We finally found our way - after hitting potholes, many detours, and some dead-ends

Saumur and I finally found the trail of bread crumbs and are on our way to dressage bliss – at least that’s how it feels when things are going well. It is amazing, after all this time I feel like I can finally RIDE him. It means I put my legs on and he accepts it, my half-halts go through, Saumur is light in front, on my seat, and in self-carriage.

When it’s good, it’s good – but it has been such a long and rocky road that it’s easy to get emotional about it (ok, I admit: sometimes, I do gush like a teenager when it comes to my boys). I mentioned to Judy that my deep regret is that I didn’t start training with her sooner. Always the pragmatic one she hit the nail on the head: “Better late than never”. Right on: Regrets are not helping!

An added benefit (aside from the pure joy) of Saumur working so well is that I can really draw on our work for Remy. For example, our flying changes from right to left are good. Judy pointed out that I should ask Remy for his canter departs exactly the same way as I ask Saumur for his flying changes. And voila: it works!

Speaking of Remy, aka the ‘Little Renegade’ – or should I say ‘Rebel without Cause’: He seemed all mellow when I longed him on Saturday as warm up; but when it was time to ride he decided to test his boundaries, planting his feet, not wanting to stand at the mounting block… so back to longing it was. This time with more purpose, though: Lower side reins, making him work over his back, TONS of transitions, no shenanigans! I stayed really calm, not getting excited about his little fits. The key is not to take it personal. As the old (and young) masters say: Ride the horse you have today, not the one you had yesterday and not the one you may have tomorrow. Sound advice!

And sure enough, it didn’t take long for Remy to settle down, and we went on to a beautiful ride. The nice thing is that I know that this time around, I have a sound and reliable navigation system (I call 'Her' ‘Judy’) and while she can’t always predict potholes, she will prevent us from major detours and dead-ends.

Home is where the heart is - and it's easy to know where it is

Glad to be home! Even though we didn’t get a warm (in the true sense of the word) welcome, a temperature drop of about 50F (!) between Germany and Michigan wasn’t exactly fun. We had a great –albeit very busy- week, spending lots of time with family and friends, tack shopping, sightseeing, enjoying the Leonberger Pferdemarkt.

The Leonberger Pferdemarkt (“horse market”) has been happening once a year every second Tuesday in February since 1634! Basically, the town of Leonberg devotes several days to horses and horse related activities, culminating on Tuesday with the public horse sales,  a huge parade through town, and a special trade fair. The animals for sale on the medieval market square are family and pleasure horses, ponies, even donkeys;  meaning they are mainly for children and trail-riding adults. The sales are conducted by handshake, no paperwork, no pre-purchase exam. There is an area off the main square separated off where the horses get trotted up, and that basically is the assessment. Nowadays the sales portion is more to keep the tradition up than conducting major deals, though.

(A note to people that are thinking of “horse market” in terms of “Sales/Auction” the American Way: This has nothing to do with meat auctions. These horses are not sold for meat).

Another fun visit was to Loesdau, a huge tack supplier with locations all over Germany. Their headquarters are located right next to Burg Hohenzollern, a castle built in the 11^th century. After some serious shopping we enjoyed a glass of “Tannenzaepfle” (the awesome local beer) at the tack shop’s bar located in a tower; looking out at the Burg. Ah, NICE!

But, it sure was also NICE to be home. And yes, as they say “Home is where the heart is” – or in our case: “Home is where our critters are”. I’m sure Saumur, Chambord, Remy, Teddy, Max, Jaas, Halle, Julius and Jerry agree wholeheartedly!

My mature partner is "on" - and why is he shedding?

When the time is right...

Concerning work, Saumur has been on the 'back-burner' for a while now. The cold, the focus on Remy...but today I really wanted to see what we could do together in a more structured setting. When I am working Saumur on my own I am much less demanding, I think unconsciously I am giving him the 'senior citizen discount'.

Well, today's temps in the low 20s apparently where 'warm' enough for Saumur to move freely. He was on my seat, I could half-halt from my core, our half-passes were smooth, we coould extend  the canter and -more importantly- come back from my seat. Both Judy and I were very happy.

The time was really right: I guess you could say my mature partner pleased both of us - and we didn't even have to worry about having to seek medical attention if it would have lasted more than four hours :-)!

While I was grooming Saumur I commented to Judy that he is already shedding, with nary a glimpse of Spring in sight. Judy's logical explanation: "He's shedding because he wants to go home!" Oh, yes, I had promised Saumur that once the weather gets better he can go home to play with Teddy. Guess Saumur thinks if he's getting rid of the winter hair I'll think it's Spring!

Don't take out your carrot supplier - and I found my 'magic mantra'

What a difference a little break in the temps makes! It was in the mid 20s on Saturday, and Saumur felt better than he had in a long time. With the good ride in mind I put Remy in the grooming stall to get him ready. JP was standing right in front of him – which proved not to be a good idea. Remy was relaxed in the cross ties when a loud sound in the aisle behind him startled him, made him take a huge leap forward – directly on JPs foot, then knocking him on the cement floor. Talk about scary! Luckily no major damage, but I almost needed a brown bag to start breathing again. Thank God for a tough Frenchman. Poor Remy had a bewildered look “what the heck just happened?” Well, that’s what we’d like to know, too.

Note to Remy: It’s so not a good idea to take out the guy who brings you the biggest and juiciest carrots in the depth of winter! Saumur, Chambord and Teddy would be really p..d, never mind me. 

I wasn’t too thrilled to get on, well knowing that if Remy would do this under saddle I’d be “flying Birgit”. Granted, I always wanted to try parachuting, but not without parachute! Keeping in mind the recent Tom Dorrance quote I read “if the person is bothered on the inside, it sure shows on the outside of the horse”, I tried to pretend not to be bothered.

Some time ago I had learned affirmative phrases, but I decided this called for something much stronger. The words just came to me, and I kept repeating them over and over. We had a beautiful ride. Our canter departs are getting better, even the ‘skippy’ one to the right. Judy had a good visual for me that helps with my tendency to over-control: Imagine being in front of a fence – you have to keep contact with the horse but he has to have enough oomph to get over the fence. Pulling back makes you crash. Once that image was ingrained in my mind we were clicking, but I still kept repeating my ‘magic mantra’ aloud to Remy.

So, what did I come up with?? Easy enough: “We can f…ing do this!” J Note to self: Keep it down in front of the judges.