutes, he licked the water bubbles or let the hose splash him in the face.

While I don't want a dullard for a horse, I do sort of wish he'd grow up a little. It seems as though the more toys I find for him, the more toys he wants! At least filling the trough is a freebie!

It is terrible to struggle with PTSD, and I swear I am not poking fun or making light of the condition. Three years with Sydney was enough to really rock my ability to trust big brown horses. The ride I had on Izzy a week ago really gave me some unpleasant flashbacks. I just don't want to be in that kind of equine relationship ever again.

I didn't realize how often Sydney forced me to walk on eggshells until I was riding a different horse. I had to be so careful with every request while riding him for fear that he would have a melt down and try to kill to me. I don't feel that fear at all with Speedy, but I continue to have moments where I worry that Izzy is moving to the dark side. Last Monday was one of those days.

When he was nearly unrideable that day, I didn't know what to hope for. I didn't want it to be because of the weather as winter is coming and he needs to work whatever the weather. But on the flip side, I didn't want it to be him being a jackass either.

Izzy has now twice shown me that when he is a real jerk, something is hurting. Izzy's pain tolerance is probably pretty low, especially when it comes to his back and neck. Even the chiropractor called him a baby. That's okay. Now that I know what to look for, I won't panic and worry that he's turning into another Sydney. As soon as he gets cranky, I'll know to call the chiropractor. 

Izzy got some body work done on Friday afternoon, and  Saturday was spent resting and recovering. I saddled him up on Sunday morning hoping and praying that my it's too much work to be a total jerk horse was back under my saddle. To my delight, Izzy was his regular old self. His expression was again playful and curious, and he happily canoodled the back of my neck, elbows, and hair while I was dropping my stirrups. 

I didn't ask much of him for his first time under saddle since the adjustment. We spent nearly ten minutes walking while I asked him to flex his neck and poll and move his shoulders from side to side.

Once I knew I had my horse back, I asked him to pick up an easy trot. I didn't ask for any type of real connection, but I did ask him to keep his head out of the clouds. We spent 15 minutes trotting the long sides and crossing the diagonal. 

My only goal for the day was to establish a rhythmic trot so that I could evaluate his comfort level. While he wasn't lame anywhere, it did feel as though he needed to re-establish his sea legs. He wanted to carry his head to the right, but when I worked the left rein, he could give me some inside flexion. He might still be a bit sore in the poll.

After working him at the trot long enough to really get him warmed up, I decided that he felt sound enough to return to a regular workload this week. He's still on some Bute, but I'll probably eliminate even that over the next few days if he looks comfortable.

It feels as though he's lost a bit of ground in his training over the past two weeks, but I think he'll get back up to speed in no time. I am just glad his personality is back to normal!

I am grateful that Speedy has fabulous days. It's on those days that he shows me his potential. We had one of those days last week, and I even wrote about it. Unfortunately, they're not the normal. Most days find us struggling with something. 

This weekend, Speedy decided that dressage was a lot of work. As such, he further determined that it would be better for me to hold him up with the left rein. He was adamant that he certainly couldn't sit back on his own butt as that might wear him out. And really, he has better things to do with his hind end than carry me around. 

When you look at this next picture, you have to ask why he can't happily rock back on his tush. I mean look at him. There is plenty of butt there upon which to sit. I know, I know. It's hard work, but at least I know he's got the butt to do it!

One of the great things about leaving Training Level is that the levels that follow offer so much more to work on. That doesn't mean we do them brilliantly, but at least when we get stuck somewhere, we can change the exercises and move on to a new topic.

Right now it's all about our struggle with the leg yield, improving the trot lengthenings, and getting a more and more collected canter. While the trot lenghtenings are fun, the leg yield is not. I really need some eyes on the ground. 

I have a feeling I am asking for too much straightness in the shoulder, but Speedy wants to lead with the outside shoulder and trail his butt along behind. If I really dig my spur in, I can get a deeper step with the inside hind, but he gets really annoyed with me when I do it. If I don't poke him with the spur, he refuses to cross over with that inside hind leg.

The canter work is improving, slowly, but he is able to collect more than he could at the beginning of the summer. It took both weekend days to get him to let go of the left rein, but the instant he did, his canter got light and soft.

We've also been working on the canter lengthening. He's starting to get more up and forward in the stride rather than just forward. When he gets flat, it's very difficult to return to working canter. If I canter him forward with more of a scoop in my seat combined with small half halts, his stride has more bounce and suspension. It feels like a good thing, but what do I know?

We have a lesson with Chemaine this coming Saturday, so I am trying to hone in on the areas where the most growth is needed. There are just so many things to fix that it's hard to focus on just a few!