Big bad Burghley

Remember when I said that I might crap myself if I had to jump a 2'3" fence these days?

Well, go and check out the Burghley course preview HERE.

The first jump is a pretty normal, non-threatening little guy. Then I saw the second jump. Are you kidding me? I won't blame the riders who DO crap themselves at some of these jumps. They are terrifying.

I'll certainly be glued to the computer to watch the event (it's free!).

Long post (you may need a Zoloft)

Well, I didn't get that job I was hoping for.

I didn't get a raise at my current job either.

(Other people in the office ARE getting a raise, however. Did I not get one because I am a woman? Or because I am incompetent? If I am THAT incompetent - why haven't I been laid off or fired? I didn't get a raise ... again ... because they are assholes.) I'm getting really, really fed up with an environment of negative re-enforcement, constant bitching, cranky people, fights and passive aggressive, snarky e-mails. For what? I work so hard and have nothing to show for it.

I have sold almost everything I own to pay the bills. Sometimes I go an entire day and don't eat. I am constantly playing catch up with rent and bills. It's getting really, really old. I'm so tired of these people making me feel utterly inadequate and stupid. (I know I'm good at what I do!) Thank goodness I have my horse and a handful of really great friends. They keep me from turning to booze ... too much. haha.

Hampton and Janis, a mini-dwarf

In the midst of life really sucking, Hampton continues to come through for me. He has been beyond awesome lately - he doesn't even feel like a 4 year old anymore. I have worked a bit on counter-canter, which has made major progress. We can now counter canter a 20 meter circle in a nice balance. I'll probably leave that alone for a while until we start to think about learning changes.

This week we have been working on power. Lots of slow trot - BIG trot transitions. Also, leg yield to the rail and immediately power trot forward. He has really started to get the hang of trot lengthenings. He was so incredible yesterday that I decided oh what the hell, lets try a half-pass. Here's what I did:

Trot down the centerline. Make a 10-12 meter circle left. Back on the centerline, keep the idea of left bend, half pass left to the rail - ride the shoulders over. ... And he did it.

I immediately let him stretch, walk and praised him obnoxiously. Could we have had more bend? Yes. It wasn't perfect, but it was there. I guess that's what happens when your horse is on the bit and obedient to your leg aids - the "tricks" become simple. If the basics are there, then the rest will come. Half pass to the right was a little more difficult, which I expected, but he still gave a good effort. I lost the haunches a bit, but whatevs. I'm so excited about how he is coming along. And he is happy and healthy. That makes the rest of my life a lot more tolerable.

In other news (I told you this would be a long post),

In an effort to try and 1) get some extra income and 2) find a back up plan so I can escape this job, I have finally decided to develop my photography hobby. For now, it's going to stay a glorified hobby, but I'm taking steps to one day make it a full time job (I hope!). I have had numerous people nudge me in that direction. Plus, I took one of those expensive career tests and it, too, said photography is up my alley.

Check out THE BLOG here.
And if you Facebook, I also have a Facebook Page. (You can also Like it on the right hand side of this blog)

Any comments, advice, etc. is welcome. I love critiques, just don't write me a snarky, passive aggressive e-mail because I get enough of those in one week. :)

You wreck be, baby.

The horse loaded up fine Tuesday and off we went about 40 minutes away for our jumping lesson.

When we got there, I discovered that he had pawed and in the process his leadrope (which I usually just drop at the front of the trailer) was now underneath him - covered in poo and wetness. Ugh. I had no choice but to reach down and get the damn rope. For the rest of the day my hands smelled like poo.

Hampton stood like a gentleman in the wash rack to be tacked up and we quickly lunged outdoors before I hopped on to warm up. He was a little tense and wiggly, but in general was being quite good and only called back to another horse a couple of times.

Me and T-Bone. Noticed my jammed heel and braced legs.
(Notice how he is also braced.)

Our instructor is about the cutest, sweetest thing you'll ever meet. She was so nice to me and seemed to really like Hampton. (Who doesn't? He is a charmer.) We worked on keeping him straight and I was also really happy that she was picking on ME too. My dressage instructor is incredible but we focus much more on the horse. I know my bad habits, but sometimes you need reminders. The big one for me is to bend my knees. I tend to slam my heels down and brace in the knee. This is really obvious when my stirrups are shorter in my jumping saddle.

I also have really tight hips. "Shoulders of a princess, hips of a whore." Well, I guess I spent too much time studying in college and not whore-ing around because my hips are not so whore-ish. They are actually pretty tight and part of the reason I tend to brace with my legs. I guess I have hips of a prude. Geez.

We spent time time trotting over ground poles, and then a simple grid of 3 trot poles and a 4th one set at a distance as if it were to be a crossrail later on. Hampton motored right through. I was pretty proud of him and felt it was a good confident ride for him - even though it was bare bones basics and I knew he could do this anyway.

His douche-bag left lead canter transition did make an ugly appearance, however. (He hasn't done this since May) This of course after I raved about what a good boy my horse ALWAYS is and how he tries so hard to please me.

Me: "Ok Hamps, left lead canter now please."
Hamp: "F*** You."

(squirrly bucking, leaping, head toss)

Me: "Excuse me?"
(ask for left lead again)
Hamp: "Screw off lady! I have better things to do than use my hind end!"

(more bucking, another leap)

Proof we can produce a nice left lead canter thanks!

At this point my instructor is giggling. She said she could tell this wasn't normal behavior for him, but often times new environments and a little pressure bring out such antics. I did refrain from calling my horse bad names, smiled and we worked through it. He is so intelligent in that he knows just how naughty he can be and not unseat me. He doesn't want to toss me, he just wants to flip me the bird. Typical teenager.

Oh guess what we will be doing this week? Canter transitions!!! Congrats Hampton. Punk.

Also: 81 peeps are following my blog! That is super rad if you ask me. :) Thank you all!

New balance

I don't have to work on Tuesday so like any normal person would do, I promptly scheduled a riding lesson. But this time, we are going to an eventing instructor for Hampton's formal intro to jumping. Yay! 

Oh wait.

This means I will need to ride in my jumping saddle.

I have not ridden in that saddle in 2 years (I started Hampton in that saddle and put about 3 rides on him with it before switching to my dressage saddle). Even worse, I have not ridden in the hunter/jumper balance in close to 7 years. And that become obvious today.

It really is a totally different balance between dressage and jumperland. I have been riding only dressage for so long, that I felt unbalanced and sloppy when I rode today. I decided it might do me some good to ride as much as I could in 2-point. Take that floppy lower leg! 

Hampton thought I was drunk. He kept slowing down as if to check on me as I tried to stay balanced, all the while grabbing mane and the running martingale. 

Things got a little better as time went on, but ladies and gents it did not come back to me like riding a bike. I rode hunter/jumpers for many years and gosh in college you could send me to a 3' - 3'3" jump and I would think no big deal. Now a days, I might trot up to a 2'3" fence and crap myself. What happened? Lack of practice? Self preservation?  

So I look at it as a very good thing that Hampton is so young and just starting out. Because this means I also get to go back to basics. And I can just use him as an excuse as to why I will be entering all the green as grass classes. NOT because I am rusty and a chicken. No it's because my horse is young. Duh!

Carl Hester videos

I've been watching a lot of Carl Hester lately. Here are a few super videos. This first one is a 5-year-old stallion (I think the video is from 2010 though) who is obviously incredible. (My birthday is coming up - someone find him and buy him for me!!). I like this video because the horse is tense at first, and then the rider is able to relax and stretch him out. It shows a total change of the horse's movement and length of neck. Part 2, the rider picks the horse back up. My personal opinion is the rider is a little too busy with the horse's neck at times, but he is a 5 year old stallion so you do what you have to do sometimes to keep the horse between you and the ground. Anyway, good videos on basic training. Although the horse is a freak and well beyond what I will ever have the honor to ride.










Here's Carl riding and 8 year old (I THINK this horse might be his current Grand Prix horse, Utopia, but I'm not sure. They sure look alike) ... under the instruction of Jean Bemelmans. This video is great on making the collected canter quick, flying changes and other canter work. I've been watching so many of these videos that I actually said "Zoo-per" to Hampton during our ride today. hahaha.





And here is Carl with Utopia this year. I LOVE how this horse pushes off the ground.

Thank you Miles!

A quick note to give a big thanks to Sarah and her hubs over at Miles on Miles!

I "won" a little contest a while back and in turn got a gorgeous stall sign with Hampton's name on it. His name is carved in wood and the entire thing is stained, smooth and just gorgeous. I need to take a photo if it. It's so, SO lovely! Thanks Sarah! :)

I did not leave my heart in San Francisco

Hellllloooooo blogger land.

I am back from my trip to Cali. San Fran is a neat city and if I was a city girl, I may just move there to live. But I'm not a city girl. I can't IMAGINE living there and having a horse - it's impossible to drive around not to mention how expensive it is - even on the outskirts. Infact I do not know how people even manage to have a dog. No one has a yard and it's very densely populated. Great people watching, however, and I did have a good time. We pretty much saw all the big attractions: Alcatraz, the Redwood trees, Six Flags, China Town, Little Italy, the crooked road, Haight Asbury (my favorite!!), and numerous bars, grills, and shopping. I missed Hampton tho ... he is where my heart is. haha. So corny. *gag* He did nicker at me yesterday when I went to see him. I'm sure he missed me ... or maybe he just missed the lady who constantly feeds him sugar and tells him how wonderful he is.

Here are a few fotos:

The Bridge

:) The Haight

In Haight-Ashbury

Parking lot at a Yaht Club. holy. cow.

more Haight Ashbury

The Grateful Dead House

The Rock

Hampton goes back to work this week ... I'd really like to make it to the Sept. 10 CAF show for our first combined test, Event derby and I REALLY want to best our 64% in dressage. If I can find a fun show in August to go to, we'll hit that too (as long as it's not 90+ degrees). Much trail riding is also in our future. This is a good thing - great for building muscle and bravery. Plus I can relax with a beer. Win win, people.

(by the way, read the below book if you are at all interested in the Grateful Dead, the Beat Generation, hippies, San Francisco, acid tests, or the 60s in general)