"With the horse" - or "On the horse"

JP has the luxury (loving jab here) of riding during the day. That gives him the opportunity to watch Judy train  various horses.

Astute observation relayed during a romantic dinner: "Judy looks like she is entirely with the horse, whereas other riders and some trainers are just on the horse".

I guess if my husband has to gush about other women I prefer it has to do with riding :-)

A rather "durchwachsene Woche" - and new wheels for the boys

"Durchwachsen" means a week with ups and downs.

The absolute 'down' part of the week was that Myles, Judy's beloved Doberman, passed away. Big, beautiful, friendly, loving (and yes, sugar and carrot pilfering) Myles will be sadly missed by all that knew him.  Godspeed Myles - your journey continues with all the love you are accustomed to!

During the week I got a text from Lisa, the barn manager at Topline, informing me that I had inadvertently locked Ebony, one of the barn cats, into my tack trunk. The poor thing had to spend the night until Lisa noticed it the next day. I was mortified. Luckily Ebony is no worse for the wear and, sure enough, tried to get right back into the tack box. Not exactly "live and learn". Now my tack box sports a note (courtesy of Lisa): "Check for kitties!"

Then the trailer repair shop had bad news: our horse trailer was beyond repair - unless we were willing to shell out at least $10K. Yikes!! It's a ten year old Sundowner, and they are known for having problem areas where the sheet metal and Aluminium meet. Sure enough, our transversal bars were giving out. I don't dare thinking about what if the floor had dropped with the boys in there... So, there really was not much of a choice - we had to go trailer shopping. I pretty much knew what I wanted: a two-horse bumper pull, walk-through, Aluminum, with tack room. Surprisingly, it all pointed again to Sundowner. The company seemed to have learned from previous mistakes, and incorporated the lessons learned.

After thorough research we went today on an excursion to Coldwater, the lone Sundowner dealer in Michigan, Haylett Trailer + RV. The manager was very professional and great to deal with; and fortunately he offered us a very good value for trading in the old trailer. Knowing the dangerous floor situation, we would have never offered the trailer to a private buyer.

Some paperwork and a large check later we were on the road with beautiful new and safe wheels for the boys. I guess on the bright side I don't have to worry that the boys will drink or text and drive. They, however, will have to worry about JP's speeding!

Variation is the spice of life - and ready for the joy?

Sunday afternoons at Topline are usually quiet, and yesterday was no exception. Perfect for setting up cavalettis in Judy's huge indoor arena. I strongly believe that horses need variation in their daily work, especially the young ones. Come to think of, not just the horses... nothing worse than being bored doing day in and day out the same old things. I'll take a double of the spice of life, please! With winter weather conditions putting a hold on trailrides, and Remy’s successful introduction to jumping, I was eager to get to the cavaletti work.

Judy has the “Jump USA” cavaletti system, which is lightweight and fairly easy to move around. I put four cavaletti on a circle, positioned at noon, 3, 6, and 9 o’clock. First I started Remy in a longing cavesson over just one ground pole in trot and then canter. Once we had done that on both hands we worked it up to all four, trot and canter. Piece of cake!

Saumur, generally leery of all things new in his environment, didn’t bat an eye, and handled the exercise like the old pro that he is (or rather, should be).

The February 18, 2013, edition of the “Chronicle of the Horse” had an excellent article covering the Global Dressage Forum, and featured one of my all time favorite horse-people, Ingrid Klimke (a four-start eventer and Grand Prix dressage rider). Here are some of my favorite quotes from her:

·        “Once a week I jump them all, so they all like jumping.... I can really work on their back muscles that way.”

·        “You always have to make sure that they’re in front of your leg and driving aids. In everything I do, starting in the warm up, I want to have a sensitive horse so he’s easily on my aids, thinking of me the whole time. My half-halt must be more interesting than everything outside.”

·        “I want to encourage dressage riders and trainers to think that horses should be proud to present. They want to show off… I think we must really try to get this positive influence from the eventing horses, who love to do their jobs, into the dressage world.”

I am getting ready for the joy, having recently dusted off my protective vest and medical armband. Well, wait, does that sound like getting ready for joy? Guess so: Rolex, Kentucky, here I come! (umh, as a spectator that is). 

Now my vest is telling on me - and more 'speed dates' are in the future

Lessons on both boys - with several definite 'aha!' moments.

All four boys are due for the dentist, most of all Remy, who is getting a bit fussy in the bridle. I'm not enjoying the process of scheduling the appointment, though. Doug, the dentist is great, he has done our horses for 15+ years, but nailing him down for an appointment stretches my (admittedly short) patience to it's very limits. ("I'm at the end of my rope and you are tugging on it")

Nevertheless, Remy worked really well in his lesson, and actually was good in the bridle. Me - another story. But then, my eternal problem is that I'm never satisfied with myself anyhow. So when Judy astutely pointed out that my stomach was caved in: "I can see it by the wrinkles of your vest", I was thinking "Oh, great, now even my clothes are giving me away!" But of course, once I straightened myself out, meaning lifting the area right below my chest, things improved noticeably. Another really helpful suggestion was to pretend riding without stirrups, which automatically got my legs right where they should have been all along.

It was a busy afternoon, with our more riders in the arena. Especially one big warmblood was going around us disconcertingly close with heavy 'bump bump' canter strides. Remy was rather unfazed by all this, not so his pilot. Years on Saumur have 'trained' me to always by on the lookout for the next potential meltdown; and so I don't handle crowds very well. This has messed up our warm ups in crowded show arenas and subsequently marred our tests in the past quite a bit.

Judy asked me to do a stretchy trot in serpentines around the other riders. Sure, lady, anything else I can do for you? :-) But of course, the little guy had it all figured out, and we cruised around like old pros. Thankfully the kid has good brains!

Selecting the canter music for Saumur's freestyle proved to be rather frustrating  There was no really "Loving It" among the seven candidates. It rather felt like speed dating: "Nope - Next"! Saumur handled the stop and go really well, the work we had done on getting the half-halts better established and keeping his forehand light paid excellent dividends (thanks for drilling that in, Jude!). We had good canter half-passes, and clean changes both leads.

So, I guess there are more speed dates in our future, hope the stats of finding a (music) winner are better than what my friends report from attending the 'real deal'!

Remy go jump - and my thoughts are with Myles and Judy

Exciting day today: Jennifer Merrick-Brooks, my eventing instructor from a long way back, was in Michigan for a clinic this weekend. When I first connected with Jenn on facebook I thought it might be nice for Remy to work through gymnastics, and so we signed up.

My last jumping lesson was more than eight years ago; it was at the time when we concluded that Saumur was not a good eventing prospect. Athletic ability: YES! Mental ability: Not so much. Bolting after every jump was just not that endearing and pretty much took the fun out of it. Blessing in disguise: Saumur and I found our calling in dressage.

So today JP, Remy and I bumped over muddy and rutted roads to the freeway, and then on dirt roads again to Sandhill Farm. Last time I had been there was when I jumped Crissy, and that was eons ago. Remy, trooper that he is, walked around the unfamiliar indoor arena, chock full with all kinds of jumps. The lesson before us was still going on, and I wondered why the student wore a body protector. When I asked Jennifer later on if that was required she explained that this student had broken her back jumping, healed up, and fell off again. This was her first lesson back. Wow: talk about grit and gumption!

We went to work, first over trotting poles and then over more demanding gymnastics, like a line with a ground pole, cross rail with a block underneath, to another ground rail. Jennifer reminded me that the goal was to stay in rhythm, and get to the other side, even if it wasn't perfect, but preferably both of us still together :-). It was the old "inside leg to outside rein" adage again, so I would keep Remy from drifting. No better reminder than the prospect of having a jump standard in your face!

At one time Remy got spooked by something outside (the door was open to the fields), and threw in some rather impressive bucks. The farm is called 'Sandhill' after the Sandhill cranes for a reason... I was really proud of myself that 1) I didn't buy real estate (got thrown), and 2) I didn't get rattled. Remy was as cool as a cucumber once he had it out of his system, and we went on as if nothing had happened.

We had a lot of fun, and finished on a perfect note: what else could you ask for? Jenn commented several times on what nice a horse Remy is and how well he fits me. Of course, I KNOW it, but it's nice to hear it from other professionals. It was a long and cold afternoon, and I barely had taken care of Remy when I was out of my clothes and submerged the 100F bubbling water in my bathtub. Pure bliss!! The yellow rubber duckies, courtesy of my dear friend Stephanie, hopefully won't tell about my groans of pleasure.

Even though everything went splendidly this afternoon for us, a dark cloud was also there. Myles, Judy's beloved Doberman, is very sick. Having gone through the agony of having sick or old animals, and the sorrow of  losing some of them, JP and I are thinking of Judy. Yes, we humans are not supposed to be outlived by our pets, but that really is not much of a consolation. If there is any, it's the happiness and quality of life that both humans and animals were able to share. I truly believe that the loved ones we lose live on -- forever in our hearts.

Searching for the fourth cyclinder - and still having a good ride

Chipping away at the backlog of work created by my trip to China – and somehow my body hasn’t yet made the switch back from the 13 hour time difference: sleep so far has been pretty elusive. To use an analogy from the car industry: I feel like I’m a four cylinder car running on three. The Espresso machine in my office has been put on (indefinite) overtime.

Good thing that the boys are running on all of their cylinders! Not only that, they occasionally throw in the Turbo, too (as evidenced by Remy’s joyful bucking last night). On Tuesday I got an enthusiastic text from Judy: Saumur did three clean (!) changes on the diagonal, lots of half-halts, but GOOD. Luckily Saumur carried the positive vibes into my lesson last night, and with Judy’s help I got my fourth cylinder running again, at least for the main part of the lesson. It frustrates me -and her- that I still manage to botch the seemingly easy things, like putting my weight into the saddle to bring Saumur back, or being quick with the half-halts and then getting light again.

No faking it with Saumur: Only when I’m 100% ON will he listen. It’s like the old radios: the antenna had to be just so in order to get perfect reception. Case in point: Medium – collected – medium on the diagonal. We managed to do it quite nicely once I had him off the forehand and on my seat = the antenna was in the right spot. Rein backs between the medium and collected trot reminded both of us how it should feel when his weight is correctly balanced back and the front end elevated. In preparation of the canter half-passes Judy had me do haunches in, which set both of us up correctly. Now all I had to do was keeping Saumur on the outside rein, collected, and light in the reins: Piece of cake!

Saumur and I celebrated by sharing a well-deserved granola bar, and then I high-tailed home keeping all cylinders and the Turbo going: A delicious Pinot Noir and JP were waiting (Note: Placing the Pinot first was purely random…).  

Effective half-halts will improve his hearing - and happy to be home

Happy to be home! It was a very interesting trip, Shanghai is absolutely fascinating. We were lucky to have Huang, our local colleague, show us 'old Shanghai' and 'new Shanghai'. At a local market I zoomed right in at little clay horses, replications of the army of Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China. He had an entire army (men and horses) recreated in Terracotta to be buried with him (210-209 BC) to protect him in his afterlife. Cool gifts for Judy and Lisa, and of course, myself!

After getting over jet lag and the seemingly never-ending flight home, I eagerly went to see the boys. They had the full 'Camp Judy' program (daily training), and Judy kept me posted by email. Remy, the little prodigy, did a couple of flying changes. Well, OK, the first one unintentional, but still: Go Remy! Saumur figured out that it's not a bad idea at all to carry himself. I (half-jokingly) sent Judy an email saying I should just continue traveling and both horses would be great, Remy hitting GP in no time!

Getting my wary body back into the swing of things was a bit of a challenge but better than I expected. Yesterday I 'butted in' JP's lesson, Judy giving me tips on Saumur while JP had his lesson. Saumur started out well, but then he tried the old trick again of laying on the bit: HALF-HALT and REMIND HIM HE HAS HIND LEGS. Argh - yes, I know!! From then on things went well, we had good medium trot and clean changes.

Today we discussed the choreography for the freestyle, as Karen had sent me a long list of questions to Saumur's strengths. I really have fun with this process.

Remy was a fun ride, as usual. Judy riding him definitely makes a huge impact, he moves now much better over his back. Sometimes, though, his 'hearing' (reaction to the aids) is a bit selective, as Judy puts it "he has a hoof in his ear", so "effective half-halts will improve his hearing!". Now I wonder how I can get effective half-halts into the 'American with the French accent' ... N'est ce pas, JP??