Vacation over :( ... training update

Before we left for Octoberfest, my instructor told me that over the winter we would be working on Second level movements, so that next year First Level would be easy for us.

Travers

Second level includes:
• Medium trot
• Collected trot
• Shoulder-in
• Rein back
• Counter canter
• Walk to canter; canter to walk
• Simple change of lead
• Medium canter
• Collected canter
• 10m circles
• Tavers and Ranvers
• Half turn on the haunches

J told me, "I want you to teach him Haunches-in at the trot. ... by November." ... So it's Oct. 31 now. I don't think I've failed at that goal, but the movement isn't confirmed by any stretch of the imagination. Hamps has been a willing study and we've made great progress this week. I started out only wanting him to move his haunches in. I didn't care if he was above the bit.

Now, he gets the haunches in thing but now he also needs to be round. It's still sort of a hot mess. We'll get there.

Up until recently, inside leg at the girth, little inside flexion + outside leg swings back = canter please horse! Poor Hampton, now those very same set of aids mean haunches in. And soon, they will mean half pass, too. It is up to me to really finesse my aids (especially my weight) as a rider since Hampton is acquiring more buttons.

We've also attempted some counter canter this week. I haven't done this in several months - I was really surprised at how much his balance has improved. Granted, I kept the counter canter to big, sweeping turns but still. In the spring he couldn't even do that without breaking. Canter/walk transitions have also been on our list and as long as I ride correctly, I can usually get a pretty decent transition down. Again, that movement is not show-ring ready or anything, but the building blocks are there.

Hampton has also improved from what I shall call the "flying leg yield." He finds this exercise obnoxious but it has done a great deal for improving his leg yields. Here's what you do to leg yield to the left (off your right leg):

• Come down the center line at the trot
• Open up your left rein
• Right leg "POW" ... you want to startle your horse into moving over
• "Catch" him with your left leg

Next time around, ask nicely. Now the pony moves over quietly and smoothly - crossover improves and so does obedience to the leg. Hampton isn't a fan of being startled by such a loud leg aid and we often end up "flying" across the ring in some sort of canter/trot/head tossing scamper. But I'm telling you, when I come around and ask nicely he is SO much better. :)

Sampson has also been doing well - learning his canter aids and how to turn off the outside aids. He is a good boy and I will miss him when he goes back home to his Mom.

Happy Halloween!

My horse's horrible life

*cue lullaby music*

*blink blink* ... is that you mum?

If it wasn't for, oh you know, the mass amounts of mud and poo ... and dozens of other horses around, I may have joined him for a mid morning nap! Tough life.

"Peter Position"

For those who are unfamiliar, Peter Atkins is somewhat of a celebrity in the eventing world.

His helmet cams with his horse, Henny, are always popular.

Amy and I went down to audit one of his clinics on Sunday. After we 1) started going the wrong direction and 2) got pulled over by a cop*, we made it to our destination. A lovely private farm that pretty much looks like a horse-lovers heaven. Rolling hills, green grass, cross country jumps scattered about. We were both salivating at the thought of schooling there.

The shack the host & barn owner lives in. 

Despite some annoying rain, we were able to watch several group cross country schooling sessions. Riders ranged from really novice, to pretty solid training/prelim riders. Horses also ranged in training. But no matter the level, Peter pretty much said and taught the same thing: The basics and safety.

• Stay in the back seat. Sit up and look up. Keep your legs forward. I saw first hand how this style of riding will save your ass in numerous situations. One rider jumped a simple warm-up vertical - her horse stumbled and made a mess of the jump. She said she was glad she was in "peter position" or no doubt she would have been launched off that horse. Oh so many directions that comment could go.

• Kick at the jump. Not only does this give your horse more forward, but this also makes your lower leg stable - thus making you more secure over the jump.

• Kick down the banks. This encourages the horse to jump off the bank and not launch.

Other interesting points I learned:

• When jumping up a 2 foot bank, the horse actually has to put in the same amount of power and effort that he would need to jump a 4 foot fence. This is because he needs to jump up high enough in order to land with his legs under him.

• When your horse is running off with you, look down at his feet. This also applies to riding grids - look where you want your horse's feet to go. But when out on cross country - look up and past the jump.

• When jumping down a bank, stay in the back seat and, I quote Peter, "Hit him in the mouth and slam on his back." I laughed at this. I think I have this part down! He didn't really mean that though, he just wanted riders to really sit back. One rider got pitched a little far forward and ended up falling off.

Here are some photos I took of the clinic. I only had my point and shoot camera so sorry about the quality ...

tail in the air!!

weeee!

up the bank

approach

Loved this 4 year old by Gatsby (out of a Percheron)

"ride in the back seat"

this horse was the sweetest schoolmaster

easy ride over the ditch

A ditch? you crazy lady! no thanks!

Clever mare figures it out.

Another Gatsy x Percheron young horse.

Peter

Green beans in the water

up the bank

"Why don't horses like water?" Peter asks his students.

After auditing, I really want to ride in one of his clinics. He was kind and fair to the horses - above all else. I loved how he insists that you praise your horse after he does something good. And he never spanks a horse for stopping - because it's very often the rider's fault. And he is just a funny, good natured guy.

* ... as far as getting pulled over by the cop, I have to give Amy props. She pulled off the cute damsel in distress act quite well. Neither one of us could figure out how to roll down the windows in her husband's car. Then I tried to open the glove box - when infact there was no glove box. The cop was very nice and sent us off with a warning and a "Slow down young lady!" ... as he walked off Amy muttered something about "thanking him" that was, uh, inappropriate, and I thought for a minute he might have heard her! I'll let her post what she said since I'm not sure her hubby would appreciate it?? hee hee. Anyway I was cracking up.

Horse show hangover

Hampton has done nothing but lounge and eat since we have returned. I have been spoiling him with extra alfalfa cubes and hand grazing time. He deserves it. :)

One of the BO's horses had a pretty nasty case of colic last week. The BO has been feeding her horses while they are tied to the fence of the small arena. Well, the arena is sand/pea gravel type mix and the mare ended up with sand colic. She was pretty miserable. She is underweight as it is and just looked awful. After pumping some oil into her, she seemed to come through OK but it just goes to show you need to think about and watch out for things like this. We don't live in a sandy soil area, but yeah if you feed your horse off the arena surface they are likely to ingest some sand trying to hoover up the spills and scraps. The mare seems better now, thankfully.

(And don't worry, Hamps has always been served his meals in a bucket, in a stall. With a cherry on top. haha. Half kidding)

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I found this photo of this adorable grey horse who was at Octoberfest. It shows the water to the BN log that we jumped on Saturday. Yeah, it still looks big to me. Major props to this pair who tackled jumping down the bank into the water.

maybe someday I'll have the balls.

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I check Eventing Nation 100x a day and I came across the jog photos for Haygard (in Kentucky). This horse looks like Hampton's twin! I wish I knew what his breeding is ... He was entered in the Prelim division.

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The Pan American Games are going on as we speak. The dressage is over and DID. YOU. SEE. Paragon's freestyle? I'm going to say it, I think he is better than Totilas. And Heather is a rider I really admire. I couldn't find anything on YouTube yet, but here's the same freestyle from the selection trials:

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Since Hampton is enjoying a mini vacation, Sampson has been getting my full attention. He's a really good guy and we are currently working on installing the canter aids. He is FAT though and he's going to have to trim down. I can't send him home to his owner like this! He looks pregnant!!

Amy, my enabler & instigator super rad show buddy and I are venturing down to audit a Peter Adkins clinic on Sunday. Whoop! I'm taking notes and my camera. It's cross country day so maybe I can learn how to keep my ass in the saddle when going down a bank.

The bruise, by the way, is now a lovely shade of purple, blue, black and green! It's a good thing I'm not a stripper because I would have to take some time off work. No way would anyone want to look at my ass. It looks like someone whacked my left cheek with a 2x4. Seriously wicked.

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And finally, my last random thought for the day. I've heard this song on the radio - but this version puts it to shame. The weather this week made me think of it. If you are emotional, PMSing, etc., this might be difficult to listen to. The boy can sing. Plus he has this sort of "phish head-hippie-dude-who-sings-country" look and sound to him. :) I'm so bad.

Rearviewmirror

Octoberfest 2011: Day 2

Hampton, Me, Steady, Amy with our loot! BAM!

(videos at the end of this post)

So Sunday morning rolls around, and I roll out of the back seat of my truck. Amy and I decided to enter Beginner Rider 2-foot jumpers. I think they did have an 18" division somewhere, but it was toward the end of the day and I wanted to be home before dark. Plus I knew Hamps was capable of jumping 2 feet - we did so out on cross country. So, it was time to suck it up.

In hindsight, I maybe should have schooled him. But he was one tired poneh and if I had schooled that morning, I really would have had no gas left in the tank. We did a short warm up - which went well. He even jumped the 2'3" purple gate they had set up.

So the course was considerably more difficult than the CT tests the day before. Lots of bendy turns and weird approaches.

Oh yeah, there was also a swedish oxer, a 2 stride in-and-out, a number of normal oxers and a stone wall. NONE of which Hampton has seen in his entire life. :)

Our first round wasn't what I would call a hot mess. It was more like a luke-warm mess. We got around - with a stop at the stone wall and a few rails down. I think the wall just came up a little fast and I didn't ride it hard enough. He trotted over fine after that.

At this point my lips were so friggin chapped from the wind, and my mouth was so dry from being so dehydrated, that I couldn't even cluck. My attempts to cluck were pathetic - so I had to growl at Hamps when I felt him be a little unsure. For not schooling, and not ever have jumped anything remotely close to a course like this, I was pretty damn proud of him! Keep in mind that I am also very rusty at jumping courses, and I could have ridden better. But he just goes along with it and although the jumps did back him off a bit, he tried for me and I don't feel he lost any confidence. He just isn't sure what this is all about yet!

So we are getting ready to go in for the second class and my instructor says "Uh, do you want to know the second course?" "Sure" I say in my typical naive fashion. "Well, it's really friggin hard." Eron says. Um, this coming from someone who knows what they are doing? Eeeep.

The second course has a numerous bending lines and a rollback. *&^*%(^ me!!  I memorize the jump off "just in case" but frankly I'm glad we didn't have to do it! Amy and Steady rocked it though and let me tell you it was NOT EASY. Well, maybe if you were on a pony and had a few more strides to organize.

Second round was a little more comfortable, even though we did have a stop at the in-and-out because I did not have my shit together. We came in crooked and Hampton is in no way experienced enough to have saved my ass there. Totally my fault. Came around again and we were fine. We had a few rails down too. Poor guy was tired and we just weren't forward enough but he tried his heart out and just went along with it. I was so proud of him! With a winter of schooling and practice, we will be just fine at the 2 foot, 2'3" division next year.

I was able to get over to the hunter ring to watch Amy and Steady kill it in the medal class. They can be quick, scrappy jumpers one minute and literally walk over to another ring and whip out a steady, fluid hunter test. I was impressed!!

After that we gave the boys a break and went to easy super greasy food. It was out first meal of the day and boy I am sure we were a sight shoving piles of onion rings, cheese fries and grilled cheese into our mouths. It tasted heavenly though! No shame. No shame.

We had entered one last flat class for the fun of it. It was just an equitation on the flat. I had a good go until the last canter when we broke into a trot right in front of the judge. Tired pony + tired rider = DOH. Somehow we managed to still get the blue ribbon! Ok I'll take it! Amy and Steady handed our asses to us in the jumper classes so it's only fair we get the flat class win! LOL. ;)

We ended the weekend with 4 blues, 2 thirds and Reserve Champion of the Beginner Jumper division. (ok it was by default but STILL!)

Our drive home was uneventful. Hamps was glad to be home.

I was glad to take a shower!

Finally, some videos. Enjoy.


Here is our CT dressage test (Intro test B)






And our GAG CT crossrails round. I especially enjoyed Amy's commentary. :) 

In which my butt takes the brunt

Octoberfest 2011 show: Cross Country schooling

So Saturday after we were done with our classes, I met up with my jumping instructor and she took us out for cross country schooling.

Eron: "So have you ever been out on a cross country course?"
Me: "Um, no. Neither one of us has."
Eron: "OH! Ok ...."

This isn't totally true ... I was on a cross country course at a camp when I was 15. But a group of us just sort of galloped and cantered around and over some jumps. It certainly was no formal introduction.

So we get out to the course and start with a little warm up and then popping over a small coop jump. Hamps went straight over - and after 2 or 3 times he started to enjoy himself and buck a little on the landing. I immediately stopped feeling guilty for working him so hard that day. If you have the energy to play and buck then we can go jump more jumps!

This is not a jump at the HHP, but it's the approximate
height of similar jumps we did tackle.

After the coop we moved on to a roll-top - very similar to the one at CAF. Again, we popped over with little issue. Then there was another coop.

Next up was a small cottage house. Hamps stopped at the first approach, and that was his one "freebie." After that, he was to be spanked (unless it was some total failure on my part). On second approach we popped over. Then we jumped the cottage, to the coop. I was actually brave enough to canter.

Next up was the water complex. There was already one rider there who was trying to get her horse to go in. He was having no part of it. He wouldn't even try going down the little slope. I walked Hampton down to the water's edge and in true Hampton fashion he lowered his head ... sniffed ... then began gulping down water. After he finished drinking, I gave him a squeeze and a cluck and we walked right in. :) Super good boy! Those trail rides paid off.

Eron said "Go ahead and trot him!" and so there we were, trotting circles in the water. I could not stop myself from grinning. We then trotted out the other side, and trotting back in. Weeee!

I guess we made it look easy because I was then instructed to trot around to the back side of the water, come through the water complex, up the slope and then jump the beginner novice log!! *GULP* As we trotted into the water, the sun was shining making the most beautiful reflection in the water ... Hampton's ears were pricked ... water splashing everywhere. I had my eyes on that log. I sat back, squeezed and clucked and over we went! Lots of pats and praise for that one! And just like that, I was ADDICTED. Hampton was not even phased by this onslaught of new questions.

So then we made out way over to the step up/down banks. At first glance, I thought no big deal we can do this. We trotted up - no problem. I turned to trot him back down. Um, and so the next thing I know I am practically laying down on his rump. I had gotten seriously left behind. I SO WISH I had this on video because there were some spectators that thought it was pretty hilarious. So did my instructor. She said Hampton did was he was supposed to, although he did sort of launch off the bank. I need to do a better job of sticking with him!

Good news is that because I had slipped my reins, I did not catch him in the mouth.

Bad news is that apparently my ass landed directly on the cantle of my saddle. I did not feel it at the time. Keep this in mind.

So up the bank we go again. I turn to come back down and Hampton is now really unsure. We make several attempts to get back down but he just isn't sure what to do. There is another option to get down, but it looks like a big drop to me. (It really isn't, it's just a little bit of an illusion from up there). After a little encouragement, we finally step down the second bank and I call it a success (I stayed with him the second time.) Despite my lack of skillz, Hampton is no worse for wear.

Amy's group is waiting for their turn on the banks. I watched Amy and Steady go up and down like they have been doing this forever! It was helpful to me to see someone else go down the bank tho - since I really have no clue what to do with my body. I hope Hampton was taking notes, too.

Eron said something to me that really hit home. She said that out on cross country, you have to be ok with the fact that things are going to be a little sticky/messy/"oh shit" sometimes. You have to accept it. I come from saddleseat, hunter and dressage land. Where to be good, you work on perfection. You don't accept "good enough." Out on cross country, there is a certain amount of control you have to give up. It takes bravery and some insanity. This will be my biggest mental block. I want each jump to be nice ... good distance, good form. I can't micromanage him so much out on cross country. Or things will go badly. He needs to do what he has to do to get over the jumps/down the banks and I have to be ok with the fact that I will just have to hang on sometimes!

Just to end a really confident note, we return to the water and trot through a few more times. The one girl is STILL trying to get her gelding to go in. He's rearing and spinning around. I tried to give her a lead, but the horse is having none of it.

Lots of pats for Hamps and we walk back to the barn.

Later on in the evening, I notice that my butt is hurting. Like the left buttcheek is really sore. Hmmm, well I did ride A LOT that day so of course I will be sore. I was sore all over actually but man when I sat down for dinner (oh Cracker Barrel - nom nom nom!) that wooden chair did not feel so good!

I brushed it off and went to bed.

In the morning, my butt HURTS. So I try to see if there is a bruise. Obviously, I wasn't going to stand in front of the mirror in the public bathroom checking out my ass. So I tried to see what I could just by turning around.

Yup, a bruise alright.

And Sunday when I got home and could make use of a mirror - I gasped in horror. My entire left butt cheek is black and blue. I mean it is a bruise to be proud of my friends. It is astonishing. If I could find a classy way to post a picture, I would.

So there you have it, my first cross country injury.

Worth it.

To be continued! Next up: Our debut in jumper land.

Feelin' so fly like a G6

Octoberfest 2011 show: Day 1

Prologue
Hampton and I arrived safely at the Hoosier Horse Park. We went for a ride in the dressage arenas which were 1) busy, 2) windy and 3) chilly. I knew I would see exactly what my 4 year old was made of.

He was fresh, but kept all 4 feet on the ground and was never naughty. No spooking and no screaming for other horses. I put him up just in time for fellow blogger Amy to roll in with Steady. We got the boys all ready for the night and went out to dinner. I have met Amy maybe twice so far ... but it seems like we have been friends for a long time! We chatted over dinner about all things horses and headed back to the park. I made up my bed in the back seat of a my truck and promptly passed out. It was much more comfortable that I had expected. Could have used a hot tub but hey, can't complain.

I ended up waking up about 5:30 a.m. on Saturday because the horses in the barn were chatting and pawing.  I stumbled jumped swiftly out of bed at about 7 a.m. to feed Hampton and get things organized for our 9:38 a.m. ride time.

Dressage
Our first test was our combined test dressage - Green As Grass. So it was just Intro Test B. It was in the one ring I did not ride Hampton in on Friday, but oh well. He was maybe a touch spooky when the hurricane force winds blew some footing around but we kept it together.

Chatting with the judge.

This is at the end of our test when the judge was talking to me.
Judge: "So, I just have to ask - what does Weekapaug Groove mean?"
Me: "Oh it's the name of a song."
Judge: "Oh I see! I thought it was the name of a bad rock band."

... I did not tell her that Hampton is indeed named after a Phish song. Not that this judge looked like she would have any clue who Phish is, but it was funny. She apparently liked us because we ended up with a 33 in that test (a 67%!!) which landed us in 2nd going into stadium.

Our next test was Training Level 1. I have done this test multiple times now. We get in the ring and things are going really well. Then what happens? I FORGET THE DAMN STRETCHY CIRCLE. I know it's only -2 points for an error but for crying outloud. I was so mad at myself. Ugh. I think Hampton was lobbying for a new rider for a while. We still earned a 64% - good enough for first place!

Finally, Training Level Test 3. I made SURE this time I was not going to forget the test. He warmed up well and we marched into the ring. I felt like we had a good test - maybe a little crooked at the right lead canter - but overall, a solid test. I was right! A 67.6% and first place! My personal best dressage score EVER. I am so proud of Hampton and how much he has grown up this year. :) My goal was to better my 65% from the Sept. CAF show and we did. And what's better is that those two 67% scores were from two different judges. We got great feedback on our score sheets and some nice compliments such as "lovely horse and rider" and "a great start to your dressage training - keep it up!" The judges seemed really nice and positive. Makes the experience so nice when they are not sticks in the mud.

You should also check out Amy's blog for her results. You should have seen these two cruise around the dressage ring! Holy cow do they look fancy! I have to say that the BN test was pretty wacky compared to the USDF tests I'm used to riding. If I can't remember Training Level 1 - I'm screwed when we get to BN in eventing. :)

During our stadium rounds we also ran into another fellow blogger - Kelly from Princess Diva Diaries. It was like the blog stalker club all in one place!

Stadium
Not much to really say here. Green as Grass was crossrails and to be honest, Hampton is bored with crossrails now. I know it, and my friends were letting me know, too. :) I knew it was time to move up and grow some balls. We has a smooth, clear round and ended up moving into first place! Go Hampton!

Hampton says "zzzz ... puhleeeeze."

After showing on Saturday, we went out to school cross country. This deserves its own post, so stay tuned.

After finishing up on Friday, I was all packed and ready to just head home. I felt so successful and I was also exhausted. But, Amy my enabler really awesome show buddy started to think about staying for Sunday's hunter/jumper show and taking Steady in some classes. I mean, we had already spent the gas to drive down here. And entered some jumping classes would be good for both Hamps and I. And they weren't too pricey ...

Yeah, we ended up staying. And I'm so glad I did.

To be continued: Next up cross country schooling and Day 2 of the show