Getting excited for Morven Horse Trials this weekend! Everyone here at Valinor South has been working hard to prepare, check back for more details soon!
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Saturday, March 23, 2013
Aiken Adventures
A little brisk this afternoon, but the Valinor crew is still rocking Steeplechase in style! An excellent afternoon filled with good friends, amazing equine athletes, and lots of age old tradition.
Friday, March 22, 2013
Aiken Adventures
A stellar XC school with Mr Stew! Lots of water, banks, ditches and combinations. He handled everything like a champ! He must know his mom is enroute and is trying to impress her.
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Aiken Adventures
Pricey banana treats from the feed store? Nahhhh.... metal gates are so much better!
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Aiken Adventures
It's been a relatively quiet week since Full Gallop; Debbie came out Thursday for jump schools again and everyone has been working on the track doing trots and gallops and a little fine tuning in the dressage ring. The original plan was for a couple to run at Pine Top this past weekend, but no one got in! Instead, it has been nice to really focus on what each horse needs to work on rather than get them geared up for competition. Beacon has been working on staying rideable in his medium canters (both jumping and on the flat), Ari has been trying really hard to stay soft and even on both sides of the bridle, and Devi and Stew have been really working their hind ends so that they can sit down and come a bit more uphill into the bridle. Diem has been taking some R and R to hopefully be back to normal quickly- he's been sunbathing all week!
I had the chiropractor/acupuncturist out for Beacon just to make sure he's feeling great and all tuned up for the season. Dr. Ridgeway was phenomenal and I learned a ton watching as he worked through different muscle groups and pressure points. It was amazing to see where he was a little stiff/sore and then literally watch the sensitivity disappear through the acupuncture points. The deep sighs that he gave out after each adjustment, particularly the chiropractic ones, were telltale. Dr. Ridgeway was impressed by how even he is on each side and he only needed minor adjusting, meaning that he's been using himself correctly (yay!) He gets today off, a hack tomorrow, and then back to unrestricted work Thursday. He definitely feels good, he's been stretching, yawning, and napping all morning!
The remainder of this week will focus on more intense xc schools for both mares and Stew and preparing for the arrival of the rest of the Valinor crew on Friday afternoon! I heard they got more snow at home, it's 70 degrees and sunshine here again today!!! Stay warm up there!
I had the chiropractor/acupuncturist out for Beacon just to make sure he's feeling great and all tuned up for the season. Dr. Ridgeway was phenomenal and I learned a ton watching as he worked through different muscle groups and pressure points. It was amazing to see where he was a little stiff/sore and then literally watch the sensitivity disappear through the acupuncture points. The deep sighs that he gave out after each adjustment, particularly the chiropractic ones, were telltale. Dr. Ridgeway was impressed by how even he is on each side and he only needed minor adjusting, meaning that he's been using himself correctly (yay!) He gets today off, a hack tomorrow, and then back to unrestricted work Thursday. He definitely feels good, he's been stretching, yawning, and napping all morning!
The remainder of this week will focus on more intense xc schools for both mares and Stew and preparing for the arrival of the rest of the Valinor crew on Friday afternoon! I heard they got more snow at home, it's 70 degrees and sunshine here again today!!! Stay warm up there!
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Aiken Adventures- New Cell Phones
If anyone has tried to contact me in the last day or so and I didn't respond please try again. My cell decided to kick the bucket on me and I'm just now sorting it all out. Sorry!
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Aiken Adventures- A Week in Review and Full Gallop
This has been a whirlwind week: lessons with Suzie, Eric, and Debbie; Joe came to town; a cross country school with Marissa, and three horses running at Full Gallop. I'm also in the process of finding a new jump saddle and so have met with countless saddle reps, sitting in all the saddles that were "best" for me. My lessons this week all went well, Debbie and I discovered that Beacon is rather sensitive with saddle fit and it directly relates how he jumps- one saddle that I loved he thought had too much pressure and started jumping defensively through his back- that one was tossed. Ahh... the adventures of saddle searching.
Full Gallop was a bit of a rough outing. Beacon's dressage was only average scoring a 37; he is so relaxed in the dressage arena these days that I am finding I really need to kick him to get forward. Who ever thought that big pony would become a kick-a-long ride! It's an adjustment that I need to make when competing him, but it shows he is more confident and relaxed in competition which is great. Show jumping, however, was a bit of a disappointment. He warmed up brilliantly; literally loping down to the big, airy 4' fences like a hunter and casually stretching into a lovely shape across the top. He didn't come close to touching a rail and I was super pleased so we stopped and watched a couple trips in the arena, and then I went to just jump another fence or two right before our trip. He stepped right up into a lovely working canter and loped down to the line. We were about five strides out from a big oxer when a woman walked in front of it and he just completely shut down, slamming on the breaks. His brain completely switched off and he went into manic mode, trying to race against the bridle and throw himself at the fences. Unfortunately, this all happened with only one horse ahead of us, and so I didn't have time to really break the cycle with a walk break and start over at the cross rail (which is what he needed). We went into the ring with him still panicky and took down more rails than stayed up I think. Disappointing to say the least, but what really is bothersome is understanding why he shut down. The woman that walked in front of the fence and stood at the corner of it, although distracting, should not have in any way fried his brain like it did. Discussing the events with Debbie afterwards brought up an interesting observation. In our lessons, the jumps that are consistently his worst are when she is standing in a close proximity to them, the ones he truly relaxes over are always where there are no people near. We're not sure what this really means, but it is certainly worth making a mental note of, and we plan on experimenting with this a bit in our next session, just to try and understand a bit better the psychology behind it.
Cross country, on the other hand, he was a superstar, as always. This horse is so completely confident out on course it is amazing. The Intermediate division was a bloodbath on Sunday: countless falls, eliminations, retirements, and withdrawals. Beacon rocked around a tricky track with ease, getting through all the hard elements effortlessly; it was just about a footwork perfect run. We picked up a little bit of last-fence-itis in the final combination of the sunken road, however, (not a question I was anticipating would be problematic), and picked up an unlucky 20. The question consisted of a house at the top of a hill, down the hill to a drop with a rolltop at the edge, land, one stride, turn 90 degrees right, and then a couple strides to a bank, one stride to a skinny. My plan when walking was that the large house at the top of the hill would set him up and balance him back so that we could jump it softly and just pad down the hill and through the combination. What I hadn't anticipated was that at that point in the course, after clocking through all the other hard stuff, the house at the top of the hill wouldn't back him off at all. He locked onto that house and SOARED over it which left us flying downhill towards the sunken road. I simply didn't react fast enough and he jumped the down portion of the sunken road boldly, too boldly, and the landing carried us past the turning line. I glanced right at where I was supposed to be going, sighed because I knew it wasn't going to work, circled left instead and continued on. In the future I need to remember that a simple large fence is not enough to back him off after such a stellar run and I need to do more a bit more. What a shame to rack up 20 simply because he was TOO bold. Regardless, I was very pleased with his xc outing. And even with a horrible show jumping and a circle xc he still finished in third (that's how much of a bloodbath it was). Now if I could just get all the pieces together on the same day....
Stew had a super first outing of the season, although his score doesn't really do him justice. He started his dressage warm up brilliantly- all businesslike and confidently relaxed. Then the warm up got a bit crazy and I thought I was going to lose him completely- we started doing piaffe and passage and couldn't simply halt or stand. He was at least starting to breath again as we circled the arena, and put in a very accurate and obedient test, but it was a bit conservative which the judge really didn't like (but hello! if I had told him to step a bit bigger he may have just stepped right up and out of the ring!) Even though I played it a bit safe I was surprised by the score (a 40!), and thought that the judge scored him a bit harsher than necessary. He was super and double clear show jumping, and very ride-able. In the last combination he got just a touch flat and so I asked him to wait and add a stride instead and he did with ease- that's a huge improvement, as before he would just lock on and go big and long when he wasn't in that perfect distance. Cross country (aka the Novice Olympics) he handled like a champ, although it did take him a few fences to get rolling in a confident rhythm. Once he clicked into gear though he was a rockstar: negotiating two big water complexes, a coffin, offset houses, banks, and even a trekhener! (See what I mean by the Novice Olympics?) All in all, a great first outing for Stewart, he will need just another run or two at Novice to make sure he can start out of the box as confidently as he finished through the flags and then he is ready for his Training debut!
Diem had the best mental readiness that I have ever experienced with him in a warm up ring. He started all business-like, soft, and obedient; and he was trying SO hard for me! I was really pleased with him- he didn't even bat an eye when another horse in the warm up almost crashed into him. Unfortunately, his physical readiness didn't match his mental state and he was just a bit stiff and even a touch unlevel at times. We opted to play it safe, even though he wasn't unsound, and scratch him from the remainder of the competition. For him, we know he can jump and do the flatwork- the biggest hurdle has been getting him mentally ready competition day and not tensing up in the warm up arenas- this he passed at Full Gallop with flying colors, even in a chaotic warm up! I was very proud of him, and very appreciative that he was trying his little heart out for me. Hopefully this state of mental readiness will carry through to his next competition.
So, not a bad weekend at all: each horse had some really stellar, progressive moments. This week has a lighter schedule for all with more specific focus on what each horse needs. The next competition scheduled is two weeks away- plenty of time to dig deep into some homework and still have time to polish up for the show ring.
Spring is fast approaching, and with it our return north to the Valinor home base. Stay warm and ride on!
Full Gallop was a bit of a rough outing. Beacon's dressage was only average scoring a 37; he is so relaxed in the dressage arena these days that I am finding I really need to kick him to get forward. Who ever thought that big pony would become a kick-a-long ride! It's an adjustment that I need to make when competing him, but it shows he is more confident and relaxed in competition which is great. Show jumping, however, was a bit of a disappointment. He warmed up brilliantly; literally loping down to the big, airy 4' fences like a hunter and casually stretching into a lovely shape across the top. He didn't come close to touching a rail and I was super pleased so we stopped and watched a couple trips in the arena, and then I went to just jump another fence or two right before our trip. He stepped right up into a lovely working canter and loped down to the line. We were about five strides out from a big oxer when a woman walked in front of it and he just completely shut down, slamming on the breaks. His brain completely switched off and he went into manic mode, trying to race against the bridle and throw himself at the fences. Unfortunately, this all happened with only one horse ahead of us, and so I didn't have time to really break the cycle with a walk break and start over at the cross rail (which is what he needed). We went into the ring with him still panicky and took down more rails than stayed up I think. Disappointing to say the least, but what really is bothersome is understanding why he shut down. The woman that walked in front of the fence and stood at the corner of it, although distracting, should not have in any way fried his brain like it did. Discussing the events with Debbie afterwards brought up an interesting observation. In our lessons, the jumps that are consistently his worst are when she is standing in a close proximity to them, the ones he truly relaxes over are always where there are no people near. We're not sure what this really means, but it is certainly worth making a mental note of, and we plan on experimenting with this a bit in our next session, just to try and understand a bit better the psychology behind it.
Cross country, on the other hand, he was a superstar, as always. This horse is so completely confident out on course it is amazing. The Intermediate division was a bloodbath on Sunday: countless falls, eliminations, retirements, and withdrawals. Beacon rocked around a tricky track with ease, getting through all the hard elements effortlessly; it was just about a footwork perfect run. We picked up a little bit of last-fence-itis in the final combination of the sunken road, however, (not a question I was anticipating would be problematic), and picked up an unlucky 20. The question consisted of a house at the top of a hill, down the hill to a drop with a rolltop at the edge, land, one stride, turn 90 degrees right, and then a couple strides to a bank, one stride to a skinny. My plan when walking was that the large house at the top of the hill would set him up and balance him back so that we could jump it softly and just pad down the hill and through the combination. What I hadn't anticipated was that at that point in the course, after clocking through all the other hard stuff, the house at the top of the hill wouldn't back him off at all. He locked onto that house and SOARED over it which left us flying downhill towards the sunken road. I simply didn't react fast enough and he jumped the down portion of the sunken road boldly, too boldly, and the landing carried us past the turning line. I glanced right at where I was supposed to be going, sighed because I knew it wasn't going to work, circled left instead and continued on. In the future I need to remember that a simple large fence is not enough to back him off after such a stellar run and I need to do more a bit more. What a shame to rack up 20 simply because he was TOO bold. Regardless, I was very pleased with his xc outing. And even with a horrible show jumping and a circle xc he still finished in third (that's how much of a bloodbath it was). Now if I could just get all the pieces together on the same day....
Stew had a super first outing of the season, although his score doesn't really do him justice. He started his dressage warm up brilliantly- all businesslike and confidently relaxed. Then the warm up got a bit crazy and I thought I was going to lose him completely- we started doing piaffe and passage and couldn't simply halt or stand. He was at least starting to breath again as we circled the arena, and put in a very accurate and obedient test, but it was a bit conservative which the judge really didn't like (but hello! if I had told him to step a bit bigger he may have just stepped right up and out of the ring!) Even though I played it a bit safe I was surprised by the score (a 40!), and thought that the judge scored him a bit harsher than necessary. He was super and double clear show jumping, and very ride-able. In the last combination he got just a touch flat and so I asked him to wait and add a stride instead and he did with ease- that's a huge improvement, as before he would just lock on and go big and long when he wasn't in that perfect distance. Cross country (aka the Novice Olympics) he handled like a champ, although it did take him a few fences to get rolling in a confident rhythm. Once he clicked into gear though he was a rockstar: negotiating two big water complexes, a coffin, offset houses, banks, and even a trekhener! (See what I mean by the Novice Olympics?) All in all, a great first outing for Stewart, he will need just another run or two at Novice to make sure he can start out of the box as confidently as he finished through the flags and then he is ready for his Training debut!
Diem had the best mental readiness that I have ever experienced with him in a warm up ring. He started all business-like, soft, and obedient; and he was trying SO hard for me! I was really pleased with him- he didn't even bat an eye when another horse in the warm up almost crashed into him. Unfortunately, his physical readiness didn't match his mental state and he was just a bit stiff and even a touch unlevel at times. We opted to play it safe, even though he wasn't unsound, and scratch him from the remainder of the competition. For him, we know he can jump and do the flatwork- the biggest hurdle has been getting him mentally ready competition day and not tensing up in the warm up arenas- this he passed at Full Gallop with flying colors, even in a chaotic warm up! I was very proud of him, and very appreciative that he was trying his little heart out for me. Hopefully this state of mental readiness will carry through to his next competition.
So, not a bad weekend at all: each horse had some really stellar, progressive moments. This week has a lighter schedule for all with more specific focus on what each horse needs. The next competition scheduled is two weeks away- plenty of time to dig deep into some homework and still have time to polish up for the show ring.
Spring is fast approaching, and with it our return north to the Valinor home base. Stay warm and ride on!
Monday, March 11, 2013
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Aiken Adventures
Delicious cappuccino and chocolate croissant for breakfast, a phenomenal dressage school with Eric in the sunshine, followed by a yummy lunch of fried bologna tomato and grilled cheese! Can this day get any better??? Headed back to the barn now to ride more ponies and then jump with Suzie this afternoon.
Monday, March 4, 2013
Sunday, March 3, 2013
Saturday, March 2, 2013
Aiken Adventures at Sporting Days
Brrrrrrr!!!! That about sums up the morning, wish I had a picture of Marissa who came to groom for me in the early am frigidness bundled up like an Eskimo! All in all, today was a great success for the first Training for Devi, Ari, and Diem and I was pleased with how everyone went. There were a couple mistakes here and there throughout the day, but all three were game and competent and proved that they will be successful at this new level once some kinks get worked out.
Diem started out the day and it was so cold (the thermostat on my truck was just flashing ICE!) that I was afraid he would be very tight and potentially explosive in a very busy warm up arena. To the contrary, he had a wonderful soft, supple, and sane warm up that I was very pleased with. Even more exciting was the fact that it carried through the transition into the ring and he put in a lovely soft and accurate test. Unfortuantely, I didn't feel that the score did him justice, but it is hard to be immediately following an Olympic rider on a very fancy young warmblood. Either way, it was a test to be proud of for Mr. Diem and the fact that there were no warm up issues at all and he stayed so relaxed is just wonderful! He put in a lovely, double clear show jump round, proving that when he stays relaxed he can be a wonderful show jumper. He did get a touch stronger than I would like down one line, but was able to reorganize and settle back into a nice rhythm. He was really brave and bold cross country, too bold actually, and then he turned cocky. He locked onto a really large table that's been used for Prelim in the past and fought the bridle a bit, clearly annoyed that I was asking him to slow down and refocus. We got up to the base of it where you can finally see how big it was and his eyes about popped out of his head and we had a runout through the right shoulder. His cockiness immediately evaporated and I could almost hear him say, "Whoa! Errr... sorry, guess I should be listening to you after all..." We circled and he jumped it beautifully on the second attempt and remained a bit more humble for the rest of the track- still confident, but more courteous of my input. He did a wonderful job through all of the technical elements and the other big tables, but I think a bit change is in his future for the jumpiung phases. When that red head cockiness flairs up it would be nice to have something in my hand that he respects just a touch more. Other than that little blooper, he had a really great and educational go; I'm looking forward to running Pine Top with him, and we have a little time to experiment with bits beforehand.
Devi thankfully had a better attention span today than she has had the past couple, although still not quite as focused as normal (sigh, the joys of mares). She put in an average dressage test, but was a bit tight through her back which the judge nailed us for. It was still quite cold out for her test and she just never really let go through her topline. Still, she was obedient and trying and that is all I can really ask for. She warmed up for show jumping beautifully, and put in a double clear round in the ring. The show jumping wasn't quite perfect though, and I will spend some focused time on getting the footwork a bit cleaner and the rhthym more consistent. She just got a bit jumbled coming to the in and out and lost the rhthym and focus a bit; she was handy to not touch a rail, but just a little greener than ideal. Cross country, however, she handled like a star. She was super confident and relaxed the whole trip, and really soft and easy to gallop and then recollect. It was close to a textbook round and really made me proud of her.
Ari had a bit of a rushed warm up for dressage with the times being tight which was unfortunate because she really could have used more time. It wasn't her best test as she was really tight due to the cold, but she was trying to be obedient. The horse that was circling around the arena next to us was a bit explosive which also didn't help, but there were glimpses within the test of what will eventually be a very competitive horse. The score was on the high side, but the judge's comments were encouraging, stating that she was seeing the talent that is within but not able to score higher due to the green-ness. I have to be ok with that. Show jump warmup was chaotic and the wind picked up and it was feezing!!! She was a bit reactive to the weather change and the other horses, but settled when she got into the arena. She put in a decent round but had an unlucky rail. Cross country she finally breathed (I think for the first time all day) and put in a stellar round. She was brave and bold and very rideable which I was very pleased with. I think just being able to move freely between the fences finally allowed her to loosen up on this cold, windy day and she was able to settle into a comfortable rhthym. Now if we can just get her to relax a little more around the other horses in the warm up arenas so that she can be breathing for the dressage and show jump that would be huge!
A long cold day, but a successful one for everyone's first move up. We definitley have some homework to do, but I am really looking forward to smoothing out the wrinkles. All three of these horses have a lot of talent and will be very competitive once they sort things out. This week will focus more on Stewart and Beacon's preparations for Full Gallop. Debbie is due out again Thursday, and I will connect with Eric for some dressage tune ups early this week as well.
Hope everyone is staying warm!!! I'm on my second cappachino and now, after finally defrosting, heading back to the barn. Ride On!!
Diem started out the day and it was so cold (the thermostat on my truck was just flashing ICE!) that I was afraid he would be very tight and potentially explosive in a very busy warm up arena. To the contrary, he had a wonderful soft, supple, and sane warm up that I was very pleased with. Even more exciting was the fact that it carried through the transition into the ring and he put in a lovely soft and accurate test. Unfortuantely, I didn't feel that the score did him justice, but it is hard to be immediately following an Olympic rider on a very fancy young warmblood. Either way, it was a test to be proud of for Mr. Diem and the fact that there were no warm up issues at all and he stayed so relaxed is just wonderful! He put in a lovely, double clear show jump round, proving that when he stays relaxed he can be a wonderful show jumper. He did get a touch stronger than I would like down one line, but was able to reorganize and settle back into a nice rhythm. He was really brave and bold cross country, too bold actually, and then he turned cocky. He locked onto a really large table that's been used for Prelim in the past and fought the bridle a bit, clearly annoyed that I was asking him to slow down and refocus. We got up to the base of it where you can finally see how big it was and his eyes about popped out of his head and we had a runout through the right shoulder. His cockiness immediately evaporated and I could almost hear him say, "Whoa! Errr... sorry, guess I should be listening to you after all..." We circled and he jumped it beautifully on the second attempt and remained a bit more humble for the rest of the track- still confident, but more courteous of my input. He did a wonderful job through all of the technical elements and the other big tables, but I think a bit change is in his future for the jumpiung phases. When that red head cockiness flairs up it would be nice to have something in my hand that he respects just a touch more. Other than that little blooper, he had a really great and educational go; I'm looking forward to running Pine Top with him, and we have a little time to experiment with bits beforehand.
Devi thankfully had a better attention span today than she has had the past couple, although still not quite as focused as normal (sigh, the joys of mares). She put in an average dressage test, but was a bit tight through her back which the judge nailed us for. It was still quite cold out for her test and she just never really let go through her topline. Still, she was obedient and trying and that is all I can really ask for. She warmed up for show jumping beautifully, and put in a double clear round in the ring. The show jumping wasn't quite perfect though, and I will spend some focused time on getting the footwork a bit cleaner and the rhthym more consistent. She just got a bit jumbled coming to the in and out and lost the rhthym and focus a bit; she was handy to not touch a rail, but just a little greener than ideal. Cross country, however, she handled like a star. She was super confident and relaxed the whole trip, and really soft and easy to gallop and then recollect. It was close to a textbook round and really made me proud of her.
Ari had a bit of a rushed warm up for dressage with the times being tight which was unfortunate because she really could have used more time. It wasn't her best test as she was really tight due to the cold, but she was trying to be obedient. The horse that was circling around the arena next to us was a bit explosive which also didn't help, but there were glimpses within the test of what will eventually be a very competitive horse. The score was on the high side, but the judge's comments were encouraging, stating that she was seeing the talent that is within but not able to score higher due to the green-ness. I have to be ok with that. Show jump warmup was chaotic and the wind picked up and it was feezing!!! She was a bit reactive to the weather change and the other horses, but settled when she got into the arena. She put in a decent round but had an unlucky rail. Cross country she finally breathed (I think for the first time all day) and put in a stellar round. She was brave and bold and very rideable which I was very pleased with. I think just being able to move freely between the fences finally allowed her to loosen up on this cold, windy day and she was able to settle into a comfortable rhthym. Now if we can just get her to relax a little more around the other horses in the warm up arenas so that she can be breathing for the dressage and show jump that would be huge!
A long cold day, but a successful one for everyone's first move up. We definitley have some homework to do, but I am really looking forward to smoothing out the wrinkles. All three of these horses have a lot of talent and will be very competitive once they sort things out. This week will focus more on Stewart and Beacon's preparations for Full Gallop. Debbie is due out again Thursday, and I will connect with Eric for some dressage tune ups early this week as well.
Hope everyone is staying warm!!! I'm on my second cappachino and now, after finally defrosting, heading back to the barn. Ride On!!
Aiken Adventures- A Week of Training
A week of training sessions to prepare the girls and Diem for their first ever Training event at Sporting Days! This week was another busy one; Monday Beacon had off after Pine Top while everyone else got out for a light flat school following their somewhat relaxed weekend. Tuesday Diem, Devi, and Ari had an excursion to Paradise Farm for an in depth cross country school. My friend Katie Murphy joined us there with her two horses and we got a whole lot accomplished: ditches, combinations into water, bank steps up and down, trekhener, coffin, sunken road, corner, and various skinnies and steering questions. All three horses were super with the gold star going to Diem who was super relaxed and confident at every question; he even got to school a fun Prelim combination that consisted of a brush, two strides to a drop, two strides to a wedge- what a good boy! Wednesday was a light hack day for the ones that had gone cross country schooling while Beacon and Stew really schooled the dressage stuff. I worked Beacon with Therese again and achieved some wonderful developments in both the trot and canter. Afterwards, I took a field trip to play videographer for Therese in her lesson with Boyd. It was a wonderful lesson to watch; she has a very cool young, imported Irish horse and they made some great changes in the quality of the footwork for the show jumping. I really liked the lesson he taught, but I think I will stick with the program that Debbie has us on as it is working so well.
Speaking of Debbie, Thursday I organized a clinic with her and rode all three of mine- what a great day of learning! Devi was a bit opinionated and I actually had an uncharacteristically difficult ride on her: a direct result of a little bump up in her grain, some alfalfa mixed in with the new hay, and her realizing apparently overnight that there were a lot of boys around! We still got a lot accomplished but, jeesh!, I was a little nervous that she wouldn't be able to retain her focus for the weekend. Ari started out beautifully, got a bit excited when two horses trotted by on the track, but settled back down to get some serious work done. The mare is a bit unconventional, but she can JUMP, and Debbie loved her. Beacon had a FANTASTIC jump school! We didn't need to do to much because he was jumping so well (yay!!) Debbie has some excellent exercises to get him to think a bit and use his body better and they are really paying off. The best, in my opinion: a tiny trot jump to a short one stride, to an oxer that you slowly make larger and wider. The catch is that the oxer is made from two panels and a very fair groundline. On the approach it appears to be a vertical, so when they get inside the combination they sort of pause as they figure out that it's an oxer which causes them to push off the ground and strrrrrrrrrech across the top. Brilliant! I am so happy with how he is progressing in this phase that I'm almost looking forward to show jumping at Full Gallop next week (almost).
Friday was dressage day for everyone to practice the pieces of the new training test, really focusing on the lengthenings and the new smaller figures. Devi was a bit tricky to keep focused again, Diem started out soft and finished up really well, Ari had some lovely moments opening up her trot, and Stew was super- his canter has gotten so much stronger. Beacon lucked out and just had a light hack day, although gauging by the way he danced and did a parade strut the entire time perhaps I should have galloped him! Marissa came by to help with horse show prep (bathing, braiding, tack cleaning, trailer packing, etc) and then everyone was put to bed for the night in anticipation of a very early morning (Diem was scheduled first for a 7:30am ride time!).
Speaking of Debbie, Thursday I organized a clinic with her and rode all three of mine- what a great day of learning! Devi was a bit opinionated and I actually had an uncharacteristically difficult ride on her: a direct result of a little bump up in her grain, some alfalfa mixed in with the new hay, and her realizing apparently overnight that there were a lot of boys around! We still got a lot accomplished but, jeesh!, I was a little nervous that she wouldn't be able to retain her focus for the weekend. Ari started out beautifully, got a bit excited when two horses trotted by on the track, but settled back down to get some serious work done. The mare is a bit unconventional, but she can JUMP, and Debbie loved her. Beacon had a FANTASTIC jump school! We didn't need to do to much because he was jumping so well (yay!!) Debbie has some excellent exercises to get him to think a bit and use his body better and they are really paying off. The best, in my opinion: a tiny trot jump to a short one stride, to an oxer that you slowly make larger and wider. The catch is that the oxer is made from two panels and a very fair groundline. On the approach it appears to be a vertical, so when they get inside the combination they sort of pause as they figure out that it's an oxer which causes them to push off the ground and strrrrrrrrrech across the top. Brilliant! I am so happy with how he is progressing in this phase that I'm almost looking forward to show jumping at Full Gallop next week (almost).
Friday was dressage day for everyone to practice the pieces of the new training test, really focusing on the lengthenings and the new smaller figures. Devi was a bit tricky to keep focused again, Diem started out soft and finished up really well, Ari had some lovely moments opening up her trot, and Stew was super- his canter has gotten so much stronger. Beacon lucked out and just had a light hack day, although gauging by the way he danced and did a parade strut the entire time perhaps I should have galloped him! Marissa came by to help with horse show prep (bathing, braiding, tack cleaning, trailer packing, etc) and then everyone was put to bed for the night in anticipation of a very early morning (Diem was scheduled first for a 7:30am ride time!).
Aiken Adventures In Sunbathing
Yesterday's sunshine brought creatures out of the depths of the swamp. Too bad we didn't get the sun and warmth today at the horse show. Update to follow!!
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