Just got home from another fantastic clinic in Calgary, had a few days of excellent lessons (as always I believe that even professional riders need to take advantage of good instruction whenever possible, if we don't get routine help then we lose touch with reality in our training and often get stuck in a rut or keep making the same mistakes over and over again), I rode two horses in the clinic, my usual partner Dominic as well as Landino a horse in training who I felt would benefit from a field trip and some instruction, both horses were fantastic and made great progress over the days. With Dominic we worked lots on variations, especially lots of transitions within the gaits. Dominic is a tense horse by nature and consequently the biggest issue in our training is always to get him looser and more swinging, every horse has their natural tendencies and as trainers we have to understand that we can't 'fix' who our horses are but work to improve their weaknesses progressively through a planned training program, in other words I can't expect that Dominic will overnight just magically change and become the world's most relaxed horse, he is who he is, however with systematic training and development we can improve this tendency and develop him into a more relaxed boy, consequently we try to keep a work program that consists of lots of variations between high degrees of collection and then intervals of loose, stretching working trot, with the goal that over time the looseness and stretching that we find in the working gaits will carry over into all the other work. As always, it's so interesting to look back over things in time and see how they've changed, if your horse continues to improve his gaits throughout the course of his training then you're doing your job as a trainer. It's so beneficial to keep old video footage to look back on to see the development, after this week's clinic I looked back through some of my old videos of Dominic and found this one taken two years ago in June 2010:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hLSOqFIADY
-video clips from a couple of shows at PSG/I1 level in 2010
After watching this one I compared it to the video taken from the clinic this week:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmTdypBDzlo
-this only shows a few clips of some of the more collected work as I could only fit so much in the video but in between we alternate frequently to a working/stretching gait and then back to the collection
I was shocked at the difference in Dominic, it's rare that I get the chance to just sit down and compare video footage over the years, it's truly amazing how much a horse develops with training and a proper care plan in place to keep their bodies performing in top condition, I have to say a thanks to Mills Vet for helping to keep Dominic in top shape over the years. It's so interesting to see how he has learned to use his body in such a different way, much more articulation through the back and joints and consequently greater carriage and more expression. To make a long story short it's fascinating to keep video over the years and see how the horses change and develop, it's also a great way to see if your training is really helping to develop your horse into a better athlete, I'm very happy with how far Dominic has come over the years and can't wait to see how he continues in his career:)
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Elevator....no thanks!
I stumbled across a quote this evening that meant a lot to me in both the literal and figurative sense and felt the need to write a post about it (I'm a quote person, I love literature and my daily life is surrounded by meaningful quotes, some people may find that cheesy but I'm okay with that!;).....
“The elevator to success is out of order. You’ll have to use the stairs… one step at a time.”
Anyone who has spent much time around me knows that I am a person who never opts to take an elevator, when I have an option I will always go for the stairs, my explanation has always been a simple one, why would anyone who has the physical capability of taking the stairs want to take an elevator?? This is such a minor thing in day to day living that I never really thought about it until I saw that quote this evening and realized how that same principle applies to my whole take on life and my journey with horses in general. I've always had a steadfast belief that there are two keys to success, the first and most important is an excellent work ethic, the second is a small amount of luck. Day in and day out, people with work ethics have the ability to self motivate and carry on when things get tough, they have the determination to look for creative solutions when things don't work and the perseverance to not give up where others might. While a strong work ethic won't necessarily get someone where they're going the fastest, I do believe it will provide them with longevity which is much more valuable in the long run. Coming from a completely un-horsey family I have had to work my way up in the horse industry, and being a person who is continually striving for improvement I will continue to work my way up higher, if you're not moving forward then you're probably standing still! I was always warned not to get into the horse industry as "it's a tough one", and that it is, however I can honestly say there is nothing else on this planet that I could ever have the same passion to work for, I've also been fortunate to have people in my life who have recognized my commitment level and have helped me in various ways along on my journey and that's where that little bit of luck in finding amazing friends and supporters sure helps, I hope that one day somewhere down the road I am in a position to pay that luck forward to someone else coming up in the sport. At the end of the day I can honestly say that although the road is long and often uphill, I am very happy with how my journey has come about and look forward to seeing where it goes from here, I don't believe for one second that I would have the same resources and tools nor would I have the horse sense that I do had it been an easier road, I have learned so much from the horses, trainers and experiences that I have had in my life, sometimes it's not always a good lesson but even in the bad moments there is always something to be learned and put on file and the good days are the ones that keep me going, lessons in horses and lessons in life, amazing how they cross over!
“The elevator to success is out of order. You’ll have to use the stairs… one step at a time.”
Anyone who has spent much time around me knows that I am a person who never opts to take an elevator, when I have an option I will always go for the stairs, my explanation has always been a simple one, why would anyone who has the physical capability of taking the stairs want to take an elevator?? This is such a minor thing in day to day living that I never really thought about it until I saw that quote this evening and realized how that same principle applies to my whole take on life and my journey with horses in general. I've always had a steadfast belief that there are two keys to success, the first and most important is an excellent work ethic, the second is a small amount of luck. Day in and day out, people with work ethics have the ability to self motivate and carry on when things get tough, they have the determination to look for creative solutions when things don't work and the perseverance to not give up where others might. While a strong work ethic won't necessarily get someone where they're going the fastest, I do believe it will provide them with longevity which is much more valuable in the long run. Coming from a completely un-horsey family I have had to work my way up in the horse industry, and being a person who is continually striving for improvement I will continue to work my way up higher, if you're not moving forward then you're probably standing still! I was always warned not to get into the horse industry as "it's a tough one", and that it is, however I can honestly say there is nothing else on this planet that I could ever have the same passion to work for, I've also been fortunate to have people in my life who have recognized my commitment level and have helped me in various ways along on my journey and that's where that little bit of luck in finding amazing friends and supporters sure helps, I hope that one day somewhere down the road I am in a position to pay that luck forward to someone else coming up in the sport. At the end of the day I can honestly say that although the road is long and often uphill, I am very happy with how my journey has come about and look forward to seeing where it goes from here, I don't believe for one second that I would have the same resources and tools nor would I have the horse sense that I do had it been an easier road, I have learned so much from the horses, trainers and experiences that I have had in my life, sometimes it's not always a good lesson but even in the bad moments there is always something to be learned and put on file and the good days are the ones that keep me going, lessons in horses and lessons in life, amazing how they cross over!
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Dressage....more than a pattern...it's a sport!!
First off just wanted to update everyone that our travels back home from Florida were very smooth, no truck troubles or traffic problems, not even a flat tire!!:) Horses had a little holiday upon arriving home and are starting to build back into their working routine. I wanted to take this time to write a bit about something that I've observed a lot over the past few years and I think is becoming somewhat of an epidemic in the North American dressage world, I'm seeing a lot of people who view dressage as riding a pattern or riding movements and are losing the total concept that dressage is about developing the horse as a complete athlete, building up their strength and suppleness through consistent training. I see a lot of riders spending time practicing figures or going through the motions but not really training their horses bodies. In order to train the bodies of our horses there has to be a consistent developmental process which strengthens them over time and creates stronger and more supple athletes and, consequently, better movers. I hear a lot of people saying their horse isn't 'nice enough', realistically obviously some horses are more gifted athletes than others however there are plenty of good quality horses on this continent and even in our own backyards but as riders we have to train good quality horses to become better horses, proper training and development ensures the horses gaits continue to improve as they move up the levels, a horse doing a shoulder in at second level should not look the same as a horse doing a shoulder in at the PSG level which requires a far greater degree of collection and engagement. Trainers have to have a good sense of how much to expect from a horse at their level and when is an appropriate time to up the demand, they also have to have quick timing and reflexes to make corrections when needed and to reward immediately when the right reaction is attained. I think sometimes trainers are viewed as people who 'put a horse through their paces' or 'get horses to the show ring' and no doubt there are trainers out there who are simply going through the motions of the job and/or are in it just for the competitive aspect, but successful trainers put far more thought into the training process and where things are going in the long run versus when they next go up the centreline at a show. I know I personally spend a great deal of time at the end of my day going over each and every ride and figuring out what I could have done better, did I ask too much, did I not ask enough, should I add more variety or try a different approach, what worked and what didn't, all questions that I ask myself at the end of each day about each horse and/or rider (depending if I'm training from the saddle or coaching from the ground). Lastly, dressage is a sport at the end of the day! Every horse and rider is on a different path and thus a different conditioning plan. A rider who is training casually at the lower levels should not expect that a rider and horse who are training at the FEI levels will train the same way, similar to humans at the gym, some people come for a casual workout daily, 25 mins on the treadmill and some light weights and others come for a full on workout, same applies to riding, the workout must match the level and/or goals for that particular horse and rider and must keep in mind any physical limitations a horse might have, horses training at a higher level will have to push more and be more reactive than horses at a lower level and a trainer has to have a game plan of when to push and when to plateau, they have to have a large toolbox and know which tools to use for which situation and when to use them, and trainers should also (no matter how experienced they are) continue to seek out the help of more knowledgeable trainers, I see lots of trainers who rarely take lessons or seek out help and firmly believe that to keep ourselves sharp we need to continue to seek out help ourselves, "being a trainer" is simply not enough, one has to "be a trainer who is continually evolving". Anyhow, some of my observations and opinions on the sport, for what they're worth;)
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Last post from Florida 2012
Last post before we leave Florida, today is our last day in paradise before we start the journey back home to Canada, it's very bittersweet, it's been a great winter season with a great group of people and though I'm super happy to be heading back home to my friends, horses and clients in Kelowna, I'm also incredibly sad to be leaving our winter home for another season. The past few weeks with Nico have brought about huge progress, we went through a bit of a tricky stage where we pushed the envelope a little bit and stepped things up so we had a couple of difficult days but then started to have that breakthrough to the next level again, the past two rides particularly he has really started to feel like a whole different horse and I'm excited to see how this will continue to develop over the next few months. I'm also extremely happy that I've now had multiple trainers tell me that he has the caliber to be a 70% horse in the Grand Prix arena, I'm in no way naive enough to think that this means we'll head up the centerline and magically get 70s all of a sudden of course, I realize the consistency and reliability has to be developed for that to become a reality and that's a long term project especially with a more intricate tempered horse like Nico but I'm thrilled to have more and more people confirming his potential to excel as a Grand Prix horse as I've always believed in his physical abilities.....now it's just a matter of getting him to be as confident in his abilities as well and that will take some time but I feel like we are really on the right track! I saw an interesting article online the other day and wanted to share (http://www.horsejunkiesunited.com/2012/03/28/money-matters-how-much-does-it-cost-to-ride-at-the-olympics/) it does a great job of explaining the costs associated with competing a horse at the top level and is very insightful, it's definitely a very daunting task to pack up with your life savings in your pocket to pursue a dream and yet, despite the stress and worry that goes along with it, when you have a passion it is something that one simply has to do, that being said I have to say my sincere thanks to everyone who made this trip possible once again and has contributed to keeping my dreams alive, it means the world to me. A huge thanks to all of my supporters back home, friends, clients etc, you have all been amazing, I am surrounded by some pretty incredible people and am so grateful for everyone who helps to keep me going, I can only repay you all by continuing to work towards the dream with my utmost determination and steadfast work ethic and am so thankful to those of you who recognize and appreciate this, I am lucky to have a clientele that is so understanding of my being away for a little while, I feel so thankful that my clients truly understand that my taking the time out to continue my own education makes me much more valuable as a rider, coach and trainer as well, that being said I'm looking forward to getting back home to you all to start sharing some of the education:) Also many thanks to Albrecht for a wonderful season of winter training and everyone at the Lady Jean Ranch for their incredible hospitality at their beautiful facility.....and so the journey home begins bright and early tomorrow morning, will keep you all posted:)
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Rozzie's Big Debut
This week it was Rozzie's turn to get out and about, early on in the week she had another in-hand session with Juan Matute, this session was really interesting because I actually got to do some of the in-hand work with her myself, it's definitely a unique skill and takes some practice to keep things organized, same principles as in the saddle apply, equal contact in two reins etc. though it takes a different feel to achieve this while walking on the ground than riding in the saddle that's for sure! On Thurs we hauled down to the Jim Brandon Center to school before the show this weekend, Roz hauled very well and settled right in at the show grounds like she was an old pro, as is my luck with weather, no sooner had I saddled up and started to walk her around the clouds rolled in and it started pouring but I figured oh well she may as well get used to the rain now! She was a good girl schooling out in the rain though she was a bit nervous and wanting to look around, she wasn't spooky or naughty at all more just tense and needed to keep moving and wanting to look out at the other horses but for her first time at a big show park in horrible weather I thought she did pretty well! I decided to keep the tests easy for her first outing and just put her in First Level until she gets the concept of what this showing stuff is all about and then I'll move her up as she's already got her changes and is quite handy with the lateral work. She overnighted really well and when I brought her out and mounted up she started off with a big giant cat stretch in the middle of the yard that's how stressful her night was haha! Our first test was green but otherwise quite okay, she got a bit worried about all of the traffic in the warmup ring, she does get a bit intimidated by bigger horses in the ring with her (I've noticed this at home as well) so she got a bit hot out there. We went up our first centerline and she pulled a typical greenie trick of looking at the judge for the first time and spinning around and trying to leave, she's not the first smart one to try that nor will she be the last, but once I got her turned back around and moving she was totally fine and settled into the test, couple of bobbles in transitions and a bit of nervous jogging in the walk but honestly for her very first test at a show I was very pleased, she ended up with a second place in the class for the day and I was very pleased with her. This morning the warmup ring was busier for her and again she was quite hot but very well behaved, her test was good, she now knows what centerlines are all about and did a relatively steady test, still wanted to jog in the walk but that's okay for now, that extra energy will serve her well later in her career I'm quite certain, she ended up with a 67% and change and many compliments about how lovely she was from people watching, all in all I was quite happy with her first showing, very proud of her! She's now happy to be back at home in her stall at the Lady Jean Ranch and will get a well deserved day off tomorrow, good girl Rozzie!!:)
Monday, March 5, 2012
Fun Video
Adding a fun video link below, one of my clients Patti Milare from back home made this from one of the Courtenay Fraser clinics (Courtenay has been doing clinics for my clients in my absence), thought she did a great job on it and wanted to share:)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dk96kBX-lN4&feature=share
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dk96kBX-lN4&feature=share
Palm Beach Derby
So this past weekend we attended the Palm Beach Derby, last weekend's show was a positive experience, we kept everything friendly and basically rode just to get through the test nicely which we were able to achieve, being that I kept the pressure off last weekend the tests were rideable but naturally lacked in areas, the piaffe, passage and pirouettes were definitely lacking and nowhere near the caliber that I know Nico is capable of, so having a show the following week I decided I wanted to push things a little bit and find out where the holes were, it's a tricky balance because we have to be able to keep things harmonious but that being said if you never push the limits things don't improve either and then everything just becomes stagnant. This weekend we had some issues in our tests because I pushed more and sometimes when you push more the wheels come off but now I know where the holes are and what needs to be worked on so I'm happy with the result as I've gained a lot of insight on where things need to go. Nico has two ways of going right now and I have to teach him to combine the two, he can be relaxed and fluid or he can be expressive but with tension, what we haven't mastered yet is to get him to offer the expression and yet let go and relax within it, this is something I have to improve with him in order to get the maximum horse I know I have, right now it's a little bit like riding two separate horses and I have to get him somewhere in the middle. I'm very glad I did the two shows back to back with him, although they weren't good shows from the competition standpoint they were necessary for the training purpose as I needed to figure out the pieces that weren't working. When you train always at home it's so easy to set things up and then execute them very nicely but when you go up the centerline to actually ride a test you really find out if it works in the heat of the moment. Anyhow, lots was learned from the past two weekends and now I can implement that into our training, there is so much to figure out making the leap from the small tour to the Grand Prix with a horse as it's really a completely different world, in the small tour you can still get by having a few holes and 'coasting' when you step up the Grand Prix you really find out if you've got your horse honestly on the aids and if not then you better do your homework, tomorrow Nico and I will start on ours:) This extra degree of knowledge with Nico has also helped me to work on a couple of things with Roz, I realized I was letting her push through me a bit too much, she's a very nice ride in the bridle most of the time so I was getting a bit casual about not really bringing her back to me enough, I was going in half way and kind of being satisfied with that and not really getting a full reaction from her, and consequently not putting her onto her hindlegs enough, it's always amazing how something you figure out with one horse can open your eyes to something with another, horses always have something to teach us as long as we choose to never stop learning. Rozzie is going to go out to her first show experience this weekend, not sure if I'll actually ride a test with her yet or just school her in the warmup, we'll see how she copes with the atmosphere and go from there.
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Busy Week!:)
Lots and lots to update! Earlier this week Miss Roz got her very first in-hand session with Juan Matute, it's always interesting to see the greenies and how they take to it at first, Roz is a funny girl because she always takes a little while to catch on to something but then when she starts to get it she's eager to try it out, the in-hand work was no different, it took a good while at the beginning to get her reacting but then out of the blue she started to get it, when I got back on her I felt a huge difference, she was stretching more to the contact and her shoulders were much more square in front of me, since then she's starting to play around more and more with her hindlegs, right now it's usually just a clumsy jump behind or hiccup of the croup but that's okay, at this point in time all we are looking for is that she reacts in the right area, after that is more confirmed then we can start to narrow it down and explain to her how it is we want her to react, one step at a time. Yesterday and today Nico and I attended our first show of the season, just a smallish schooling show and we rode two Grand Prix tests, generally speaking I was quite pleased with him, nothing amazing score wise or anything, it's all still a bit too green naturally and he had lots of little green mistakes but they were honest mistakes not due to him getting distracted or being silly so this I can totally accept. Yesterday he was particularly focused and I was quite pleased with how our canter work went....except for the centerline pirouettes those are still quite tricky but we're working on it, but usually the canter tour is weaker than the trot tour and this weekend it was the other way around so that's a good step I think! Our piaffe didn't want to work in the ring yesterday but that's just a bit of time to get him on the same page as me in the ring, we know he doesn't lack in talent when it comes to piaffe so that's just a matter of getting him dialed it to doing it on the mark. Today we had a pretty big challenge, just as I was halfway to the warmup ring it started pouring, pelting rain and flying leaves, needless to say Nico wanted out of there and spun and took off back to the barn, I can't honestly say I blamed him I didn't want to be out in that either!! I got back to the barn under cover and thought about scratching him but then the skies cleared to a reasonable amount of rain, unfortunately we now only had about 25 mins to warmup, half our usual warmup time but I figured oh well, got him out to the warmup and he was very tense, got through our warmup and then the rider in front of us missed her ride time so being that none of us could see a rider in that ring and yet we knew she had warmed up we couldn't figure out if there was a delay, then next thing I know the steward is calling me because the previous rider missed her time and now the judge had blown the whistle for my time! So we trotted straight over and cantered right up the centerline, no going around the ring, relaxing him or anything, hardly ideal for a horse who tends to be spooky, but we managed to keep a lid on things and work it out not too badly, again too many mistakes to be anything spectacular score wise but fair mistakes, I was proud of him for coping under those circumstances, there was a time where that would not have happened at all so progress is being made:) Basically because we have moved up to a new level it's going to take some time to find the ins and outs of the test, it's a huge leap from the small tour to the Grand Prix so I'm still figuring out where the trouble spots are for Nico and how to best navigate the test for him when we put it all together and he needs to gain a bit more confidence in some of the movements in the ring, it's a joint production to pull this all off, haha who knew dressage was so hard?!;) Now I am going to sit down and make some notes while the tests of the past two days are fresh in my mind so that I can remember the trouble spots and how I want to ride them on the next go around:)
Friday, February 17, 2012
Half-Time!!
Another week has gone by already, I can't believe how fast the time is passing, we're already at the halfway mark of our time down here. I did feel a bit homesick the other day, definitely missing my friends, clients and horses back home, but then I heard there was a big snow storm and that cured my homesickness pretty quickly haha! This Wednesday we had Juan Matute come out to the barn to work a number of the horses in hand, Juan worked with Nico a bit last winter so it was nice to be able to have another session with him, I was especially pleased that he noticed such a huge difference in Nico from last year, said he wouldn't have even recognized him as being the same horse. Juan is quite amazing to watch with the in-hand work, his timing and patient persistence with the horses is very admirable, he has some videos on dressageclinic.com which I would highly recommend to anyone interested. Nico is really quite good with the in-hand work now and actually gets quite hot from it which is definitely good as it allows us to tap more into his hindlegs in the collected work, however this is a bit of a careful balancing act as today I had some moments where he felt fantastic but also a couple moments where I could feel him really getting a bit worried about his newfound engagement as, it's always a fine line to up the bar steadily but to also keep things under control so that the horse can achieve success and then relax into their newfound balance and power as well, oh well no one ever said dressage was easy!;) Rozzie is also finding new pieces of herself out, she is starting to understand about how her hindleg joints work more and more and she gets moments where she really sits more and starts to push uphill, consequently she is starting to come up more in front and get more shoulder as well, she can't hold it long yet as she's not strong in this balance yet so we tend to get some fishtailing while she tries to figure it out then a few steps of really good and then she usually loses her balance and we resume the cycle, today she was able to hold an extension for a whole diagonal in quite an uphill balance and it felt really amazing! I'm very impressed with her bravery to try and figure things out, she has her moments where she gets a bit pushy but it always comes from a good place, I feel she gets frustrated sometimes when she can't quite figure something out and I love that she's so interested in her work and wants to do things right so badly even when we do get some uncoordinated extras thrown in;)
On a personal note, those of you who know me well know how much I love music, these days I find Bob Seger's Against the Wind turning up on my ipod regularly, such an amazing song and of all the literature I've read and songs I've listened to over the years this one contains one of the greatest lines of all time in my opinion "wish I didn't know now what I didn't know then", that line is so incredibly deep and can relate to so many times and things in life and I'm sure pretty much every person on this planet could find a personal meaning to that very line, anyways just thought I would share that for anyone who is also a Bob Seger fan out there;)
On a personal note, those of you who know me well know how much I love music, these days I find Bob Seger's Against the Wind turning up on my ipod regularly, such an amazing song and of all the literature I've read and songs I've listened to over the years this one contains one of the greatest lines of all time in my opinion "wish I didn't know now what I didn't know then", that line is so incredibly deep and can relate to so many times and things in life and I'm sure pretty much every person on this planet could find a personal meaning to that very line, anyways just thought I would share that for anyone who is also a Bob Seger fan out there;)
Friday, February 10, 2012
Enjoy the ride!
Training continues to move steadily along, hauled Nico down to the Jim Brandon Center on Thursday again, this was the warmup day of the show this weekend so I was able to school him in the actual show ring rather than just the warmup ring which worked out really well, I was quite happy with how rideable he was, sometimes at shows he can get a bit nervous and consequently a bit touchy and edgy but he felt very much the same as at home, I felt I could really ride him and had good access to all of the movements, so our next step will now be to take it into a test and see if we can maintain this new degree of rideability in an actual test scenario, so in the next couple of weeks we will likely be taking in our first show of the season down here, exciting and scary all at the same time! On the weather side of things we've had a whole lot of rain down here the past week, I know everyone back home is probably feeling very sorry for me haha! One of the things about being down here in an environment so full of riders from across the continent is that you really become aware of different styles and techniques, which is natural considering there are so many different educational backgrounds available in this sport. You really get the opportunity to see so many different riders, riding a variety of different horses and get a sense of how they train and how they've come up the levels etc. When I look back on my experiences over the years and the horses I learned on I can honestly say that in the end it all worked out to make a path that has suited me well. While growing up I never had the fanciest horse in the barn, nor the best equipment, nor the most lessons, but I had horses who challenged me and I was very committed to the education that I did receive at the time, and being the determined person that I am this was a good combination, as the years progressed and I rode many different horses and was able to gain consistent education I was able to evolve more and more and this continues to this day (and I hope will only continue to grow more each and every year:). I can honestly say that every horse I've worked with over the years has had a valuable lesson for me to learn, some have taught me more than others and some it took me longer to figure out for sure, but through all the different types and temperaments I think I've gained really useable insight and many tools to draw upon in my day to day training. I guess what I'm trying to get at here is that there are so many opinions of what the "best way" to learn is and for my feeling it's to commit to a path and then commit to learning on that path and continuing to evolve because no matter what, in the sport of dressage, you will never know enough and as riders it is our responsibility to continue to learn, continue to better ourselves (as riders, horsepeople and humans in general!) and enjoy the ride!
Monday, February 6, 2012
Flooding and Tack Fitting!!
The horses continue to impress me with their steady progress in training down here, this past month has really brought about some breakthroughs in training for both Nico and Roz. Today with Nico we worked lots on the piaffe/passage work, trying to create more cadence in his passage by using frequent variation in the transitions, going from piaffe to a more forward piaffe into a smaller more expressive passage then straight into a medium trot and back to passage, I am pleased with how these little gear shifts are working more and more fluidly with him, we also worked with zig zag leg yields in the canter, this helps first of all to improve the zig zag half passes from the Grand Prix but also just generally it has really helped Nico to become braver about opening his shoulders up more and has gotten him much more into two reins in the canter work. Roz was a good girl as well, with learning to sit more I find her becoming more confident in her balance as well, she still has a ways to go but I feel it improving regularly, I notice it in her flying changes more and more, especially the right to left one, she's been pretty good about the changes in general but before, she would get a bit away from me, especially in the right to left one, sometimes they felt like she was about ready to achieve lift off, now I feel the aids go through more smoothy and then I can ride sequence changes more and more without feeling like she's losing her balance and running through the changes, she is now able to do a greenish working canter pirouette as well. In other exciting horsey news, Tango decided to dismantle his auto waterer last night, I must have had a sense as I went to do night check a bit early and as soon as I walked in the barn heard an abnormal sound coming from a waterer and sure enough he was in the process of flooding his stall! Thankfully he hadn't done it too soon before I arrived as the stall wasn't too wet so I managed to turn it off and prevent Tango from floating away, crisis averted!!;) Must be the week of flooding as it poured rain all day today and I literally have a pond right outside the trailer door, who knew I would be so lucky as to have lakefront real estate in the RV park!;)
On another note, was just reading the noseband article on Eurodressage and I have to say noseband fitting is one issue that drives me crazy with horses, I come from the good old pony club background of bridle fitting, four fingers under a throatlatch, two fingers under a noseband and the noseband height two fingers below the horse's cheekbone. These days it seems everything is done to the extreme, either people ride with their nosebands so tight the horse has a permanent indent in their nose or so loose that it can be seen dangling a mile away, I equate noseband fitting to the fitting of a watch, you don't want it so tight that your hand is turning purple and yet you don't want it so loose that it's constantly sliding up and down your arm, the correct tension is enough to keep it quietly in place, I think this is common sense but then common sense with horses isn't always something that we see unfortunately. In my opinion monitoring of the noseband tightness by stewards is a good thing, though I think a good steward who is well trained should naturally be slipping two fingers under the noseband during a tack check anyhow, if we can train 12 year olds in pony club to do this on a regular basis surely our dressage stewards should be able to do the same? And on the rider responsibility end of things, riders ought to know the proper way to fit a basic snaffle bridle before climbing in the saddle, I'm pretty sure there are no hockey players out there who don't know how to properly lace up their skates!
On another note, was just reading the noseband article on Eurodressage and I have to say noseband fitting is one issue that drives me crazy with horses, I come from the good old pony club background of bridle fitting, four fingers under a throatlatch, two fingers under a noseband and the noseband height two fingers below the horse's cheekbone. These days it seems everything is done to the extreme, either people ride with their nosebands so tight the horse has a permanent indent in their nose or so loose that it can be seen dangling a mile away, I equate noseband fitting to the fitting of a watch, you don't want it so tight that your hand is turning purple and yet you don't want it so loose that it's constantly sliding up and down your arm, the correct tension is enough to keep it quietly in place, I think this is common sense but then common sense with horses isn't always something that we see unfortunately. In my opinion monitoring of the noseband tightness by stewards is a good thing, though I think a good steward who is well trained should naturally be slipping two fingers under the noseband during a tack check anyhow, if we can train 12 year olds in pony club to do this on a regular basis surely our dressage stewards should be able to do the same? And on the rider responsibility end of things, riders ought to know the proper way to fit a basic snaffle bridle before climbing in the saddle, I'm pretty sure there are no hockey players out there who don't know how to properly lace up their skates!
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Two Steps!
Today was a fantastic day! I had a really great ride on Nico, one of those days where things really clicked, he felt in front of me and supple right from the beginning, it's such a great feeling when you first get on and pick up the reins and can just tell it's going to be a good ride. His canter work is really starting to improve and the passage/piaffe work today was some of the best I've felt from him, he had two steps in the piaffe where he gave me more than he's ever given me before and actually totally surprised me how much he had in there all of a sudden, those moments where you feel your horse go out of their comfort zone to try and give you everything even for only two steps of brilliance, are what make all the hard work so worth it. It's these subtle moments of dressage training that made me fall in love with this sport, as much as I am a competitive person and do enjoy showing it's the little victories in the day to day training that I truly live for, the moments where you really feel complete harmony with the horse under you. Roz also had a very good day, she is learning how to use herself differently now, learning how to carry much more, especially in the canter, she's such a quick mare that she actually has to slow down a bit and take more time in her strides in order to use her joints to carry, this is such a different ride than Nico whose steps I'm always trying to make quicker so that he gets more push off the ground and articulation through the hindlegs and back, they're really polar opposites in their way of going and yet both very athletic horses and I love riding each of them and think it's a great challenge to ride two completely opposite type horses everyday. So that was my great day, tomorrow the horses have a well earned day off, so I'll be doing the usual day off things, picking up grain from the feed store, watching a few of the other riders have their lessons and cleaning up the trailer. On a non-horsey side, read a great article someone shared on Facebook the other day, link is as follows: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/24/the-power-of-introverts-a_n_1229320.html?ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false
As a person who is most definitely an introvert I really enjoyed this article and how it explains the misconceptions about introverts, particularly the part that talks about how introverts are not anti-social but differently social as well as the explanation of the distinct difference between someone who is an introvert and someone who is shy, I've always been annoyed when people use the term shy as I think it has such a negative tone to it, people can be quiet and reserved without being shy, anyhow for those who are introverts or know introverts it's a good and informative read, that's all for today:)
As a person who is most definitely an introvert I really enjoyed this article and how it explains the misconceptions about introverts, particularly the part that talks about how introverts are not anti-social but differently social as well as the explanation of the distinct difference between someone who is an introvert and someone who is shy, I've always been annoyed when people use the term shy as I think it has such a negative tone to it, people can be quiet and reserved without being shy, anyhow for those who are introverts or know introverts it's a good and informative read, that's all for today:)
Monday, January 30, 2012
Global Dressage Masters and more
I'm going to attempt to cover a few different things in tonight's post. This past weekend the Global Dressage Masters took place at the Jim Brandon Center in Wellington, the main reason I wanted to go watch this event was to see Valegro and Charlotte Dujardin in person and they did not disappoint. Valegro is the quintessential equine athlete, I can't think of a single thing about him that is not to like and Charlotte does such a great job piloting him and making everything look super easy, they had a couple minor mistakes in the freestyle but certainly didn't take away from the overall performance and this horse is still so young, he is sure to be a medal contender for the London Olympics, if you haven't seen him yet definitely look him up on youtube! Ravel and Steffen Peters put on a great performance as always and ended up the winners of the evening by .05, Ravel is such a relaxed looking horse and Steffen is so precise in his riding, they're always a pleasure to watch in action. I also took advantage of the show going on this weekend and got Nico out to school on the grounds, I thought taking him out to the show environment and schooling him with no pressure of competing would be a good first outing for him down here this season and I was very pleased with how he went, he felt very relaxed schooling and hacking around the grounds. Generally speaking I've been thrilled with how Nico feels in his day to day schooling right now, he is feeling stronger over his back and more supple than ever and is trying very hard. Something I wanted to talk about at some point in this blog is the importance of the consistency of the rider's aids, I started to really dissect and focus on this back in August as it dawned on me that when we ride a lot of different horses frequently it can become very easy to get complacent with our aids. As we all know, correct responses to a rider's aids have to be conditioned into a horse through consistent training, consistent aids, consistent responses and consistent praises. This all sounds very simple and straight forward I know but when I really started to think about it a few months ago I realized that it's super easy to become complacent, for example,do you ask for something as simple as a walk trot transition with the exact same aid (same timing, same positioning and same pressure) every single time or do you sometimes get a bit complacent and get away with it because the horse is smart? Anyways, I realized that I wasn't getting the exact responses I wanted from Nico going into the piaffe and passage work, mainly because I was being a bit wishy washy in my aids, since then I've made a conscious effort to be super consistent each and every time I ask for a transition and I think this has made a world of difference in his work, when I'm correct he is correct as well, I feel he is more and more in tune with my aids and I'm getting better and better responses from him for them, again this all sounds so basic and simple I know, but in all honesty when we sit down and really analyze it it's a very complex thing that requires a rider to really focus on each and every aid they give to their horse and if we are 100% accurate in our aiding we give our horses a much more fair opportunity to really understand what it is that we are asking of them. On a side note, Dressage Daily has a fantastic interview with Canadian Pan Am team member, Tina Irwin, worth a read for anyone who is interested, a very insightful and inspiring interview!
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Long Time No Blog!
Apologies for not blogging in a little while, been managing to keep myself relatively busy even with only 3 horses to ride. Updates on the ponies, Tango is doing well and has had so many trial rides, the poor guy has had about 6 different riders on him in the past week, he's such a good boy though, such a trooper and never does anything wrong, everyone who has ridden him seems to really like him and have gotten a couple follow ups so now just to find the perfect person to become his new owner, will miss him for sure he's such a sweetheart but also know he will make a great schoolmaster for someone out there. Roz is continuing to progress nicely in her training, though I am sporting a rather large bruise on my knee due to an unfortunate collision with the wall which occurred while riding her, haha nothing serious but an inside leg aid gone wrong which resulted in a rather interesting body check into the rail, other than that she's doing well, still working to get her more engaged from behind and up in front and to sit more in the canter, lots of travers voltes to get her flexing more through her hocks and carrying behind, she does lovely half passes and is starting to figure out her extended gaits more and more though she can't hold the balance and carriage yet of course but when she is able to I think it's going to be pretty nice. Nico is continuing to do really well, he feels great and we've been working a lot to get a more balanced collected canter in between the movements. Canada's Technical Leader Markus Gribbe was at our barn yesterday and today which was great, always good to get a different eye now and again and he also really helped with the piaffe and passage from the ground today which was great, Nico's piaffe is really starting to have some fantastic moments and is feeling easier and easier though I have to be very careful in my riding, he becomes very sensitive in his balance in the piaffe so I'm finding more and more that I have to be super precise in my balance and aids and when that all comes together he feels amazing. I'm probably going to haul him down to the show grounds this weekend just to school, think it's time to get him out to a busy venue and just see if we can keep the same quality work in a more pressured situation, my plan is to just ease him in to things and see how he reacts and then go from there, but generally speaking I think he is transforming more and more into a very nice Grand Prix horse. Other random notes on the ponies, in stall cleanliness they definitely rank Roz, Nico and Tango consistently, Roz is very neat and tidy, love cleaning her stall, Nico is fairly average and Tango is most definitely the pig pen of the group! My parents are both in town visiting, Dad took a couple weeks off to come down and visit so him and Mom are staying at a little hotel across town having a nice vacation and they've been very supportive coming out to see me ride, has also reminded me how much is misunderstood about the sport of dressage (my parents not being horse people) and explaining to people why we have to make the decisions we do in this sport based upon what is best for the animal we are riding and not necessarily what our competitive brains want to do but what is going to be best for our horses in the long run. Have been out to a couple shows and entries are definitely down this year so far, first two national shows were quite small and even the CDI 1* last week was on the smaller side, though Canada was very well represented which is great for our country! The CDI 3* is looking a little bigger this week and I expect that the shows in February and March will be bigger as well, the Masters is on at the Jim Brandon center this week and I'm so looking forward to seeing Valegro and Charlotte Dujardin, I love this combination, fantastic horse and rider pair and they make everything look effortless, have to love that, so inspiring to watch!
Thursday, January 12, 2012
A Good Day For Nico!:)
Had a great schooling session with Mr. Nico today! There are days in this sport (and probably most other sports too I'm sure!) where things just click and today was definitely one of those days! Right from the start I could tell this was going to be a good day for Nico, he was settled and felt very relaxed and loose in his back from the moment I got on him, throughout the ride I was able to get him connected more and more from back to front and consequently the half-halts were much more effective, we went through all of the Grand Prix exercises and they all felt easy! I've said it many times that I definitely do realize Nico is a green Grand Prix horse and I'm prepared to give him all the time he needs to develop into a confident and seasoned horse at this level, my primary goal is to have a Grand Prix horse who is going to stay healthy, sound and continue to get better for many more years, after all he's still got another good 7-8 competitive years in his life and this being the start of his Grand Prix career I'm prepared to be patient and he will let me know how he's feeling and today he just felt great, this was the first time that each and every Grand Prix movement actually felt very easy, the piaffe and passage felt so simple and the transitions in and out as well, pirouettes were extremely rideable, changes were fluid and the half passes more supple, all in all a fantastic ride, I'm looking forward to seeing if we can replicate this feeling consistently! Rozzie is also progressing nicely in her training, she's an eager girl and tries very hard every day, the main goal has been to get her more up in front in her overall carriage, naturally this has to occur by getting her hindlegs more underneath herself so that she can push her shoulders more uphill, in order to achieve this I have been working to develop a more conditioned response of the hindleg, getting her to quicken her hindleg while half-halting, in the canter I have just started to introduce some working pirouette type exercises by using the travers on a volte exercise-while keeping control of the outside shoulder of course, this is to help her develop more carrying power behind, generally speaking she's quite quick with her hindlegs in the canter by nature so now I have to teach her to carry and sit a bit longer on her joints as well, she struggles with the balance at times still of course but her effort is really good so she just needs the time to develop the strength and understanding of her hindleg and then we will really begin to see what she's capable of I think!
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
A Day In The Life
I thought now would be a good time to write a bit about what the days are like here and more about the area etc. Basically the horses are stabled at the Lady Jean Ranch in Jupiter, website for the barn is as follows for anyone interested http://www.ljrelite.com/index1.html, it's a beautiful facility, lovely airy barns with tons of stalls, beautiful tack rooms and lounge area, covered round pen, oversized indoor arena, 20X60 outdoor area and a beautiful full sized training track, also multiple large grass paddocks for turnout, the owners of the facility are great and extremely welcoming, the barn is fairly private and not too busy which is really nice for training. My day starts around 7:00am, the board here is only a dry stall so we are responsible for all the feeding and cleaning, so I get up to the barn in the morning and do the feeding and stalls then usually head back to the RV park (which is conveniently located about 8 mins from the barn) and get myself cleaned up and ready to ride, I usually try and ride Tango and Roz before my lesson on Nico depending on my lesson time that day, after I finish their training sessions I like to ride them out for a good cool out around the track, Roz hasn't been out on the track yet as this is all still new for her but I'm planning to get her out there in the next day or two as she seems to be well settled in, Nico and Tango I take out there everyday and they quite enjoy themselves, gives them a good chance to really stretch out their muscles and a nice change of scenery. In the afternoon I usually turn the horses out and tidy up the stalls and get their dinner ready for them, clean their tack and then I usually try and watch the rest of the lessons for the day, I learn a lot by watching the other lessons so I try and get in as much watching time as possible. There's a nice diversity of riders at the barn once again this year, another mixture of riders from across the continent, me from BC obviously, a group from Alberta, a group from Quebec, a group from Nova Scotia and a group from Chicago with a variety of juniors, young riders and professionals, all talented and with a variety of quality horses. I like watching lessons of all levels as I find I can draw something useful from watching every lesson, whether it be something for myself, my own horses or something that will help me with teaching my own students when I get back home there is always information to be had! I finish up the day by bringing the horses in then head back to the trailer for a shower and dinner, then I usually go back up to the barn around 7pm to put on their blankets for the evening, do a final stall tidy up and top up their hay, all in all it's amazing how full the day can be even with only 3 horses to work, but full in a good way! Definitely loving every minute of it so far and looking forward to seeing how the horses progress in the next little while, though also definitely a bit homesick and missing everyone and all the other horses back home, I hope the weather is holding up back home and everyone is getting in lots of riding time! The Courtenay Fraser clinic is happening back home this Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Serendipity Farms in Kelowna, should be a great clinic, Courtenay is very knowledgeable and an excellent teacher, the clinic is full with 10 riders each day however auditors are welcome at $20.00 a day (see Joanna Cockerline at the barn if you're registering for auditing on the day of) also I have spaces still available in the February and March Courtenay Fraser clinics in Kelowna at Serendipity, if anyone back home is interested in riding please email me at jmlittle75@hotmail.com and I will forward info:) On a side note I really think I need to find some better titles for these posts but I have to admit I'm a bit too lazy to be creative with titles, this title is only vaguely more creative as I stole it from my favorite Beatles song, any future suggestions welcome haha!
Sunday, January 8, 2012
First Days Of Training
After the long days of travel the horses needed a couple of days to rest and then a couple days of very light stretching before going back to full work, we are now two days into our training program and so far I am very pleased with Nico. Yesterday and today have probably been two of the best rides I have had on him in terms of focus, relaxation and suppleness. Before we left home Nico had a check up with Dr. Brit Mills his regular veterinarian who reported that he is feeling better than ever physically, this obviously made me very happy as one always likes to hear that their horse is in top physical condition and I can honestly say that I'm definitely feeling it in his body in our rides. The past few months I took the time to really go back to basics with Nico and clean up some of the areas that I thought weren't clear enough, no matter what level of rider you are you always have to be willing to go back to the very basics and clean things up if you want to progress. I felt that Nico needed a clearer understanding of some of the aspects of pressure and release, he has always been a horse who is almost afraid if you give away the contact too much and would react almost negatively to a softening at times, mainly because he is afraid of his own balance and feels like he needs something to hold on to, I wanted him to be braver about 'being on his own' so to speak, as I felt this would help him gain confidence in his own balance and help him achieve that little bit of extra carriage that he needs to be in self carriage for the Grand Prix ring, I am happy to say that I think that extra time I worked to make him better understand this concept has really paid off, I feel like he is slowly becoming much braver in carrying himself and consequently more willing to be expressive and use himself. Today I not only had the feeling that he was really with me physically but mentally as well, for those of you who don't know Nico he truly is an ADD child, he sees and hears everything around him and this sure can make it a challenge to keep him focused but today I felt he was 110% focused on me and truly trying his hardest, this felt like a real milestone! We worked through his tempis which felt great (his changes are always a highlight) and then did some piaffe work which felt quite good, his piaffe is feeling much more real now, the next goal will be to get it a bit more on the spot as he still has the tendency to want to travel a bit too much but given his greeness at the level that is okay. The other horses are doing well, I think Florida has brought some life to Tango I can't remember ever seeing him so spunky he seems quite excited to be here, quite cute actually! Rozzie took a couple days to get back in to work, she was a very good girl but was definitely tired from her first big girl road trip, she had today off and seems to be back to her perky self, riding wise the goal for her over the next couple months will be to get her more uphill, more up in the shoulders and up and out in the neck, this is also a matter of strength with her and starting to understand what a half halt is all about, it is important to remember that she is still playing catch up in her training physically, although she's learned all the tricks quite handily, muscle and carriage is just something that can't be rushed. Generally though I am very pleased with how she is developing, she works very hard every day and is always game, have to love that quality in a horse!
Friday, January 6, 2012
Travel Time!
Finally have a couple of minutes to update the blog! So the date of departure arrived shortly after the holidays, had a nice Christmas up in Nelson with my brother and his wife's family and then dashed home on the 27th to get the last minute details in order before hitting the road early on the morning of the 28th. We got on the road about 8, Nico, Roz and Tango all loaded up steadily into the trailer and we were all packed and ready to go (Larisa came along to help with the horse handling and my mom to act as navigator and GPS operator and of course Oswald!). We headed out to the US boarder through Osoyoos and arrived there around 10am, things went fairly smoothly at the border and we were soon on our way into the US, the first day we drove through Washington and Oregon, with our first overnight stop being Pendleton, Oregon, I tried to space the travel days with a shorter day then a longer day alternating to give the horses some recovery time, the first day went very well and we arrived in to Pendleton around 6pm, we even had enough time to unhook and go in to town for dinner, we stayed at a bed and bale called Neighbors which was quite nice. We hit the road bright and early the next morning off to Joseph, Utah, this was a longer day of travel, the roads were a tiny bit icy as we passed through the blue mountains but really nothing bad, we got in to Joseph in relatively good time but as we pulled in the driveway of our overnight stop we noticed one of the tires was hissing air, unlucky to have a damaged tire but lucky that it happened literally right at the end of the drive! In the morning the owner of the farm was kind enough to put the spare tire on for us and we drove in to the tire shop to get the other one repaired (I wasn't about to take the chance of driving the rest of the way without a functioning spare tire, just in case), the repair was quick and painless and we were on our way shortly, next stop Albuquerque, New Mexico, the drive on this day was truly spectacular, the mountain ranges between Salt Lake City and Moab are phenomenal, I will try to upload some pictures in the next little while, we crossed over into Colorado then down in to New Mexico, more beautiful scenery, the overnight stop was fantastic, The Broken M Ranch, located right in town and with fabulous large, well bedded stalls, plenty of water and a wonderful guest for us to stay in as well, complete with all sorts of extras, the most comfortable king size bed plus a fully stocked kitchen and bathroom, wonderful! Next morning we were up and off, this was our shortest day on the trip and also New Years Eve! We traveled to Whichita Falls, Texas and we celebrated the new year by sleeping right through it! Our overnight was Legacy Park, another fabulous bed and bale, literally two minutes off the highway and with paddock sized stalls and an apartment directly across from the stalls and wonderful hosts, definitely would recommend it! Our next day of travel took us all the way from Texas straight through Louisiana and Mississippi to Mobile, Alabama, Alabama has some beautiful scenery, it's very green and quaint to drive through, I quite liked the feel of it, we managed to make great time and went in to town for a traditional New Year's Day dinner at Cracker Barrel haha! Final day of travel, we were so eager to arrive in Florida that we were up at 4am and on the road, we arrived into Jupiter around 4pm and after 6 full days of driving we were all happy to see our winter home! The horses did great on the trip, all ate, drank and hauled wonderfully which is always a relief. Little Rozzie was a real trooper on her first big girl road trip, she got in the trailer willingly each morning and was quite interested in the adventure, only on the last night did she show how tired she was by immediately having a nap in her fresh shavings. Nico and Tango hauled well too though they did seem to have some "male bonding" occurring, there was a lot of talking between the two of them, Tango was always the last horse to load on the trailer and I've never seen him jump on a trailer so willingly, he literally was dragging me to the ramp by day 3, I think he was worried he was going to be left behind! The horses have settled in at the Lady Jean Ranch in Jupiter very well, they're loving their winter home, they had a couple days to rest after the trip and had their first turnout in the big fields since we left home, they loved that and all had a good trot and canter around to stretch their legs, this morning I worked them all for the first time, just a light stretching work, tomorrow will be more of the same and then we will start to pick up and get into the real work, we are still getting ourselves settled into the RV park in Jupiter so things have been a bit chaotic but are starting to get organized now so should have more time to blog! To everyone back home, hope you're all doing well and happy riding and once again I have to say the biggest thank you to everyone who has supported me and this journey, I'm amazed at the incredibly supportive people I have surrounding me at this time and will forever be thankful to you all!
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