Challenging rides - but nothing chocolate, a hot bath, and a beer couldn't cure

Memorial Day started well, fairly warm and sunny. JP rode Chambord in the outdoor arena while I longed Teddy; afterwards we went for a trail ride (OK, for me it was a 'trail-walk' with Teddy). Wish I were smaller and lighter, I'm sure the little guy is a ton of fun to ride.

The "big boys", Remy and Saumur, weren't exactly a ton of fun today. The weather changed to cool and windy in the afternoon; while preparing Remy I could already feel him being pretty jumpy. But the plan was to ride through the tests today outside, and I decided to stick to the plan, both Judy and my trusted reader (JP) were game. Remy was very good the day before yesterday, we got through a TL test with Judy declaring afterwards that she was "almost satisfied" - which actually is a big deal ;-)!

Not so today, we had to deal with some uncalled for spooks, as well as some twirls and 'humping up'. Not all Remy's fault, though, the horses in the adjoining paddocks were feeling the weather change, and Falkland decided he had to pretend to be a speeding bullet. That of course set the kid off. For some strange reason I had it in my mind that I might get bumped off today, which didn't help the case.

Luckily, Judy got both of us through it, and we managed to finish on a decent note. However, I was drenched in sweat and exhausted by then. Great way to start on spooky Saumur. Well, surprise, no spook in sight, despite more horses running and playing next to him. The surprise came after the changes and the extended canter: no brakes! As Judy imitates Saumur: "Oh, no, thanks, I'm good, no need to slow down, I can take that corner and fly down the center line". Argh, more repeats and sweat on my part. I finished with rather wobbly legs in pouring rain, and to Judy's cheerful remark: "Guess what, you get to do it all over again tomorrow!".

Judy suggested that in the future I ride Saumur before Remy, so I can get my confidence up and my seat confirmed. (I still have a hard time sitting on Remy in the canter, my instinct tells me I'm better off in a half-seat.) Go figure: Saumur has become my confidence builder!

Luckily I always have an emergency stash of German chocolate in my tack box, after digging into it and sharing with Judy (who, after getting us through these two lessons, really needed a pick-me-up also), I was partially restored. A luxurious hot bath and a cold Pilsner Urquell did the rest: I'm ready to do it all over again tomorrow!

Drawing parallels between 'guilty pleasure TV' and dressage shows

OK, I admit it: Even though I rarely watch TV I am fond of ‘Dancing with the Stars’… yes, yes, it’s cheesy, etc. The judging really reminds me of dressage shows. It is so subjective, and if you have a crusty old guy (Len!) then watch out. During one episode two judges gave perfect 10s while Len opted to give a 7. Sound familiar??

I am absolutely rooting for Kellie and Derek. The harmony is palpable and they are so completely in sync. I loved their comments last night when asked what makes their performances so outstanding: “You really have to trust each other completely on the floor”. There you have it: substitute “floor” for “arena” (or trail, whatever) and the performance will show it. It really hit home, because quite frankly, I don’t have absolute trust in either Saumur (spooks!) or Remy (green!). And in turn the boys most likely don’t trust me entirely either (hmm...emotional?!).

So, what did I learn from ‘guilty pleasure TV’? Trust:  We all need to work on improving and earning it!

Showing up with the homework done - and lead the way, kid

During my high school years I did homework in the 11^th (OK, sometime even the 12^th) hour. Amazing how now all of a sudden I am determined to show up to a lesson with my homework completed!

In this case it means having practiced what we learned in our lessons, no slacking off. With Remy having had a somewhat truncated work week due to the vaccination complications, I was conscious that we had better get our stuff right before the lesson on Saturday. And, yes, we came through (thank you, buddy!). I know Judy is wondering about our work habits at home, and her not being able to crack the whip (figuratively only, of course) behind us. And right she is – I would rather go on the path of least resistance, a trailride,  than making sure Remy is on the outside rein and doing correct leg yields. BUT NO, the little thing called conscience will not allow us to quit work altogether. So Remy, Saumur and I gritted our collective teeth and worked during the week, with a trailride sprinkled in, and we all (coach included) were much happier for it.

Needless to say, the arena work pays on the trails (duh!). When in doubt at a scary object: shoulder in. When Chambord decided to chicken out going by a campsite, Remy –after wondering what set the big dude off- took the lead. Not a problem, Blondie! We were almost home clear when Remy almost scraped me off on a tree: A group of riders going by us and one of the horses was all over the path, covered in foam, and clearly upset.  The rider was one of these ‘weekend cowboy wannabe’ types that had no clue what to do. He almost banged into us, so Remy decided it would be safer to go into the woods – not considering the obstructions in the form of trees. It all worked out but I was getting pretty steamed about the whole thing. Every spring the same old story: People that haven’t ridden all winter are hitting the trails without preparation whatsoever, and the poor horses are on complete sensory overload. Idiots (not the horses!).

Scary reaction to vaccinations - and ode to a quick thinking horse hubby

Last night the boys got the second part of their spring shots, Rabies and Rhino. All went well, but this morning when JP was turning them out he discovered that Remy didn’t want to move, and was very unsteady on his legs, almost like his legs were buckling underneath him. Pretty scary!

Unfortunately I was in meetings with my cell shut off, so JP couldn’t reach me. Practical guy that he is he drove straight to our vet, got him out from under the shower (sorry, Mike) and had him check out Remy.  The diagnosis was a bad reaction to the vaccinations, and after some Banamine Remy seems better. Right now he is hanging out with JP, resting his head on JPs shoulder (which will probably net JP another trip to the Chiropractor).

Saumur and Chambord are fine. I am wondering if they are OK because we went on a trailride last night and that this might have helped working the vaccines better through their systems? Teddy is tired, but otherwise seems to be well.

This is scary, I remember every year Crissy had problems with the Spring shots, to the point where she was given the Banamine right with the vaccines. There is so much controversy about vaccinations, and you really have to weigh risk and rewards. But especially when it comes to Rabies I don’t even give it a second thought – with all the Possums, Raccoons, and a variety of other critters around here the risk is just too high. Once contracted there is no cure and the animal (or person) will die.

So, we caught it early thanks to a quick thinking horse hubby (and a vet short of a shower)!

Practise at home - Remote controlled riding?

After some days off for the boys to be out and play it was time for Remy last night to buckle up and go to work in the outdoor arena. He hadn’t been out there in several months, and our outdoor is right at a rather busy street. Actually, it’s a dirt road, which means the guy with the tree farm down the road is noisily driving over the potholes with his heavy equipment; and then there are people on four-wheelers, bikes, horses, you name it. The other night someone was walking by – with his steer!

Remy was curious but handled everything beautifully. The only time he spooked was when JP suddenly showed up on the observation deck. The man has a way of getting my horses surprised: The one and only time in 20 years I fell off Crissy was when I was riding her bareback and JP started to dance. That would get even the coolest horse going!

 I was happy that Remy stayed focused and that I actually got him to move better off my leg, despite only wearing chaps and no spurs. The most interesting part was that I felt like I was riding ‘on remote control’: “Shoulder fore, shoulder in, lots of bending lines, serpentines, keep riding him forward, don’t ride with your brakes on, make him listen to that outside rein, no – not good enough, do it again…” The little voice in my head just wouldn’t shut up! That should ring some bells, n’est ce pas, Judy??

Reflections on the winter work - how did we do?

Well, it is finally Spring in Michigan, a really beautiful time with everything in bloom and .. no bugs (yet!).  Saumur and Remy are now home and enjoy frolicking with Chambord and Teddy in the pastures.  

So, now is a good time to reflect on the work we did over the winter: (1) Did we accomplish what we set out to do? (2) Did we make progress? (3) Did the level of confidence of horses and riders improve? (4) And, very important: Did we have fun?

I can honestly say YES to all of the above! The five (yes, five!) of us learned a lot, made huge progress, and our levels of confidence increased. And yes, FUN was part of it, too.

It is very difficult to find the right person to work with as a trainer/instructor/coach. It’s a very personal relationship, with a lot of trust required on both sides. In addition, the chemistry has to jive; the work ethic, riding style, management of the horses, etc. etc. need to be on the same level. Now, that is a challenge for one person with one horse. In our case it got exacerbated: Two people with three horses. Good thing Judy was more than up to the challenge! She had me figured out pretty quickly (am I that transparent?!) and our personal styles are a really great match. And in times of stress: German chocolate and Nutella will do the trick.

Remy was a bit of a puzzle, and Judy patiently chipped away by eliminating the hurdles, i.e. teeth, accepting the leg, and switching from heavy egg-butt snaffle to a lighter lose ring snaffle. Saumur finally found his long lost confidence; and well, JP and Chambord are “pflegeleicht” = the easiest of our bunch. It’s just fun to watch them work together, and both have come a long way.

I am proud of all of ‘the boys’ – and I do enjoy sharing them (the four-legged ones only!) with Judy.

Time for the "Big Girl Pants" - and I might need several of those

Finally, back into the swing of things with a lesson on Saumur yesterday. Hmm, somebody solidified his changes while I was gone – thanks, Jude!

 After the lesson we talked about the upcoming Waterloo show, and my plans for taking Remy. Judy asked me why not take Saumur? Well, I thought I’d wait until the freestyle is completed; and also Remy probably will need plenty of attention. Judy had a good point though, in that she pointed out that I need “practice going down the centerline”, which means the more I do it the more comfortable I get. Last year we took a hiatus from showing, Saumur didn’t go out at all, and Remy only went to two short shows. And starting right with the freestyle, without having ridden any tests previously might not be a good idea with Saumur.

So – time to get serious. It’s a bit daunting to take both boys; and I already know that there will be some ‘rail birds’  just waiting for us to fail. As Judy puts it: “Time for the Big Girl Pants” – meaning “Grow up and do your stuff!”. Yep, we can do it, and I actually got some very cool Pikeur “Big Girl Pants” (thanks, Emil!) in Germany last week. Time to buckle up and strut our stuff!