June Wrap Up

It has been a very busy month! Lucinda Green clinic in the beginning of the month, Fox River Valley Horse Trials in the middle, and hosting the Kim Severson clinic at the end!

Lucinda is always an amazing clinician. She teaches something no one else teaches-- how to ride when it all goes wrong. And it so often does on cross country, that I think what she teaches ought to be required learning for anyone who wants to go out on a cross country course, at any level! Lucinda was very impressed with the changes in Baby Z during the last year! She did up our bit to a gag, which really helped us, but I'm pretty sure that using it even a couple times was enough to remind her she is in fact supposed to listen to me! By the Kim clinic, we were back in the Waterford with more obedience than ever before!

Fox River Valley was a bit of a weather rollercoaster. Hot and dry, then pouring cats and dogs, then hot... rinse and repeat! Z was a star, breaking into the 20s in dressage (my first time ever in the 20s!), double clean show jumping, but a bad jump into water cost us some time, and frazzled me enough that I went the wrong way for precious seconds! The footing was deep enough that we weren't going fast enough to make up for any mistakes, so we ended with 9.4 time penalties, dropping from 3rd to 7th. But at least Zahra doesn't know we didn't finish on our dressage score! She was such a star in the toughest conditions she has ever run in so far. Check the helmet cam to see how chewed up it all was by the time we went! Thanks to Adam for all the great pictures!

The Kim clinic had a very rocky start, with Kim's plane being cancelled Friday night, and delayed again Saturday morning. She finally made it in after 11, to O'Hare, and we got the first group started by 2:30 back in Madison. We rode all afternoon, some through rain,  getting everyone in, although the last group ended at dusk! I can't thank the awesome volunteers/co-organizing cohort who got things set up while I drove Kim from Chicago... and drove... and drove.... did I mention I took a wrong turn and we took I94 through Milwaukee? With all the construction and delays going up I-90, we only lost about 20 minutes, but still, a lot of miles covered that day! Everyone had great rides, and those that rode in March had all made obvious improvements in the past 3 months. It was great to see!

Sunday was finally a gorgeous day! The only gorgeous day we've had for Kim, I was afraid she was going to start hating Wisconsin! She started us off by making a galloping path for 350 meters per minute, 400mpm, 450mpm, 500 mpm, and 520mpm. This is the first time I'd ever timed myself to figure out my pacing, and it was hugely educational! Zahra covered the training speed without exertion, so I can stop fretting so much about time! This is definitely a tool we will come back to! Then we warmed up over a galloping oxer, did some serious gymnastics with the ditch, utilizing the very narrow triple brush on an off-set 4 stride line. After some work with the water, we were ready for our big trip to Ohio!

Jim Wofford at the Midwest Horse Fair

Midwest Horse Fair. Not the first place you'd go looking for quality eventing instruction, but this year was certainly an exception! The great Jim Wofford was on hand, and I was fortunate enough to be one of his guinea pigs! We had one mounted demonstration, and one lecture each day, and Jim did an excellent job of balancing the needs of the riders looking for precious nuggets of knowledge, and the spectating western pleasure public, many of whom didn't know eventing was a sport, or even that "Oldenburg" was a breed!

On day one, we focused on position. "Sit right to jump right" was the theme, and luckily for us, we all had a pretty solid position, but Jim still took the time to explain the perfect placement of the foot, and why the leg is where it is, and what is a two-point, for the sake of the audience. The jumps were very straight forward, to the point where they almost weren't a part of the equation, but it gave the horses a chance to adjust to the tense atmosphere. In lecture later, he continued with the position theme, but now incorporated dressage and cross country position into the conversation as well. Major take away: you WILL ride without stirrups. I've been too chicken shit up til now to drop my stirrups with the green bean, but I guess she's trained enough??

Describing correct upper body angle
Image (c) ShortHorse Studios

Day two's ride was lengthening and shortening, and the gymnastics were a bit more interesting, one set at the 'correct' distance, one set two feet short, one set two feet long. Generally, the horses who excelled at the short distance struggled at the long distance, and vice verse.  One horse was able to bounce the shortened one stride, while another horse was able to chip in a third stride in the elongated three stride! Because Z had been bum-rushing the correct distance, Jim predicted she would struggle in the short, but she was more willing to listen to me on the new exercise and came in quietly, making it look easy. Then, he told me "not even to breathe too hard" in between the longer strides, just let her go a bit, and she made that look easy too! Really nice to have a horse who can adjust after the Sgiltinator's famous trick of always-adding-a-stride-even-at-4'-but-still-not-touching-a-rail!!

Overachieving
Image (c) ShortHorse Studios

The afternoon discussion focused on conditioning, and I decided after that talk it was time to update my conditioning regimen, since everyone seems to use shorter intervals than I do!! Jim's interval system ((3)4 minute trots + (3)3 minute canters) is the way I learned originally, but somewhere along the way I learned to do longer trot sets, 15 minutes for young horses, 20 minutes for up to training level, 30 minutes for prelim/intermediate, and 40 minutes for advanced (followed by short canter intervals). Maybe a holdover from the long format days?

The third day was a gymnastic to prepare the horse for jumping a course. It was a one stride, followed by a choice. Three stride bending line to the left, two stride bending line to the right, or four strides to an oxer straight in front. By switching up which way you turn, the idea is to teach the horse to wait for your instruction. Once that's been mastered, the three individual jumps + the one stride can then be used to create a little course.

Image (c) ShortHorse Studios

The last lecture was "Trends in the Sport." This talk was pretty depressing. It was primarily about two things: drugs and professionals. The drugs was mainly about the hunter ring, but I'm sure there are some guilty eventers as well, basically winning "by the needle" instead of through good horsemanship. The professionalism discussion had to do with the fact that (and yes, Jimmy was this blunt): "if you didn't decide when you were 18 to go be a professional rider, you're not going to go to the Olympics. If you're 35, college educated, working 9-5, with kids, its not going to happen."  Well, I'm 26, no kids, but would still really like to pass through the finish flags at Rolex some day.... so I guess I'll keep working!

The Gang

Gerd Zuther and the Triplets

Gerd Zuther and the Triplets. 

Epic clinic, or epic band name? 

You decide.

This summer I have had the privilege of helping my friend Caryn start her "triplets." These three 3-year-olds were the result of a very successful embryo transfer of Caryn's Grand Prix Hanoverian imported from Germany, Salope, and international Grand Prix superstar, the Oldenburg (approved Hanoverian) Diamond Hit, who is standing at stud in Germany. Their breeding, build, movement, and temperament all speak to successful careers in dressage. How successful?  Well, I am but a humble eventer, who doesn't even know how to ask for any of the upper level movements, but I think in the right hands, there is nothing these fillies can't do. And in a less experienced amateur's hands? I'm pretty sure they'd still be winning national accolades.

The work this summer culminated in last weekend's Gerd Zuther clinic. For those who don't know Gerd, I'm not sure I can adequately describe what an amazing teacher he is! He is certified by the German Equine Federation (FN) as a "Reitlehrer FN” as a riding instructor and trainer for the three Olympic equestrian disciplines – dressage, jumping and eventing – with riding accomplishments that include multiple Grand Prix successes. His primary focus has always been training, with many of his students going on to compete at the Olympic level, including most recently Nina Lingon of Thailand.

awesome horses + awesome trainer = great success

Day 1 saw my horse, Zahra get her little behind handed to her by Gerd. Before the lesson even began, he had me hop off to show me where she lacked muscle in her hind end. When I got back on, he laid out some cavalettis and we spent the next hour working those undeveloped muscles, both with the cavalettis and flatwork gymnastics. She was completely wiped out by the end, but we had a good plan for the winter.

The first of the triplets, Diamond Dureza, was up next. She. Was. Perfect. Walk-trot-canter in a swinging rhythm with a supple back, and we even began introducing some more advanced stuff, like head to the wall leg-yields. She took it all in stride! It was a lovely lesson, on a lovely horse, and I am not sorry to say that this means Caryn will be taking over the ride on her after this! Although she has been such a pleasure to work with, I am excited that Caryn can finally begin to enjoy one of these girls after 4+ years of waiting!

Day 2 began as soon as I arrived at the farm. I came down to audit a bit before my ride, and no sooner than I'd sat down then Gerd called me out of the audience to help with a supremely talented but occasionally naughty 6 year old who refused to relax into his flying lead changes. Horse and rider were getting too frustrated with each other, so Gerd had me hop on. (Cue awkward moment when you realize you've never done a flying lead change outside of a jump saddle, and in jumping style). Going left to right, he'd let out a big buck, and right to left he would try to kick the rider's leg (and sometimes, he succeeded!!). A few bucks and kicks later, we finally got ONE quiet, correct flying lead change, at which point Gerd had me bring him back to the walk to do some half-steps to finish him off. Except, fatal flaw, the eventer had no idea how to ask for half-steps!! So, I just tried to hold him in front and time my leg aids to Gerd's whip, and we managed to get a few!! 

Next was my ride on Z. I could feel that she began the day still a bit tired. We focused on suppleing gymnastics for the whole ride, like double shallow loops down the long side, 4 loop serpentines, and riding off the track, lengthening down the long sides, flexing in the corners, but straight and sitting trot on the short sides. The final exercise proved to be too much for her exhausted little body: 3 loop serpentine, change of lead over centerline. She just could not consistently pick up the correct lead, in either direction! When we finally came to the cool-down, she could barely lift her back legs! So, hind end strength will be a huge priority over the winter. Clearly the little 3' jumps are not enough to make her actually engage those muscles!! What was really neat was how much I was able to push on her. Here she is, only 4 years old, but doing the same sorts of exercises my Intermediate horse Sgilti would have been doing when he was in his prime! So even though she struggled a bit, she's still on the accelerated track for greatness.

After my ride, I was completely wiped out. I wasn't entirely sure where I was going to find the energy for two more horses, so I was doing my best to relax and audit, when again Gerd called on me to get on the horse in the lesson! This was a more experienced pair, working on Prix St. Georges movements, but they weren't making it out of the warm-up because the rider was way over-thinking a straightforward walking leg-yield exercise. So I hopped on and did the exercise, and then demonstrated what the rider had been doing (with Gerd's help... I hadn't been able to tell the problem from where I was sitting). 

I got two good take-aways from these two quick helping rides-- first of all, Gerd thinks I'm a competant enough rider that he'll make me get on these well trained horses (squee!!), and second, I've never in my life ridden a horse so well connected as those two. Something to aspire to I suppose!

After that was the second triplet, Diamond Caliente. Unfortunately, she can be a bit of a hot tamale on the lounge line occasionally, and today was one of those occasions. Even though I feel that she could have stepped up to any challenge Gerd had given us, he chose to take it a little easier on her and we focused on developing a better connection. This was definitely an area we needed help with, so it was still a great lesson, and she was swinging and soft by the end of the ride.

And finally Triplet #3, Diamond Dolce. Gerd picked up right away that she was (currently) the least balanced, and so we worked in short spurts, doing lots of transitions and walk breaks so that we didn't push her past her fitness level. She (and every baby) needs to enjoy their work before the "real work" can begin. Our work focused on building up her strength and endurance so that she could better carry my weight, and it gave us a good game plan for moving forward.

People kept asking me during the clinic which is my favorite to ride, but the truth is, I like each of them for different reasons. They are all so athletic, they will excel wherever their lives take them. Hopefully I can do my best to keep up with them as their lives progress!

First Kim Severson Clinic

Organizer: (noun) Person who must be everything to everyone.
(c) Shorthorse Studios

How many clinics have I been to over the years? That's probably a scary number. But this clinic was different. This time I was the organizer. I wasn't the host, because the lovely Cindy Bonamarte graciously offered her wonderful facility, Geneva Equestrian, to us. And I wasn't the financial backer. Thankfully WDCTA was there with the capital to pay for all the fees while checks were cashed. Nope, all I had to do was gather all the pieces of intel, make sure everyone gave me all the things I needed, and then run around like a chicken with my head cut off to make sure Kim was where she needed to be, when she needed to be there, with appropriate beverage in hand, and that all the rails were in their cups!

When I started the process of getting the clinic together, I promised the Southwest Chapter that I would NOT need any volunteers!! This phenomenal group of women work themselves to the bone bringing in the best opportunities for riders in our local dressage community, and they seemed a little leery of stretching themselves too thin. But have no fear! I promised. We eventers do clinics a little differently! Thankfully, my group of riders and auditors did not disappoint me, and there was more than enough support to get it all done. Especially grateful to Cindy and her barn crew for getting jumps where they needed to be, organizing dinner Saturday night and even buying the riders lunch on Saturday! And of course, this clinic would not have come to be without the tireless support of  Donna Thomas, Mary Hanneman, Caryn Vesperman, Angela Genin, and DeAnn Howard (and really everyone else too!). Thank you so much for holding my hand through all the in's and out's of clinic organization and always remaining upbeat despite my constant barrage of questions!!

How I passed the time, waiting for Kim's flight to get in...

There were no shortages of bumps in the road-- like Kim's flight nearly getting cancelled Friday night due to a faulty airplane part, but finally making it into O'Hare by midnight. The farm was a full hour and a half away, so we went to bed just as Phillip Dutton started off cross country at the Boekelo Nations Cup in the Netherlands. Neither of us waited up to see how he did (just as well, since unfortunately he popped off at the Coffin). Her flight out luckily was uneventful-- a work colleague flying out of O'Hare that night was taken in to the basement because of a tornado threat!

Yes, it rained a bit. But the horses were super!
(c) ShortHorse Studios

Although we avoided any tornadoes the weather over the weekend was not terribly cooperative either. We were constantly under threat for a huge storm; Madison got pounded by rain, Chicago got pounded by rain, but right in the middle, Lake Geneva thankfully never got anything more than a steady drizzle. Both days we pondered, would we ride outside or inside? But both days we toughed it out, and people used studs they never even knew they had, buried at the bottom of their stud kits! We broke up the bigger groups so that people had less time to stand out in the rain, and I was very grateful to all the riders who were happy to "go with the flow."

Kim's teaching style was wonderful! She understands that there is no "one size fits all" approach to horses, and was willing to engage in a conversation with every rider. Each rider had their own goals to achieve during the lessons, and Kim made sure they succeeded. She was very easy going, easy to talk to, but also very firm about what she wanted you to do. Everyone I spoke to had wonderful things to say about how she changed their riding for the better. For me personally, it was realizing that my horse is running around with her nose in her chest, and that I need to get her up before the jump, and stay stronger in my core on the landing so she doesn't land and buck. I'm glad winter is coming since it should take me about that long to fix the problem!!

Head's up, Zahra!!
(c) ShortHorse Studios

On the whole, I think Kim impressed all of us very much, but also, I think we all made a good impression on her, so she will be back!! She commented on how nice it was to see so many riders so well mounted-- everyone had the right horse for what they wanted to do. We'll be working out the final dates in the next month or two, but keep your eyes peeled for an announcement about a clinic in the Madison area for early April. And next time, I'm getting someone ELSE to coordinate meals!

Last Janet Foy Clinic of the Season

I guess Fall really is coming. Janet Foy, international FEI "I" judge, will not be coming back to our barn until 2013, so the season is already beginning to come to a close.

I rode with Janet four times this year, just once for the first three clinics, and then twice this last weekend. Riding with her was a great way to "check our temperature" to see whether or not we were on track. And if we weren't, she would steer us back and leave us with good homework for the next time. It was Janet who told me it was time to start cracking down on Zahra back in July, saying "You can't think of her as a baby. Unless maybe a baby crocodile." HA! So true! This weekends big take away message: "This horse has quite the ego. So every ride, you need to feed that ego, so the next ride she feels confident she can do it again." This is something I almost take for granted in my jump schools, but need to remember on the flat as well.

Saturday evening, I got the chance to help Caryn show off her wonderful green-broke triplets to Janet and a crowd of some two dozen WDCTA members. In the interest of time, I only rode one, Zisa, but she really was the rockstar of the night!! She seemed to thrive with the crowd atmosphere.  I was so proud! She is going to LOVE the show ring!!

Earlier this year, Janet published a book, "Dressage for the (Not So) Perfect Horse." I've been reading through my copy between clinics, and I think it should be required reading for all eventers, since none of us ever have owned or ever will own a perfect dressage horse!!! That's just the nature of our sport! We're here to run and jump, but we'd like to give away as few points as possible right from the start. There was a subheading to one of her chapters that has really, not only defined my training with Zahra so far, but also kept me sane when it would seem easier to give up:  "Every new evasion is a sign your training is progressing."

Thank you Janet!!

Lucinda Clinic

If there were a ratio of hours of instruction / amount of influence on my riding, Lucinda Green wins without contest. I've been clinicing with her now for 10 years, as often as I was able. She teaches something that no one else teaches-- what to do when it all goes wrong. Lucinda is the Queen of Cross Country, winning Badminton 6 different times of 6 different horses. She now travels the world teaching her clinics: "Cross Country: The Safe Way." Some of her gems include "Just remember: E.L.B.O.W. Engine Line Balance or OW!" "When in doubt, GET OUT!" and, my personal favorite: "There is no known distance between these fences." It's all about putting you into sticky situations so that you and your horse have the tools to deal with anything!

Day 1 is always closer to dog agility than it is to cross country riding, but in a good way! There is much less emphasis on jumping big imposing jumps than on figuring out how to connect with your horse and get her to do the job you need her to do! So, lots of skinnys and arrowheads, a few oxers and panels... lots of strange 'uncomfortable' distances. The rules are simple: Don't have a run out. Lucinda will tear down the jump if necessary, but you better stop square in front of it if you do stop. Much better if you can scramble over in some fashion or another... they're all quite small, so there's no reason not to walk over them! The horses generally pick up on the game quickly, while Lucinda targets the rider to really force you to focus you're eyes on the jump and wrap your horse in the 'tube' of your legs. The sum of all this is a finely focused partnership cantering up to these skinnys, and its all accomplished in the first 30 minutes of the first day!

The next activity was the tarp, which as you may recall, is not our strongest suit. After struggling to get over it within the group, Lucinda pulled us aside to work on it on our own, saying that we'd stay there all night if we had to. We actually got over it fairly quickly once we left the group, and we continued to go back and forth over it for another 30-45 minutes. She never truly settled, and every 5-10 minutes we'd start back at the beginning, with the rearing and naughtiness all over again. Finally, after I'd won the battle again (for the fourth time), I stopped working on the tarp and walked back to the group. I'd won the battle, but the war was still on-going, so I wanted to end her day on a good note-- riding 5 fences with emergency rein contact!

Emergency rein contact is when you lose your reins and have a jump in the next few strides, so you don't have enough time to get them back. So you sit back and widen your hands until you DO have contact, and then ride the fence! Emergency rein contact becomes really important at Preliminary level and above, because course designers find ways to force you to ride with no reins (drop into water followed by a skinny?), but the point of Lucinda's clinics is that these situations can happen to anyone at any time. So you may as well plan for it! She actually had a great anecdote, about that plane that landed in the Hudson River? The pilot had exactly 120 seconds to decide what to do when the engine failed. But because he'd been over so many emergency situations in his mind so many times, he was able to quickly find a solution and save hundreds of lives. Obviously a very dramatic example, but the point remains: have a plan for when the manure hits the fan.

The second day began with walking through the water, and walking up and down small banks until the horses learned to just quietly step in and out of the water, and then repeating everything in trot. Next we put together a few small courses in and around the water complex, using the same skinnys as the day before.

On our first mini course, Zahra decided to give me a piece of her mind. After trotting up and down the banks happily for ten minutes, she decided she would not be trotting up the steep slope that had a skinny on top. A few little crow hops and general reluctance to go forward finally concluded in me giving her a resounding WHAP with my stick (turned upside down for bonus shock value). It's like the switch went off in her head, and she trotted up the hill and over the skinny. She didn't give me any grief for the rest of the lesson!

Before and After the spanking.
Photos (c) ShortHorse Studios

Once Lucinda had our horses listening to us and doing all the ins and outs of the water complex, she turned us loose to jump any combination of jumps and water that we fancied (just keep it small please). Zahra was foot perfect with everything I asked her!

Eat your heart out George!
(c) ShortHorse Studios

"Ragdoll Style" resulted in a foot in the ditch!
(c) ShortHorse Studios

Next, we walked over to the ditch. I'll admit, I was a bit trepidatious about this-- the only ditch we'd ever jumped was a very shallow, natural ditch. Although this one was not especially deep, it was much deeper than the one at home, and riveted on both sides! Plus after having that big tarp discussion, I wasn't sure what I'd gotten myself into. I swore I would ride it positively though, and so I banished all thoughts of worry from my head as we approached the ditch "rag-doll" style. She didn't hesitate any longer than it took her to put one of her feet down into the ditch and then skip over it! A bit unorthodox perhaps, but I was ecstatic!!

Baby trakehner!
(c) ShortHorse Studios

After a few more times over the ditch (and even helping "pony" a few other horses over the ditch! A welcome change after every single horse in my group tried in vain to pony Zahra over the tarp the previous day), she made it into a small coffin with the skinnys. Note to self: Zahra will get between the flags, over the jumps, come hell or high water, but our "adjustability" needs work!! 
Finally, Lucinda added a skinny to make the ditch into a small trakehner. I was so overwhelmingly filled with pride when as we cantered up to the ditch, Zahra's ears pinged right on to the standards and took me there!

Another trip out to the main field to jump around and have fun-- this time I faced baby Z up to some bigger gallop-y jumps (up to training level), and she felt perfect! I was overflowing with confidence that she has become the horse of my dreams!

Jumping a moderately sized house without incident
(c) ShortHorse Studios 

Of course, than Lucinda brought out the tarp again, and she and I got to have a "mini-private" session on tarps! It was actually really a good thing to come back to the tarp. After a small fit, she began bounding over it, and once we got her quietly walking over it, I jumped off and let her graze while Lucinda imparted some words of wisdom. I'm paraphrasing of course, but do your best to imagine it in a very proper British accent:

Our private session with the tarp
(c) ShortHorse Studios

"I just had this very strong sense that we shouldn't beat her yesterday over the tarp. I could sense that she was genuinely afraid of it, so beating her would not help us. But I also had a sense, just as strongly, that we should beat her when she was being silly in the water. And I think you sensed it too, because you really gave her a good crack."

I'm not gonna lie, I thought that was pretty funny in an absurdest kind of way, but its also completely true. So many people struggle with where that line is. Some people don't want to ever punish their horse, even to the point where it can develop into a dangerous situation; while other people can be so far to the opposite extreme, beating their horse every time he steps out of line (which can also develop into a dangerous situation!!). Knowing the timing of when to spank a horse is not something that can easily be taught. You have a tiny fraction of a window to punish a horse after he is bad. You need to have your wits about you, carry out the punishment, and then remain calm and cool enough to continue on your ride as if nothing happened. Maybe a future blog post dedicated to this subject is in order... :)

One last epic picture to close the blog... :)
(c) ShortHorse Studios

Ralph Hill Clinic #1

Ralph Hill, aka King of Rolex

I love Ralph. Here's a guy who was able to go to Rolex year after year, horse after horse, time and time again. He rarely won the big shows, hardly ever made the US Team, but you need to be some kind of horseman to just keep coming back year after year like that. I challenge you to find another rider who was able to PRODUCE that many Advanced level horses in their career.

As most of you know, Ralph had a very serious fall a few years ago, and it fundamentally changed his life. He found religion, and gave up the drinking, smoking, and the other bad habits that had kept him off of the US Team for much of his career. His quieter life style has, I believe, allowed him to really focus in on HOW he was able to produce so many elite horses. Its because he really "gets" horses: emotionally, physiologically, and intuitively.  I remember one lesson last year, his eye sight has gotten so that he couldn't even see the dressage letters across the short side of an arena, but from across the longside of the arena, he could see that I was holding my inside rein "half a pound" heavier then my outside because "your horse just told me." That's some voodoo magic, and I want more of it!

And that's why I thought it would be worth driving 5 hours to Minnesota this weekend to take a clinic with this Jedi Master.

The first day was a fairly simple grid exercise that Baby Z could do in her sleep... but Ralph really got after us to do better than "just do it" and actually have a balanced turn and a consistent rhythm through the trot poles. Baby Z was having none of that and threw a temper tantrum!! Ralph referred to her as a "typical female" and made us keep turning to the right until we had her. Then on the individual fences, Ralph challenged me to stop picking down to the fences and just let her GO! I keep thinking she's too green to go full tilt at these fences. Ralph turned that on its head and said she's too green NOT to!!

Day 2 dawned cold and wet, so unfortunately no cross country schooling for us. Everyone was very disappointed, but schooling on a wet day in April could have destroyed the footing for the whole year, and respecting the owners hosting the clinic is fundamentally important if you want to ever be invited back!

So instead we set up a mini cross country-esque course in the indoor, using roll tops, gates, brick walls, flower boxes... and TARPS!! I watched in horror as Ralph draped a tarp across the bottom of a hogs-back, making it into a coop-like tent. For a full explanation of her phobia of tarps, go here.

Between groups, I pulled Ralph aside and explained my horse's phobia of the tarps. He didn't get it at first-- he was like yeah yeah, we'll get her over it, so I kept talking. Telling him horror story after horror story of her NOT jumping tarps until he said, "Ok, we'll see what she says."

When we walked into the arena, Ralph was having the jump crew demolish the tarp-tent, and Zahra got about 20 feet away and stopped, snorting. Ralph had someone fetch him a grain bucket, and we coaxed her over to stand next to the tarp.

She was quite tense through warm up, giving everything, down to the last flower box, the hairy eye-ball. We had a small fight trying to get her over a pile of poles on the ground, so sure was she that it was a trick!! Once we actually got to jumping, I finally felt her relax. We jumped a small cross rail, then a small vertical, then over the poles which had been such a problem... then Ralph shouted "Now go to the Liverpool!!" I gritted my teeth and put my leg on in a death grip. Zahra surged forward. I was committed to getting to the other side of this tarp, but in the back of my mind I wondered if Zahra would still be under me by the time I got there! I had tunnel vision galloping down to that tarp-- all I saw was the other side. And then she leaped into the air, and we were there!! Safe and sound on the other side! She had jumped it, her first try!! I shrieked in delight, and slapped her neck.

Then Ralph sent us out of the "start box" to do our "course" of 4 jumps. A brick wall to a gate, liverpool, and then a nice ramped oxer to finish. I kept her in front of my leg, and Zahra surged over all the jumps, finishing cockier than ever.

Love that mare <3

Sophie, wanting to know what's the hold up?? We've got a 5 hour drive ahead of us!!

First Dressage Clinic, or RHYTHM!

Well, I'd been in Chicago all week for work, so I had to come into my first lesson with Alex with low expectations. But luckily, although she was indeed a bit tense, Alex focused in on me and my position. He was encouraging me to sit up and sit back. I'd been leaning forward a bit to try to be gentle on her back. No more! he said. He explained in his very thick German accent that since the horse was built uphill (and then he showed me how she was built in a heil-esque gesture), I should not lean forward because then I just overload her shoulder with my tall upper body, forcing her to move her front legs like an egg beater. As soon as I sat back, she became much more elegant in her movement, and never lost a beat in her balance as I re-positioned my weight further back, so clearly the time had come to stop babying her in the flatwork!!

Next up came the Q&A with Professor Alex, where I came across as dyslexic at best.  "What is the horse's comfort rein?" he asked. I knew this one!! She's more balanced going to the left, so I said "Left!"

"Wrong!"

Ok, wait, what? I could have sworn she feels more balanced to the left...

He then asked the same question six more times in six different ways, and by the end I realized that when he said "rein" he meant the physical rein in my hand, not the direction of travel. Oops.

After 5 minutes of confusion, we're back on the same page, speaking the same language (although his accent is still cooler than mine).

So, she's more balanced to the left, and she looks for that balance (/comfort) from my right rein, which is the outside rein to the left. Ok, that all makes sense.

Now where it gets tricky: when I go to the right, the right rein is still the comfort rein, so right now for this horse, I need to actually balance her on the inside rein when going to the right!! Just to illustrate his point, Alex had me trotting down the long side and asked me to float my left rein. No change. Right rein? *Thump!* my stirrup hit the wall.

Photo Courtesy ShortHorse Studios

Similarly, when we would canter to the left, she would spook a little at the auditors at the far end of the arena and drift to the inside. If I tried to correct her with the outside (right) rein, she would happily swap leads! Alex told me to float that right rein and allow her to drift into a circle. We're at the bottom of the training scale, so we need to teach her to maintain RHYTHM right now, and every lead swap is a loss of rhythm. We'll get to acceptance later!

On the second day, we carried forward this topic of the comfort rein on the right, and how that affected my right lead departs. At the clinic last weekend, Leslie Law really gave me the proverbial "keys to the kingdom" when it came to Zahra's right lead canter. If I took the time to activate my right leg before the transition, I got it almost every time. Alex took it one step further by saying yes, activate the right leg, but drop the comfort rein at the same time. If I try to hold the right rein, she can use that to balance into the left lead. In one small change, Alex took the "almost" out of the equation!

I feel so fortunate that I've been able to work with this amazing instructor for so many years. He sees things and understands them in ways that is just boggling!

As we're walking out of the arena, he asked, "Zo, does it jump?"
"Oh yes!" I told him. "She loves it!"
"Well, she will certainly do the dressage."
High praise indeed from the German! :)

Leslie Law Clinic

Another weekend, another adventure with Baby Z!

I was a little trepidatious when I headed out Friday night. She's in a growth spurt and a little unbalanced right now, and Leslie Law is definitely the kind of person I would want to put my best foot forward!

She loaded into the trailer much better this time, after my friend Ruth really got after her last weekend. She found the same thing I did when it comes to Zahra-- she's not phased by being forced to back up quickly (as in "you don't want to walk forward? Fine! Let's try backwards!!). Its almost like she thinks "Ha! couldn't get me over the tarp / in the water / in the trailer, so I win this round!" And, obviously, that's not what I want her to learn! If you keep the pressure on her, she relents, and then, not only does she relent once, but she will then march right through the water / on the trailer / over the tarp over and over again. You get this girl once, and she says "Ok, you win." But you have to earn every one!

This theme came up again when on Day 2 of the clinic, there was a LIVERPOOL!!! Throughout the session, I kept trying to stand next to it and let her sniff it, hoping she'd be ready to tackle it when the time came. Well, I was wrong. Leslie had us first just walk around it, as close as possible, and then walk away and come at it in trot. She got no where near it as soon as she realized I wanted her to go over it!! We used leg, a guide rail, the crop, a lead horse, and a lounge whip before Leslie finally said "I'm not sure I can get her to do it either, but I will try." And then he got on.

I felt a little justified that at least he had to work for it! She would stop, crow hop, and generally refused to go over it, but all the while, he was reinforcing a set of aids to make her actually do it. And eventually, she did!! After the fifth time over it, she no longer even cared about it! She started stepping on it with her back feet, which while not ideal, is a step in the right direction!

So, what did Leslie do differently?

When I came to the Liverpool, I came in with a "we're going over this come hell or high water!!" attitude. She would NOT turn away, the only way out of the problem was to go forward, over the Liverpool. So, direction first, forward second.

Leslie on the other hand allowed her to run off from the tarp, and let her run into the wall as an alternative. He wanted her to go forward when he asked, regardless of direction. So, forward first, direction second.

Of course, "direction second" still means he was in control of where they were going. If they didn't jump the Liverpool, they ran into the wall. And on their way to the Liverpool, he would make her bend one way, then the other, but ALWAYS going forward! Leg was king, for sure. Hands just decided if they would go left or right with that forward energy. Once you stop, they're useless. As Leslie said later in the day, "A stop is a disobedience of the leg. I never get into my horse's face after a stop, because they did not have a disobedience of the hand."

This was such a good clinic. I'm going to try my best to ride with him again as soon as possible!!

Zahra's First Clinic!

Well, Zahra continues to be amazing. Thanks to the fabulous weather we've been having lately, she got to school her very first water complex last week. She was pretty skeptical at first, but after she had the chance to have a good drink and paw violently at the water, she hopped right in, and never looked back. She marched right in a second, third, and (tried to trot in) a fourth time! Since it was a brand new water complex, we were supposed to be gentle with the footing. Zahra didn't get the memo as she pawed at the edges and then tried to trot through! I wish I'd had my helmet cam on to capture this "big moment," partly so I could show you all how high she was picking up her front leg to splash the water!!

But getting into the water was only one of TWO great accomplishments this past week! Over the weekend, Zahra and I hit the road for the first time. We went down to Versailles Equestrian for a Jon Holling clinic. Jon is one of the trainers who really helped me establish myself as a rider, so getting a chance to ride with him, and show off my New Hotness was very exciting!

As the first shin dig of the 2012 season, I was obviously completely disorganized a little frantic in my packing. The important thing was that I got myself and Zahra there in one piece, with all our accouterments strewn about the trailer. Nothing was clean, and of course, I had the 8AM ride time. D'oh.

So after a spit and a promise to my tack, I went to bed, with dreams of jumping running through my head.

The 8AM ride time ended up being a blessing in disguise-- neither horses nor riders were really used to this heat (80 degrees in March??), so Zahra and I lucked out by not needing to worry about heat stroke!

Saturday we started with a trot grid. This was Zahra's second grid ever, but she acted as though she'd done them her whole life! Same with the canter grid. Absolutely no question. Even though it must have looked like a sea of rails to her, she flew threw it!

The second day was course work with a little flair of cross country. Again, Zahra stepped up to the plate. Never jumped a fence on an angle, or a corner, or a 3' oxer... but in what I'm beginning to realize is "typical Zahra fashion," she did it all! The last two run throughs, all the jumps were set at 3', and she got it done!

Now, of course, it was not all wine and roses... She struggled with her right lead all weekend, and she was exhausted by the end and started ticking rails. We really pushed her this weekend, much harder and further then we had so far at home, so while there is definitely room for improvement on her fitness, the attitude was an A+.

Jon can be pretty sparing with his compliments, so when he said she was the nicest horse I'd owned, I knew I'd found something special.