Back To Basics

I know it's been awhile since I've posted anything but today had a conversation with a student that got me inspired to do some writing.  First of all, a quick update on our spring/summer season for our friends out there, this season has been relatively quiet but we did attend the Kelowna Spring Show and the Edmonton Amberlea Spring Show, Landino, Sietske and Diamond Gem each earned scores into the 70s and championships respectively at their level, we had planned on attending the Calgary show in June but due to the flooding on the roads had to cancel our trip so will be attending the Alberta Provincials there shortly instead:)  Anyhow, getting on with the training portion of this post, today I had a conversation with one of my students about basics versus tricks which made me want to do some writing.  I think that there is such a gap with a lot of dressage riders in the actual understanding of how the basics affect everything, I think there are a lot of people in the sport who say the "right" things verbatim because they've heard those things repeated over and over again but rarely do I actually see someone who truly applies those things correctly to their training sessions which tells me that the concept is actually not fully understood so much as it is repeated verbally.  As a trainer, I know without any doubt that any issues with my horses are always related to a hole in the basics, I am always confident in that belief, and fixing those holes is always my number one focus in training, that being said I'm not saying it's easy, just because one is a trainer doesn't mean we don't struggle with the basics as well, every rider and every horse has their difficulties, but it does mean I have a large toolbox to help fix those holes and it also means I have understanding and complete confidence in what it is I need to fix.  As a coach, I can tell quite a bit about a student by how they come into a lesson, when a student comes in and you ask them to tell you about their horse there are usually three types of responses, the ones who openly say they don't know much and will leave it up to you to tell them what to do, the ones who may not be completely confident in their assessment of themselves but know they need to correct their basics (i.e the ones who come in saying they struggle with contact or bend) and the third type who come in saying they want to work on a specific movement, half pass, flying changes etc.  The third type is always the one that scares me the most as a coach, mainly because they are often looking for a quick fix for one of the tricks and I am not someone who can give a quick fix and ignore a hole in the basics when I see one and sometimes it is hard to get these students to wrap their head around the idea that they need to fix a very basic thing (something they thought they already had down) in order to improve their work beyond that, I can honestly say that I personally have never walked into a lesson or clinic and asked the coach/trainer to work on a specific movement.  I always hear the word "exercise" in dressage, people want exercises to improve things, they want drills to go through and repeat over and over again, something that they can practice through routine but the thing is there are no magic exercises in this sport and in reality the exercises actually don't matter much at all, it's how you ride the exercise that matters.  There are thousands of exercises and drills that we can put our horses through but none of those matter if we aren't working the horse correctly through the body while doing those exercises, if we don't have a horse using itself correctly while doing an exercise we are simply putting miles on the body, this is no different for humans, any coach, trainer etc in any sport will tell you that it doesn't matter what exercise you do, if you do it in a way that isn't productive for your body then it's not only a waste of time but often times actually counterproductive.  For example, often people will come to me and ask me for an exercise to improve the bend in their half passes and they seem to be looking for a magic fix for the "half pass problem" but what they are failing to realize is that if there is a problem in the half pass, there is a bend problem in general going on, so drilling the half pass again and again, no matter how you mix it up, is likely useless, I can certainly come up with ways to practice a half pass but in all honesty I can be of much more help "fixing the half pass" by working on basic suppleness on a circle or in riding proper bend through a corner than in actually fixing the half pass.  When that basic suppleness is corrected, all of a sudden the half pass more or less fixes itself (and this applies to any movements, flying changes, pirouettes etc. the problem is never in the movement it is in an element of the basic training, of course we have to ride movements at some point because that's how we check in with our training but we can't fix movements by riding movements, if I school a movement and notice the movement doesn't work as I'd like it to then I have an answer as to whether or not there is a hole in the basics, the next step is to isolate where the problem area is, for example if my horse falls through my inside leg in a half pass then I have the answer that I don't have the horse around my inside leg well enough, the answer is not to keep working at that half pass but to go back and work on keeping the horse better around the inside leg and that is something that can be achieved best by going right back to the basic training scale element of suppleness, so the long and the short of it is don't fix movements, fix basics!

Consistency Is Key!

Not long ago someone asked me what I thought was the biggest reason for why someone might not have success in dressage, I had to think about this question long and hard because there are so many factors that contribute to either being successful or unsuccessful in this sport but in the end I kept coming back to the same conclusion.....consistency!  I think as human beings our ability to be consistent is questionable at the best of times, people like variety, "keep things interesting" as they say, and we're not always the best at being consistent in how we approach or achieve things.  Horses, on the other hand, are the complete opposite, their lives revolve around consistency and we as riders need to keep things consistent for the sake of helping our horses to learn.  Consistency with horses is a multiple layered thing, it not only involves consistency with the care but also the training program.  With a proper stable management program we make sure our horses get the care they need on a consistent basis, this applies to the obvious day to day tasks such as feeding, cleaning and watering to the more complex care of the equine athlete including routine vet checkups (and whatever therapeutic treatments each individual horse may require) and farrier work. When it comes to the training side of things we need to be consistent not only with our regular training program but also how we train, what we ask of the horse and what response we expect to get from them.  I think a committed training program is so much undervalued in North America, there are so many riders who are wishy washy in how they train.  By a committed training program I am not in any way referring to drilling the horse or overworking them day in and day out, far from it, I think our daily routines should have variety for sure to keep the horse interested and fresh and their bodies working in different ways but what I am referring to is committing to a certain way of training and what we expect, as an example it's not okay to one day get after your horse for not being in front of the leg and then the next day let them ignore the leg and change the rules, riders often do this, when you put an aid on you have to expect the same response every single time otherwise you are training your horse that it is okay to ignore the aid and then it's not fair later on when you get after them for ignoring that aid-this conflict causes confusion and frustration in horses-when they are clear on what is expected of them and feel the reward for the correct response they are very willing to do as we ask but riders are very guilty of not being consistent in our expectations.  There are certainly times that it is okay to be inconsistent, for example we need to train our horses to be diverse in things like what time of day they are ridden, being taken to unfamiliar locations and adapting as well as different types of workouts to keep them using different muscle groups, that sort of variety is great but the ground rule basics of proper aids and proper responses has to be consistent day in and day out (that being said making sure you check out your aids and ensure that they are correct before making the correction to the horse goes without saying!).  Someone also asked me recently what I thought were the qualities that make up a "good rider/trainer", in my opinion a good rider and trainer is one who is diverse in their abilities yet consistent in their training, to better explain that I think a truly good rider is someone who can take any horse regardless of type, gender, breed, temperament, age or level and correctly train them through the levels to that horse's ability (I also think a good rider/trainer has the ability to realize each horse is different and some have greater limitations physically than others and has the compassion to not push a horse beyond it's physical limit), this sounds like a no brainer but it's remarkable the number of riders out there who can only ride a certain type, level or temperament of horse and while all riders will naturally have their preference of horse type I think a truly skilled rider can train a wide variety of horses successfully.  Anyhow that's my two cents for the night:)

Feb update

Time to give everyone another update from the sunny south, training has been progressing nicely with all the horses, we've given Nico a small break this last week as he had been doing so well in his training and then his body started to feel like it needed a bit of a rest, as trainers we have to listen to our horses even if it means delaying our plans for the week so we've backed off him a little bit to let him have a rest and will start to build his work back up again soon, this is always the hard part of training horses we have in mind the schedule we want our training to be on but we have to listen to the horse first and not be overeager and it's important that when our horses tell us they need more time that we respect that and don't put our plans ahead of their needs.  Landino is rolling along with things, I've been continuing to try to expose him to things out here as the more exposure he gets the more he settles in, he's a very rational horse in that regard, he might be a bit nervous and tentative at first but once he knows he's okay then he's settled and ready to go.  We took him out to his second show at the Jim Brandon last weekend again doing two Third Level tests to get him around the ring confidently, the first day he was a very good boy and he earned his very first 10 which was very neat and the second day he also tried very hard, had a mistake in the first medium trot but also had some very nice moments, 9s for half passes and a score of 72% to win his class, overall I really can't complain about that at all!  Miss Ocita is also progressing very nicely, she is starting to understand more and more how to start to close up her body more and use her back and topline a bit better, I've had some moments where I start to feel her lifting through the back and shoulders and can feel where this will develop into something very expressive down the road, it really doesn't matter what level the horse is it's always exciting for me when they start to have break throughs and you can feel them start to understand the pieces, anyhow that's the update for now and thanks to my clients who have sent me videos the last bit I've got a few of them on my list to get to so I promise I will get to them ASAP and send you all feedback, nice to keep in touch with everyone and see how you're all doing back home:)

Overdue Update!!

Sorry to everyone that I haven't posted anything recently but as the saying goes time does fly when you're having fun and I have to say this winter has been great so far.  I'm super happy with how all the horses are doing.  Nico is doing fantastic, he is really trying very hard in all of his work and I feel he is using himself in a better way all the time, consequently he also feels this more in his muscles and then gets tired but now when he gets tired it's a good tired because he is using himself in a better way, he's always been a tense horse and often carried himself on adrenaline but now he is letting me more into his body and staying more relaxed through his brain (and consequently his topline as well!) and really using his bigger muscle groups so it's a nice feeling at the end when he gives a bit of a sigh and his body feels like it's really worked in a good way.  This has been such a big hurdle for him in his career so I'm super happy with how he is going and plan to continue on as we have been, as I mentioned in the last post my main goal down here for him is not the showing (maybe a couple here and there) but to really confirm the GP work with him and get things solid and then I plan to show him back in Canada over the May-October months more, so all in all very positive work from Nico.  Landino is also progressing right along and doing amazing, he has such an fantastic work ethic and is just willing to try his heart out, I haven't done any showing with Landino up to this point so decided to take him out on a schooling adventure last weekend to get him out and about so we went down to the Jim Brandon centre, it was great because on the warmup day I was able to take him in the big indoor and school with all the sights and sounds (scoreboard etc. all the things he'll need to get used to seeing) and though he was a bit tense and 'up' he was very well behaved, the second day we had a lesson and just worked in the warmup again just getting him used to things and the third day I entered him in a third level test just to get him around the actual show ring once so we could see how that went, he was a really good boy earning a 70.7% even with a couple of bobbles (nothing too major just a couple mis-cues between us, still have to get to know each other in the show ring a bit more but we'll go out again in a couple weeks for another tour) but generally speaking extremely happy with that for our first show together.  We also did a session with Juan Matute (who is great with the in hand piaffe/passage work) today, we did this with Nico the first year to help him with the piaffe/passage work and it was really good and a little bit last year with Rozzie as well so thought this would be a good time to introduce Landino to it as he is starting to play with those bits as well.  Ocita is also doing really well earning some life experience and mileage, have taken her out on the track a bit and schooled in the outside dressage ring today so getting her used to seeing different things, working still on the basics for her, starting to introduce her to the idea of closing more from behind and learning to step more into the contact, more suppleness through the ribcage all those good things that she has to learn about at this stage of training but she likes to get out and about and seems to be enjoying herself very much.  Anyhow that's all the news for now, hoping everyone back home is doing well, missing everyone and still looking forward to seeing you all again in a couple months:)

Day Off Update

Thought I would take a little time to update the blog as the ponies had a relaxing day off today and got to hang out this afternoon and do some grazing.  All is going well so far, the horses settled in well and have adjusted to their new home for the winter months, everyone had to have haircuts as they were all still wearing their winter fur from back home and were sweating in the humidity down here right away.  Nico settled right in and seems to remember his home from the past two winters quite well, Ocita and Landino also settled in though they were a bit more suspicious of things in their new winter home for a couple days, little bit more action at the barn down here so they had to get used to the new sights and sounds naturally.  I've got both Nico and Landino to ride in daily lessons which is great, they're both doing well and are good horses but also are very different horses physically and mentally so I feel like I'm getting twice as much knowledge from my lessons, it's always nice to get back into a lesson program myself for a few months, gives me lots of new knowledge and stuff to take back home with me to my clients and training horses at the end of the winter and just a chance to refresh the basics and focus on things, Ocita is continuing her regular training with me down here and is making good progress and basically just getting some more life experience, hacking out on the track etc, I'm quite happy with how she is doing, getting more consistent in her contact and generally feeling more supple, will be fun to see how much progress she makes over the next 3 months.  In lessons with Nico we have been working on getting him straighter (for Nico getting straighter means getting him more through the left rib cage and into the right rein as he always has the tendency to be a bit stiffer on the left side than the right) and getting him more in front of me and swinging with more power from two equal hindlegs without losing the relaxation and connection through all of the work, so important with him to stay quick (not only for him as I have to try to keep him moving quickly off the ground but also for me as the timing between my leg, half halt and softening has to be very quick otherwise he can either get stuck behind me or can get a bit flat and running, to keep him quick behind off the ground and over the back into a half halt and self carriage is the goal....sounds so easy!!:P) these things will all sound very familiar to my students back home I'm quite sure......yes we never stop working to improve those basics!;)  Generally speaking I have been quite pleased with Nico thus far down here, he has adjusted well and is trying very hard in our lessons and we go for a little hack after each session for his brain to relax a bit which he enjoys, my goal for him is to have him solid enough at the Grand Prix to show him regularly in BC and Alberta this year through the summer months and we might try and take in a couple shows down here in March depending on how the training goes.  With Landino we have been working to confirm everything, he is doing great and making steady progress up the levels, with him it's basically just about getting him stronger, straighter and more through to continue improving the overall quality of everything, again the basics that you always work to improve, outside of that he basically has all the pieces and now just needs time to get everything confirmed but he is coming along super well and I'm very pleased with how much he has achieved in a short while, I'm going to take him out to a show this weekend just to school as I've never taken him to a show before so thought this would be a good opportunity to get to know each other in a show environment without any pressure and then we're hoping to do a show in early Feb, am planning to keep things quite easy for our first couple outings planning to enter him in Third Level and basically just get around in a nice positive way and then we'll go from there and will hope to do a PSG at some point this year, we've played with the pieces a bit in schooling but of course it's always easier at home than in the show ring so I want to keep things easy in the beginning for him so that he has a positive experience to gain some confidence in the show ring and then I have no doubt he'll be sailing right along:)  Anyhow that's all for now, missing everyone (horses and humans) back home and sending warm weather wishes back home to you all!

2013 Winter Season Has Arrived!!

I just wanted to do a quick post to update everyone on how things are going, for those who don't know I'm back in Florida training for three months over the winter, this year I brought a lovely group of horses with me, Dominic my GP horse who is now into his third winter down here, Landino who I've been working with over the past year and is showing huge talent and progressing rapidly and a lovely PRE mare named Ocita, I want to say a huge thanks to all of their owners (Susanne, Konra and Shawneen) for their confidence in me as a rider and trainer, it means the world to me and is what makes this all possible.  I also want to say a big thank you to everyone who supported our 2013 calendar fundraiser and in particular our monthly sponsors (Konra and Don Young, Shawneen Jacobs, Leslie Cockerline and the Hollies Executive Golf Course) as well as Elizabeth Toth for the amazing photography featured in the calendar.

Our journey south started on the 28th of December, I had a quick holiday season at my brother's place in Nelson with the whole family and then zipped home on the 27th for the last minute packing and hit the road the morning of the 28th (special thanks to Shawneen, Joanna and Larisa for helping with the huge packing process!!).  We crossed the border in Washington that morning and overnighted at Tulip Springs in Kennewick Washington which was a lovely facility for the horses and a great guest house for us to stay in, the second night we were on to Salt Lake City in Utah with the horses spending the night at a fantastic barn called Riverbend Ranch Equestrian Center, we grabbed a hotel for the evening a couple minutes down the road, the third night we were into Albuquerque, New Mexico, we were thankful for good roads on this part of the drive as there are some very steep mountain passes, it was very cold through the mountains so I was quite glad I'd waited to clip the horses as there were parts where we got down to -22!  In Albuquerque the horses stayed at the Broken M Ranch which has some nice oversized stalls for the horses to relax in overnight, we were surprised to wake up to a skiff of snow in the morning in Albuquerque but luckily once the sun came up the roads were clear and we were moving along, the fourth night (New Years Eve) we got into Wichita Falls in Texas and Legacy Equestrian Park which is a great facility with wonderfully accommodating hosts, at this point we were finally able to change the horses out of their winter blankets into some lighter sheets, though it wasn't exactly warm but at least into the plus digits!!  Our last evening we were in Mobile Alabama at a really neat little overnight called the Rocking A Ranch, I would gladly recommend any of these facilities to people traveling with horses as overnight stops, they are all great spots, very horse and trailer friendly and at most places you're either able to stay on site with the horses or very close at a hotel minutes away.  We pulled into Florida late on the evening January 2nd, we were rolling along pretty well and at our very last fuel stop before getting into Jupiter I checked the tires and found one of them had lost half a tread (looked like a defective tire) so thankfully we were able to put the spare on before it blew and continued our trip into Jupiter.  So now after a few days the horses are all settled in at the beautiful Lady Jean Ranch (http://www.ljrelite.com), the first few days were dedicated to unpacking and setting everything up (getting hay organized etc.) and giving the horses a few days to rest after the journey.  Yesterday I had my first little school on the horses, all were good and feeling quite fresh and eager to get to work which was great so today I had my first short lessons and will start to build up from here.  I have to say I'm very much looking forward to getting back into a lesson and training program myself for a few months and I also want to say how appreciative I am of my clients back home who are patient  and understand that this time away to further my education gives me so much more information and tools to apply to my teaching and training when I return back in the spring, I've always felt that a coach/trainer who doesn't continue to further their education is not doing their job to the best of their ability, and on that note I'll be looking forward to getting back home in the spring and sharing everything with you all and wishing everyone back home good weather and happy riding, will try to keep the blog updated with information as much as possible with all that is going on and to everyone back home feel free to email or message me at any time for anything!

Over The Years

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:)

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!

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;)

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:)

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!!:)

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

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.

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:)

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;)

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!

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!

It's all about balance!

Another productive day with the horses, I'm so happy with the steady improvement I am feeling in them day to day, this is exactly why, no matter what the level rider, it is so important to take the time to get routine help.  Every rider needs eyes on the ground and these few months of intense training during the year are so productive, I really found it made such a huge difference this last year and am finding it even more so this year.  Today the focus with Nico was to test out that things worked on the mark, in other words not trying to prepare everything to death before actually riding the movements but creating a set up and ride it marker to marker scenario.  Dressage is one of those perfectionist sports where it is so easy to obsess over the smallest detail and trying to make everything impeccable, often times we end up over-preparing and over-riding everything, I know this is something I am definitely guilty of and have made a conscious effort to be better about it and although I still find myself getting sucked back into that mentality at times I think I'm definitely getting much better about it.  Not to say that focusing on the small details and preparing things is wrong, it's definitely not, but it can be taken too far, to the point where we find ourselves setting up a transition for 20 circles before we actually do it, or constantly starting and stopping to correct and then starting again and not seeing the bigger picture of things, at the end of the day we have to be able to set up a movement in a reasonable amount of time and then execute it and a horse who is truly on the aids will do this with ease.  Basically what I am saying is that the one thing I find myself constantly learning in dressage (and maybe life in general?!) is that nothing done to the extreme is ever good, it's doesn't work to not prepare movements and it doesn't work to overprepare movements, we must simply prepare them in a reasonable time and then the aids have to go through and work, sounds so simple in print!!  I've found a lot of the work and exercises we have been using with Nico are beneficial to Roz as well and feel her more and more on my aids, she's a great little horse to work with, once she understands something she is keen to please and doesn't hold back, I think that characteristic is going to serve her very well in her career.  That's all for tonight, posted some fun reading below that I swiped off facebook for everyone to enjoy!

This might have been a retired English teacher who was bored, but
they're usually considered "boring." It must have been a wordsmith
with a lot of time on his or her hands. Anyhow, here it is. I've published
them both a few years ago (Helen Senhauser sent that version in.
If you're interested in these anomalies of spelling pronounciation, etc/.
let me know and I'll try to dig 'em out for you. Then, you too can learn
to sound like a bored/boring retired English teacher -- or Pathologist.

1) The bandage was wound around the wound.
2) The farm was used to produce produce.
3) The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.
4) We must polish the Polish furniture.
5) He could lead if he would get the lead out.
6) The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.
7) Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present.
8) A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.
9) When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.
10) I did not object to the object.
11) The insurance was invalid for the invalid.
12) There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.
13) They were too close to the door to close it.
14) The buck does funny things when the does are present.
15) A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.
16) To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.
17) The wind was too strong to wind the sail.
18) Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear..
19) I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.
20) How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?
Let's face it - English is a crazy language.
There is no egg in eggplant, nor ham in hamburger. and neither apple nor pine in pineapple.
English muffins weren't invented in England or French fries in France .
Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which aren't sweet, are meat.
We take English for granted. But if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig..
And why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing, grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham?
If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn't the plural of booth, beeth?
One goose, 2 geese. So one moose, 2 meese? One index, 2 indices?
Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend?
If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it?

If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught?
If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?
Sometimes I think all the English speakers should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane.
In what language do people recite at a play and play at a recital?
Ship by truck and send cargo by ship?
Have noses that run and feet that smell?

How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites?
You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out and in which, an alarm goes off by going on.

English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the creativity of the human race, which, of course, is not a race at all.
That is why, when the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are invisible.

PS. - Why doesn't 'Buick' rhyme with 'quick ?

You lovers of the English language might enjoy this ...
There is a two-letter word that perhaps has more meanings than any other two-letter word, and that is 'UP.'

It's easy to understand UP, meaning toward the sky or at the top of the list, but when we awaken in the morning, why do we wake UP ?
At a meeting, why does a topic come UP?
Why do we speak UP and why are the officers UP for election and why is it UP to the secretary to write UP a report?
We call UP our friends.
And we use it to brighten UP a room, polish UP the silver; we warm UP the leftovers and clean UP the kitchen.
We lock UP the house and some guys fix UP the old car.
At other times the little word has real special meaning.
People stir UP trouble, line UP for tickets, work UP an appetite and think UP excuses.
To be dressed is one thing, but to be dressed UP is special.
A drain must be opened UP because it is stopped UP.
We open UP a store in the morning but we close it UP at night.

We seem to be pretty mixed UP about UP!
To be knowledgeable about the proper uses of UP, look the word UP in the dictionary.
In a desk-sized dictionary, it takes UP almost 1/4th of the page and can add UP to about thirty definitions.
If you are UP to it, you might try building UP a list of the many ways UP is used to one-up your friends.
It will take UP a lot of your time, but if you don't give UP, you may wind UP with a hundred or more.
When it threatens to rain, we say it is clouding UP.
When the sun comes out we say it is clearing UP.
When it rains, it wets the earth and often messes things UP.
When it doesn't rain for awhile, things dry UP.
One could go on and on, but I'll wrap it UP,
for now my time is UP, so........it is time to shut UP!
Now it's UP to you what you do with this email.


Oh yes, one more. A grammarian refused to end
a sentence with a preposition. He said,

"That is something up with which I will not put."

Then, there's the Britisher who relates a story with "so I UPs
to him and I says."

 

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:)

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!