If we go down, we all go down together

SO SWEATY.

Hamp and I hauled over to Flying Cross Farm for a school in their arena this morning. It's a more accurate size than our arena at home, and I thought it would be a good prep for this weekend.

My coach kicked my ASS, and it was a bazillion degrees humidity out so I nearly died but Hamp was game. We ran through the entire PSG and she picked on me about the details I really need to pay attention to. If you screw up one movement, there really is no time to recover before the next one. No more f-ing around. You have to ride every stride.

I think I may have also said that about 3rd level. hahahaha. Oh wittle baby naive Karen.

The Tempi changes are not as confirmed as they need to be, but I'm just going to do what I can.

No, I don't expect to get a 60. But high 50s would be nice!

My goal is to ride the test like I would at home. As if no one was watching. Because the only way I am going to learn how to ride at this level is to actually do it. Scores are just going to have to be damned for now.

I did also throw in a 4-1 test on Friday more more schooling opportunities. But if he does end up being brilliant in the PSG (that test is first), then I can always scratch.

Frankly, the fact that I am not terrified of the PSG test, and actually feel somewhat confident it won't be a total disaster (green, yes, but a hot mess, prob not. God I hope not) - is really telling on just how far we have come this year.

Time to put on my Mean Trainer Pants. And get it done.

Bridle follow-up

Guess whose two nerds got featured on Horse Nation IG?

This is the second time Hamps has made Horse Nation Gram of the day. lol. I mean how lucky did I get with this photo? Derp level achievement unlocked! 

Anyhoo ... onto more serious bizz-nass!

Snaffle Heritage bridle. Still kickin!

Check out this bridle post from Aimee first.

Earlier in the year I did buy Hampton a Premiera bridle from Hypostore. I really loved the white padded, patent leather noseband and the sparkly browband. Plus, I thought Hampton deserved a bridle upgrade.

You know, at first I was not disappointed. The leather needed oiled, and broken in, but seemed acceptable.

But from the moment I put it on Hampton, something just wasn't right. I was using his same bits, and even had my coach look at the bridle thinking maybe I didn't have it fitting quite right.

Heritage double bridle. Also, still kickin!

Then, against my better judgement, I took him to that April show and showed him in it.

And we all know how that went.

He was awful. AWFUL. Gaping mouth, against the bridle, not even on the bit for most of the test (that's not ok in 4th level). Really irritated and not wanting to play.

Now, of course that could have been his back or hocks bothering him. Or ulcers. Or my terrible riding. Or any other number of things that just made him not want to play that weekend.

The Hypostore bridle

I put his original bridle back on when we got home. And he was much improved.

So whatever the reason, the Hypostore bridle just had bad mojo for me now.

So I took the browband and put it on my old bridle. There, much better. Maybe it was just the noseband that would not sit right? Or was pinching? Who knows.

And then the browband crystals started to fall off.

This is some bullshit right here.

Like several of them.

I'm not abusive to browbands, people. So I can't give this bridle a good review now. I give it a C.

BUT!

In adding to Aimee's list, if you are looking for a nice bridle in the $100 range, both of Hampton's bridles (his double and his snaffle) are Heritage bridles. You can find them on eBay for about $100 for the double. The snaffle I got when Hamp was young for about $60. The leather is supple, breaks in wonderfully, and both have held up to several years of use. And admittedly I am not a tack cleaning nazi so ... sometimes they go awhile between good cleanings.

Hamp modeling Aimee's Eponia bridle. Looking into one of these possibly?

I was going to update Hampton's double just because I think he has earned it, but perhaps it's best not to go fix something when it's not broken. But ... but ... Eponia is so pretty ....

Training two troublemakers.

Need more bend for actual pirouette

By some miracle the humidity let up this week and I have been able to get good rides in on both boys pretty consistently. (you know, without any of us dying and all)

Hampton has been feeling fantastic (knocking on wood). The shoeing changes and injections have him feeling great and I am finding some new gears and improved balance. Interestingly enough, his teeth grinding has diminished considerably. Other than fighting some face fungus, he is looking really good - even a little ... umm plump. So I am upping his cardio a bit since I'd rather not muzzle him unless I have to.

Piaffing it

On Hampton's schedule:

* Tightening up the canter pirouettes (totally me, not his fault)

* Keeping the tempi changes straight. He loves to throw his haunches around, which I can manage in the 4s but once I try the 3s it gets a little wild and I lose control. rawr.

* Maintaining the "Wellington Trot" in everything we do. I've been more insistent on this. You must now trot in that balance in half pass, SI, HI, all the time except warm up and cool down. I am sometimes half halting every damn stride. No more diving down. Just no.

* Canter half pass zig zag. This actually goes pretty well but I could be crisper with the change to half pass back to the rail. 

* Miles and miles of centerlines. I know, sounds boring. But this has been a super exercise for days where I don't do much collected work or difficult shit. Sometimes I halt at X, sometimes I act like I want to but change my mind.

* Cardio days including canter sets and lots of stretching at the trot.

He has come so far in just a year. I am so glad he seems to be feeling better! I am still on the hunt for a new saddle, but for now he is fine with a thinline pad with shims. No more back soreness! 

... and who can forget about the skaddlebred!

Royale has been working 3-4 times a week. He is much less bothered by the heat than Hampton is and will not run out of energy.

On Royale's schedule:

* Keeping the same tempo. He runs because he loses his balance, so we are working on half halting with the seat, and teaching some counter bend so he cannot run through his right shoulder. So normal, he isn't being naughty.

* Lifting his back. Sometimes he gets a little too deep (see photo) but I'm not worried about this. His nose will come out as soon as I can lift his belly and back with my legs and seat more. For him (not all horses), getting a little too deep is better than sucking his neck back into my lap.

* Balance at the canter. This is improving a lot! It's not quite so speedy anymore, and he has moments where I am like "Dayam son, FEI will be cake for you." But still a ways to go. Like a LONG WAY.

* Turn on the forehand. He is an ace at this now.

*Baby leg yields. Really improving at walk and trot.

A little short in the neck but actually taking good contact here.

* Many hacks outside the arena. He walks, trots, canters willingly out in the open fields and hills. Does not get wild or stupid.

* Ground poles. Trots over 1 or 2 poles, but cannot seem to figure out 3 just yet. lol.

*Baths. Improving! (thanks 98 degree weather). Still not to the point where I can tie him, but will now tolerate being hosed off even though I still get a major glare from him and snorting.

A little deep again here, but at least his back opens up.

He needs to get out to a show soon so I'll see what I can find locally maybe. He is really growing up, although I still consider him pretty immature for his age. 

Hampton will be back out in August.

AT PRIX ST. GEORGE.

Yeah. I buried the lede. Ha. I'm just going to go for it.

Got nothing to lose (except money but since when do us horse people care about that).

Oh just over here sweating.

Dirty, cracked mirror selfie

Still no word on the contest results. *bits lip impatiently*

Meanwhile, the two boys and I have been sweating our balls off in this horrid KY humidity. I've been riding at 7 or 8 am this week which is much more tolerable, and both boys have been getting showers and electrolytes. One thing is for sure, Royale is getting much more cooperative about baths when it is 95 degrees.

Entire shirt soaked in sweat. Except bra line. So classy here.

They have both been working great.

I've just been busy and exhausted with not much blog motivation lately. Blame the heat.

I did manage to get out and see my beloved Phish. They were playing in Dayton and absolutely smoked the Nutter Center. (literally and figuratively. hahahahahahaha, sorry Wright State)

Phish at Wright State

I love walking around the lot before the show. So many cool things.

Secret's out!

I've been keeping a secret for a few weeks because I didn't 1) want to jinx myself and 2) announce anything that hasn't been "officially announced" yet.

But hey! I am a top 10 finalist in this awesome - AWESOME - Dressage Today contest!

I'm not sure what the judges are looking for, but I had to write an essay and submit a video.

Fingers crossed!

Recognize that bay on the bottom right? :)

No, you can't excuse yourself.

Old photo of Hamp and I at the KHP in 2013.

So here's an interesting situation that came up at the recent KDA/Pony Cup Show at the Kentucky Horse Park. I went down to watch some friends show on Saturday, and ended up meeting a gal who had the following happen to her.

The judge is an extremely well-known judge. One I have shown under several times. She is generally well-respected.

The exhibitor goes into show 4-3. The trot work goes great, but when she starts the canter work she starts to feel her horse is just not quite right. Once she attempts a pirouette, she is now positive the horse is off so she stops to excuse herself.

The judge says no. You have to continue.


.... so this exhibitor, knowing her horse is not right, goes off course numerous times in order to get eliminated so that she can stop the test. Eventually the judge says "That's it!!" and eliminates her. The judge basically accuses her of score chasing, which is why she refused to excuse her when she asked.

We all know score chasers. Those who excuse themselves when they know they aren't going to get a score they deem good enough. This girl is not one of them. But even so, does a judge have the right to just say  no?

If you had been in this position, what would you have done?

Adventures in trail riding

Heading out on the trails!

A couple of friends of mine suggested we head down to Shaker Village (near Lexington kind of) for a trail ride on Monday. Of course I semi-invited myself. I had never been to this particular park and pretty much anywhere in Kentucky is beautiful to trail ride.

I thought briefly about bringing Royale, but since the other two horses going were also green beans, I decided to bring Hamp since he is a veteran and would lead the other two across sketchy areas of need be. Plus it's always good to haul him somewhere and NOT drill him in a dressage ring.

So we hit the road shortly after 10 am and arrived about 1130. The park appears quaint, quiet and has a "people area" where there is a diner and museum. I learned quite a bit about the Shakers. An odd cult they were. No wonder they all died out. That happens when you don't have sex with each other.

Most of the West trail was this wonderful mowed trails where you
could trot and canter. That's Hamp's big butt up front.

Anyway, we were tacked up and on board fairly quickly. We hit the West trail first. Which was the shorter loop. It did not take us to the creek, but it was a good ride of nicely maintained and mowed paths along rolling hills and fields. PERFECT for a little conditioning. We did trotting and cantering up and down hills. I was pleased that Hamp did not turn into a dragon like he did on the hunter pace a few years ago. He was reasonably rate-able and was fine with following and leading. (Don't get any ideas, still not planning to EVER take him on another hunter pace).

After we finished the West loop, we went back out on the Shawnee Run trail - which would take us down to the creek and pond. These were slightly more rugged trails - fairly rocky and several places where you had to cross rock. The green mare wanted to slip and panic on the rocks, so we took our time with her. While as Hamp knows to walk very slow and put his head down.

Hamps: "I splash this for you."

After about 3 hours we FINALLY make it to the creek for a quick little swim. The bottom was a little sketchy, and I did not realize that there was a massive drop down. Hamps, trusting me like he does, ended up stepping down this bank and quickly decided I had made a bad decision. For a minute his front end was down and his butt was still up on the bank, up in the air. hahahaha. Smartly, he backed up out of the deeper water. No worse for wear. Harper, the green mare, actually jumped up that same bank/drop.

It was starting to rain so we left - passing a lovely waterfall on the way out. Then it started to pour, so as soon as we were out of the woods we picked up a canter and hoped we would get back to the trailer soon. Thankfully it was only about 10 minutes away. Not that it mattered, we were all soaked. Didn't really care though as it was still 85 degrees.

We had almost made it back to Louisville when ... dun dun dun .... POP. Tire blows. On the Gene Snyder highway. During rush hour. We ended up pulling over right in front of the most dangerous merging point on that highway (I71 merger).

Shit.

Ok, we got this.

Sarah started working on the blown tire while I got the spare unhooked and ready to go.

Slight problem.

3 of the lug nuts were stripped.

Hmm, ok. So thankfully Sarah's dad fixes jets for UPS planes, and he was on his way out. Certainly a trailer tire would be a piece of cake for him.


Wrong.

After multiple trips to Lowes and Auto Zone, and a variety of tools purchased, he could not get those %&^(%* lug nuts off. It was clear we would need a specialized power tool for this.

So we called AAA. They won't work on a trailer with horses on it. And UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES was I taking those horses off that trailer. Way way too dangerous. Tried multiple other companies. No dice.

Finally - FINALLY Goodyear came out and saved the day. However, the lug nuts were so stripped that two of them got stuck in the lug wrench he used. So, we had to drive home with 6 lug nuts instead of 8. Good thing we only had about 8 miles to go.

TIRE OFF FINALLY. Damn you lug nuts.

We were on the side of the highway for more than 3 hours. NOT ONE PEEP out of the horses. They slept and ate hay. No pawing, nothing. The humans were far more stressed out than the horses. They were thankfully tired from our trail ride and seemed content to stand and nap. Thankfully it has cooled down by then so no one was even sweating.

A friend was amazing and brought us pizza ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD, too! LOL! Holy crap that tasted so good. We were all exhausted and hungry. However our clothes were all dry finally. ha.

Pizza party on the interstate people!

This experience makes me seriously consider a membership to US Rider. Very thankful that everyone made it home safe. Hamps seemed just fine Tuesday morning for breakfast.

I am sure he thought it was just another adventure with his moron of a human.

HOME at 10 pm!!! 12 hours after we left!
Hamp is like "omg please put me back in my field"