"Stay in your bubble!" - and lessons from endurance athletes

 We (ok, I!) had a light bulb moment yesterday - and it shouldn't have been a light bulb moment because it was so obvious. The indoor arena has windows all around, and they are just the right height for the rider to look out ... and get distracted. Remy and I were merrily trotting along when my eye caught a horse that was being turned out kicking up his heels and careening around. First thought (and unfortunately audible outburst): "Oh, sh*t!" - as I fully expected Remy to follow suit and and join the action indoors. Vanessa quickly gave me a strong half-halt: "Stay in your bubble!", "Remy didn't even notice what was going on outside, he was focused on his work. Your horse needs YOU to stay in YOUR bubble, otherwise he'll wonder where his person went." Oops, of course,  mea culpa, stimmt genau, Vanessa! 

We (again, I) had some difficulties in our previous lesson. For some strange reason I could not get a decent shoulder in to the right to save my life. The harder I tried the worse it got, and my frustration mounted. It didn't help that we had a rail-bird* chiming in (which made me very cranky). Yesterday, without a rail bird in sight, we (I) were back on track, with flowing and correct shoulder-ins and half-passes.

As luck would have it, the WSJ's Wednesday edition featured an article by Elizabeth Bernstein "Hard-Earned Lessons in Endurance", subtitled "Adversity can make us braver and stronger, in sports and in life. We got advice from endurance athletes". 

I loved "Accept the Rule of Thirds" quoting Alexi Pappas, a professional long-distance runner and Olympian. She explains that when she got frustrated her coach, Ian Dobson, explained ..."when you are chasing a big goal, you are supposed to feel good a third of the time, OK a third of the time, and crummy a third of the time. If you are feeling bad all the time you are fatiguing, he said. If you are feeling good all the time, you are not working hard enough."

The other one that hit home was from Blair Braverman, a dogsledder, who has completed the 1,000 mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog race (amongst many others). "... After years of trying to anticipate and solve problems before they happened, Ms. Braverman realized her worry was unproductive. She decided to trust herself to successfully deal with a problem when it arose." "If I could come up with a solution while lying awake in bed at three in the morning, I could also come up with a solution on the trail - and it would probably be a better one...".

OK, to sum it up:

1) Stay in your bubble when riding

2) Accept the Rule of Thirds

3) Trust yourself to successfully deal with a problem

4) Relax and SMILE - Says JP 😊

As JP says: SMILE! 
Saumur and his people at Waterloo, quite a few years ago

*Rail bird = Zaungast = Onlooker (often someone that gives unsolicited advice / comments)

When things fall into place - and "I assure you I'm a person"

Sometimes things just fall into place. Remy and I had a super weekend at Sheffield Farm. Luckily, Remy is such a good traveler, and aside from road construction on I-94, traffic was flowing. He and I had beautiful accommodations, Remy had a big and deeply bedded stall, and my lovely room (also deeply bedded) at Sally's had a stunning lake view. 

Beautiful view at Sheffield Farm

Our session with Britta Pedersen* started with her observing our normal warm up. Then she put me through an assessment off the horse, plus worked on me on the massage table (yikes, tight hips and thigh muscles). Then back on Remy, with exercises, followed by being "bandaged" (using a patented system of resistance bands). It felt a bit like riding on a trampoline. Once I got the hang of it I could really feel the difference in my position. Day 1 was a wrap! 

Straight, elbows back, both seat bones even, open rib cage, turn

Day 2 was more of 'bandaged on the horse' (I was tempted to call it bondage, but then all the weirdos out there would probably pick up the post 😏), and we had a dressage lesson (Britta is also a GP dressage rider and was on the NZ eventing team). At one point in the canter I was actually squealing "I feel like a kid again!" I felt a bit silly, but Marian, the clinic organizer, and a professional trainer, assured me that this is how she felt also. Effortless, fun, and in tune with the horse is the best to describe it. 

Question received on my FB post: "Is this a mannequin or a person on the horse?" (Seriously!)

 Reply: "I can assure you that I'm a person" 😀 

The only minor hitch was me braking out in a cold sweat on the way home: My GPS took me through the country side, with no gas station in sight anywhere. Lots of Amish carriages, so I guess no need for gas! We barely made it to a gas station, and I breathed a heavy sigh of relief when I managed to squeeze truck and trailer close to a pump. We made it home, tired and happy - and JP breathed a sigh of relief that I hadn't brought Woody home 😅

Comment from JP when I sent him the photo: "Whatever you do, don't bring him or her home!"

Not this time, JP, by maybe next??

*Britta Pedersen, performancerefinery.com

Here is the outline from Britta on the clinic:

"Equestrian RMBA (Ridden Muscle Balance Assessment System) consists of a series of strength, flexibility, and Range of Motion tests, performed to the upper and lower body, spine and core. The specific RMBA (both off and on your horse) is structred into 4 phases:

Stage 1: We look at your postural alignment and biomechanical systems during the warm up phase on your horse.

Stage 2: We will see you put through a variety of specific tests from the ground, where we identify any possible muscular weaknesses, tightness, dysfunctions, joint hyper/hypo-mobility.

Stage 3: We comprehensively explain the biomechanics of 'your' seat in the saddle and closely guide you on how to make correct and effective changes. We work with you on the horse for the remainder of the session as this will help you to cement the "feel" of your alignment and achieve postural harmony between both you and your horse's way of going. "

"Life is no wish concert" - and road trip with my Bestie

 Just when you think things are going swimmingly - life has a way of telling you: Not so fast! Saturday morning we had fun trying out a course that JP had designed for our outdoor arena and the boys were happily strutting their stuff. Then we went on a trail ride, and nothing seemed amiss until I finished working with two nice mares later in the afternoon. I felt dizzy and queasy, but tried to ignore it. By Saturday night I was vomiting violently, and could barely move. Sunday late afternoon JP carted me (and my puke bucket) to the ER. Of course, I didn't want to go, but by then I was so sick I couldn't really object. A few bags of IV fluids later and we were sent on our way, I felt marginally better. That didn't last too long though, by Monday morning I could only crawl and when I did a tele-visit with my GP she sent me right back to the ER to be admitted.

Well, for those of you that don't believe that there is a health care crisis and the hospitals are overloaded: There was no bed to be found, so I had to literally camp in a cubicle in the ER overnight.  Harried staff, stretched to their limits, moaning all around, you get the picture. More IV's, more meds, CT scan and chest Xray. Once the meds and fluids kicked in the next day I was ready to jump ship and sign the "AMA" paperwork ("Against Medical Advice")  to get the heck out of there. But a nice nurse convinced me to wait for the Neurologist (who was a day late), and after I passed those tests I hightailed out, with approval.  Luckily, nothing major was found! Whew! Seems I had a very bad case of Vertigo. Through all this JP was my champion, working hard to keep me sane. We were very grateful to Ed and Angie for taking care of the dogs during the day so we didn't have to worry about them. 

German saying: Das Leben ist kein Wunschkonzert
"Life is no wish concert" = literal translation from a funny calendar Stephanie sent me 
"Life is not a musical request program"

So all this put the kibosh on my tight schedule, but all my clients were very caring and understanding. Yesterday Vanessa rode Remy for me, as I'm still a bit wobbly, and he looked fabulous (of course 😍). 

Remy and I have exciting plans for this weekend, so I better be fit: Two days working on ME! It's a Biomechanics for Riders clinic, based on a "Equestrian RMBA" (Ridden Muscle Balance Assessment) system - performancerefinery.com. It's held at a beautiful farm on the other side of Michigan -West-, and Sally, the owner, has kindly invited me to stay with her. Looking forward to it: Road trip with my four-legged Bestie: Yay! JP will stay home with his Besties, and I think he'll be glad to get some respite from taking care of me 😏

"Let the wall help your shoulder-in" - and the bunny needs a horse

 Having grown up in a country that was divided by a wall, and now living in a country where discussions about walls are areas of big contention didn't predispose me to thinking of walls to help my riding.

Enter our lesson with Vanessa today. We have been working a lot on straightness, as in staying straight on the quarter line in all gaits, no straying off the straight and narrow! I was struggling with our shoulder-in* to the right today, just couldn't get it with the correct bend through his body and not the neck. Vanessa had me ride it turning on the quarter line on the left hand, and then doing the shoulder right facing the arena wall. And wouldn't you know it: It worked. I guess sometimes a wall is a good thing. 

Even the Easter Bunny needs a horse 😀

*"A correct shoulder-in is ridden in the walk or trot with the horse’s hind legs on the line of travel and with the shoulders displaced to the inside. The legs should be on three tracks and this angle should be stable. In other words, the outside hind leg tracks along the wall, the inside hind leg and the outside front leg are on the same track parallel to the wall, and the inside front leg is on the inner track parallel to the wall. The line of travel can be the wall, which is the easiest place to begin, or another line off the track, such as the centerline. The horse should be bending in his body around the rider’s inside leg with the poll flexed to the inside, away from the direction of travel". (Janet Foy, DT)

"He is very energy efficient" - and it's tough being Remy and Chambord

 Remy (still) surprises me in our lessons. He has turned into the 'Energizer Bunny' - you switch him on and he goes. This is how it should be - no constant prodding, pleading, asking ... me working harder than he does. For a long time, this was the case. Now we turned the corner, but he still wants to be asked (nicely) to go strut his stuff. As Vanessa put it yesterday "he is just very energy efficient". "No use expending all that energy when it's not called for", says Remy. 

Remy's ancestors were bred to be sturdy, hard-working, easy to maintain horses*. Remy does fit the profile to a T (with the added energy-conservation streak he shares with Chambord, see below).

Next step: Sit on the sofa, have a beer, and watch TV 😅

 *Horses were an essential component in the transport of cavalry troops, supplies, and artillery weapons throughout the war. Morgan horses are known to have been used in both the Union and Confederate armies. Due to the quality of the Morgan horses and their physical attributes, they were in high demand.

Morgan Horses in the Civil War | Morgan Horse Guide

morganhorseguide.com/2016/03/10/morgan-horses-in-the-civil-war/

We have our own "in-barn" horse-whisperer - and decision making help

With the warmer weather the boys love to snooze in the sun. Especially Chambord can be found daily taking his nap. He scares the unsuspecting people walking or driving by - he has the "dead horse" look down pat. 

Remy watches over "Mr. Sleepyhead" Chambord

JP loves to join the boys (I bet if the ground would be nicer he'd snooze right next to Chambord). As it is, he has very deep conversations with Chambord. One day it will be over a glass of Bourbon, I'm sure!

Profound conversations going on here!

Our lessons with Vanessa have been going really well. Every time we get to Ferris' Remy is ready to rock right from the beginning, and he puts an excellent effort in (which wasn't at all the case in the past). I feel we do have a shot at correct upper level work. Vanessa is encouraging, and tough when needed; and both Remy and I always finish with a sense of accomplishment. If you wonder how I know what Remy feels - I only have to look at his expression to know that he is proud of himself. We have been working on sharpening up our flying changes. Canter/walk/counter canter/walk/canter in quick succession has been very helpful. The lateral work (shoulder in and half-passes) is getting sharper, as are the more collected gaits. 

With being on such a good trajectory I struggled with the decision of signing up for a clinic with a well-known judge. Our past experience left me quite frustrated, even though we did learn some things. Right in time I came across this post from Paulo Coelho:

And then of course, there are a few people I would NEVER walk away from - one of them Stephanie, source of unwavering friendship and purveyor of the most incredible care packages that always show up when I need some TLC the most. 

😍

We not only "got through" the Michigan winter - we actually thrived

With the daylight savings time fast approaching (this Sunday), I think it's safe say winter is over - at least the worst of it. Still a long way to Memorial Day, and the official begin of summer, but hey, the sun is shining and the weather -mostly- cooperates. The horses seem to be convinced it's Spring already, based on the amount of hair everyone is freely shedding. 

I had been concerned how Remy and I would do this winter, last season in Wellington being an almost distant memory. In the end, it was a blessing in disguise being at home. We got to hunker down with our best buddies (JP for me, Chambord for Remy), and enjoy being home. Let's not forget there is still a pandemic going on! We were also very lucky to have 'found' Vanessa (www.hollanddressage.com), and that she took us on this winter, despite her super busy schedule. Remy's school bus sure was put to good use, and aside from a few times when it was too iffy to drive on ice and snow, or too cold, it worked out well. In fact, it was a very lucky break for us as both Remy and I have been thriving in our lessons.

I received a few good natured jabs from friends, as there is a long standing rivalry between the German and Dutch dressage riders, and they joked that I went to the dark side. Fear not: Good training is good training (goes for the opposite, too, of course) - and  we are getting excellent training.

Not just that, we both are way more chill. Just one example, yesterday was one of the extreme windy days, that seem to trigger the horses' flight instinct. Put them in an indoor arena, with the winds howling outside, walls and roofs creaking, and you can get some rather 'interesting' rides. Remy didn't bat an eye, stepped off the trailer relaxed, was focused and eager to work during the entire lesson, and we had fun! 

 

Gespitzte Pferdeohren 😊