close encounter of the coyote kind

ok, so i haven't updated in a couple days. i have 3 rides to catch you guys up on. I'll start with Thursday night's lesson at Mill Creek. 
it was dusk when i arrived, and i was both excited and a little nervous, because i'd never done a group lesson at MC, and these are very highly tuned riders with a lot of know how. also, i was training with an instructor i'd neever had before, Lindsey. so it was a big night anyway. i was mounted on Napoleon, a spry little pony, gray with little speckles (almost flea bitten) that my roommate just fell in love with. Napoleon is about 14hh, to my disappointment! however, pony though he may be, Napoleon is awesome. brave as a lion, lots of adjustability, and very responsive. i rode him once before, and i really do like him. we rode in the "back ring," where there are jumps set up and it's nearest to the edge of MC property. there were 6 in the group i believe, and Lindsey had us warm up at the walk and trot doing shoulder-ins and lateral work. in fact, she requested we do bending to the inside, and NO ONE'S horse was being responsive, hence the shoulder-in exercise. this is when, say you are tracking left, you squeeze your outside leg at the girth to bump the horse's shoulders off the rail toward the middle of the arena, and use your inside leg slightly behind the girth to keep the haunches on the rail. instead of moving on 2 tracks, the horse will be on 3 tracks. (this is hard to describe without going on for hours). the point of the exercise is to get the horse supple and listening to aides. 
i enjoy riding Napoleon because he is quite sensitive, and easy to bend one way or the other. anyway, then we did some canter warm up, circling a tree that grows in the middle of the ring, and doing steering exercises. it was pretty dark by now, and suddenly there was an outbreak of sharp, high pitched yelping and howling. the horses immediately went on hig alert, and Lindsey quickly and calmly ordered us to halt. our horses stood grouped together, nostrils flared, eyes wide and ears pricked, and i could feel the coiled power underneath me as Napoleon tensed for fight or flight. all the horses were very nervous; and it is NOT a fun feeling being on top of a horse that's ready to essentially flip out. lindsey pointed to the top of the hill and there was a group of large coyotes snapping and barking, looking down at us. 
normally i would have thought this was phenomenally cool, but horses are prey animals, and they clearly thought the canines resembled two headed sabertooth tigers. i had a tight rein on Napoleon, being no stranger to a spooking horse. once the horses had grown used to the racket the coyotes were making, we resumed our lesson. every now and then someone's horse would throw in a buck or a nervous hop, but my trusty pony held it together until...

we were in the middle of simple canter lead changes, making a figure-8 at the canter, trotting through the center and changing leads to go in the other direction after X. it was now completely dark, and unfortunately the dogs had moved in closer to the arena. they were snapping twigs right outside the rail, and the horses were riled up again. i was changing leads to the right in our second half of the figure 8, which brought us down very close to the end of the ring where the dogs were standing. Napoleon surged forward, with a few weird hops and threw his head up to evade the bit, and kind of bolted. i sat tight, and Lindsey barked at me to halt him and force him to back up. we were fine, Napoleon is a sensible creature and not one to truly try and dislodge his rider, but i'm telling you the adrenaline that comes when a horse spooks is intense! it was all over in a few moments, but it happened several times. another student's horse reared once or twice, and that was the extent of it. after that, lindsey had us stay in the upper end of the arena to finish the lesson, but no one fell or got attacked so all in all it was fine. quite the adventure though!
as we headed back to the barn, napoleon was dancing and finding excuses to spook, as it was dark and there were lots of nature noises happening. owls, frogs and the occasional bark had him huffing and prancing. lindsey told me i had an impressive seat, and kept great control, which was a great compliment in my mind! 

ain't this the damn truth

equestrian problems

I could hardly move when i woke up this morning. it is a full-body sore..from the neck, spreading through my shoulders and bicep, down my spine, through my abs/obliques, encompassing my hips (and bum) and shredding through my thighs and calves. i'm telling you, it's the sore that has you walking bow legged and wincing with every sneeze. you know the feeling. or maybe you don't, but if you've ever been in the saddle, i can see that knowing smile on your face right now. 
i'm not out of shape by any means; in fact i'm quite fit..but when you are introduced to new movements and challenges, the result is massive soreness, and essentially tighter, stronger muscles. SUCCESS! 
last night's lesson was a tough one. Megan started us on the beginnings of counter-canter, with the intro being one-loop serpentines. i rode Lusco, who was very stiff and wouldn't flex for me at first but is now pretty consistently on the bit. he quickly warmed up and got soft through bending and doing lateral work. now, Lusco decided to test me last night. in typical horse fashion, when we begin asking more of the horse, they respond with "are you SURE?" and it is the rider's responsibility to calmly insist that the work be done. luckily Lusco doesn't have enough energy (or bad manners) to buck or bolt when he is testing you. instead, when i asked for a more forward walk, he merely stopped dead in his tracks and wouldn't budge. i'm no newbie to this trick, as my own horse often pulled it, but i can tell you it gets me so steamed. the more i urged him forward, the harder he planted, but since i have my, uh, trusty spurs now, even Lord Lusco couldn't balk forever. he did this a good 5 times; we'd be walking nicely and then he'd stop so suddenly i would practically slide up his neck. horses! anyhow, after he was done with his protest, we got to work. 
we began with more bending and counter bending at the trot, and working on getting flexion at the canter, and then megan told us to do the one loops at the trot first. Casey was on Cruz, and we were the only two in the lesson, so we went at the same time, and i had to circle a couple times with my pony to keep from riding up their butt! 
a one loop is where you start in a corner of the arena, let's say  M, and we're going to the right. so you ride past M toward the center of the ring (X) with a right bend, change the bend left through the letter X, and keep the bend left til you approach the far corner of the same side, which is F, and then resume the bend right as you round the corner past F. put that in your pipe and smoke it! 

now it gets harder. it is fairly simple to change the bend that many times at the trot, where there is no distinct lead. however at the canter, a horse's natural bend is toward the lead they're on (if they're on the left lead, they bend left to keep their balance). so the tendency when you are changing bends at the canter is to break stride (or do flying lead change)so they don't lose their balance. the trick is to change the bend without changing the lead. needless to say it takes some good determination and a lot of strength. Lusco and i had many attempts before we started to get the hang of it..it's a mental challenge too because it's counter intuitive. but we got some done in the end. the worst that happened last night was my left hand got all busted and bloody and bruised from slamming against the pommel. this used to happen all the time and i ruined many pairs of breeches by soaking them with blood, but generally when i'm consistently training, my hand won't do that. i was rather discouraged and don't understand why that happened last night randomly..and damn it hurt too! but all i can think is that we were doing a harder drill and my body was trying so hard to do it that it compensated by making my hand do that. i don't know! anyway i have these beautiful new charcoal and black full seat breeches that i JUST bought, and i got them all bloodied, and just felt like crying, but my angel of a new roommate took them from me and soaked them in cold water and scrubbed some soap in and they are good as new. that girl rocks! <3 4 more lessons to go this week! check in later to see how i do at Mill Creek tonight. xoxo

stepping stones

Brie has been telling me to stay in touch with Hope Hand, USPEA president. i've spoken with her once in regard to introducing myself and putting myself on her radar. she is incredibly kind, encouraging and all around someone i'd be happy to know and work with. 

i called Hope yesterday, and we chatted like old friends. she inquired if i'd be going to florida next month for their clinic (God i wish!) but unfortunately i wouldn't have been able to anyway without my own horse..where are you?! 

he's a beaut

however it turns out there happens to be a clinic in the summer in MAINE, of all places, where i'm from, and Hope informed me that i'd be able to borrow a horse there if i could make it. this sounds almost doable. it's really essential that i start going to these para-clinics so people start knowing who i am, and Hope said they're going to have to see how i ride etc, so they can gauge the type of horse that would be suitable for me. She also mentioned another clinic near Sacramento in the summer (at least it's the same state!) that would be a great one for me to network and all that good stuff. 

it was a very positive conversation, and i am thrilled to pieces to have someone like Ms. Hand on my side in my quest for the big times! she inquired about my show experience, and helped me brainstorm several ways we could generate more publicity and interest in my journey. i have joined the USPEA website, http://uspea.org

which means that i'll be able to put information up there. basically, it was a great talk with Hope, and she always leaves me feeling upbeat and optimistic. like there's no reason i shouldn't make it on the team, if i just take the right steps!

horsing around

it never ceases to amaze me when i hear someone say riding isn't a real sport. oh really?  in fact, horseback riding is considered an EXTREME sport. more people die from riding accidents than most other sports. it is ranked the 3rd most dangerous sport in the world, and there are 13 deaths per 100,000 a year. if you compare this to boxing, for instance, with 1 death per 100,000; you start to grasp the concept. 
the reason it is dangerous is the degree of unpredictability. yes, horses are well trained to respond to signals we give them with our legs, seat, and handles; we have reins to stop them, stirrups to hold us in the saddle, a saddle to keep from sliding off, but at the end of the day; the horse is in control. if you're on a horse that REALLY wants you off, you haven't got a chance. on top of this, horses are prey animals, meaning they have deep set instincts of fight or flight. they spook at anything from a passing car to a leaf fluttering through the air. 
i have fallen off too many times to count, whether from jumps or just a random moment of bad timing. i've broken 9 bones and had a significant brain injury all from getting thrown off. don't get me started on the hows/whats of my breaks. all i can say is do your research before dismissing riding as a sport. 

i've been in this situation

what is more, when you're out there training, you pour sweat, your muscles ache, you get out of breath..obviously it depends on the level you're riding at, but take anyone who's never ridden, put them in a lesson; they will be walking bow-legged and doubled over for the next 3 days. this is because you are using stabilizer muscles that we're not aware of in everyday activities. even after 20yrs of riding, i still get sore! your legs, abs, lower back, core, calves...even upper body, automatically responds to a horse's movement to keep your balance and stay on. and trust me, falling off of even a small horse, from a height of 5-6ft, is never a pleasant experience. you have no control of how you land, and there's no real time to react and brace yourself once you're flying through the air. in something like football, you may be getting slammed into by 300lb linebackers, but the impact of slamming into the hard ground from that height is a lot more unforgiving. let's just say my helmet is made of Titanium for a reason!
bottom line, equestrians are some of the strongest, toughest, most fearless athletes out there. we're putting our life at stake (to some degree) each time we mount. for all those nonbelievers, just because it's not OUR feet moving over the ground, the sport of horseback riding takes a lot more balls than the everyday person has! 

afterthought

during my lesson today, Vivian and i discussed objectives and goals, and what the best approach would be to move me up the levels. she suggested other lessons i could join, and what next steps we could take. she thought out loud about other potential horses i could try out, and after mentioning some ponies, and me telling her i'm just not a huge fan of ponies and prefer some substance under me (i'm much more comfortable on big horses), she  came to the idea that i'd do well on Bambino. i looked into who he was, and it turns out hes a slightly higher level dressage horse, a Dutch WB; 16.3. she said he's probably a great match because she doesn't want to give me anything too easy because i'm "a good rider," and she wants to challenge me. Bambino seems pretty fun to me. Then after my lesson the sweetest thing.. the head stablehand, Mario, who is in charge of basically everything from the time a horse is brought out til the moment you mount, started talking to me. what he said touched my heart. he told me that my disposition made him happy, and that a fellow rider mentioned to him that i was a beautiful girl and he wanted to pass it on to me..that my cheeriness was contagious and that he wished everyone at the stable was such a sunny person. he went on to say he wanted to replace some "less upbeat people" with me in lessons that were too full! he went on and on, just saying how my sweetness made everyone want to be around me, and that he knew i would make it just by the type of person i was. i can tell you i was flattered immeasurably and blushing at that point! he said that he got so stressed out dealing with negative people during the week but my eagerness to be there was refreshing and made him happy. 

the Babe

i told him all that was very kind, but it's just because i am so enthused to be riding. otherwise i'm a complete ogre. :-p
anyway, then Mr. Mario said on a side note, that he'd be interested to see how i do on Bambino. vivian hadn't said anything to him, so now i'm even more eager to try this guy!
once mario got me into the ring, he said what to me was the biggest compliment he could have done,
"i like you on Zori, because when you ride her, she comes up through her topline and gets round. no other students ride her so correct like this."
now THAT just sent me to the moon!! now i just have to convince all the judges of exactly what Mario just mentioned! and that, my friends, is what dressage is all about. i'm so excited to start the new week, i've got 4 LESSONS. yayyyyy!

the art of riding

I'm not going to lie, i was scared to get on Zori with spurs on. 
Zori is a very nice mare; a bit witchy (typical) but very nicely put together, elegant, leggy, and extremely comfortable. the problem? she's a thoroughbred. this works both for and against me. she is very sensitive (plus!) but hard to slow down (minus). 
i mounted her gingerly, fairly sure that i'd be taking the spikes off before we got to work, but to my surprise she didn't buck, bolt, jump or even flinch. in fact, they really helped me steer. i have a hard time steering Zori because at Mill Creek, we don't have a bar rein. this means i must loop the reins in one hand, and i have zero leverage to use the reins independently. as such, particularly at the canter, Zori will run through the left rein on the right lead. problem!

pretty girl 

Vivian trained me today. we went up in the hill arena, a 40mx20m ring overlooking the spread of the stable. it's smaller than a regular dressage ring, but perfectly accommodating. Viv set up a bunch of cones and we went to work on steering with my legs and body. we started with cones set to make one loop shallow serpentines on either longside; starting at the walk, and then the trot. it was difficult at first to get Zori straight, because i tend to turn the second half of the loop into a leg yield since my right side is stronger. 
after that, vivian set cones to mark a 20m circle at C, with 2 cones set where i would ride between as if i was entering a dressage test. she told me the entrance in a show ring is one of the hardest moves because staying straight down the centerline is nearly impossible. horses always drift, or bulge to one side if you're not very insistent on straightness. we warmed up doing figure-8s between the markers, and sure enough Zori was all over the place at first! getting her to turn right was so hard, cuz your wrist just doesn't give the leverage needed to tilt her head that way. it was a lot of, "right shoulder back, Elle!" "right leg on," "right seatbone shift to the right, but don't get too unbalanced!" "right shoulder back further but don't collapse your ribcage." 
riding is more mental than any of you ever thought!
once vivian was satisfied with my figure-8s, we proceeded to simulate a test entry. again, straightness on the centerline was iffy at first. but Zori's sensitivity off the leg really helped because she responded easily to my shift in weight and very slight pressure from my left leg. 
canter work intimidated me. i've experienced Zori's speediness several times, with no spurs, and also steering issues at the canter. but we went to it, and to my relief, she didn't rush, even on the longsides. she stayed very collected and round. the steering to the right was a disaster. we cantered once around the perimeter, and then i was instructed to execute a 20m circle at A. instead, we continued sweetly on past A, then K, then E, without so much as an inclination to circle, even though i was furiously trying. poor Zor just couldn't understand wht i was asking of her. the fact that the reins slip right through my grasp didn't help my cause. 

bar reins. this is what i desperately need!

in the end, when i figured out how to exaggerate my body position toward the right, we accomplished a few good circles. the best part of the lesson were my perfectly executed canter transitions, even on a straightaway, always picking up the correct lead, even from a walk. it was like a one step move every time. perfection!
then we discussed my next show coming up in March, and viv said she's going to pull all the Training Level tests for us to perfect, as well as 1st Level 1 to school. if i'm good enough by March, i could compete at Level 1, which is ideal. until then, i SERIOUSLY need to get a bar rein from this tack place in the UK; there aren't sufficient adaptive tack suppliers in the U.S. unfortunately! so i'll be saving up to get a pair, because otherwise i can't work on more important things if my steering is shoddy! i'll leave you all with this quote from a sign over the tackroom at MC, which will give you a better idea of the life of an equestrian:
"Riding is the art of keeping a horse between you and the ground."
ENOUGH SAID!!!

serpentines

My lesson at Ride On yesterday was very constructive. We focused on bending and keeping the horses straight between bends. this might sound like an oxymoron but really you'll understand once i explain!
i rode Lusco, the Andalusian fairy pony. you know, ever since i took spurs to him, he's decided he has enough gas in the tank after all! coincidence? i think not. Brie had us warm up at the trot and do bending and counter-bending around the track, as usual. Lusco is stiff to the left, which is rather unfortunate since i'm weak on the left and thus it's quite a task to get him to bend that way. but he loosened up gradually, and then all the riders lined up at A. we thus proceeded all in procession to make a 5 LOOP serpentine, which is like a figure-8 with 5 circles instead of 2! the goal here is to switch the horse's bend in the middle of the loop (over the center line) and keep the horse from leaning on your inside leg while anticipating the next loop. Lusco, as it turns out is quite more sensitive than i had previously sen; and he started to really come through his topline, and get on the bit for me. 
My habit du jour is that i tend to throw away the connection to the horse's mouth once they give to pressure, where instead i should take up the extra contact. In the canter, it's a reflex for me to take a tighter contact and kind of hold the horse in a frame, but in the trot, my (incorrect) reflex is to give more slack in the rein when they flex. Brie told me she wants the same quality frame and contact in the trot as i get in the canter. we have work to do! 
in the canter, Lusco got quite forward, especially to the left lead where it's more difficult for my inside (left) leg to stand him up and keep him balanced. of course, when a horse becomes unbalanced, they tend to rush, and thus,today my entire arm is very sore! the funniest part of the lesson? Casey, a fellow student, exclaimed "I've never heard Brie to tell anyone to slow down on Lusco!" truth. 

now i'm off to a spontaneous lesson at Mill Creek!! my first in several months, so I'm immensely excited! check back later for a replay on that lesson!