Welcome to mud season - and "Tell me how you like it"

Michigan weather is like a Porsche, you go from 0 to 100 in no time. We are almost up 60 degrees since last week. The boys enjoy being 'naked', meaning I pulled their blankets and sheets off on the weekend, when the temps reached the mid 40s. While these balmy temps feel really good, we have to 'pay' for it. All the melted snow water has seemingly nowhere to go, thus creating small rivers, flooding, mud, and pot holes that could swallow entire cars. But hey, I wanted warmer weather so I make an effort not to complain about the rest.

Driving to the barn today I was trying to get the playlists from my phone to work via Bluetooth in the truck. While fiddling around I hit the CD drive (which I never use) - and almost choked on the piece of chocolate I was eating: Justin Timberlake crooned full blast "TELL ME HOW YOU LIKE IT.. DO YOU LIKE IT LIKE THAT??" What the heck?? Seems SOMEONE in the family expanded from Cabrel to Timberlake.

Well, the song did the trick: It turned me on... to my ride that is! I was imagining Remy asking me during a shoulder in "Do you like it like that?" and during the counter canter "Is this how you like it?"

Made for a fun session, and yes, Remy, this is how I like it!

My instincts were right - échappé belle

My pen was already poised to write a check for a clinic with a well known coach focusing on mental toughness, "pressure proofing" the rides. I had read one of his books on that subject and really liked it. My former eventing instructor recommended him. The clinic was not too far away, and -compared to rides with top dressage coaches- reasonably priced.

All good, right? Wait: My "don't sign up if you haven't audited first" rule popped up and - thank you, Internet search! - I decided to do my homework first. There were video clips and plenty of comments (good and not so good).  My red flags were raised enough to decide to forgo riding and audit first.

Even the auditing started with a hitch, no pun intended:  I managed to get stuck in the hosting farms driveway (umh, and yes, I drove the four-wheel drive Chevy). There was no parking left and I thought, no problem, I just wedge myself at the edge of the snow bank, not knowing that there was a big drop. So, I had slink to the farm and ask for help. Luckily, I came across the nicest people ever. The owner got his big Diesel, hitched my truck to his and and pulled me out of my predicament. Thank you!

OK, now finally I could climb up the hayloft to audit the rides - and after a couple of minutes I breathed a big sigh of relief that I hadn't signed up. It was completely geared towards Young Riders - something I had aged out of too long ago to mention. Very small arena with four jumps that were set sort of like a cross. The riders had to remember the pattern, jump counting strides and hit the pre-set time accurately. If they missed: "Give me 100!" = Sit-ups, push-ups. I would have spend the afternoon doing just that!

As the French call it: échappé belle (narrow escape)!

Consistent contact is the name of the game -

Some days are more challenging than others, but then as Judy noticed “you learn more from the difficult rides than from the easy ones”. Right on.

I struggled with getting Remy honestly in front of my leg, and it felt more like riding a jet ski on choppy waters: Up with the wave (= back up) and down with the wave (=back down). The more I held in front, especially without backing it up with my leg, the more inconsistent Remy got. Duh!

Judy honed right into the crux of the matter: My inconstant contact was confusing Remy. This whole Hold/Give/Take/Hold/Give was like garbled talk, and Remy couldn’t figure out what the deal was. However, I figured out what MY deal was: Years of adapting to Saumur! He would get so strong in the hand, basically having me carry all his weight (figuratively) with my arms. The recourse was to give so he had nothing to lean onto. This forced him to carry himself - if he didn’t want to fall on his nose.

Remy doesn’t have any of Saumur’s issues, though. He likes consistent contact, but that doesn’t mean he’s always up for it. Take the stretchy circle: No snatching the reins from me, no falling on the forehand. Remy has to take the reins nicely out and down like a gentleman; and then coming up and collect again without fuss.

Who said this stuff is easy? Or as Remy quips: “It’s tough trying to be a gentleman!”

The hair is coming off - yay!

I never thought I would get so excited about having to deal with hair shedding out. But actually, it's a very good sign for Saumur - it means that he might not have Cushing's disease* ! Also known as *Pituitary Pars Intermedia Dysfunction or PPID, Cushing’s Disease is a dysfunction of the pituitary gland. It is most common in older horses (18 – 23 years). Since it is sometimes associated with Insulin Resistance, Cushing’s can be confused with another condition called Equine Metabolic Syndrome. Signs of Cushing's include long, curly hair, and delayed haircoat shedding (among other symptoms). 

Morgans are especially prone to this disease, and Saumur has definitely some of the symptoms. A couple of months ago I added a supplement for Equine Metabolic Syndrome to his SmartPaks, and this seems to help him get rid of all the unwanted hair. I'll have him checked at his next Vet appointment, but for right now, I'm happily currying off hair. I filled half of a muck bucket today, the rest is stubbornly clinging to me. Say Hello to the Hairy One - and I don't mean Saumur! 

On a completely different note, Friday we went to the movies and we really enjoyed "McFarland, USA". I was 'lukewarm' about seeing the film, expecting lots of cliches, but I was pleasantly surprised. As JP described it to Sean: "No violence, no sex, (no horses) ... and still an excellent movie" :-). 

The Sword of Damocles - in the form of icicles

An upswing in temperatures to a 'balmy' 20F finally got me into the saddle again. The sun was shining through the arena windows, I shed my coat, all was well... until Judy mentioned cautiously "Well, the last icicle crashed down 40 minutes ago". I looked up at the line of windows, and detected a row of HUGE icicles, obviously just waiting to crash down while Remy and I were doing our thing.

Remy doesn't handle sudden noises well, which translates into yours truly not doing well either. But giving up with the (figurative) tail between the legs because of icicles when I finally have a chance to ride again? No way!

The challenge was to RELAX, relax my seat, relax my hands, relax my mind (I thought I heard my Yoga-teacher)... and not to worry "What If". I felt like riding with the sword of Damocles hanging over my head.

Surprisingly though, I was able to relax and Remy really helped me out by strutting his stuff without worries - obviously he hadn't spotted the icicles! Remy felt awesome, soft, and truly on the outside rein. We had some really good canter work, doing transitions within the canter, and canter-walk, keeping in mind "He should not anticipate a walk transition every time you do collected canter". Yes, ma'am! Another one of Judy's "right on" comments: "In the canter, the outside leg keeps him going, the inside leg carries the weight".

So, all was well - especially considering that the Sword of Damocles* stayed put!

*Sword of Damocles[Wikipedia)

According to the story, pandering to his king, Dionysius, Damocles exclaimed that, as a great man of power and authority surrounded by magnificence, Dionysius was truly extremely fortunate. Dionysius then offered to switch places with Damocles, so that Damocles could taste that very fortune firsthand. Damocles quickly and eagerly accepted the king's proposal. Damocles sat down in the king's throne surrounded by every luxury, but Dionysius arranged that a huge sword should hang above the throne, held at the pommel only by a single hair of a horse's tail. Damocles finally begged the king that he be allowed to depart because he no longer wanted to be so fortunate, realizing that with great fortune and power comes also great responsibility

Warm up and cool down walk = 4380 steps - and Lots of ‘Citron Chaud’

During the current deep freeze Judy prefers to ride the horses instead of riding and teaching. It’s way too hard to stay warm if you go from riding to sitting/standing teaching and then back to riding again.

So I tried to groom Remy without exposing too much skin (not easy!) and then hand-walked/trotted him for about 15 minutes to get his muscles warm before Judy got on. Remy’s weeklong vacation during our trips did not put a wrench into his training – Luckily! Some horses don’t take time off too easily, and it seems they need a lot of time to get back into the ‘working-swing’. Not so Remy, now that he has figured out the work-play routine he loves to go back to work.

It was great seeing him worked under saddle. Remy’s muscles are developing correctly, and (proud mother speaking): He is pretty stunning. I watch Judy like a hawk when she rides, as I’m a visual person and I am striving to emulate her position and aids. At least we are making ‘Citron Chaud’ (hot lemonade) out of the frozen lemons we are handed this winter. And – walking 2.7 miles warming up and cooling down translates into 146 burned calories, making room for ‘Citron Chaud’ plus a cookie or two to go with it!

Ingrédients

• 1 grande tasse d'eau (ou mug 200 ml environ)
• 1/2 citron (1 à 2 cuillerées à café du jus)
• 1 cuillerée à café de miel

Ustensiles

• 1 casserole
• 1 presse citron

Préparation

1. Faire bouillir l'eau
2. Mettre le miel et le jus de citron au fond d'une grande tasse et verser de l'eau chaude dessus
   
3. Remuer et boire de suite.

Importing horses and importing cheese - quite an analogy

On Friday I was sitting in the Skyclub at the airport with Matthieu, my French boss. He was waiting for his flight to France, and I was getting ready to jump on the plane to NYC.

We were talking about our interests outside of work, and what can I say, my horses came up. I explained that I felt it was my 'mission' to show people that it's not necessary to spend a fortune (and as some do, mortgage everything) to import a Warmblood from Europe. In my opinion, on a Morgan with correct training (well, yes, good conformation helps) you can be as competitive as almost any other amateur with an import.

Matthieu listened to all this and then said "Ah, well, it's like with French cheese - initially the Americans imported all their cheese from France, then they learned how to make it themselves, and now they are very good at it". I have to say, the man has it figured out!

With that good start to the weekend Ingrid and I delved into NYC. Unfortunately, the cold I had been battling reared its ugly head in full force Saturday, just as the snow and sleet came down on the city. Perfect timing to walk many miles in search of the tack shop (thank you for your patience, Ingrid!). And when we finally got there... disappointment. It was not at all as I had expected from the article and website. Oh well, on the bright side, we didn't let the snow deter us from finding the place: Two German women on a mission :-).

Sunday brought sunshine, the New Year's parade in Chinatown, a lovely ride on the Staten Island Ferry to see Lady Liberty, followed by a great dinner in a French restaurant on Broadway. Life definitely is good!

Coming back home yesterday: Reality hit with negative temps. No riding all week. To top it off I had to drive to Northern Michigan today in whiteout conditions to face a plant quality audit tomorrow.

Life is still good: Temps in the 20s on the weekend, riding on the horizon.. and getting a wonderful French dinner served at home!