getting over the gulp

Life has changed in so many ways since January 2020. My expectations, hopes, dreams... The calendar painstakingly imported into google..... The tentative but ambitious 6 month game plan.... It might as well be from a lifetime ago haha.

I just don't feel the same way right now as I did in the... before times. And ya know, that's ok. Honestly, seems like a sentiment shared by just about all of my friends.

longer and longer days mean for lovely evening light! also... poor chopped mane haha, womp

Instead, my attention is shifting. My long term horse goals have never been about "getting to the top" of the sport. Rather, in time I want to be involved in horse sports in ways that perpetuate and spread the joy I personally experience from this habit. Right now, there's an opportunity to brainstorm anew how that could look.

And in the meantime, we're sorta easing back in to the day to day rhythms and routines that define my own personal horsey experience.

alllllllll that real estate, and this is where charles gets bit. TWICE

I'll probably post an update on Charlie's feet sometime around mid July to see how the near-daily keratex applications have worked. So far tho, I'm massively relieved by what I'm seeing. All the same, Charlie will go back into leather pads at his next appointment. And until then, I'm avoiding pounding on his feet with anything like trot or canter sets or lengthy jump schools.

too bad, charles. still gone sit on you!

That hasn't meant we can't have a little fun tho, or can't go through schooling sessions with "stringent criteria" per Doug Payne's advice.

And I'm also not overlooking the advice Charlie's vet gave me during his 6-month wellness check last summer: wherein she said it was critical to condition Charlie to the impact I'm asking of him, rather than always constantly avoiding high impact.

boom. have achieved sitting!

We've had a couple nice flat schools, during one of which we ran through Training-A again and... ya know, it was actually pretty ok!! I always forget where the transitions are for some reason, but overall it actually has a really nice flow for Charlie.

i swear he is beautiful and elegant and happy. his expression here tho definitely says that.... next time he'll ask his friend to aim for the back instead of girth area LOL

Basically all of our issues in the test boil down to *me* not quite meeting the "stringent criteria" (again, per Mr Payne) vs Charlie not meeting them. Especially as our dressage tests get more complicated, I have this weird habit of sorta surrendering to the test rather than attacking it or riding it proactively.

Like I'm almost letting us be dragged from movement to movement, instead of charging forth! through it. Does that make any sense?

Feels like good food for thought. Or... a metaphor for something? Anyway...

shadow frens!!!

We had another jump school recently, too. The set up was virtually identical to our first jumps back from quarantine, but all the heights were kinda wonky. The grid was set to crossrails, and the singles were all around 3'3. Patting my self on the back tho, rather than shrugging and being lazy, I actually did dismount and reset stuff to what I wanted it to be.

there's his happy goofy face!!

Specifically: I reset the grid to be a little more progressive, including finishing with a nice 3' oxer. And reset the single jumps to 3' too. Bc.... yeeeaaah ok so we could do T height. But eh, 3' is good enough for now and still a step up from our first school back where everything was more like 2'9ish or less.

And I wanted to concentrate on riding forward, keeping the hind end going, and letting Charlie's neck be long with soft hands in the strides before the fence. Focusing on my riding is so much easier when the jump doesn't preoccupy my attention haha. And ya know, it worked. Charlie was foot perfect and jumped everything exactly like the schooled horse he is.

"yes hello, here are also my nose wrinkles + teef!" - charlie, probably

We've hacked out a lot lately too. As a side effect of the lengthy quarantine, some boarders are experiencing sliiightly fiesty/spooky horses that make them nervous to take out alone. Plus... everyone is craving social warmth right now, let's be real. Yours truly included.

Charlie is basically the bestest trail horse in the world, tho, so whenever the opportunity presents itself, we hit the woods with other boarders who are still getting their sea legs back.

And also sometimes by ourselves too haha -- all the better to have a little fun with the fenceline cross country jumps when we don't feel like dealing with gates!! Thusly has Charlie seen his first few xc efforts since.... February? March?? Who knows!

aw charlie <3 at least hair grows back eventually!!
(if only the same were true for his forelock..)

So ya know. I'm relieved to be back in a routine. Grateful that basically everything is exactly as we left it three months ago. Lucky to have the luxury of time to figure out what comes next.

Covid completely changed the landscape of day to day life for a huge swath of the population, and an estimated 98% of US residents experienced at least some degree of disruption. This helped create an environment of increased consciousness and awareness as we now as a society confront the massive systemic disparities and inequalities that have pulsed beneath the surface throughout our lifetimes.

What comes next will matter. Personally, I'm taking this opportunity to revisit my hopes / dreams / goals for the year, and re-imagine how they fit into this newly emerging bigger picture.

simple amusements

Our no-saddle kick extended through the weekend, just to be completely safe and allow the welts to fully heal. So I bopped around the arena bareback again on Sunday. 

I was actually thisclose to skipping the ride all together, but it was a relatively nice day and Sundays are typically my only chance to ride in Isabel's home arena during daylight. So. Off we went to ride. 

Izzy was a tad sassy and we had more than a couple moments where her nose was straight up in the air and she was set completely against my hand. But other than that (and some random spooking bc apparently our arena in daylight has become so unfamiliar that it's the scariest place evar), it was a mostly fun ride and we even popped over a little X a couple times. 

After I hopped off tho, I decided to have a little fun with the pedestal that lives in our ring. In a recorded bio-mechanics session I watched earlier this fall (details here), Dr. Deb Bennett said that standing a horse on a pedestal was actually really beneficial for stretching out their toplines and feeling that lift in their shoulders and neck. 

Plus, I am amused by simple things. So. Obviously we had to try it out lol. 

It actually didn't take much effort to get Izzy up there - since it's pretty much the same as when I ask her to step up onto the trailer. She had to sniff and paw at it a little bit, but then stepped right up and just stood there for a couple minutes. Posing. Ya know, like she does. (clearly she didn't deign to look at the camera tho, lol). 

She was really stretching out through her spine too - so I think I'll repeat this little exercise a few times. Maybe during the dark too - as it might be a good low-pressure way to introduce trailer loading at nighttime. Eventually, I'd like to be able to get her up there while riding, bc how cool would that be?? lol

In any case, it was a pretty relaxing day that we wrapped up with some grass therapy and quality barn cat time. Can't beat that! 

bareback lesson bc why not

The welts on Isabel's side from the bareback pad girth grew a little larger on the second day - prompting concerns about hematomas. But we put some heavy duty ointments on them to draw out the swelling and they were very much reduced by Saturday morning. 

But I still didn't want to put a girth on Isabel in case the swelling came back. So I texted trainer P asking if she thought I should just sit out on the lesson or ride bareback. She obviously said to come ride bareback, so off we went! 

We kept things pretty simple, for my own sake. Plus I buckled an old stirrup leather around Izzy's neck as an 'oh shit' strap and used my no-slip half pad for a little extra grip and cushioning. It was sooo much fun! 

P had to prod me to actually get Isabel working over her back while flatting - saying that not having a saddle was no excuse for not working properly. And we actually had some verrrry nice moments at trot! Canter was ok-ish, tho I got pretty tired during the second canter and quit early lol...  

The transitions - particularly downward - were the most worrisome for me, so P recommended that I pay close attention to each footfall and to ask for my downward when her outside hind hit the ground. Then the next beat would be inside hind and outside front - which is also a natural part of the trot, so the transition could happen very smoothly without that fast disorganized trot. Good food for thought!

For jumping, I just kept a hold of the oh shit neck strap and let Isabel do the work. I think she was pretty happy to have me let go of her mouth a bit lol. I also learned that jumping from a trot is much harder than jumping from a canter. 

Isabel made things pretty easy for me - and was moving forward nicely to make the striding no big deal. Tho she did have a few sassy moments - including head tossing and some dolphin leaps / fancy prancing after the lines. It was kinda funny - tho had she put her head down or twisted sideways I would have been a goner lol. 

But overall we just had a great time jumping little Xs while I tried not to fall off. It's interesting looking at some of these pictures video stills bc some elements of my position are better than they normally would be with a saddle. 

Particularly, my lower leg was very well-behaved during the ride and stayed in its place. I'm thinking that I really do brace hard on my stirrups and use my heels for leg rather than my calf. I will have to pay closer attention in the future. 

In any case, it was also a good confidence booster bc I had previously felt too insecure and unstable to do any serious riding bareback. But now I know that the half pad and stirrup leather around the neck are pretty much all I need to feel ok about things. And it was definitely good practice to get my core and leg muscles working properly without being dependent on a saddle. 

We unfortunately only got a couple jumps on video, and none of the dolphin leap excitement... but it's still fun to watch (for me, at least). 

enjoy!

Review: DaVinci Web Anti-Slip Reins

I put the new (to me) noseband with flash attachment on my bridle to check it all out. Haven't ridden in it yet, but even if the flash doesn't work out I'll probably keep the noseband bc it's padded and nicer than the flat hunt-style cavesson I've been using. 

The leather matches prettttty closely - and close enough for me, as my bridle is already quite the Frankenstein's monster. Case in point: the only original parts are the cheek pieces and crown piece/throat latch. The browband is Nunn Finer and the new noseband is Plymouth (both consignment), and the reins are DaVinci. 

Tack ho's - avert your eyes!

the horrifying monsta

We didn't actually ride bc the arena lights didn't work. Ughhhhh. So here's another week where we only had one light ride between lessons... Isabel's still fairly fit, but that's changing. Is it really fair to do one big intense ride a week, and nothing else? Plus, is that a good use of my funds? I'm feeling pretty frustrated and a bit defeated about this, and will hopefully think of something soon... (or someone will fix the lights? plz??)

Alas, we just played dress up and spa time for the evening. And I noticed squishy bumps on Isabel - one on each side where the bareback pad girth sat. Uhhh what?? I got a cozy girth cover for the bareback pad, and could keep the girth a little looser... but now I'm not really sure I want to use it again. I guess we'll see how quickly the bumps go down (at least they're not hot or sensitive)... Until then, I'm not interested in putting a girth on that... Boooo.

two views of the same side. the other bump (don't say the H word!!) is a bit smaller. sigh...

Soooo I'm gonna go stand in a corner and cry for a little while. In the meantime, here's a review of the DaVinci reins I use!!

My dressage trainer wasn't thrilled with the laced reins I was using previously, and encouraged me to get notched reins so I could more easily maintain rein length. 

I opted for the DaVinci reins last May for a few reasons: they're inexpensive (I didn't see much point in putting super nice reins on a cheapo bridle) and I liked the look of them. 

image from horselovers. the reins look pretty much exactly like this.

logo is imprinted on one rein near the bit attachment and is fairly subtle 

 webbing goes all the way to the buckle. the gray strips are rubber

reins are broken in and flexible, but still look same as new after 7 months regular use

My thoughts:

• Leather is predictably waxy and cheap, but there is actually very little leather on the reins. Just a couple inches near the bit ends and the grips every few inches. 
• The reins have buckle ends (my preference), which are a little stiff, but pliable.
• Leather martingale stoppers are already attached.
• Two raised rubber strips provide plenty of grip - but don't tear up my gloves or hands. 
• The webbing cleans up perfectly with a damp cloth or sponge.
• I don't love the white stitching - but don't care enough to go over it with a brown permanent marker, which I'm fairly confident would do the trick.
• The reins are thin and lightweight and are equally comfortable for me with or without gloves.

Would I recommend: 

Yep! They are exactly what I was looking for, were the right price, and have held up nicely. The reins are certainly not the nicest on the market - and aren't for folks who need premium leather above all else. But I'm first and foremost a functional gal and these reins work. 

What I paid in 5/2014: $23.95 + free shipping
Available on ebay through horselovers as DaVinci Web Anti-Slip Reins - Dark Brown - 5-8 x 54. Price: $31.94 (free shipping). I've also seen them show up on Tack of the Day.

bareback in the dark

Haha. Hellloooo interesting google hits... ahem, Annnyways... 

This week has been a bust due to weather. I'm sure that statement comes as a shock to you - and that it's the first time you've ever heard that, ever. 

But the skies cleared on Wednesday night and I decided to venture forth to the barn and rescue Isabel from the mud of her pasture - only to subject her to the sandy arena depths. 

can you feel the excitement?

It felt like the perfect opportunity to break out the bareback pad I bought on consignment almost a month ago... I figured - the arena is going to be trashed, per usual, so any speed work is out of the question. Therefore, why not have a ride that's focused on my own muscles instead of Isabel's? She'll at least be mentally engaged, if nothing else. 

I was further bolstered by the many bloggers who ride bareback on the regular like nbd. Tho one cautionary tale stood out to me - Jen from Cob Jockey recently wrote about some friction-related issues with her bareback pad. A lot of comments on that post described at length how bareback pads rub and slide and generally misbehave. 

My new (to me) bareback pad is pretty stiff and felt kind of rough, so I opted to add my no-slip half pad underneath. The idea is that this will add an extra layer of padding, help keep everything in place, and reduce any potential friction. One day I'll have to do a proper review of this half pad too... one day. 

Anyways, the bareback pad sat nice and snug on top of the half pad, and off we went! 

there are four horses in this picture

The arena lights are on the fritz again. Seriously. It's driving me fucking nuts because there are only two lights - and one simply does not work (it pops on then buzzes off into a sad death every few minutes...), and the other works only sometimes. Plus - if they've been on for any length of time, then are turned off - good luck getting them back on again any time soon... Ugh. /rant

But the lights magically came on tonight (I say magically bc they only worked hours after the poor trainers gave up and cancelled their lessons on the first dry day in a week) and riders were out to capitalize. This included three kids (all also bareback bc why not?) and one boarder doing a ground work training session. 

 obligatory pommel shot

No big deal tho. Isabel went a couple laps to check everything out and decide if there were any monsters, and where they might be hiding. I just worried about situating myself on the bareback pad (after nearly eating it just trying to get on... #adultproblems). 

But the pad was shockingly sticky. Like, I seriously felt GLUED to it - and the pad itself was anchored in place on Isabel's back. This may seem like an exaggeration - but I felt more secure on that pad (in knee patch breeches) than I do riding in a saddle with out stirrups. Crazy. 

'what was that noise?'

This meant that I actually felt secure enough to try and get some real trot work out of Isabel. Usually when I'm bareback I don't really try for 'work' from the horse, bc I feel so insecure that I'm too likely to balance and/or pull on my reins - not ideal for helping the horse move out correctly. But with this pad? No problemo! 

So off we went, just trot trot trotting around every which way. It was kinda awesome! I could really feel my hips and seat relax, and my thighs could actually really lengthen and act as part of my seat. In a saddle I usually end up pinched in my knees or braced in my stirrups (or both!) - so it was really cool to completely change that, while still feeling secure. 

I also noticed that my upper body was seriously collapsing on me tho. Every few steps I had to remind myself to sit up and back, and to pick my hands up.  

'eh nvm, it's probably fine'

(also - yes that's isabel's winter coat and no, she's not clipped)

So I'm thrilled with how well the bareback pad worked for me - and definitely plan to do this more often. (I know I've said that before, but I mean it this time, I swear!) 

Our ride was cut a tad short tho bc the kiddos left the arena and - even tho another horse was still present - the monsters started coming out. Isabel had been working pretty well to this point, so I just aimed at restablishing calm forward niceness at walk and trot after some spooks turned into canters that turned into llama jigs... 

'what do you have against llamas???'

Once I felt like we could get back to work in earnest (if I had wanted to), we chilled in the middle for a while snapping photos and chatting with the boarder working on groundwork, then called it a night. 

fun times at a schooling show

Isabel and I participated in a fun closed-farm schooling show at OF this weekend. I signed up at our lesson last week - and by 'sign up,' I mean I wrote my name on a list and my trainer determined classes etc. 

'what's in that plastic bag?? is it food?!?' - isabel

We parked and warmed up in a new-to-us field. I liked this because it gave the sense of being in a 'new' place (even tho it's the same farm we go to every week) and Isabel didn't bat an eye. Plus it was another opportunity to practice our dressage on grass, in anticipation of next week. 

She didn't care at all about the activity. I guess she's kind of a pro now? This did a lot to reassure me about our HT next week. All the circumstances of today pointed to: new high pressure situation!!! *I* knew that today wasn't a big deal, but how would Isabel react? 

Answer: Exactly as she always does. She's the same girl regardless of setting. So I just need to go in and ride the way I know how (limited tho that may be) and Isabel will follow suit. 

Our flat class was LEGIT. They asked for multiple transitions, two point (thank YOU 2pointober!), sitting trot, posting sans stirrups, simple lead change across the center line, AND hand gallop. And Izzy was a pro through the whole thing: going soft and loose and just feeling amazing. I'm thinking she's feeling pretty good after yesterday's body work.

When it was all said and done, Isabel and I finished 2nd - good pony! Judge's feedback included notes that I look down too much (when will I ever learn?), and that my feet sometimes got too far behind me. I know exactly when that happened - my toe got too deep into my stirrup, and I had a hard time kicking it out given the light weight grippiness of the composite stirrups... but whatever still love 'em. 

yep, i think we cleared it

Our two warm up fences felt fabulous, so I was ok going into the course. We got kinda a questionable distance to the first fence - but Isabel took the (correct) longer distance. This allowed us to get the right # of strides in the line, but it was still a funky out jump. Probably should have been a bit more organized. Jump 3 was tight, but allowed for a flowing seven strides to jump 4.  

She landed on her left lead (!!!!!), but then we were a bit tight into jump 5, and wibble-wobbled down the line to add a stride. The last line was probably our most 'even' effort on course. 

I thought our course was a touch wild - and Isabel CLEARED some of those jumps lol (leaving me quite discombobulated). I'll let you decide for yourself, though, as there is video evidence :)

wherein Isabel and I pretend to be hunters. LOL

Also, yep, 2'3" is not an issue for her (too bad 2'6" is still a problem for *me*). 

Regardless of what I thought, it was apparently good enough for 1st place. Yay Isabel!!! Despite some lack of organization on my part, I was pleased with her attitude and felt that she made some nice decisions when I ran her into iffy spots. A few months ago (or hell, maybe even just on a different day) we would have had a few more chips in that course. 

PROOF: bareback goal = accomplished

Last class was bareback 'sit a buck.' Isn't that kind of the best way to check a 'ride bareback' goal off the list? I thought so. Anyways, we made it up to our canter transition before I lost the dollar (so, uh, kinda weak), but I cantered a lap anyway just to do it. Sure, my fingers were firmly braided into her mane, but whatever - didn't fall off!! Yay me!! 

ties like a pro. who knew?

Our division was the last of the day, so we wrapped up pretty quickly. I decided to tie Isabel to the trailer while I put all our stuff away, instead of dragging her around with me, per usual. She was quite happy grazing, and only reached the end of her rope once, and just calmly moved closer again. 

So this show served as a pretty good dry run for next week, just by going to a 'new' place with hustle and bustle and hanging out by the trailer in a way we usually don't for lessons. All in all, I'm feeling quite good about it!! This mare is just such a rock star :)

the collection grows

canter woes + 2pointober

This post is kinda all over the place bc... well, maybe I'm a bit all over the place. And no recent riding pics because it's been dark... boo. Instead, enjoy a random assortment of fotos, starting with Chesney eating Izzy's lead rope.

it's hard to avoid blur when playing tug of war with a vurry large animal

Last night's ride was a planned dressage school. I really appreciate everyone's feedback on yesterday's question re: running martingales. So thanks!!! I wanted to give it another go sans martingale just to really see where we were... and it wasn't good. 

Our right lead canter. It just... God, it just really really sucks. And I was wavering between seething: fortheloveofallthingsholyjustputyourheaddownforonesinglefuckingcircle.... 
and feeling like I ought to apologize to the mare for riding so poorly. Ughhhhhh. Not fun. 

It's particularly frustrating because our trot is really finally starting to come along (even if we didn't do a very good job of demonstrating that at the show). But I just need to remind myself: I started dressage in the spring. We are only now getting consistent trot work. Why on earth should I expect the canter to happen any faster??? 

this may not look like much, but it's still mega progress in my book

On the plus side tho: I did more 2point practice! Yay? I did two sets during the ride, and was able to see some improvement during the second set - up to almost 5 min!! This included some walk, trot, ground poles, and a tiny line of Xs set 2 strides apart. I figured, if the whole purpose of a solid position is to stay out of the way over fences, why not give it a shot? (I also wanted to see how well Isabel could get back to 'work' after a couple jumps. She did very well with this!)

Tuesday night was intended to be a simple bareback bop around the arena. Annnnd, it ended up being even simpler than intended. Some kids left the ring about 15 min after I started, and turned off the arena lights prematurely. Our lights are already on the fritz, and refused to come back on. So... even tho the moonlight was strong, and Isabel was being good, I called it a day with our 15 min bareback working walk. 

Interesting notes: I felt a little more stable than I expected to, and it was enlightening to feel all the various ways Isabel's rib cage and spine move around. I also played around with trying to use my thighs more, and found her to be quite responsive. On the other hand, it was glaringly obvious how much tension I'm holding in my own hips and seat. So I'd definitely like to get out bareback again soon, and maybe even trot? (tho we'll see if this happens or not)

'um, i actually prefer not to be sat on. k thx bai' -isabel