Well nevermind then!

Hey all - so I've changed my mind (which I'm allowed to do! haha) and am going to keep this blog public for the time being.

There are a couple of reasons I wanted to make it private, but they don't really matter. The response from my last blog post was so touching, that I do not have the heart to possibly exclude anyone. I really had no idea so many people enjoyed reading about me and Hampers!

What I am going to do instead is set up a separate blog in which I will post private posts only, and give you guys the password if you choose to read it. I would like to write more candid posts at times and that is how I will go about that. I will link to the private post(s) from this blog for those interested.

So that is that.

Hampton updates coming soon. Spoiler: We have been taking jumping lessons and loving every second of it!

Private parts

I am going to make this blog by invitation only. I have already invited a few people (because I know their email addresses).

If you would like to continue reading this blog, send your email address and your name and how I know you to:

finalchapter.karen@gmail.com

I still would love it if my long time readers would keep reading!

I will be changing the settings to private in a few days.

Thanks much!

Porkchop turns 7 years old

Today is Hampton's birthday!

His gift was the fact that I left him alone all day and decided instead to be domestic and clean the house, do laundry and in general be lazy. 

Here are some photos of the Hamper. Kids - they grow up so fast!

Born in 2007 in Elizaville, Indiana.

Weanling porkchop

2009: Lucky horse finds me as an owner and moves in.
Within a week I have a saddle on his back. Here he is wearing a saddle for the
first time in his life. So wild.

Then I climbed aboard.
First time trotting under saddle. Fall 2009.

Spring 2010: He starts learning about contact.

Spring 2011: He grows more and starts to find better balance.
He learns that now he has to start going sideways when asked.

Summer 2012: Schooling solid First and touching into Second level work.
Starting to look more like a horse, and not a moose.

Summer 2012: We play in Eventer land and love it!

Summer 2013: We show First and Second Level.
It starts out a little messy, but by fall ...

We start to really get the hang of Second Level.

Spring 2014: We debut at Third Level
What an amazing journey so far!

Happy birthday Hampton!

Bootcamp

Something interesting has happened this year with Hampton. He is still wonderful to ride, but he has turned into a somewhat hot, spooky, "tourist" type horse this year. It's not uncommon. I had to make him hot for the training and demands of Third Level. He is FIT, and has muscles he never had before. He is powerful and full of energy. But as a result, he can be a very difficult, explosive ride at times. And I needed help on how to handle that. No one at home (in KY) has opened that can of worms with me. I'm not sure why. Perhaps because they do not know how to handle it. Or they don't want me to get hurt. Or whatever. I suspect they just don't know. I was just sick and tired of floundering and drowning during my lessons as the instructor sat there in silence. I needed someone who would know what to do, and give me confidence to work through it. That's why I went home this weekend to take some lessons from My Most Favorite Instructor In the Universe.

We have a new prescription for cleaning up the changes. I am armed with new techniques to deal with his snarky, "I'm a ganna launch you woman" behavior. The rein lameness at the half pass? GONE. It was all my fault this entire time. And NO ONE has caught it up until now. We worked on getting better turns on the haunches. I have some new exercises and tools for my toolbox. She also let me ride her Grand Prix stallion, who has an UNREAL piaffe and passage. I was speechless after riding him. Speechless.

She told me I could do Grand Prix with Hampton. "Two years," she said.

The weekend was amazing. Inspiring. Absolutely exhausting.

Look how uphill Hampton is! ha!

I need some serious time to bounce back financially, so our no more lessons or shows for us until further notice. I was aiming for September but I went WAY WAY overboard so far this year and now have gotten myself into a bind with money. It's my fault. And in a way, worth it. :)

Perhaps October or November we can do another weekend trip like this. If I have to haul 3 hours to get quality instruction, so be it I guess.

Sidenote: On our way up, we picked up my friend's gelding. Turns out she lives about a mile away from Conner from Cob Jockey! We drove right by their barn and I looked around for Conner like a creeper but did not see him. :) Lovely facility though! 

Happy father's day!

Here is a Happy Father's Day throwback photo. I think this is 1994.

I become more like my dad every day. Which is a GOOD thing!

the best dad

A fun weekend coming up in which I will take many photos. It does involve a little trip back home to good old Indiana, dressage, and I am sure some drinking. Stay tuned for that mess.

WW: Counter flexion

I love how he has one ear back here. Listening to me. :)

The 2nd Level Wall

Post inspired by Jen over at Cob Jockey.

If you read the COTH forums, you may have found the thread about this "2nd level wall."

I think there are numerous reasons why there seem to be many more Training and First level horses and riders, and why the numbers dwindle as you get to Second level and above.

• QUALITY INSTRUCTION: I think this is the biggest reason. I live in horse country and there is a serious lack of quality dressage instruction here. I am lucky to have found an instructor who is pretty good and helping me make progress. But many people do not find that. You really need an instructor who has trained (and shown) multiple horses through the levels. They have many tools and have seen many different issues and know how to fix them. It also takes a special teacher to be able to teach the rider how to teach the horse (like my situation) because most of us cannot afford to buy an upper level school master. 

2009: First time trotting under saddle. 

• SITTING TROT: At 2nd level you have to sit the trot. You also have to sit the medium trot. It took me probably a good year to learn how to do this. I could sort of "fake it" but still flopped around a bit. Now it's one of my favorite movements in the test! But a lot of people can not sit the trot well enough. Second level is now starting to demand a level of fitness from both horse and rider. If you ride once or twice a week, and then also lack quality instruction ... you probably are going to take much longer to learn how to sit.
• 2ND LEVEL IS ANNOYING: The difficulty level from First to Second level is enormous, in my opinion. Not really for the horse, but much more so for the rider. When I went into the ring last year at 2nd, I was in for a rude awakening. You had better be accurate and your horse had better be on your aids. There is no more coasting around going "oh la la la how lovely is my horse." If you do not ride every stride, you will probably blow the next movement. I suspect that some riders take a stab at the Second Level tests ... say "screw this!" and just start aiming for Third. Thing is, once you start teaching and schooling flying changes, it's very difficult to then show Second level because your horse is probably going to try and change during the counter canter. You need a much more confirmed Third Level horse to then be able to go back and show Second .... but then if your horse is confirmed at Third, why would you do stupid Second level? See where I am going with this?

2010: Learning to be on the bit

• CANTER TO WALK: I am no professional, but in my opinion this transition is actually more difficult than the flying change. It was not easy to learn this for me or Hampton. It required precision, timing and use of my seat that I hadn't really needed to do before. And it required Hampton to be balanced, collected and on my aids. 
• TIME: Second level is now getting to the point where you can't get away with riding once or twice a week and then go to a show. I dunno. A lot of amateurs just can't make the time commitment. Stupid real world jobs! That is just life and reality. But you CAN ride a couple of times a week and still go in and do a decent Training and maybe First level test. 

2011: Learning lateral work, balance, rhythm, transitions.
Also, how to go places and behave yourself.

• MENTAL CHALLENGES: Now the work starts to get a little more difficult, and some horses will start to "voice opinions" on the matter. I think this is one stage where people want to send their horse off to a trainer to work through some issues. Some of this behavior may scare some people and they back off. Maybe think it's too much for their horse. (maybe it is at times) I can say in my personal experience that the Second to Third level stage was/is (we are still in it) the UGLIEST stage of training so far. However, I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel ... some days. ha. A think a lot of people, mostly amateurs, are too easy on their horses. Myself included. It's ok for things to be ugly! Once you work through it, then it will be beautiful.

And trust me we have have PLENTY of ... err ... mental challenges ...

Trot to canter transitions sometimes including popping his croup up.
Oh how fun.

... that little problem likes to show back up in the show ring!

• MONEY: It costs money for regular lessons. For shows. For chiro/massage for your horse. Etc. You all know the drill. If you are a normal rider (not Charlotte D.), you are going to need many many lessons to progress. 
• A HOLE IN YOUR BASICS: If you were faking it through Training and First, then you will bomb at Second level. Now you really must be able to coordinate your aids, your weight, your timing. Everything is just more difficult for horse and rider. If the basics are not confirmed, then Second level will probably be too difficult.

but eventually ... with time and hard work ...

you see the progress you have made.

BUT ... While the 2nd level tests are busy and difficult, I found them invaluable to my dressage education. It taught me A LOT about how to use the arena to prepare and get more out of my horse. I actually came to like riding Second 3! In fact I probably moved up to Third too quickly. Another season at Second would probably do me some good. 

I really think just about any horse with 3 decent gaits can do Second Level (and actually probably up to PSG). You may not score 70s, but you will do alright.

Maybe people just don't believe in themselves or their horses? Maybe people are scared to fail? Are people afraid to struggle a little bit? Are instructors not encouraging their students to get out there and try?

... and you realize, holy shit, look how far we've come!

What do you guys think?