America

So when the title says America it's because I just got home from spending two weeks in North America. 10 days in the US and 4 in Canada. It was a bit of a whirlwind trip with my brother and sister and it was amazing because I haven't spent that length of time with my brother in ten years or so because he lives in Germany. So it went San Fran, Vegas, then so much driving in Nevada, Utah, Arizona and and to Denver. Mostly it involved hiking to see rocks and stuff. The wave which is a pretty incredible rock formation, Grand Canyon, monument valley and Arches National Park, even a trip up mt Evans. I gotta say every we saw was pretty epic, huge open vistas and just filled the eyes. And far apart. Everything was so far apart, just hours and hours of driving. My entire country is like around 1000 miles long so the states felt huge. Can't say I loved the cities, being not very used to so many people. Loved Canada it had a similar feel to home, and Drumheller with te dinosaurs totally rocked my world. I'd love to come back and do an entirely horse related tour, ride a hunter, a cutter, a Reiner, a barrel horse, Tennessee walker, western pleasure Arab and so forth. It would be an amazing learning experience.

My pony has been a good boy lately and has made heaps of progress. Two weeks until our first show for the year and I'm hoping to do more this season. He can really jump but he tends to land on the backs of his front feet which can be terrifying especially because then he gets upset and bucks. 

Its a good thing my horse is cute

Seriously, how adorable is that face?? Though that black thing is the side lights that have been pulled up and destroyed by these two imps. I really still don't know what I'm up to with this riding lark. Its all pretty disheartening, I see so much ugly around me all the time. I just find its so frustrating seeing horses sold into inappropriate homes and then its the horse and the new owner that both suffer. Especially when the old owner should know better. I know of one four year old that was sold with arthritic knees to a home that didn't have the knowledge to see when the horse was uneven, and so doomed the horse to ongoing suffering.

I keep thinking I'll sell my horse, but he's somehow still here. He's everything I ever wanted in a jumper only 5 years ago. The only horse I really want to ride, is to go eventing on my big ugly munted chestnut mate, and I really need to get over that and move on. Tsar is cool though, he's a pretty pretty mover, and he has plenty of scope and he wants to be careful. I'm so rusty though and frustrated at my utter lack of facilities (It's literally just a paddock). Still I'm lucky to have that and it's not that bad provided I remember to control the outside shoulder. Nothing like a huge open paddock to encourage horses to fall out through the shoulder.

Enough. This is my last moan. The banner of this blog is I will jump sweet jumps. What happened to that enthusiasm and determination. It used to be all I wanted but honestly I guess I feel like I'm not good enough and I'll never get there. (I would still love to jump 1.30m one day, but it would be nice to jump amateurs again in the next couple of seasons) Having a horse is a privilege not a right, and having a nice horse is a huge privilege. I'm not sure if he'll event though, he isnt very brave but surely if I start really really low??? XC training in two weeks so we'll see I guess. Anyway, enjoy these snippets of my absolute goober of a pony.



He's a chatty wee pony, but he is really feeling his oats at the moment (he doesn't actually get feed oats, it's just Spring starting).

Dressage/Jumping days and good ponies

So since I last posted, I have done a dressage ribbon day and a jumping day and the picture above is the only picture I have of my own horse Tsar. He has been a superstar though. At the dressage day he did two level 1 tests, for a 63% and a 65%, for third and second, respectively. He was only second by 0.15%. He did two smooth tests, was really smooth though he is a bit above the bridle in the canter and wants to get a little deep in the trot. I rode for a bit more in the second test, and he is jumping into his canter transitions a little, but honestly at this point I'm going to need some help to make the step to level 2, because while I can produce a horse to travel straight and be soft and school the lateral work, its not quite what they want for dressage in terms of engagement etc.  

At the jumping day Tsar again did the 80cm and the 90cm, he was pretty hot in the 80cm, but I stayed pretty quiet and kept asking for the extra stride and he had a rail but mostly jumped super. In the 90cm they added in this hideous filler and he wouldnt even walk up to it so I wasn't sure how that would go. The first line from 1 to 2 I gave him quite a strong check so I could just soften for the five strides to come up easier and he jumped really well, much more settled. He hesitated really briefly on the corner to the spooky fence, but then trucked down and jumped it super bravely, though he gave it plenty of air. Then was the jump-off and it was quite good I gave him the check, because I just had to sit up and not alter my contact and he collected so the five strides was super smooth.

I did a few inside turns and angled a few fences because it's easier to train this stuff while the fences are still small, but didn't really add any speed just let him roll around in a rhythm.

Charlie has made huge strides in his work mostly in the amount of engagement and forward he is giving me. He scored a 68% and a 69% in both the level 0 tests, so he is ready to move up to level 1. He was second in both those tests, and yes I got my butt whipped by a twelve yr old. The joys of level 0. I'm so bad at dressage so hunchy and showjumpy in my leg length. 

                           

At the jumping day, despite the fact he hadn't jumped for a month, he rocked around the 70cm and the 80cm easily. He has just reached the stage of knowing all the things but both times he buried himself at fence three and had an awkward jump and then after that jumped really really well, smooth and rhythmical. He has never consistently jumped 80cm and I couldn't have been happier with him. Still I have told his owner to lower his price and get him sold because he deserves to be in a home where he gets more time than I have for him.

And now because life is crazy, I'm doing something I swore I would never do because it can lead to hard hands, and you have to be so careful switching between codes with balance, and being tall in the saddle and long in the leg, but times are tight so I find myself doing trackwork and I goof off to it, its pretty cool but physically so hard. My muscles are screaming

Wairarapa Showjumping Recycled Ribbon Day

So it was an absolutely stunning and mild day for the showjumping which is good. I was a bit unprofessional in that I was out late and up out of bed late, which I would never do when I have a client, but the first class took over an hr so I still spent ages cooling my heels. Charlie was up first in the 60cm class and the warm-up was something of a whirling dervish. He started out like he was going to be a bit naughty but I had had a bit to much wine the night before hand and I wasn't in the mood. I haven't really gotten up him before but he rolled over and was a really good boy. He really is a very brave pony, he doesn't look at any fillers. He rolls along like a good pony, jumped out of his rhythm though he is a bit of a minimalist when it comes to effort in the air so its hard to know how scopey he is. He does pull left in the air a little bit but he is improving. He does seem to quite enjoy it, because he trucks around.

I have to say I need to get my canter organised a little sooner and I'm a bit tentative starting out which isn't that strange on the lack of ring time and the fact I haven't jumped either of the horses over proper courses for a long time. Still the eye for a take off still works, and I am picking up my issues and correcting them myself so I'm not so bad as I thought. Charlie then cruised around the 70cm really nicely. As a small horse I gave him a good shot into the four stride line and he made the four strides pretty easily which is very good. To be honest it was unbelievable how good he was.

Pictures of Tsar for those that are interested are numbers 2447-2452 near the bottom of the page on this link

Tsar was in the eighty and he warmed up a little behind the leg because he is a bit lazy and to the practice fence I had a couple of shockers, and then he got into the ring and he was pretty wild. But that was mostly my fault. He gets into the ring and he turns into a very forward version of himself. I didn't really trust him either and definitely overrode and wasn't smooth about things. Hes a bit of a sports car, you really want to go easy on the accelerator and not jam it on. What is quite nice is that last year he was a bit short striding and this year he is getting down his lines more easily so the flatwork has paid off but he was so frantic.  That was in the 80cm class and then I was entered in the 90cm but the headache was catching up on me and I really wanted to get home so I just redid the 80cm and focused on sitting really quietly, just softening the hand to make up distance and not using the leg, except to support and at the base of the fence. He wanted to take me there so I just needed to let him. He was pretty brave because he is traditionally pretty spooky and he seems to have stopped that some, I didn't need to poke with the leg, just add a cluck.

With the softer ride he was much smoother, though still very enthusiastic and having the best time. And he got into the air really nicely, in fact the only place he was a little hesitant was into the combination so need to practice those. To the blogger who commented and asked what the best way to get used to her bigger horse I have one piece of advice, just ride as much as you can.

Courage the Cowardly Dog

Right so we are on the lead up to the my first jumping show (its a local level no pressure recycled ribbon day starting at 40cm so show is overstating it) since November and I gotta say I have jumped a couple of times and I'm feeling decidedly ordinary. What happened!! And yea the muscle strength is missing, an the eye is rusty with a capital R. But where the hell is the courage!! Honestly, its little aggravating when I used to have the look of eagles. And I used to  jump big an now a 2'6" oxer is looking a little monstrous. I didn't think I would lose it that quickly.

The picture above shows not much in the way of position but for a maxed out 1.30m oxer from a longish distance, look at the commitment. Man that horse tried for me, because she was not scopey, Anyway, I started this yesterday and I really cant remember what my point was going to be but look pictures of me doing jumpies on different horses!!

 I guess the premise is even though I'm only entered up to 90cm I'm pretty much freaking out. Awesome!

Wairarapa Dressage Ribbon Day

So neither of the horses I'm riding had been out since the new year and it that sort of a situation you never really know what you are going to get except that I knew that Tsar would be naughty. Because he just is. The last time I rode at a dressage day would have been around 10 years ago and I remember being totally bewildered by the marking, in that the test when my horse was electric and tense he marked a lot better than when he was relaxed and workmanlike. Obviously, I have improved in my riding in general since then because the marking was still a little bewildering but in a much better way. Charlie was in level 0 and Tsar in level 1.

It started poorly when Charlie stood halfway in the float and dug his toes in and we had a twenty minute stand off while I waited for reinforcements, then he got bored and walked on which was good. I need to spend a day on this, because Tsar basically self loads. Charlie is used to an angle load and not so comfortable in the straight load. Then I landed chasing my tail so that I only got on Charlie just as the rider before me was starting. He had no warm-up and so was quite tense but it was only a walk trot test so it wasn't too bad. By the last corner he had relaxed some and did a lovely halt.

I then had an hour to get Tsar up and by the time he had a lunge and I got on and went down to the arenas I had about 7 minutes warming up time, he was quite tense and we bronced across the warm up at one point. I  had put a drop noseband on him so I had more control and it made him stiller in his head carriage but more inclined to buck and not go forward in protest. Still he did a relatively good test, though my expectations weren't that high. I was happy though that he gave me a few moments that felt really good, when I could really sit into his canter and just be soft and I knew he would stay with me. For a horse that can be a bit smart, that hadn't been out in public since November, and who didnt get enough warm up he was spectacular. So the morning results were a 54% for Charlie which was more than expected and a 60% for Tsar (about 6th place) which I was really surprised by, but then he is a bit of a swanky dude.

Then I had to wait for like four days (that is 2 1/2 hours) until the afternoon tests. Tsar had a decent warm up and was happier in is standard caversson noseband and I could put a spur on. He was awesome, warmed up really nicely, though was a little unsteady in the contact which was my fault because I got tense, trying to not upset him when he felt so good, instead of actually riding. And I forgot to give the rein for 3-5 strides in one movement, but he has a good free walk which always helps. I was thnking he would score similar to the morning and he did under one judge, but was 68% under the second judge, so I ended up with 64% and second place!! OMG at dressage! Go Tsar you little beauty! He even got a seven for paces, and a nine for his centerline! Loving it. Did I mention it absolutely poured in our warm up and we were both absolutely soaked to the skin? Good pony!

Charlie was the last ride and got on with about twenty minutes to warm in and he disgraced himself in the warm up, shying, reefing and bucking so I put him to work until a mother came over and told me to go away while her kid did her test because she was nervous and only ten. Cue walking for seven minutes which actually helped him relax some and I figured out it was the loud speaker freaking him out, causing the tucked tail scoot and buck. Once he got into the arena and had a job he was much better, he was late in both his canter transitions but started to show some work of the quality I get at home from him so thats good. His owner was rapt with some of the work he did, despite his warm-up. He scored a 58% and ended up 6th so I culdn't be happier because at the end of the day both horses gave me moments of good feeling and they both improved and you cant get better than that

Still Alive

Charlie horse

Sorry for the huge length of time since I last updated this. So much has happened since last time, mostly personally because actually nothing else has changed. I am finally starting to get back my will to ride. Helped by the return of Charlie who showed up for a while last Winter. And seeing as I'm down there working him with financial incentives, my own horse is getting ridden as well. I was pretty convinced I was going to sell him, but then I start riding Tsar and I remember that he is a really nice horse and he can really operate and then I'm in two minds again. There is a lot of unregistered lower level dressage and showjumping this Winter just down the road, and Charlie is on the market and needs exposure. That should help with some goal setting. 

Kimmy riding Tsar

So the first thing coming up is Dressage, Charlie can do a training test and one level 1 test and Tsar can do both the level 1 tests. I see that as a local rider I have to provide some man power which always niggles me a bit. I'm not affiliated with the group at all and I feel that to be forced into helping is a little offputting. I understand that these days run on volunterrs and blah blah blah but at least let me get a taste for it before putting me to work?? I'm so bad at dressage anyway, I get in the ring and ride like a monkey. 

So much fail in this video?!!! Blah, what are my hands doing. Shorten your reins Bex for the love of jeebers, Cocked  wrists low hands, round shoulders, its all pretty unattractive, but then I haven't had a lesson since last Winter. At least my back and seat are still quite supple. How cute is Tsar!? He feels so good now the drought has broken and some of the sting has gone out of the ground. Pretty excited/nervous to do some jumping again. Now that the financial pressure has eased some we should be able to have a really good time this Winter. So yea I'm back, and I'll blog more.