Training Plans and Cross Country Schooling

Back to school has been really exciting in lots of ways. Finishing bench work, teaching biochemistry, new internship, teaching riding lessons, and riding five days a week. Jellybean and Gracie both have new partial leasers. Much more to come about the leasing soon! This post is about Knots and I schooling at Pine Hill this morning.

Treat?

I can smell them.

GIVE ME TREATS!

Maggie and I loaded up as early as possible, but we needed to get a hitch for the bumper pull trailer, and some stores aren't open as early as we were ready. Whomp. So we drove down and ended up being a bit late, but Knots was cool. We cantered around the warm up logs a couple of times and then got right into the lesson. Unfortunately, Bear decided to be lame as soon as we got down to the lesson. Not a fun day with silly Bear deciding he wasn't trot sound. Maggie was a champ though, and walked him around and watched. We're trying to decide if we think abscess or the need for back shoes.

Knots and I ended up jumping all the beginner novice jumps on the course, which was awesome :). I wanted the confidence boost, and that's what worked out. First the welcome log, then the welcome coup. Then we went over a red mushroom, up the "mound" (there are fake hills in this area of Texas :p), over a log, then down down down to a coup. Off to another log, and then we were doing well enough to get to start jumping the novice jumps. Check out the beginner novice jumps here. Just click on the number, and a picture of the jump will pop up.

The red mushroom

Its always better to see the jumps from horseback first, because sometimes I see the jumps from the ground and freak myself out haha. From horseback, 2'6" and 2'9" look pretty similar. For example, this 2'9"-3ish table would have scared the crap out of me if I saw it from the ground first.

The water complex was where things got more interesting. The water was fairly deep, so as we were cantering through, Knots was giving me a shower. Not such a win haha. So much water... We jumped the brush jump, then over through the water, out of the water and over the log, then up to the coal car and back around over the roll top through the water again. Whew. The coal car is fun looking:

Knots didn't look at the jump, but I did, so we ended up jumping it a few times as I made a mess of it. There were more big jumps in the woods, and we finished out over a novice mushroom and a trakehner.

Overall, it was a really nice day to appreciate how much hard work we have been putting in. The time spent focusing on my position has really helped Knots be more relaxed coming to jumps. We went around the entire course with a snaffle and the running martingale. I didn't wear spurs, and I dropped the stick before I even mounted. I think the lack of spurs is making a difference. I also think Knots is going to get front shoes before the show, as there are some places with a lot of gravel and he was a bit ouchy going through. There isn't really any reason for me to not make him more comfortable.

I'm really looking forward to the show. I don't feel like we are going to be especially scrappy going through. I'm hoping to score in the low 40s in dressage (or even gasp! break into the 30s). While I don't think those scores will be super competitive at Pine Hill, I think we are looking to make some personal bests this next weekend. I'm really proud of how far Knots and I have come in the last couple of years. Stay tuned :)

Snacks after the ride

Five days in a row!!

I had quite the streak going on last week! Knots and I were on fire for sure. Some quick recaps:

Wednesday: Dressage ride. I actually already talked about this ride in the last post.

Thursday: Jump school. I freaked myself out about my beginner novice entry and decided to jump some bigger jumps. I set up a 2'6" course and we had no problems. Knots was calm and cool. We even have a video! It wasn't totally polished, but it was definitely not an awful place. Of course, Robert is my handsome videographer!

Friday: Jumping lesson with Amanda! We worked on a course. We did super well when I was focused, but we either ran at the jump, refused, or chipped in when I stopped focusing. That seems like an easy fix, pay attention! Easier said than done unfortunately. Knots was still pretty chill, he was actually adjustable, which was magical.

Saturday: Conditioning! We canter/galloped four laps of the cross country field. It even rained a little bit, so the ground was softer. Knots started the day at 40 bpm. The first lap went well, he wasn't super forward but he did what he needed to do. The second lap he started blowing. The third lap was hard, and the fourth lap was really really challenging. We cooled out for over thirty minutes before I showered him off and let him rest.

Sunday: I didn't want Knots to stand around after such a hard Saturday, so I hacked him around. We walked, trotted, and cantered around. Mostly we hung out though. I rode in side reins and he continued to be adjustable. Knots moved into a stall in the barn so that he could be on a diet until after the show. Whomp whomp. He is down to two flakes of hay twice a day and a half scoop of the easy keeper feed. He looks sad already...

Monday was a day off for Knots, because I was exhausted from school.

Tuesday he was ridden in a lesson by one of our students. It seems like it went extremely well! He jumped a gymnastic, X one stride to 2' two stride to 2'3. I didn't get to watch, but Maggie said he was very good, just not very energetic.

Knots gets Wednesday and Thursday off, and then we have a dressage lesson on Friday afternoon and hopefully lots of riding Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. I mailed the entry today, so I need to make the time :)

In other news.... what have Jellybean and Gracie been up to while I keep writing about Knots? Stay tuned :)

Knots' head is more firmly on his shoulders

Last week we hosted our first annual Jump for Life show. It was a blast organizing, coaching, and watching. We had a lot of big lessons learned by the kids and there were lots of prizes to go with them. Knots was a back up horse for Maggie's son, A. The normal horse he has been riding is Simon, who is a really good guy. Simon has such a good nature. Oh, a bad spot? Ok, I'll handle it. Faster? ok. Oh slower here? Check. Lead change? Already done.

Coaching at the show

Some other students were planning to ride Simon for the show and we could only have so many, so A got to ride Knots instead. Quick history: He was the first one to ride Knots a few years ago. He spent a lot of time working on the basics. Knots learned how to not run away at the canter (as bad) and also how to relax and stand around a bit. Since he spent so much time riding Knots before I did, A usually rode him at playdays and other fun events at the farm (Knots is super, super fast). Normally, afterwards, Knots would be completely crazy and take ages to calm down. Like need to have several rides before he would realize I didn't want to gallop into the sunset. Even though I am way shorter than A, he was still in run mode.

Enter the Jump for Life show. A needed a horse to ride, and Knots was the guy. They practiced three times the week before the show, and Knots was stopping in front of jumps when he jumped even a hair ahead. But there was no galloping off afterwards. No crazy freak outs. He was going soooo slllooowwww. I think the combination of Knots learning more and the general improvement in the A's position has made him less reactive. They jumped at the show and had moderate success. Knots was extremely chill, much more than I expected. They would have had the fastest round without the refusals, and they weren't even going full tilt.

This is a chill face for a jumping round!

Back to the present: Last night I had a dressage ride on my schedule (haha I pretend I have a schedule anyways). I got Knots tacked up and decided to ride in the side reins without lunging first. Lunging is somewhat annoying, especially because I usually end up leaving my equipment out for some undetermined amount of time. Knots was totally cool with the side reins, but he was really running away from my leg. We argued about it for about 20 minutes of walking and trotting.

I tightened the side reins two holes and BAM! He stopped fighting with me. This seems very curious. They weren't actually adjusted that tight to begin with; I usually adjust them a hole or two looser for riding than lunging. I'm still going to be thinking about why this happened. Maybe I underestimated the warm up or some other random variable.

In the moment though, I was enjoying him moving off my leg without changing his rhythm. It was kind of magical. We worked on serpentines and walk/trot transitions. Then we cantered around the roping pen a few times and made smaller circles a couple of times. It was almost like I was riding a different horse at the beginning versus the end of the ride.

I think this is a great example of how far we have come along. Instead of continuing to fight (either with the tack or each other) we can now slow the grump-cycle and communicate clearly. He knew what I was asking for, he just didn't give it to me. I haven't decided whether I think that's because I was being unclear in asking or if he just didn't want to.

In any case, I was really pleased when we ended the ride on a good note where we were actually communicating effectively. This is even more exciting when you think about how it used to take 2-3 rides for Knots to chill after a speed round with A. He really is figuring out what is expected of him. Go team!

Why do injuries always happen when we are unsupervised?

Howdy all,

The summer has been surprisingly busy and I have not had the chance to write for your entertainment.  Please accept my apologies and allow me to rectify that situation.

Some of you may be aware that until 2012 I was never really a horse person. However, circumstances changed with the arrival of the most amazing woman into my life.  She also managed to coincidentally herald the arrival of horses in my life.  At the time, I knew two things about horses... "They are dangerous at both ends and, crafty in the middle."- Sherlock Holmes.

That being said, I immersed myself in horses.  I tried to soak up all the information, all the situations, all of the knowledge that anyone let slip about these big, beautiful, majestic, expensive and, suicidal animals. I still listen to everyone and take the nuggets of wisdom and tuck them away for later use.

If you would, keep these things in mind as I relate to you a story that occurred earlier today.

My horsewoman has left me for the weekend.  She has some duties to see to back home on the east coast. Most of these duties involve the marriage of one of her best friends and the assorted maid of honor things that guys don't understand.  I have been told there is wine, beer and, horse stuff going on. Either way, I am home alone and in charge of my own life as well as that of the dog and two horses. No pressure right?

This morning I decide that I should go and check on those two beautiful, majestic, expensive and, suicidal animals. As I walk up the driveway to our paddock Jellybean nickers and starts walking toward me. Gracie, on the other hand, is happy to hang out in the back of the pasture with her boyfriend Orion.

Jellybean thought I had treats

 I had treats in my pocket so I figured that is why she was so interested in seeing me but as she got closer I could see her left eye was a bit swollen. Sadly, it looks like someone kicked her in the face!
This is where all of that listening and watching and storage of nuggets came in handy.  I did NOT freak out.  I got the halter and pulled her out of the paddock. Now I could really see the swelling.

Swollen left eye

Laceration

Now, here is the point I would like to talk about how far I have come in the last 3 years.  I mentioned that my horsewoman was out of state. What I failed to mention was that the barn owner and exceptional horse medic is ALSO out of town.  So, here I am, on a Saturday morning with a swollen bleeding 4 year old horse that does not like being tended, all by myself.  Time to suck it up and make it happen.

Thankfully the cut is very superficial.  She was most likely kicked at feeding time this morning since the swelling is still pretty high.  My response was to go get the betadiene and some gauze so I could wash it out.  As I was digging through the first aid kit, I remembered how much Jellybean likes (Severely DISlikes) the medical supplies.  This wonderful memory of a kicking pony inspired me to pick up the dressage whip as an aid. (See!  I learned to take a training aid with me!)  

There is still some learning to do though.  My first attempt was to squirt some betadiene in/on the wound...  she did not like this and stomped her feet,swished her tail, pinned ears and, pulled back rather insistently. I was NOT going to deal with THAT response.... so she got the whip! After she calmed down and walked forward again I tried option number two.  Gauze soaked with betadiene...  Turns out horses can smell really well!  She still knew it was betadiene and did the same stunts as before.  This time she got the whip twice.   Thankfully, That got through to her. She came forward and let me clean her cut.  

Cleaned up

After that I had the task of calling and informing Amanda about the injury.  I have learned not to communicate these things through text and NEVER to send pictures without warning. I am not sure if she was as okay as she sounded or just resigned that she could do nothing herself but, I did not get a million questions and I was actually praised for the cleaning and handling of it all.  

All in all, it was not as exciting as I have written but, I realized how competent I have become with horses.  It is a good feeling to know you have come so far.  Oh, and just so you can rest assured... Jellybean went right back to photobombing as soon as she was turned out.

Did you want a picture of Gracie?  NOPE!

Phone?  Pictures?  I am a pretty horse too!

I am the subject!  All your pictures are of  ME!!!!

The tale of the side eye: or a brief about personality in red horses

First off, this post isn't about Jellybean.

I know, the title had you convinced. This is actually about Knots. As you may remember, Knots had an interesting life before I started riding him. I don't exactly know what, but I know there was definitely a tie down, and he galloped away like his life depended on it when the wrong button combination was pushed.

Fast forward a couple of years. At this point in our training, we have started figuring out some things. We mostly know how to move of the leg, and we can almost carry ourselves at the canter without leaning on a shoulder (except in jumping situations). We are fairly comfortable over 2'6" and we have jumped over 3' a couple of times without dying. As Knots has gotten more confident that I am not going to murder him (at least not on the daily), he has developed some... quirks.

Knots knows his name and my voice. He likes to train me to collect him from the pasture. Sometimes he will come trotting over... and sometimes he will turn and gallop away. This is oddly directly correlated with how many cookies I have brought into the pasture recently...

Did I mention Knots loves all kinds of horse cookies? [warning, poor training ahead] I have actually jogged up the driveway with Knots following me for cookies a few times. He didn't make it all the way to his pasture though, because the grass was easier to eat than the cookie.

Its slightly unwise to stand in front of Knots and chat with people. He gets bored with people talk and looks for more exciting things. Like shoulders. Did you know biting shoulders was fun when people are doing boring things?

Knots also gets bored when you stand in an arena and talk to people. He doesn't care if your instructor is providing key feedback. He doesn't care if someone is relating a crisis. He's bored. And this means he needs something to chew on. Every once in a while he surprises me and chomps down on my foot. Usually though, I can pull my foot back just in time for him to rake his teeth across the stirrup iron...

Finally, the most expressive thing Knots has is his eyes. Specifically his side eye. He especially likes to demonstrate his annoyance at me when he's on the lunge line.

Knots thinks lunge lines mean too much work. He could be getting enormously overweight eating a round bale instead... Knots likes to throw down the side eye in other situations too. A couple of weeks ago the chiropractor adjusted him. When she started moving his tail around, she got some major side eye. He really thinks he is just too good for the rest of us.

Don't worry, Knots doesn't quite have as much personality as the red mare in my life, but is that nature or nurture at this point?

Knots on left, Jellybean on right

New friends at the farm

Last week we got some new friends on the farm! These two ponies were given to Maggie by a lady in town who's children outgrew the pony phase. The palomino paint is named Mickey and the black and white paint is named Sue-Sue. We are going to rename Sue-Sue Minnie.

So cute!

What are these things?

Knots is confused.

One of the kids rode the ponies over the weekend, and they did ok. They have fantastic ground manners, although they are somewhat skittish. They both walked and trotted with a bit of encouragement. They aren't very forward thinking at this point. The kid did manage to fall off in the most hilarious way. There were tears in my eyes, and unfortunately no actual video. However, I am linking a video that basically shows what happened.

The trot was so smooth on Minnie that our kid wasn't really posting, and as we were talking about it, the kid leaned forward in a two-point-ish position. The pony just dropped her head and the kid slid forward over the neck. Minnie was a sweetheart and didn't even walk away. The rest of us were laughing so hard we couldn't offer any helpful information. Including the kid. So fun.

Kid falling off a Shetland

Nothing else interesting happened. We haven't cantered them yet, but we plan to start back in the round pen/lunge line and see what they can do. We have images of one of our smaller kids taking the pony green as grass next fall...

Another summer update

Did you know grass dies when the temperatures are over 100 for over two weeks?

Rob and I moved into our new house a couple of weeks ago and the previous tenants hadn't done a great job keeping the grass happy. Now, after two weeks of 95-105+ humidity... the grass is having a hard time. We bought a sprinkler (after realizing that Wal-Mart, Target, and Lowes were all sold out) at the co-op, and have tried to breathe some life into the lawn. Its a slow process, but I can see some small patches of green trying really hard to repopulate the scorched brown spots.

In other news, we have been riding a bit in between the 100 degree weather. I don't remember all the small rides, but the biggest and most exciting event was the cross country schooling at Meadowcreek Park. Rob and I took Gracie and Knots, and we also brought a couple of students with Maggie.

We had a really great time. Gracie was very game when Robert was committed to the jumps, and Knots was more relaxed than he has been at other off site group rides. This was definitely some good prep for me to mentally prepare for Pine Hill in October. I'm trying to get back on the bandwagon, but be prepared, its getting crazy as we approach back to school time.