Sunday is Fun-Day - play time and hay cubes

Remy didn't get his weekend-pass, despite good behavior. The weather forecast was a bit iffy, and I didn't want to take the risk to trailer him in ice and snow. So we made it a play day instead.


Sunday afternoons at Judy's are usually quiet, and so we had the entire indoor arena to ourselves. I put Remy on the longe line with his halter only, and he was very happy to get some bucks out. The footing outside does not invite running and bucking, so I think the horses just need sometimes room to get the kinks out. It wasn't all just fun and play, we put in some 'work', focusing on transitions, and ground work. Remy backs up beautifully just by voice command. We also re-visited the "whoa" to stop. A well functioning "whoa" can be a life saver. I wish I'd thought about that before I ended up hugging the fence at Waterloo!


To top Remy's play day off, I served him hay cubes in warm water, mixed with bananas and carrots. Yum! Then I continued with my 'fun-day': A run to the feed store followed by doing laundry. However, no hay cubes in water for me: JP served dinner accompanied by a lovely Bordeaux!

"No one raises to low expectations" - and just keep the cookies coming

On the way back this morning from Ziggy's obedience training (where he was a star, BTW) I saw this quote "No one raises to low expectations" posted at a church noticeboard.


It made me think. Of course, if you set your expectations low then there is no disappointment. On the other hand, with low expectations no one will never stretch the limits and live up to the full potential.


I had a pretty awesome ride with Remy today. He was soft in my hand, responsive, on the aids, and things pretty much just flowed. With Judy's encouragement and help I have come to set my expectations high. They are high -  but realistic, which is key. Of course, I don't expect to do one-tempis overnight. I can, however, expect to get clean changes. If I would set my expectations low (i.e. saying "well, if we happen to get a change that's good enough") we'd never get to the one-tempis.


Admittedly, this took some time for me to get used to. I tend to be happy with (too) little effort when it comes to my animals (animals only!). Setting high expectations also does not mean ignoring small progress and rewarding the accomplishments.


Remy is doing very well with this concept, his confidence has greatly improved. He clearly shows that he is proud of himself after a good schooling session or when he has mastered a new skill. As long as I keep the cookies coming he will try to raise to my high expectations.


Note to JP: Keep the Teuscher Champagne truffles coming and I might make an effort to raise to your high expectations :-)!

New bit new luck - And traveling towards the sun

The "New Bit - New Luck" is adapted from the German saying "Neue Liebe - Neues Glueck" ("New Love - New Luck"). And it seems we have found a new flame (wouldn't call it love yet). I am talking about the Sprenger Duo bit, it is soft, but strong, not too thick or thin, and the 5 1/4 size fits Remy's mouth well. So far, Remy has given his stamp of approval, no fussing, no resistance, keeping his mouth closed without a noseband. All good.


The only negative remark I could make is that in the beginning Remy starts out heavier in the hand than I would like. But with lots of lateral/suppling work this goes away. We had a very good lesson today, one of those that give you the "Life Is Good"! feeling afterwards. Collected canter: Check! Flying changes, clean and forward: Check! Canter half-passes: Check! Medium trots: Check! Big grin and lots of treats afterwards: Check!!


A nice surprise arrived via email: An invitation to the awards luncheon at the annual convention of the American Morgan Horse Association as Remy and I have earned our Bronze Medallion. Yay! And double yay because the convention is in California, close to Palm Springs. Both JP and I were excited about the thought of ditching the Michigan winter, even for a few days. Alas, we won't be making it as we do not have a farmsitter for that time.


No worries (for me, that is): I'll be heading to sunny Florida for a horsey weekend next week. Fortunately, I do have the best and most reliable of all farmsitters: JP! (Hmm, I see difficult salary negotiations on the horizon...).

Too foggy to ride - and my clock is stuck

Yes, it's Michigan and our weather is known to be unpredictable, to say the least. While we should have snow and ice we are currently getting 'treated' to mud, mud, more mud, and fog. I feel like living in the old black and white Edgar Wallace movies from the 60s ("Der Hexer", Der Gruene Bogenschuetze"). There is not a ray of sunshine to be seen in those movies, and it's exactly the same here.


I took this picture during our walk this morning, it's our favorite oak tree in Kensington park. The fog was so dense that I put reflective bandanas on the dogs so they would not be mistaken for wildlife.



So, not braving the fog with the horses I went to a Feldenkrais-class instead "Awareness through Movement". It is held in an old, musty township hall. Slow is not my thing (that's the understatement of the year) and all the movements have to be done in slow motion.  While laying in my yoga mat trying to move my pelvis like a clock, the heat and dust blew full strength in my face. Someone had set the heat to 80F and the poor old heating system was trying it's darndest to comply by spewing hot dust. Make a long story short, between my non-complying pelvis ("clock - what clock??"), lack of oxygen, and the dust I was done.


On the bright side: The boys enjoyed their uninterrupted playtime tremendously while I was gone. They turned themselves from well-groomed, sleek horses into very muddy -and merry!- vagrants.