Driving cadillacs in our dreams

Hampton and I have been getting down to some serious business. I am trying to work really hard before the weather goes to total shit and we are forced to take a short vacation.

Also, I have been taking a few lessons from a different instructor lately. ... There, I said it. It feels like I am cheating on J, who has been an enormous part of our progress this summer. I wasn't actively looking for another teacher, but this new gal just recently moved herself a couple of students to our farm. I have watched her ride and it is just beautiful. I want to know what she knows. So, I asked for some lessons. Since she is there anyway ...

Is that bad of me? Is that disloyal? I still plan on taking lessons from J, too, but maybe only once or twice a month. They are two VERY different teachers, but both have really helped me. I feel like I am cheating on a boyfriend or something ...

Here is a portion of what Hamps and I have been up to lately:

• Canter half pass from the rail to the center line. Then go straight. If he gets the wiggles, stay on that same lead and turn at the end of the ring (so if we half pass left, we would turn left). Repeat. If we get to the centerline and he stays straight and jumpy, do a flying change and turn the other direction. Now that Hampton understands the aids for the flying change, now we have to clean them up. He has to be STRAIGHT and I have to change things up so he doesn't decide to change when I don't ask. I appreciate his efforts but I'm the one driving here.

How Hampton feels after working on changes and pirouettes.

• Starting the pirouettes. Now we are really entering the "Karen has NO CLUE what she is doing" territory. I was able to get a taste of what a REAL canter pirouette feels like today. It is an entire new level of collection. I was able to think "make his hind legs jump up under me, but not go anywhere." There is a difference between collected canter on a small circle, and a real pirouette at the canter. We only got 1 or 2 strides (before Hampton understandably puttered out), but I felt it. I need to be able to find the moment where you need to ride out of that collected canter, too.

Sort of what we look like when attempting canter pirouettes:

• Half steps. New instructor has been helping us with this from the ground. Hampton has really got the hang of it and it really makes him so much more uphill. We will be adding passage soon (or at least the idea) in order to add more cadence to Hampton's trot.

Would like to add more reach and swing in his shoulders, too.

• Adding more expression to the trot half pass. I have been adding in some of the "WHAM-O" leg yield technique I used when I was first teaching Hampton to leg yield. For example, half pass left off the rail, at the centerline change it to leg yield and WHAM-O (pony club kick) with the outside leg. This will result in some ugly steps, cantering, kicking out, grunting, etc. BUT the next time around, same thing only ask nicely and he moves with much more expression and obedience off the outside leg. :) Disclaimer: This technique is probably not a smart move with super hot horses, or horses who hold a grudge. Hampton is just one of those types who responds well if you rattle his cage a bit, and then be quiet.

Checking out the lump on his back. Look pretty supple to me here! Hmmm.

• In general more suppleness. More uphill balance. Strengthening. So, LOTS of transitions. LOTS of forward and back in the same gait. Lots of circles, bending, counter bending, spirals. Etc.

New instructor came up to me after my lesson today and says, "You know, at the stage he is now, I think you can do 4th level and Prix St. George next year."

My reaction:

I laughed and told her not to blow smoke up my ass!! But I guess .. really ... if you think about it ... the pieces do come together rather quickly. It is a BIG BIG maybe on my radar. My only goal for next year is third level and my bronze medal. Hampton will only be 7 years old. It's not that he can't do all the "tricks," it's that I'm not sure the strength and suppleness will be there. But never say never!

Maybe I should be looking at shadbellies .....

Filly of the human variety

Mum and baby are doing great! Long day yesterday and into this morning, not really what my sister was hoping for as far as labor (she ended up with a Csection at 2 am) but I imagine she would say it was worth it, despite a projectile sprite-vomit event. haha. Poor sister.

Charlotte

I'm seeing future equitation star? Possibly a NAYRC competitor? FEI ponies?

Filly pending

My very pregnant sister is in the hospital now, they are inducing her and she should foal sometime tomorrow. This is the first grandchild for my parents, so as you can imagine - they are about ready to burst with excitement. Or anxiety. One of the two. My mom is a neonatal nurse so I think she is hyper-aware of all the things than can go wrong during this event. My dad is the smart one and just stays out of the way. haha.

Going to make a road trip tomorrow to see her. Updates and pics to follow!

(It is a girl, which means I can buy ALL THE MY LITTLE PONY stuff !!)

Sunshine Award

So I'm a little late to the party, as usual, but THANK YOU to a couple of other bloggers who nominated me for the Sunshine Award. :) Sometimes I am still shocked at the fact that people actually read this blog.

Questions:

Mares or Geldings? A good horse is a good horse. It doesn't really matter to me.

English or Western? I've been an English girl my whole life. I really do not like Western saddles, they are uncomfortable to me. BUT, I do appreciate the western disciplines and especially enjoy reining and cutting horses. A part of me wants to get a reining horse someday. Probably because it is similar to dressage, except the people are not so self-deprecating.

Do you prefer younger or older horses? I love young horses and how rewarding they are in the day to day process. I have no doubt I will get another young horse someday. But I must say, it is REALLY FUN to have Hampton at this stage now. Not that he is "older" but he is certainly well broke. Riding the babies makes you appreciate the trained horses. Also, riding a trained horse makes you ride the babies better.

Sometimes the young horses are assholes. Not gonna identify the culprit in this photo,
but his initials are H.a.m.p.t.o.n. at 3 years old.

Have you trained a horse from ground zero? Yes. I have started quite a few horses. Two of my own I have started from scratch (T-Bone and then Hampton). I have a very specific system when I start a horse and so far it has worked for me and kept me and the horse safe. I don't think it is something you should do if you are not calm and confident in what you are doing. And if I ever ran into a horse that I did not feel safe starting, I would ask for help.

Riding or groundwork? I keep a pretty good balance of both. With young horses, I do groundwork until we are blue in the face. And even now, I will long line, lunge or work Hampton in hand every once in a while.

Do you board your horse or keep him at home? I have always been a boarder. I'm not sure I would want to have horses at home and still have a full time job. Seems like that may be biting off more than I can chew. Also, I don't have any property to keep a horse on. So there's that.

Do you use all natural products or commercial? Commercial, for the most part.

All tacked up or bareback? Every once in a while I do get a wild hair up my ass and go for a bareback ride. I did so on my birthday this year and LOVED it. I even jumped a vertical. Hampton used to be incredibly uncomfortable to ride bareback, but now that he actually has a topline it is much better. I should do it more often.

Equestrian role model? Charlotte Dujardin, JJ Tate, Catherine Haddad, Steffen Peters

What is your one main goal while being in the horse world? To keep learning and getting better. :) I'd like to buy another young horse in a year or two. While Hampton is showing FEI, New Horse can work up the levels. I hope to do a better job with New Horse and hopefully not make as many mistakes as I have with poor Hampton. Maybe sell New Horse and repeat the process? Oh, and I want to ride a Grand Prix before I am 40.


5 blogs nominated:
Slow and Steady Wins the Race
Princess Diva Diaries
Calm Forward Straight
The Reeling
Dressage Pony

WW: Salute

(photo used with permission)

Maintainence

Poor Hampton was royally violated today.

The vet student who came along (right) was really cute.

 

 

First he got his teeth floated. His teeth were not in bad shape, although the vet (an excellent equine dentist in Kentucky) did point out to me that due to the anatomy of Hampton's head and jaw, that he will always have irregular wear patterns - especially in his teeth in the back of his mouth. This is not a big deal as long as he has regular floatings. Otherwise, there was no major issues to report. Yay!

 Then I slapped on the rubber glovers and grabbed the lube and Excalibur. And you know what that means.

Still somewhat drugged, Hampton stood there in shame as I rooted around and tried not to gag. Sheath cleaning the is the most gross thing ever. It is the only horse-related "duty" that makes me want to hurl. Gross. I drug him to the washrack and then blasted his manhood with icy cold water to make matters worse. (One must rinse, after all). Being female, I don't have much empathy for this but Hampton did not seem to appreciate the cold hosing. Oh well.

KDA Fall show wrap up (a novel!)

(this is very long - sorry!)

The KY Horse Park certainly did not disappoint. We pulled in around 3:30 Saturday afternoon and after unpacking I tacked Hamps up to go have a quick school.

He was tight in the back, but after about 30 minutes he loosened up and we took spins around both show arenas to make sure no monsters were lurking.

Photo by the Alltech sign. :)

KHP

After schooling, I gave Hamps his dinner and then went on a hunt for dinner for myself. My friends N and K were with me and we ended up eating at a small place right next to the Rolex arena. We waiting a stupid long time for our food but enjoyed watching some pony mounted games in the meantime. :)

Entrance to Rolex arena

Musical freestyles

KHP why are you so friggin gorgeous?!

Then we landed bombdiggity seats for the Festival of Champions musical freestyles. While I was thrilled, it was also sort of sad because WHY weren't there more people there to watch?! I mean some of the best horses and riders in the country were there. *sigh* Dressage is doing something wrong. Minimal audience, lame vendors.

The freestyles themselves had good and bad moments. Of course Steffen Peters was outstanding. His freestyle was a medley of Queen, Filter and Coldplay music. Which only made me want to marry him more. Sadly, I did not get a chance to stalk him. He was too busy winning. One lady had a freestyle to the Man From Snowy River soundtrack. I really enjoyed that one, too. And local rider Jim Koford was lovely to watch with Rhett, a very big, imposing horse but with a lot of jump in his canter. Lovely! There were a few not-so-great rides, too, but that's dressage. I am certainly not one to judge as a mere minion 2nd level rider.

After the freestyles ended, my friends went home and I went to put Hamps to bed. I slept in my horse trailer and it was actually pretty comfy! I did not get a good night's sleep though because of the constant traffic and noisy trucks going in and out of the horse park at all hours of the night. Oh well.

Stumbled out of the trailer at 5:30 am and braided Hampton. I tried a new technique and used wax thread and rubber bands. I did have to braid somewhat in the dark, too. But even so my braids turned out great! (for me). I think with a little more practice they will look excellent.

Our first test, Second-2, was at 8:56 am and I was on board shortly after 8.  From the barns, you walk down this minor hill to get to the dressage complex which is sort of in a "bowl" inside an old track. At 8 a.m. it was pretty foggy that morning. As we came to the hill, I looked out over the dressage complex and was just stunned at how beautiful it was with the fog and the 10-15 horses working in the rings. My phone camera would have never captured that moment. It was one just me and the horse shared.

Hamps warmed up pretty well. Still tight in his back and in his poll but he did loosen up pretty well again. He was rather stiff from spending the night in the stall so I took extra time to warm him up.

The actual test went really well. That was, until I very nearly went off course. I was really looking forward to bragging here about how I have not gone off course all year and then BAM. Argh. I was supposed to do a medium canter but for some reason thought I should canter the short diagonal to counter canter. I caught it and then swerved back tot he rail for a weak medium. I even said "SHIT" out loud in the middle of the test. Other than that, I really liked that test. Hampton was right there for me, even though I did not hold up my end of the deal. Our medium trots get the gold star for most improved movement this year.

Second 2

second 3

We managed a 61.8%. Got my other Second Level score!! Woot! Other comments included "needs more longitudinal suppleness"  and "needs more prep" and "more engagement of the hindquarters." Agreed with everything the judge said and thought she scored fair. Our score was good enough for 2nd place. (beaten out by a much more experienced pair).

After beating myself up for the near-error, it was time for Second Level test 3. I had a shorter warm up this time, since I didn't want to run poor Hampton out of gas. He felt a little less tight this time around. Again, the test went pretty well. Except during the freewalk Hampton decided he needed to itch his nose. He tried once and I softly bumped him forward. then he tried again, and insisted and out of instinct I kicked him harder this time and his head came up. Womp womp. And then I missed the counter canter lead (but fixed it quickly). So both of us effed up this test. I was really disappointed in myself because I KNOW I can ride this test well and for some reason we just had a miscommunication there.

down centerline

Counter canter

That's the thing about horse shows. Your flaws will be magnified. And ours are that Hamps is not supple enough and that he tends to get behind the leg. But even with those flubs, we got a 60.3%. And again good enough for 2nd place. (Out of 4 or 5 riders I think?). Our scores would have been much improved if only I had not made such costly mistakes. Argh.

So while the scores may not reflect it, I really do feel like we have made huge improvements from earlier this year. Second level is just brutal, probably more so for the rider than the horse. It has taught me how to ride accurately. How to use my corners. Because the test won't happen if you don't! I am filing our errors this weekend in the "shit happens" category. I'm trying not to be too hard on myself. Even Steffen Peters went off course this weekend so ... it's ok. :)

Hampton of course was a perfect angel all weekend (minus the nose itching in the freewalk). He is just so damn fun to have at a horse show. He had several people stop at his stall and admire him (I guess because he is so big?). I thanked them and then glanced at Hamps who now thinks he is god's gift to people.

Tired pony = droopy lip

Hamp's new stall guard kept him mostly contained.

A few other things from the weekend:
• Fellow blogger Kelly from Princess Riva was there and her hubby was so kind to take these wonderful photos of us! :) I cannot thank her enough as they were my only support since The Boy did not attend this show because there was a Chili Cookoff at home that I guess was more important? :) And my parents could not attend either because my sister is due to foal at any moment!
• Our stall neighbors included a grandma named Sparkle (yes the person, not the horse) and her grandson named Hemmingway.
• The announcer was British and it made me smile to hear him announce Hampton's name, age and breeding. For some reason his accent made me feel like we were at some big international show. lol! (I am easily amused)

So, we have A LOT of work to do this winter if we have any hope of showing Third Level next year. So, off we go ... after some rest of course. :)