The big 1-0

OMG I am terrible. I forgot Hampton's birthday!

His actual birthday is June 20, I think I remembered a couple days later.

not funneh you forgot birfday lady

Not to fear though. Here is what Hamps got his birthday week:

MagnaWave treatment
New shoes (farrier adjusting his shoeing. He thinks he may be slipping behind)
Haircut
Sheath cleaning (I was very thorough. He is the cleanest gelding on the farm right now. ha)
New bell boots
Updated SmartPaks (Vitamin E and DMG)

Hampton is 10 this year. TEN YEARS OLD!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PORKCHOP!

Photos by Aimee of course. :)

Stop polishing your saddle.

Raise your end if you have ever been told any of the following in regards to cantering:

"Polish the saddle with your seat"
"Don't let him pull you out of the tack"
"Anchor in that saddle"
"Hips like a whore"

I have been riding for 30 years ( christ ) and after watching a webinar by Mary Wanless, I think I may be sitting the canter the wrong way.

HERE is the webinar. It's about 7 minutes, but it's enough information to get the idea of what she is talking about. Worth the watch.

I'll wait ...

So question. Do you guys know of anyone who ends up sitting  way too far back during the "down" beat of the canter? If they are, they are essentially pushing the horse more on his forehand. They are emphasizing the "down" on the front legs, instead of on the hind legs.

Oh maybe this was just a bad moment in time ....

Nope here's another one

And another. Could you  bury your horse any more Karen?

and yet another. In the same class!

Oh I have plenty of examples. Don't test me. I am way too far behind the vertical in a gazillion canter photos. It's pretty horrifying.

Don't get me wrong, they are most certainly times when you need to sit the hell back, and get in the back seat. No doubt. And Hampton is croup-high already, making it quite tempting to sit back in order to counter that feeling.

But in general, instead of rocking back during the down beat, then at vertical during the up - you should be rocking forward during the up and at vertical during the down. Basically I have been thinking "sit with your hind" with my seat during the upbeat, almost pushing back with my seatbones. Think of pushing his hind leg down with your seat.

No more "polish the saddle."

Same down beat, better position on my part.
Now if only I could keep my horse's ears up.

This is not going to be fixed in a day. Or even a week, but I have been thinking of it when I canter and trying to re-do 30 years of muscle memory. Hampton responds well to this. Infact, the first time I tried it he did a canter-walk. No worries, he at least responded! This technique is quite helpful in the pirouettes especially, when I need to really feel where that hind leg is and keep it sitting.

And this concludes this installment of "I've been riding 30 years and yet still do not know what I am doing."

Until next time.

IDS show wrap-up: We conquered.

So Kentucky has turned into the hot depths of hell since we returned from the show. I'm so glad this awful humidity waited until Sunday to try and melt everyone.

Anyhoo, so what a show! I think this show has been a long time coming for me and Hampton. All the pieces finally fit together and we got the scores I have always known we were capable of. About damn time, Karen! I know, I know. I took the easy road and showed in 2nd and 3rd level, but it's not the level I was concerned about. It was show ring ridability. And THAT is why I am so thrilled with Hamp - he let me ride in the ring!

Warm up included a little piaffe before we went in the ring.
Poll too low but story of my life.

By no means was it perfect. In fact the first test, 3-3, was rather tight and sticky. I rode in the double and once again Hampton started diving on me, resulting in some seriously downhill moments and loss of connection because I was desperately trying to keep his F---- head up.

I think he overpowers in the extended trot, resulting in loss of balance
and thus going downhill.

I did a lot of this "Pick your head up horse!" throughout this test

No really, ears UP!

After that, I scrapped the double for the rest of the weekend. He goes so much better in it at home, but clearly in the show ring the snaffle is my friend for now. Because he does not dive in the snaffle. He's just much more heavy and bracing in the jaw. Soooo I guess I pick my poison. I think the judges would rather see him more braced, than with his nose in the damn dirt.

Always so easily entertained

Saw a deer during our sunset grazing time. = very alert porkchop

I am also quite pleased with our fitness levels. Neither one of us ran out of gas at all! I was careful with warm-up, making sure to conserve his energy and freshness but also making sure that back was loose.

We are starting to have 8s peppered in our tests now! It really pays off to pick on those technical movements that do not require a fancy horse to score well on. For example, we got 8s on our reinbacks and simple changes. Don't need a Valegro to score well on those! Also nailed our changes especially on Sunday scoring 7s on each.

Judges comments were more of the same. Needs more uphill balance, etc. etc.

Yes, yes he does.

Love his happy expression. As you can see I totally abandoned my curb rein! lol

This show also included several other adventures including:

- Helping Jen and Connor move in to the horse park. I am sure Jen will post her own view, but she was quite sick and in spite of me basically arguing with her to GO TO BED, she insisted she get her horse moved to the show grounds. Talk about a rally. She is a tough betch! :)

Chillin with Jen and Connor. Love these two

- My temporary tooth falling off before my class. (stuck it back on like a hillbilly.)

- Awesome vendor food

- Volunteering in between classes. (If you think you know what goes on behind the scenes, you probably don't. Was quite alarmed at a couple of incidents during the show ...)

- Sketchy errands with Liz.

- Watching some of the rodeo on Saturday night. Good times though.

Getting some side eye from Hamp

Sunrise at the hoosier horse park

And now I have a dilemma. Do I move up to PSG in August? Or do I stick with 3rd level and aim him toward some breed awards?

Weeee!

----

I have an excellent post in the works about how I am re-learning how to canter.

So stay tuned!

Good job, horse.

Well that went well.

So this weekend's show was full of adventures. I am exhausted and need to go through photos and type up a show wrap up. But, I'll just spoil it for you:

Saturday
3-3 : 61% (2nd place)
2-3: 67.9% (1st place)

High Point Second Level Champion
Dover Medal winner

Sunday
3-3: 64% (1st place)
High Point Third Level Champion

GO HAMPTON!!! Could not be more thrilled with him.
Will write later! :)

Royale grows up in 2 hours

I'll admit it, I was not sure what exactly to expect of Royale when I decided to take him out on a trail ride Friday.

He is so wittle.

And we are not talking just the back hills and fields, we are talking down to the creek which involves mud, hills, logs, creek crossings, rocks, woods, branches, and eventually the big creek.

Thankfully we were with a group of experienced, calm horses. So I figured what better time to take him out?

My concerns were not needed.

He took to this trail riding thing like a fish to water. Immediately into a wonderful stride, neck down, ears up. He was fine with leading (except during some iffy spots like the creek or major mud bogs, but that's quite understandable). He was fine with following. He was fine with other horses coming up beside him. He was fine with everything!

Even when he was insecure, it just took a long rein and a lead from one of the calmer horses and he would go. Surprisingly, I even got him to go into the big creek! And we have had some major rain lately so it was high, and the current was quite loud. In he went after some mild encouragement.

This from the saddlebred who freaks the F out when you try to give him a bath.

He was a really good sport about all the usual stuff that happens on the trails - like getting hit in the face with branches at times, his rider having to duck (although I certainly did not have to duck NEARLY as much as I am used to! ha!), horses splashing behind him, rocky terrain, etc.

He never offered to spook or be naughty, or take off or anything stupid.

We even had moments where he STOOD STILL like a pack horse. It's a Christmas miracle people.

And he had plenty of gas in the tank when we got home ... which started some wheels starting to spin in my head.

Hey, if this dressage thing doesn't work out for him. He may just fine his niche in endurance.

Which then led me to look up endurance events in the area ........

Pillow of Your Bones

Twerp 1 and Twerp 2

Hampton's behavior at Mid-Ohio really ate away at me. It was the main reason I decided to have the vet out to give him a look see. Even though Hamp was great at IDS, I could tell he still wasn't his best. There was something not quite right.

I had probably one of the best vets in the area, if not the state of KY, come out today. He gave Hamp a thorough exam. Even a neuro exam, because I had mentioned that Hamp sometimes stumbled and feels like not the most foot-sure horse in the world.

He passed the neuro exam mostly with flying colors. He did test slightly positive one time on the cross exam - where he crossed his front legs. Hampton let him the first time (positive diagnosis), but the second he yanked his legs back to normal (which is what they should do).  So, I dunno. Everything else was normal and equal on both sides. Whew. I asked if I should test for EPM just in case.

The vet said no, he said EPM tests were "a colossal waste of money." And Hampton was not showing enough signs to warrant treating him at this time.

However, Hamp was VERY back sore. Upon palpation he became agitated, even trying to bite me. He was sore exactly where I thought he was - behind the saddle and in his sacrum.

So the vet recommended we inject the hocks AND sacrum - due to his level of pain.

A drunk Porkchop

Of course I immediately said let's do it. For crying out loud the horse deserves it. He is 10 this year, and giant, and doing upper level dressage. I'm not a big fan of injecting, but if this makes him feel better than I'll do it.

Interestingly enough, I suffered for weeks with a painful tooth - refusing to get a root canal because of the money. But as soon as the vet says my horse needs injections? TAKE MY MONEY. TAKE ALL OF IT.

Horse people are so sick in the head. What is WRONG with us?!

In any case, Hamp will have a very easy week. A few days off followed by light riding. I am hoping he feels like a new man after this.

MEANWHILE, this little pipsqueak gets to take a turn as main squeeze for the week! He settled right back into KY life without missing a beat. Despite being a wild man at the IDS show, he has actually matured quite a bit!

Careful Royale, your brain may fall out again

I have some plans to take him out cross country schooling at some point. And by XC schooling, I mean walking through water and trotting over little logs. I think it will be good for him! Will make great blog fodder if nothing else. Ha.

DAP (+/-)

I said DAP, not DERP.

DAP = Diagonal Advanced Placement

Say what? And what does this have to do with dressage?

DAP refers to one put of a diagonal pair landing a fraction of a second before the other.
Namely, DAP happens in the trot (and canter but I'm not going to get into that in this post)

A horse has positive (+) DAP when the hind foot in a diagonal pair lands a fraction of a second before the front foot.

+DAP :)

A horse has negative (-) DAP when the front foot in a diagonal pair lands a fraction of a second before the hind foot.


And there are horses who have zero DAP when both diagonal pairs land together.

Sometimes DAP is rather difficult to see with the naked eye. In more severe cases, the horse will appear to be irregular in his gait. Or he may appear tense and unbalanced. You can also hear DAP on proper surfaces.


Ok, so is +/- DAP good? Bad? Nothing to care about?


-DAP is not desireable, but is very common. Even in the top levels of the sport. Because I don't want to slam anyone on my blog, I will use my own example. Hampton happens to have some fantastically horrible -DAP, but makes an excellent example! -DAP usually means the horse is not through, and on the forehand.

Check out this photo, where he is downhill in a medium trot, his right front is going to land well before the right hind. Horses with -DAP tend to be more on the forehand than those with +DAP. As you can see, my body is now behind vertical in my attempt to lift up his front end. (PSA: That doesn't work)


Granted, photos like these could simply represent a loss of balance, a moment in time. But this is Hampton's usual way of going for the most part.

A different part of the stride, and he is a touch more uphill here, but you can see that his left front is going to land a fraction of a second before the right hind. I'm still fighting to keep us uphill (more on that later, it's the DAMN SADDLE.) Also, some horses simply travel this way.


Even so, Hamps does tend to score pretty well on his mediums and extended. I suppose if you had a truly classical/purist judge, we may not. His does offer lots of power from his hind end, but his shoulders stay on the ground for too long and so they miss the wave coming from behind. Thus, he falls on the forehand and has -DAP.


It's something we are always working on. Also, it seems I am a huge moron and some tack changes have already made a huge difference.


More on that later!