Back on the train

I'll post the funny photos and announce the winner of the fly mask in the next post. :-)

Things have been so busy in my life. Sounds like it's much of the same with fellow bloggers, too. I do have an announcement I don't believe I've mentioned here. I'm going back to school.

Those that have followed my blog for a while know that my current job (at a newspaper) isn't the most secure position anymore. Newspapers are going down the tubes. More specifically, it was announced that page designers (what I do) really won't be needed anymore after a major transition in about a year. The basic fact is that there is a REALLY good chance I'll be out of a job then. So I decided what better time to go back to school? I'm studying to be a vet tech. Which is really what I should have done in the first place, but live and learn right? Luckily, my classes are online. So I can still work and ride and then study when I have the time.

**

Hampton has been the bomb-diggity lately. He's had some easy lunge days, some under saddle days, some hacking around the farm. More ground poles. And days off thrown in there, too. Today was what I called a "show me what you got" day. I challenged him with a couple of things. First I tried a counter-turn on the forehand. This is when I ask him to flex his neck to the right, then also move his haunches to the right. It's difficult, but a good building block for travers and half pass. He started out confused, and wanted to keep backing up - or just move his whole body sideways. But he did get it a couple of times. I moved on with simple trot work - super foward, throwing in serpentines and transitions. Then we worked on trot-canter transitions. Right lead - awesome. Left lead was a little behind the leg. Then I asked him for walk-canter transitions. Um, fail. Almost got it once, but wrong lead. Meh. That's ok though, I'll keep working on building strength and one day he'll get it. You gotta try and experiment though, or you never get anywhere. Each time I challenged him with something new, I always go back with something simple and easy so he doesn't get frustrated.

We finished up with more forward trotting and some shoulder-in work. I practiced a couple of turn on the haunches. Check. Then I decided what the hell ... back to trot, think turn on the haunches at the trot .. bingo - half steps! Did this 3 or 4 times and then called it a day. I love that exercise and Hampton seemed to really get it. We had 3 or 4 good half steps. He looked great in the mirror!

The weekend will include more ground poles, a hack around the farm and an easy under saddle day. In other news, he's got a case of nasty thrush in one hind foot. I've been treating it with antibiotic that is used to treat mastitis in cows. We'll see if that works.

Contest! Giveaway! ... ok, a regift.

So I tried to buy Hampers an ear net. Found a really cute one, but his big Hanovarian head does not fit in it. Ugh. He will need a larger one. So, I now I have an ear net I can't use. I don't want to try and re-sell it, so decided I'd "regift" it to my blog readers. But you all are going to have to work for it. lol. So here's the deal.

• Send me photographs of your horse (or your favorite school horse or whatever). But it's gotta be silly. No beautiful poses and breathtaking head shots. I want photos that will make people laugh! Captions are optional.

• Deadline: Sunday, August 22 at midnight.

• I will choose a winner - they will win the FREE ear net - and publish all of the photos I get in a blog entry.

• Send your entries to: limerancetrace@hotmail.com.

This ear net probably won't fit drafters or big warmbloods who have lots of space inbetween their ears. It would be super cut on more average size horses (TBs, Morgans, Arabians, ponies, etc). Here is a photo:

Good luck and let me see those hilarious photos!

A cat's brain

Switching it up today - no horse talk - it's time to talk cats!

I live with four cats (2 are mine, 2 are my roommates) so I toe the line on being a crazy cat lady. Each one of them is a pain in the ass in their own way, but they really are good cats and frankly I would be a lonely person if I didn't have at least one furrball to welcome me home every day.

Here they are:

The herd at feeding time

Kro-Poo (not fixed, thus she randomly pees on things)

Grover (asthma, heart disease, missing teeth, arthritis, cranky)

Fievel (chronic barfer)

Simon (diabetic, sort of blind, poos on the floor)

Hampton's Groove

Checking out the lot scene at Phish. :-)

Hampton had 3 days off because I decided to "follow the circus" for a few days ... meaning I checked out from reality and spent a few days following Phish around. It was as usual, fun. One night was particularly wild ... I don't think I want to blog about it ... but it was wild. The band was amazing and I finally came back down to earth and checked back into the real world today. Boo.
(For photos from Friday night ... click here)

Good news is that my ride on Hampton this morning was A-MAZ-ING. Not only did he pick up the correct lead on the first try (both directions), but the transitions were prompt, had jump, he was round and balanced. I was a ring steward at a USDF rated show a couple of weekends ago, and I don't mean to sound all arrogant, but I saw several people showing at 1st and 2nd level that did not do as nice of a canter transition as Hampton did today. He truly makes me a better rider. I was so SOOO soft and quiet with my aids and I'm finding that he really works better that way. He prefers not to be screamed at, thank you very much. And I'm finding that he doesn't need such "loud" direction anymore ... he's educated, he's smart, he knows what to do. If I  have too much inside rein = wrong lead. Not enough outside rein = throws shoulders around in the leg yield. I love him for that, he makes me ride each stride and when I do - the horse is the bombdiggity. T-Bone would often do things in spite of me - which just created problems down the line as we worked up the levels.

As a sidenote, a fellow boarder said that the running martingale I use on Hampton is keeping him from stretching his nose out. I use a running martingale on young/green/rank critters simply as a safety device. In my opinion, they are benign unless you get into a "situation." In fact, while I was standing there aboard Hampton, listening to her lecture me, he was stretching his nose out. lol. I stood up for what I believe in - no, he doesn't stretch his nose out so much at this point. He just isn't that developed yet. He lowers his head and neck when I ask for a stretchy trot, but yes his nose could come out more. Of course I encourage that, but I do not believe the martingale hampers this. Obviously I don't ride rolkur, or even low/deep/round, but yes sometimes he does curl a bit (when he's behind my leg), but sorry I just don't see a problem with the martingale. I don't consider it a "training device" when adjusted as loose as I adjust them. I consider it a "save my ass during a crisis" device. That is all.

Anyhoo - plans for this week include a session of ground poles, a few rides outdoors (run through Training level tests perhaps), and schooling turn on the haunches. Shoulder fore and shoulder-in will probably creep in there, too.

April 2010

.. and just for fun:

Saddle be gone!

It's still 1,000,000 degrees in Indiana (wtf?) ... so this morning I threw on some jeans, my paddock boots and went out to the barn. I groomed Hampton, threw on his bridle and walked into the arena. At this point I was getting funny looks by fellow boarders. I parked him right up next to the arena wall, hopped up on it, swung my leg over ... and bam, off we went riding bareback! It was the first time I have ever sat on Hampton without a saddle. He was somewhat hesitant to walk on, but quickly got the hang of it. We mostly walked with a couple of 20 meter circles of trot thrown in. Lets face it, I have not ridden bareback in YEARS and I'm not as good at it as I once was. Also, I have more self-preservation these days than I did when I was 18 and never blinked an eye at trotting and cantering rank, green Morgans around. Yeah, not so much these days.

The BO even said that out of all the people at the barn (everyone else has an older, steady schoolmaster) ... I was the one she least expected to come out and jump on bareback. LOL. Oh, I still have that little girl inside me who just loves to ride. No worrying about bending ... or if my horse is on the bit ... just ride.

(Note: Photo is me and Hampton last year, the first day he ever wore a saddle.)

"Somewhere behind the rider you've become,

the hours of practice you've put in,

& the coaches who have pushed you,

is the little girl who fell in love with the sport and never looked back.

Ride for her."

Repost: A critique

This is a particularly funny post I had shared back in 2007 (wow have I been blogging that long?). It's been too hot to do much of anything with the horse, so I'm re-posting this genius critique again. I did not write this, in fact I forget who did ... In anycase, Enjoy.

Photo 1 – A Recipe for DisasterPooh writes that though he has been friends with Eeyore for many years, he got tired of listening to Eeyore’s self-pity binges, so decided to saddle him up and give him something to cry about. While it appears that some effort was made to improve the appearance of both donkey and rider, I’m afraid they have a lot of work to do. The first thing I notice is that Pooh is not wearing any breeches, or underwear for that matter. Proper, good-fitting breeches are essential for a polished picture as well as adding to the comfort of the rider. His jacket is ill-fitting and has short sleeves. Also, Eeyore’s bridle lacks a browband, and it appears that the noseband sits a little too high – it should not interfere with his eyes. I am also very concerned about that fact that your donkey appears to have no hooves. This is either a horrible case of abuse and neglect, or you have some serious trimming of feathers to do. Pooh’s position leaves a lot to be desired. He holds his legs way too far back to give an effective leg aid. It appears that he needs to open up at the hip and roll his thigh inward so he is riding with the inside of his thigh on, not the back. In the photo, his foot is about where his knee should be (if he had a knee), giving the appearance of a “chair” seat. I recommend a lot of stretching and suppling exercises for Pooh, as well as investing in some surgery to have knees constructed. Eeyore suffers from a variety of conformation issues, such as a low-set neck (from all that woe-is-me stuff) that would make it hard for him to achieve an uphill, or even round, frame. He could also benefit from a more vigorous diet and exercise program. And Pooh has the worst possible body conformation for a dressage rider: short stubby legs, a long chubby torso, and short, chubby arms, all of which make it difficult for him to use supple, fluid leg aids and allow Eeyore to reach into his hand and make the most of his sad conformation. Pooh also needs to close his big, sappy mouth and balance his head over his spine.Pooh, I understand you wanted to teach that mopey little ass a lesson, but I have to say, I’m the one who is crying after seeing your photos. Best of luck to you both, you losers.

The letter P eats horses.

Since it wasn't a sauna outside today, I took the beast outdoors for an evening ride. The bugs were bad and right away I could tell he was distracted and not in the mood. The hayfield had just been mowed - so of course he is gazing in that direction because it looks so different and now you can see a lot more since the grass is short. *sigh*.

Even so, I kept working on transitions (a couple of rough "float your teeth" halts were needed because he was yanking the reins away from me and not bothering to slow down). I could tell it wasn't going to be the best ride - but that's ok. So ... at this point we have worked around the arena a dozen or so times in either direction. I tried the right lead canter first - got it on the first try! Stayed on the circle today and was happy with that. Ok, left lead time. Good transition - then upon approaching letter P (which we have walked and trotted by the entire session so far ..) BAM ... OMG there is a horse-eating monster there! Hampton does one of those "plant both front feet and fling your body to the left" moves. Then a buck, then playfully tosses his head. I managed to keep both stirrups but did end up a little forward at one point. If he would have dropped his head and kept bucking, I would have been a goner. Geez. Tried the canter circle again .. SAME THING. Bad poneh. One-rein halt put a stop to his antics this time. Made him walk by offending letter several times. Tried canter again. Ugh, no antics this time but he was majorly dropping his inside shoulder. I came back to the walk and trot and worked on that some. Finished the ride with some shoulder-in (went ok, wanted to come above the bit).

i tried to set my video camera to capture the ride, but it didn't really work. I got a few OK stills ... but the canter freak-out happened off camera. DANG! Anyway, the beast will be working outside as much as I can possibly stand it this week. The arena is smaller but such is life. He needs to focus out there.

Here's what I could salvage from my video. BOR-iNG mounting sequence, then a little clip of walking ... at the time I was trying to regulate his tempo at the walk from really slow, to forward, to slow, etc.

Oh, and here is a photo of him back in March (I think?) to compare his body condition ...