Amber and I are both doing well. My dear red horse injured herself trying to reestablish the herd hierarchy so we've been doing minimal training up until about two weeks ago. Tomorrow we're doing our first lesson with Jean in about a month and a half.
As the old year fades into history and the new year begins, we are always reminded to look ahead and determine what our resolutions will be. I hate establishing resolutions because I feel like they create a tenuous balance between self improvement and self beratement when (not "if") they are broken. I'd rather create goals for myself so I have something to work towards and I can mark goalposts along the way.
Looking forward into this year, my main goal for Amber and I is to build a strong relationship. I don't know the step by step process in detail of how this will be accomplished but it will involve a larger commitment to working on the ground and in the round pen. I really enjoy riding, but I think that progress will follow the relationship so that will be our highest priority this year.
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Sunday, October 3, 2010
MY horse
Today is the day I can officially call Amber "my horse." Whether you believe in fate, destiny, or God (as I do) we were brought together to be together from this day on and hopefully to celebrate many October 3rd anniversaries.
Surreal? Yes. Since I was a kid, I always felt like I was on the outside looking in. Wanting to take lessons, wanting my own horse. I went to rodeos and horse shows and read every horse book and magazine I could get my hands on, but all of that only intensified the desire. Summer horse camps were a tonic, but they couldn't cure the disease.
It has been 16 years since I read Misty of Chincoteague, the one that started it all. Thank you, Marguerite Henry, for penning such a masterpiece of children's literature. How many other little girls have read that book and wanted their own pony? Now I have the opportunity to live that dream. I thought it would take longer. When I joined the Natural Connection on September 19th of last year, I wanted to get back in to riding. I wasn't on the market for a horse, but little did I know that one month later there would be a horse on the market for me...
...and I fell in love with a skinny red mare, with a dirty white blaze. She was just beginning to grow her poor excuse of a winter coat and I had just come to Miran Farm a few weeks prior. But even through her dull coat and malnourished body the elegance and refinement bred into the thoroughbred still radiated. She needed longer than most to settle in to her new home so it wasn't until March that I began to ride her. She was a very simple horse to ride. Simple as in she only knew how to do one thing - go fast!
My experiences learning from Amber that I have chronicled in this blog have mostly been positive. If I ever get frustrated, I try to keep it to myself for the benefit of my readers and to not discourage others who would like to take on the challenge (and it is a challenge) of retraining an OTTB. There are a few entries where the frustration seeped out into the keyboard, but I have been taught to look for a positive takeaway from every experience.
And so the journey continues except now I am no longer the little girl on the outside looking in. I am the young woman flying through the fields, drinking the wind, crouched over the withers of...my horse!
Surreal? Yes. Since I was a kid, I always felt like I was on the outside looking in. Wanting to take lessons, wanting my own horse. I went to rodeos and horse shows and read every horse book and magazine I could get my hands on, but all of that only intensified the desire. Summer horse camps were a tonic, but they couldn't cure the disease.
It has been 16 years since I read Misty of Chincoteague, the one that started it all. Thank you, Marguerite Henry, for penning such a masterpiece of children's literature. How many other little girls have read that book and wanted their own pony? Now I have the opportunity to live that dream. I thought it would take longer. When I joined the Natural Connection on September 19th of last year, I wanted to get back in to riding. I wasn't on the market for a horse, but little did I know that one month later there would be a horse on the market for me...
...and I fell in love with a skinny red mare, with a dirty white blaze. She was just beginning to grow her poor excuse of a winter coat and I had just come to Miran Farm a few weeks prior. But even through her dull coat and malnourished body the elegance and refinement bred into the thoroughbred still radiated. She needed longer than most to settle in to her new home so it wasn't until March that I began to ride her. She was a very simple horse to ride. Simple as in she only knew how to do one thing - go fast!
My experiences learning from Amber that I have chronicled in this blog have mostly been positive. If I ever get frustrated, I try to keep it to myself for the benefit of my readers and to not discourage others who would like to take on the challenge (and it is a challenge) of retraining an OTTB. There are a few entries where the frustration seeped out into the keyboard, but I have been taught to look for a positive takeaway from every experience.
And so the journey continues except now I am no longer the little girl on the outside looking in. I am the young woman flying through the fields, drinking the wind, crouched over the withers of...my horse!
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Courageous Comet at WEG
I stumbled across this article on Bloodhorse.com. It's always inspiring to see an off track thoroughbred have such a highly successful second career.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Winning isn't the only thing...but it sure feels good!
Part 1
Show day dawned bright and sunny. I was the first "competitor" to arrive at the barn getting there at 7:30am. You have to be prepared in case your horse decides to roll in a pile of manure the night before. Amber of course was as clean and prissy as she normally is, but I spent extra time prettying her up since you always want to make a good impression in a show.
We spent 45 minutes warming up, which looking back was a mistake. The first class was "green" hunter walk, trot. Complete disaster. I had to half halt every trot step and that didn't really work. Then she would either throw her head up or reach down for the bit. It was the most frustrating class ever since Frying Pan Farm back in March. I should have anticipated that since she was doing it towards the end of warm-ups. The judge for our schooling show was super nice. The great thing about schooling shows is that the judge will come over and tell you what you did well or what you could do better. There were 8 of us in that class. The first thing the judge said when she walked over was that she penalized horses that were fighting the rider. Great. That was all that happened for us in that class. So we didn't get a ribbon because it was indeed terrible and super frustrating. I can be my own worst critic, but for once somebody agreed with me!
Instead of doing the next 5 classes in the green hunter division I opted to scratch out of all of them, untack and turn Amber back out in the pasture. And I also scratched us out of hunter "pleasure" since there was no way we could have pulled off the "pleasure" charade on Saturday. I actually really enjoyed watching everybody else compete. I seriously contemplated not doing any more classes the rest of the day but one of my good friends came to watch so I didn't want to let him down especially after battling the Oatlands traffic.
I saddled up with a little more confidence later on in the morning knowing that the next three classes were equitation classes (judging the rider). I also had used one of my favorite little gems called Quietex which is a paste that acts as a calming agent for horses. This worked wonders at the FPF show in August and I think it may have helped on Saturday. We went in to the ring with no warm-up. The other riders were waiting on us. It was a good ride, not stellar, but good. Amber behaved like the little pseudo-hunter I've been training her to be. And unlike the last show, I posted on the correct diagonal within a few strides. I was off one time for half a stride but the judge didn't catch it. We didn't get pinned after the equitation walk, trot class but the judge had a few comments. She said she was looking for soft contact and she said only one of us picked up the correct diagonal immediately every time. She pointed at me! I was pretty sure then that we had gotten first in the walk, trot. Once you are on top in a class, it's easier to do well in the classes following.
The next class was equitation walk, trot, canter. I hit my diagonals and we cantered on the correct lead both directions. One of the great things about Amber is that she rarely hesitates to go faster. We were cantering clockwise and Ann riding Hank was on our inside struggling to get going on the correct lead. We were cantering along much faster than them (and everyone else) so I called out that we were going around on the outside so they didn't bear out on us. As we circled Ann and Hank, Amber got excited and bolted, head in the air down the straight end of the ring. Fortunately I got her under control to go around the turn and soon after that the class was over. I didn't know if that little antic had cost us placement or not but I was somewhat pissed that she had a racehorse moment during what was otherwise a good ride.
To finish out the adult equitation division, we had to do 4 jumps set at 18" at either a trot or a canter. Only Cathy and Maddy and me and Amber participated. I always start out the series with the intention of trotting the 4 jumps but Amber likes to rush them so we jumped the first one at a trot and cantered through the second one after which I brought her back to a trot to do the third jump then we compromised and she cantered over the fourth. Definitely not stellar but I knew that this would be our weakest class. We ended up getting first in the walk, trot, first in walk, trot, canter and second over the jumps which made us the Champion of the division. Our first blue ribbons and champion ribbon. Very exciting for me and also for Amber since this is the first "winner's circle" she has ever been in. :-)
Show day dawned bright and sunny. I was the first "competitor" to arrive at the barn getting there at 7:30am. You have to be prepared in case your horse decides to roll in a pile of manure the night before. Amber of course was as clean and prissy as she normally is, but I spent extra time prettying her up since you always want to make a good impression in a show.
We spent 45 minutes warming up, which looking back was a mistake. The first class was "green" hunter walk, trot. Complete disaster. I had to half halt every trot step and that didn't really work. Then she would either throw her head up or reach down for the bit. It was the most frustrating class ever since Frying Pan Farm back in March. I should have anticipated that since she was doing it towards the end of warm-ups. The judge for our schooling show was super nice. The great thing about schooling shows is that the judge will come over and tell you what you did well or what you could do better. There were 8 of us in that class. The first thing the judge said when she walked over was that she penalized horses that were fighting the rider. Great. That was all that happened for us in that class. So we didn't get a ribbon because it was indeed terrible and super frustrating. I can be my own worst critic, but for once somebody agreed with me!
Instead of doing the next 5 classes in the green hunter division I opted to scratch out of all of them, untack and turn Amber back out in the pasture. And I also scratched us out of hunter "pleasure" since there was no way we could have pulled off the "pleasure" charade on Saturday. I actually really enjoyed watching everybody else compete. I seriously contemplated not doing any more classes the rest of the day but one of my good friends came to watch so I didn't want to let him down especially after battling the Oatlands traffic.
I saddled up with a little more confidence later on in the morning knowing that the next three classes were equitation classes (judging the rider). I also had used one of my favorite little gems called Quietex which is a paste that acts as a calming agent for horses. This worked wonders at the FPF show in August and I think it may have helped on Saturday. We went in to the ring with no warm-up. The other riders were waiting on us. It was a good ride, not stellar, but good. Amber behaved like the little pseudo-hunter I've been training her to be. And unlike the last show, I posted on the correct diagonal within a few strides. I was off one time for half a stride but the judge didn't catch it. We didn't get pinned after the equitation walk, trot class but the judge had a few comments. She said she was looking for soft contact and she said only one of us picked up the correct diagonal immediately every time. She pointed at me! I was pretty sure then that we had gotten first in the walk, trot. Once you are on top in a class, it's easier to do well in the classes following.
The next class was equitation walk, trot, canter. I hit my diagonals and we cantered on the correct lead both directions. One of the great things about Amber is that she rarely hesitates to go faster. We were cantering clockwise and Ann riding Hank was on our inside struggling to get going on the correct lead. We were cantering along much faster than them (and everyone else) so I called out that we were going around on the outside so they didn't bear out on us. As we circled Ann and Hank, Amber got excited and bolted, head in the air down the straight end of the ring. Fortunately I got her under control to go around the turn and soon after that the class was over. I didn't know if that little antic had cost us placement or not but I was somewhat pissed that she had a racehorse moment during what was otherwise a good ride.
To finish out the adult equitation division, we had to do 4 jumps set at 18" at either a trot or a canter. Only Cathy and Maddy and me and Amber participated. I always start out the series with the intention of trotting the 4 jumps but Amber likes to rush them so we jumped the first one at a trot and cantered through the second one after which I brought her back to a trot to do the third jump then we compromised and she cantered over the fourth. Definitely not stellar but I knew that this would be our weakest class. We ended up getting first in the walk, trot, first in walk, trot, canter and second over the jumps which made us the Champion of the division. Our first blue ribbons and champion ribbon. Very exciting for me and also for Amber since this is the first "winner's circle" she has ever been in. :-)
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Amber and I are gearing up for a show this Saturday at Miran Farm. I should say, I'm trying to gear her down for the show! No hilltopping or galloping through fields.
I need to figure out how to post video on this blog. Pictures don't quite do justice to how far she has come in the 7 months I have been working with her.
Tonight we had a lesson where we schooled over 12'' jumps. Yes, I know. One whole foot. Not quite like you see on TV with those Grand Prix jumpers getting over 6 feet. But as my fellow riders will understand it is hard to maintain rhythm and form on a green hunter.
I am confident that we have improved since the last schooling show where she was racing around the ring and I was holding on for the ride and steering!
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Equine First Aid
Amber has an abscess that just ruptured and a puncture wound just below her stifle that is now infected. Prognosis is excellent but I spent more time medicating my horse than riding!
Sunday, August 22, 2010
My "Winglish" Horse
I took one step towards the dark side and introduced Amber to pole bending. We've been working on bending in circles so we are taking on a new challenge.
Amber does excellent flying lead changes, the most challenging part was getting the right speed to weave between the poles. We only got through the pattern once going one way and we missed a pole which is automatic disqualification. Like most western events pole bending is all about speed and less about form - although good form leads to better times.
I haven't seen anybody try to convert an OTTB into a western horse. Amber is still very English but she might be able to be a western/english hybrid - a "winglish" horse.
Amber does excellent flying lead changes, the most challenging part was getting the right speed to weave between the poles. We only got through the pattern once going one way and we missed a pole which is automatic disqualification. Like most western events pole bending is all about speed and less about form - although good form leads to better times.
I haven't seen anybody try to convert an OTTB into a western horse. Amber is still very English but she might be able to be a western/english hybrid - a "winglish" horse.
Daddy's Blood
I'm tired but I just wanted to remark that Amber's "little bro" Debussy won the Arlington Million today. The Million is one of America's premier grass races. Although half siblings are technically on the female side, I still think it's cool that they share the same father!
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Field Buddies
Miran Farm is a place where English and Western riders coexist peacefully. I encountered one of the rare "conflicts" Wednesday evening - the ropers had taken over the indoor ring! This is not normally a conflict because a) it happens every Wednesday b) I can ride in the outdoor ring. Yet again, the weather was against me and turned the outdoor ring into a muddy slip n' slide. And rather than wait an hour to use the indoor, I opted to ride in the big field.We started out rather well. Amber tried to bolt through the gate into the field but I held onto the reins. Eventually she stood still enough so I could get on. I was reluctant to go any faster than a walk since it had been raining off and on all day. Mind you, the field is huge and when we got to the far end, Amber decided she was lonely and started whinnying for her buddies. Monty was the first to respond to the damsel in distress and he cantered all the way over from the other side to join us. Then Gunner came trotting at full speed. For those not familiar with Gunner, he doesn't have a "full speed." All of a sudden EVERYBODY was there and it was like I didn't exist. Amber didn't really want to do anything. Too much for the thoroughbred brain to handle. We did canter up the big hill, but after that she kept trying to wheel take off. I still wonder what that would be like....
Photo: herd buddies Sunshine and Lily
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Saddle Happy
I made my first serious purchase as a "horse person" this weekend - a beautiful used/loved Smith-Worthington saddle. It has the long flaps for my long legs and is a medium gullet - although medium-narrow fits Amber better. But for the awesomely cheap price, I couldn't let it go!
Amber is starting to really learn to bend and to move off of my leg. In our lesson on Saturday we worked on lateral movement and being able to bend in small circles at the canter. It was a fairly exhausting exercise just going one way but then we had to do it again on the other lead! We are so far removed from the "racing days" when Amber just wanted to go fast. I would be exhausted after just ten minutes.
Our jumping still needs work. I feel like we can't quite get the rhythm down. The first time through the grid I was holding her back so much I forgot to release over the jump. So the next couple times I over compensated and did the automatic/extended release instead of the crest release. Did I mention it was only a 12" jump?
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Circling in Ovals
Wow, it's been over a week since I posted! I hope to add some more pictures over the weekend and maybe a video clip if all goes well.
We had a nice trail ride Monday night. I now know where the secret jumping log is in the woods. I will have to go back and visit that section of the trail soon. My plans for "hilltopping" tonight were stymied by the amazing downpour. Had I gotten out to the barn 30 minutes sooner, I would have made it. Instead we did work in the indoor - figure eights, circles. Actually the circles were more like ovals. Bending at any speed above a walk produces an oval rather than a circle. She was also rather eager tonight. There were only two days between the last time I rode her and tonight. Amber is one of those horses that really can't be ridden too much. And she is getting a belly.
Cantering on the correct leads was less of a struggle for her anyway. I almost lost my balance while I was checking to see if she was on the correct lead. Instead, I lost my stirrup but managed to stay on. Yee haw! In the next six weeks I would like to see if I can teach her to go from a walk to a canter. I feel tired just thinking about it. She seems to be able to sense when I am about to ask her - probably because she's figured out the general routine of our rides.
We had a nice trail ride Monday night. I now know where the secret jumping log is in the woods. I will have to go back and visit that section of the trail soon. My plans for "hilltopping" tonight were stymied by the amazing downpour. Had I gotten out to the barn 30 minutes sooner, I would have made it. Instead we did work in the indoor - figure eights, circles. Actually the circles were more like ovals. Bending at any speed above a walk produces an oval rather than a circle. She was also rather eager tonight. There were only two days between the last time I rode her and tonight. Amber is one of those horses that really can't be ridden too much. And she is getting a belly.
Cantering on the correct leads was less of a struggle for her anyway. I almost lost my balance while I was checking to see if she was on the correct lead. Instead, I lost my stirrup but managed to stay on. Yee haw! In the next six weeks I would like to see if I can teach her to go from a walk to a canter. I feel tired just thinking about it. She seems to be able to sense when I am about to ask her - probably because she's figured out the general routine of our rides.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Show Time!!
Great day at Frying Pan Farm! Awesome day if you were under the age of 12 since that seemed to be the age cohort taking all the ribbons. I want to see those kiddos ride the same way on Amber. Guaranteed she would not make it easy for them. We saw a couple of incidents where ponies got the better of their riders. In the class prior to mine one kiddo used her crop a time too many and found herself sitting in the dirt with her pony racing around the ring. In a couple of my classes there was a girl riding a horse that was oversized for her and she couldn't seem to keep him in a trot. He would be cantering long after we were asked to walk.Enough about everyone else. Amber and I did 3 pleasure classes (one division). The first class I totally screwed up. Screwed up as in posted on the wrong diagonal for eight strides. It never fails. I only post on the wrong diagonal in shows. The second class was walk, trot, and "go as you please" meaning the rider has the choice of trotting or cantering. I opted to trot in this class and I thought we did fairly well. At one point we got kind of squeezed and Amber stalled out almost into a walk, but I thought we deserved a ribbon in that class. However due to the subjective nature of pleasure classes, if you don't ribbon in the first class you're pretty much screwed in your whole division. I had some hope for the third class since we hadn't unleashed the stellar canter however Amber was determined to canter on the right lead going both directions so we were out of contention pretty quickly.
Except for a few major mistakes, a good experience overall. I think it may have been the best we've done in a show. The Frying Pan Farm series are Virginia Horse Show Association Shows so they bring out a lot of people going after points not training horses.
Photos: major props to Stephen Reasonover, one of my non-horsey friends who made it out to take photos.
Monday, August 2, 2010
By Timber Hitch, on Being Lucky
I am a lucky.
- I have a home.
- I am about to have a mommy who loves me more than any other horse. And I also have mommy's friends who love on me too.
- I get unlimited access to grass in a ginormous field.
- I have multiple geldings who adore me and are at my disposal.
- I can boss around other horses.
- I am a mare so I am entitled to be bitchy on occasion and it is tolerated.
- Mommy is patient enough to put up with my crap.
- I no longer race for a living but I can live for racing if I choose.
- The only baby in sight was foaled by another mare.
- I do work on occasion, but it is preceded by a nice grooming and followed by a cool bath.
- I live, I breathe, I eat, I run. I am a HORSE!
Friday, July 30, 2010
Work or Pleasure?
Going to show on Tuesday at Frying Pan Farm in Herndon, VA. I think it is a great use of a PTO day! Amber is going to try and pass herself off as a pleasure horse which means I have to do a terrific acting job of making it look like she is easy to ride! If I can manage that, I deserve an Oscar.I've tried all manners of transitioning up from a walk to a trot. From simply vocalizing "trot" to the slightest leg pressure or a cluck. She likes to bolt into a trot and then with half halts I can slow her down to reasonable pace. I've also had a great deal of success in getting her into a nice rhythm by sitting the first 5 or so strides and then posting. But as soon as my butt leaves the saddle she takes that as a cue to go faster. And I can't really sit the trot when the judge asks for a posting trot!
Another Amber gem is the "canter mentality." Once we work our way up to the canter whether in a lesson or just riding by ourselves, that's all she wants to do. And she's become accustomed to launching into a canter from the corners of the ring so I have to half halt in anticipation of her speeding up. Sometimes she'll get pissed and throw her head up and take the bit anyway. Thoroughbreds!!!
Anyways, the show should be fun. I am sitting at my desk with the Almanac of American Politics beneath by feet since I am trying to train my heels to stay down. The riders with the lowest heels tend to do well at FPF. Hopefully I can find some of those nice jointed stirrups at the Clifton Tent Sale this evening!
Photo: Amber checks out Icabod
Monday, July 26, 2010
Contrast
I thought about switching from English to Western. I went to a rodeo Saturday evening to cheer on Jean, Fareed and others from the farm. Barrel racing and pole bending are so much fun and they are all about speed not form! Amber definitely has speed but probably not the same acceleration as horses that compete in western events. And she doesn't quite have the ability to bend around barrels without knocking them over.
However about 10 hours later I was at a show in Quentin, PA to cheer on Julie and Rosie in their hunter show. And then I remembered how much I love English riding and going to shows. So I'm still an English girl although I will still continue to envy the adrenaline rush of western competition.
Amber was an absolute star when I rode her this evening. We struggled a bit with the left lead at the canter but finally got it in the end. I can't wait until our next competition!
Photos: Jean on Cisco, Julie and Rosie
Friday, July 23, 2010
The Hilltop Experience
There is really nothing like riding a galloping horse. When I was about 12 I decided that I wanted to be a jockey. I had a rocking horse that I "practiced" on. I made a little saddle complete with short stirrups. I don't think I really ever mastered the whipping technique however. :-)
I mentioned in the previous post that we went "hilltopping" last night. Hilltopping is cantering/galloping up a hill and (hopefully) stopping at the top. The purpose is to build muscles in the hindquarters from the impulsion required to get up the hill. As we know, Amber needs strong hindquarters to get her over the jumps. Trotting over poles helps but doesn't quite do enough.
I crouched low over her withers and urged her on but surprisingly Amber was still ready and willing to stop once we got to the top of the hill. We did this 4 times! I let Jean do the first two times because I didn't really believe Amber would stop when asked. I can't help but wonder if she'll get into such great shape that she wants to go up over the hill and down the other side. Haha.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Like, whatever....
I did not fall off and Amber did not run away with me. Galloping up the hill was FUN! But my evening is overshadowed by my frustration that I cannot get her to canter on the left lead consistently. It's the first time I feel we've really taken a step backward in the last few months. I should really be writing effusively about how great it feels is to "hilltop." Maybe tomorrow I'll feel less pissy.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Trotting and Cantering Awesomeness
I am tired, it is late, and I have to get up early tomorrow. I just wanted to say how awesome Amber was in our lesson this evening - at least with trotting and cantering. We found a nice slow trotting speed that I could probably ride all day (if I didn't have to post to it). And even better, I learned how to get her to canter on the left lead again. We also learned that Amber does not do bounce jumps, even baby ones. So that means more galloping up hills to strengthen the butt muscles. Yay!
I am on the market to purchase a saddle but am in no rush. I can use Jean's as long as I need to. Depending on the brand I need a 16.5-17" seat with a medium-narrow gullet. I also need forward flaps so my knees don't poke out over the edge of the flaps. Apparently Amber is not the only one with long legs! Ben was nice enough to let me try out his Bates. It was a little big in the seat so I felt like I was going to fall out of it. But otherwise a great fit for Amber.
Stay tuned for tomorrow's post. It will probably be titled with one of the following "pizza and beer","I fell off my horse" or "crazy out-of-control thoroughbred." :-)
I am on the market to purchase a saddle but am in no rush. I can use Jean's as long as I need to. Depending on the brand I need a 16.5-17" seat with a medium-narrow gullet. I also need forward flaps so my knees don't poke out over the edge of the flaps. Apparently Amber is not the only one with long legs! Ben was nice enough to let me try out his Bates. It was a little big in the seat so I felt like I was going to fall out of it. But otherwise a great fit for Amber.
Stay tuned for tomorrow's post. It will probably be titled with one of the following "pizza and beer","I fell off my horse" or "crazy out-of-control thoroughbred." :-)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)