Toby and I did alright! We were the Intro level Champions for 2009. And we had to beat the seven year old twins to do it. Those twins sure are a ruthless couple of kids... ;)
A blog to share the experience of retraining two off-track thoroughbred racehorses and their owner as they both learn dressage
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Saturday, November 21, 2009
The Maryal Barnett Clinic
Betsy invited international FEI judge Maryal Barnett up to Traverse City to give us a clinic. What a fantastic opportunity! I had big plans to ride Toby in the clinic. Toby had other ideas. He turned up three-legged-lame on Monday and the clinic was on Thursday. I wasn't about to take him even if he was feeling fine - which he was by Thursday. It seemed like he had a tendon injury in his front right so I didn't want to take any chances. And I couldn't take Hola yet because we've just begun him under saddle. We are just not ready yet.
So when life gives you lemons, make lemonade! I ended up riding one of Betsy's lesson horses. Meet my mount, Riot:
Riot is a 4 yr old Quarter Horse who is, believe it or not, a very mild mannered guy under saddle. He's a good combination of Toby and Hola and by riding him, I was able to work more on my seat and riding position. Which is exactly what Maryal did!
I took a lesson on Riot on each of the two days Maryal was there. By the second day, Maryal had me working on a killer "pelvic thrust" which she thoroughly embarrassed me by mentioning my boyfriend would be very happy if I perfected this... OH MY!
I did seem to improve my seat and get myself into a better position in the saddle. I was so happy with the improvement!
At any rate, the clinic was wonderful and I learned a ton. I hope to do more clinics and I hope most of all, that I can bring my rock star boy Hola C Bright next time!
So when life gives you lemons, make lemonade! I ended up riding one of Betsy's lesson horses. Meet my mount, Riot:
Riot is a 4 yr old Quarter Horse who is, believe it or not, a very mild mannered guy under saddle. He's a good combination of Toby and Hola and by riding him, I was able to work more on my seat and riding position. Which is exactly what Maryal did!
I took a lesson on Riot on each of the two days Maryal was there. By the second day, Maryal had me working on a killer "pelvic thrust" which she thoroughly embarrassed me by mentioning my boyfriend would be very happy if I perfected this... OH MY!
I did seem to improve my seat and get myself into a better position in the saddle. I was so happy with the improvement!
At any rate, the clinic was wonderful and I learned a ton. I hope to do more clinics and I hope most of all, that I can bring my rock star boy Hola C Bright next time!
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Hunting Season Blues
I hate hunting season.
The barn is surrounded by hunting property and all you can hear are the gun blasts all around the area. Therefore, even with the outstanding weather, the horses need to be kept in their stalls. I've been trying to get the boys some exercise and a pick of grass to keep their sanity. Toby seemed to have strained a tendon in his front right leg and turned out to be very lame yesterday. After much cold hosing, liniment and an itty bit of bute to make him a little more comfortable he's shown a bunch of improvement. He absolutely loves the attention.
I took Hola out to the sandy outdoor arena last evening before it got dark and let him stretch his legs. He squealed and wheeled and ran lap after lap after lap after lap after lap. I sat down on the mounting block and watched him let his "inner thoroughbred" out. I was so bummed I didn't have a camera because he put on a good show. However, it didn't help to slow him down today for his lesson.
Betsy earned every penny today. Hola had nothing on his mind but "go" today. His back was humped up to start and he had his nose in the air like a giraffe. Betsy yells out to me, "I think we may have to walk a really long time today until he decides to relax!" He was a total pill looking for any excuse to take off on her. But he never did. Good boy! Eventually the hump in the back relaxed and he began to listen to Betsy.
He was busy playing with the bit the entire time. It seemed he was on the verge of "chomping on the bit" to "go" but thankfully he kept it to "I'm playing and chatting with you through the bit." He was drooling the entire time.
He worked himself into a little bit of a sweat and spooked at anything he could find a couple times. But otherwise, under the circumstances, I thought he did really well. Eventually he became round although he did a lot of counter bending but Betsy is incredibly patient and positive so that he did improve ever so slightly.
I actually like that we had a difficult day with him because these kind of experiences are when the learning is the most. I think he did well under the conditions (in the stall too much, lots of energy, having to understand that he was at work and not play when under the saddle).
And in the meantime, I'm counting down the days till hunting season ends...
The barn is surrounded by hunting property and all you can hear are the gun blasts all around the area. Therefore, even with the outstanding weather, the horses need to be kept in their stalls. I've been trying to get the boys some exercise and a pick of grass to keep their sanity. Toby seemed to have strained a tendon in his front right leg and turned out to be very lame yesterday. After much cold hosing, liniment and an itty bit of bute to make him a little more comfortable he's shown a bunch of improvement. He absolutely loves the attention.
I took Hola out to the sandy outdoor arena last evening before it got dark and let him stretch his legs. He squealed and wheeled and ran lap after lap after lap after lap after lap. I sat down on the mounting block and watched him let his "inner thoroughbred" out. I was so bummed I didn't have a camera because he put on a good show. However, it didn't help to slow him down today for his lesson.
Betsy earned every penny today. Hola had nothing on his mind but "go" today. His back was humped up to start and he had his nose in the air like a giraffe. Betsy yells out to me, "I think we may have to walk a really long time today until he decides to relax!" He was a total pill looking for any excuse to take off on her. But he never did. Good boy! Eventually the hump in the back relaxed and he began to listen to Betsy.
He was busy playing with the bit the entire time. It seemed he was on the verge of "chomping on the bit" to "go" but thankfully he kept it to "I'm playing and chatting with you through the bit." He was drooling the entire time.
He worked himself into a little bit of a sweat and spooked at anything he could find a couple times. But otherwise, under the circumstances, I thought he did really well. Eventually he became round although he did a lot of counter bending but Betsy is incredibly patient and positive so that he did improve ever so slightly.
I actually like that we had a difficult day with him because these kind of experiences are when the learning is the most. I think he did well under the conditions (in the stall too much, lots of energy, having to understand that he was at work and not play when under the saddle).
And in the meantime, I'm counting down the days till hunting season ends...
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