Some more thoughts on the season -- It's all good!

Actually, after the ups and downs: It's all good!!

Remy and I certainly learned a lot. Remy: "Stay off the forehand", Birgit: "Watch your position", are among the key points. I might add another useful one: It's a bad idea to celebrate with champagne on a stomach that's only received a yogurt a day. (No, I'm not on a diet, I just can't eat when I'm nervous).

After Lamplight I really had some doubts about my partnership with Remy, and I am grateful that I had the support of Judy and JP all they way. They both believed in our team. With Judy taking over the training and the showing, Remy received a really good foundation.And that is absolutely key. How many good horses get ruined by riders and/or trainers rushing them through, the faster the better? Or just give up? A  lot of these horses last one or two seasons, never to be seen again. 

Judy mentioned this weekend that in all the years she never had a horse improving that much within five rides! Once Remy figures it out, it's there. Morgan-Power :-)

I also had to swallow hard this season on one judge's comment. But then, this particular person is known for being unstable and various complaints against her have been filed with the USEF. OTOH, the majority of the judges offered constructive criticism and encouraging comments.

The best comment, very fittingly, was after the last class. The judge peeked out of the judges box and asked "May I have him? He is lovely!" NO WAY, Lady! He's all mine!! :-) She must have been serious: the test scored 72.5%. 

So: It's all good!!

Finishing with several WOWs - the show season that is

"Wow" only partially covers the roller coaster ride we were on the last days. Remy had a sore throat/infection, but it got nipped in the bud right in the beginning and his temperature went back to normal within a day and stayed in the 99F range. Remy was his perky self again so we decided to take him to Waterloo on Thursday for schooling and "to see how it goes".

Ah, as to "see how it goes"... schooling didn't go so swell. The lower warm up arena is not for the faint of heart as it is lined by dense forest on one long side, facing the road on the other long side, and the short sides sport the food vendor on the left and several  Porta Johns (toilets to you Europeans) on the right. Now add a bunch of horses to the mix and you get the idea. Remy got rattled by some 'fire-breathing' heavy warmbloods cantering up behind him and not surprisingly chose to save his hide by jumping out of the way. That, of course, didn't help Judy with her well thought out training plan. The traditional German training way would be to push (sometimes force) the horse through the issue and make him listen no matter what. However,  Remy is Mr. Sensitive, therefore Judy chose to stop, reassure, and then go about business as usual. The question was: Would this help Remy overcome his issue with feeling crowded? Time would tell...

As usually, Remy handled all the other commotion on the showgrounds exceedingly well. The warmup on Friday was better, and he did very well in the large open training classes: Winning his first one with 69.3% and scoring 67.8% in his second class. I, of course, was a Nervous Nellie the entire time. I never thought that I could be more nervous watching that riding. Well, now I know better: My broken nails are proof! Poor Remy: his 'reward' for doing so well: a huge injection in his hamstring with the final dose of antibiotic.

Saturday Judy didn't even longe him in the warm up, on she went and rode another two beautiful tests, culminating in a score of 72.5%!!  So, yes, WOW!!

All four of us (Judy, myself, JP and Remy) were VERY relieved that her strategy in the warm up was the right one. Of course, it's always easy to say after the fact "I knew it", but really, I did. There is nothing wrong with questioning your approach, and actually it's the right thing to do, but you also have to have faith in your gut feeling. Yes, Jude, your gut was right on :-)

The weekend also helped me bonding with Remy more, without riding I could focus on really pampering him, as I was his groom. At home I am always watching that Saumur doesn't feel left out (OK, yes, they are horses but they do have feelings! It's no fun when your sibling gets all the attention). So away from home I don't have to feel guilty about spoiling one of them individually. I might have taken it too far, though: Remy now digs through my clothes in search of cookies and I got 'reprimanded' for letting him do this as evidenced by me sporting a shirt with horse slobber all over.

I also got to watch Judy ride Benise in the PSG, and here is another WOW!! "Beauty and Harmony" came to mind as they danced away from the competition -in a snaffle- with almost 75% despite a spook caused by two dogs. Remy and I sure have a long way to go, but it's great to have a role model to emulate right in front of us. Said role model even makes me look better off the horse - no shirts sporting horse slobber allowed :-)

Last show of the season - and the kid is under the weather

Remy went to Judy’s on Monday to get ready for the last show of this year. Not long after he arrived Judy with worrisome news: Remy had a fever of 104.3F. He had seemed fine in the morning, ate all this food, but when Judy rode him she felt him to be not his usual self. So she took his temp and called me. Luckily the barn vet was able to come quickly, and she treated Remy with an Antibiotic and Banamine. The bloodwork revealed an infection, but the vet assured me that due to Judy’s astuteness and quick reaction the infection was nipped in the bud. Thanks, Jude!

Remy’s temp returned to normal the same evening and so far is staying normal without medication (knock on wood). He’s still not his old perky self, so I am monitoring him closely. The vet gave us the green light to go to the show “if he has no fever, eats all his food, and seems happy”. I scratched his Thursday classes, and if he seems rearing to go then we’ll do Friday and Saturday. If all goes well he will probably have to expend a lot of pent-up energy and enthusiasm by then!

Dressage clinics - Egos and two sides to every story

First a note to my European friends: A dressage clinic is nothing medical! It's a "Lehrgang" in German, or "cours" in French.

Ok, after all the controversy regarding the blog “It’s time to train the trainers” on the Chronicle Of The Horse website, and friends asking me what I thought about it, here are my five cents:

The woman has a point. There definitely is a lack of well trained, local trainers that can teach the ABCs of dressage (or any riding discipline, for that matter) with skill and compassion for both horse and rider. Yes, she sounds rather abrasive and condescending, but I also think she wrote what some other clinicians think but don’t dare to loudly express. It seems silly to pay around $300 for 45 minutes to get told how to hold the reins or post the trot. And yes, teaching the rudimentary basics probably does not utilize the clinicians considerable skills and experience to the fullest (to say it kindly).

A visiting European clinician once quietly asked me “Why do the Americans spend all this money for a clinic?” Ah, good one!

Take your pick, in no particular order:

(A)    Because they can afford it

(B)    There are no good local trainers available

(C)    They don’t want to make the commitment of having regular lessons and hope for a quick fix

(D)   Practice in a show like atmosphere (spectators) without the stress of scores

(E)    Their trainer needs to fill the clinic and ‘strongly encourages’ students’ participation

(F)    It’s something to brag about

(G)   They want to work on specific problems and/or strive to learn from international accomplished experts

My reasons are always (G), with a bit of (D) mixed in. I have been fortunate to ride with a few outstanding clinicians over the years, and I got a lot out  of it (Thank you, George!). Once so much I felt compelled to write a -published- article for the USDF Connection about it.

So, it’s a free country, and whatever the motivations are, clinics are mostly beneficial. A word to the wise: ALWAYS check out the clinician beforehand, don’t just sign up because somebody recommends the person, or the person has published an article or a book. I remember auditing a clinic where the well known rider and published author beat the heck out of a participant’s horse. Or the time a friend of mine rode with a European trainer and he threw a chair after her horse because the trot wasn’t forward enough (!?). There is responsibility on both sides to be as professional and committed as possible.

Finally, if you are a rider and you can’t sit the trot or hold the reins correctly, don’t sign up with a clinician that feels offended by it. And on the flip side: If you are a clinician and feel “dissed” (disrespected) by having to teach beginners, don't whine - just make sure none sign up. 

Lessons learned and best practises - musings during stall cleaning

Yesterday it was my turn to do the room service for the boys. I like cleaning stalls, it’s physical, but you can let your mind wander, and at the end I take pride in having nice fluffy beds made up. Sporting manure stains all over my clothes is a different story, though.

It’s interesting to think how many ways they are to bed and clean stalls. Growing up in Germany the only option was straw, and the stalls were made up in ‘mattresses’ – which means only the top soiled layer was taken off daily, and then a new layer of straw was added. Hence, the ‘mattress’ was build. Once in a while the barns had “Pee Days” where the entire stall was stripped. Called “Pee Days” because of the urine that had accumulated at the bottom of the mattress. Yuk! All the barns in my area were full service, and the barn owners did not want the riders to mess up their carefully planned systems. They even hid the pitch forks.

In my early days in the US I traded Crissy’s board against barn duties, cleaning stalls, feeding, turnout. Even though the barn owner/trainer was a bit on the strange side (i.e. if a horse stood in the stall with the hind end pointed to the door it didn’t want to be worked and thus was left alone) she taught me correct mucking and bedding, using saw dust or wood shavings. I still stick to her program of taking the soiled bedding out, raking the rest in the middle, and then banking fresh bedding around the walls. This way, there is fresh bedding available to be raked in when needed, and it stays in place. If you only pile new bedding in the middle of the stall and leave area around the walls bare the sawdust gets spread and then the horses are left with only a thin layer often not even covering the floor.

JP and I are big fans of wood pellets, they are soft, very absorbent, and dust free. Initially they need to be watered down, and I have fun doing it: It’s like making a giant batch of popcorn: “Snap, crackle, pop”, as the pellets expand. I guess you really can find joy in little things – in this case, wood pellets!

It's a dangerous world out there - Where is the bubble?

It started with a laugh, as the new assistant of the Equine Homeopath called to schedule an appointment to discuss Remy’s “biopsy”. Uh, last I checked I didn't take a piece of flesh out of him. Just some mouth and nasal swaps and a piece of mane.

Sue, the Equine Homeopath. reviewed the result with me in detail. No more laughs, as some findings were pretty worrisome. Remy tested positive for TB Aviary bacteria, which means a strain of TB transmitted by birds. Then there were all the chemicals (pollution) and metals (vaccination byproducts) in his system, plus an epithelial cyst (that’s the cysts in the mouth the vet pointed out, it’s still healing). I got paler by the minute, even though Sue assured me it’s not as grim as it sounds. Well then… the good news was that it seems there is not much concern regarding the cataracts!

So, Remy’s is receiving a Biofeedback medication, which is “bio-identical made from the submitted samples to enhance, supplement or detox the body – all working together to safely stimulate the body’s healing capacity. Some of the forms used are food supplements, phenolics, vitamins, trace minerals, amino acids, nosodes, bach flowers and homeopathic”.

Sue also gave me a strong warning about vaccinations, as Remy already had a bad reaction she feels strongly that his body cannot handle them. (Ah, yes, Glenda, just as you said!). Remy’s adverse reaction came after the Rabies vaccination, which according to Sue, is the one the causes the most problems. She recommended I put it in perspective, and to consider that the risk of a horse getting rabies is about as high as being hit by lightning.

We have started to give Remy his Biofeedback, squirted into his mouth several times a day. Good thing he’s such an easy patient, and the formula: “Spray followed by Cookie” does the trick. Cross my fingers (and Remy probably crosses his hooves) that it works! Retesting is recommended in six to eight months. Right now to me it looks like my ‘worry-list’ got much longer (Any chance to get rid of the birds at the barn?? Is his –very expensive- Grass Diet Balancer contaminated? What about fly spray?…) Sounds like living in a bubble would be recommended!

Finally - a glimpse of lightness and "hey, I can ride him"

My lessons with Saumur have been going really well, mainly because Saumur is no longer so anxious and is able to remain relaxed (to his standard) most of the time. And, uh, minor detail, I seem to figure out how to ride him! I him – OK, after what, 13 years?? Better late than never!

Judy has been working with me on “light hands, weight in the saddle, remind him he has hind legs” – which is basic, but very difficult for me to do on Saumur. When Saumur used to get strong my initial reaction used to be to lighten my seat to get off his back, but then make it up with being strong in my arms. Needless to say, things would go downhill from there.

Yesterday we were able to do correct shoulder ins in the trot and canter, and when I kept Saumur engaged and off his forehand (duh), riding him in a light contact, he gave me the most awesome feeling: I had him on my seat! I actually got several “good riding!” out of Judy, and she’s a hard one to please (yep, Jude, and we love you for it J!)

Saumur was one happy dude after the ride, he is so expressive that you always know where you are with him. In this case: Pass the carrots to Saumur, Hanuta to Judy, and Moser Roth to Birgit, please! Oops, and let's not forget the Henri Bardouin for JP (yep, there is something for everyone, although Saumur seems to be the easiest to satisfy: He's happy with  plain carrots!)

Taking a hint from Saumur - and lucky me

No, I didn't refuse to load on the trailer to get extra vacation - but I spontaneously decided on Wednesday to take the rest of the week off! That doesn't happen too often, usually when I take time off it's for horse shows or extending a European business trip to visit friends and family.

So, what better to do than spending the majority of the day with the boys at Topline? Wednesday evening I got stuck in traffic and arrived at the barn exhausted after a two hour commute. JP got there before me and had Saumur all groomed and ready for my lesson. Lucky me : I don't know many husbands rushing to the barn to ge their wife's horse ready. And - he did a better grooming job on my horse than  his own :). Still, despite the combined efforts, it wasn't the best of rides, as Saumur picks up on the slightest mood changes ("OMG she's stressed, what's wrong??") and not to mention he had to wait for dinner!

What a difference a day (and three hours more sleep) make! Yesterday Judy had me warm up Remy before she got on. Remy has been in training with her since our Lamplight 'experience' and I haven't had much chance to see her ride him. Wow! The kid has made a ton of progress, is soft, connected, balanced in all three gaits - and he's not push button. We joke and say Remy has a good angel and a little demon on each shoulder and sometimes it's a toss up who wins. Typical teenager! It really sunk in how lucky I am having a wonderful Grand Prix rider and trainer teaching the little hooligan the ropes. Judy is such a quiet , elegant and yet effective rider I really strive to emulate.

Ah, but after all this reverie reality hit: I had a lesson on Saumur. I love him to death but Saumur is a tough ride. There must have been some lingering effects from watching Judy and Remy, though - Saumur and I managed to have one of our best rides in quite some time, he stayed mostly soft and had quite a few moments of true collection. Not working definitely improves my riding - too bad that being a barn bum doesn't count a gainful employment!