While Badminton and the Kentucky Derby were both happening, many of the rest of us were involved in less famous, but no less rewarding events through the weekend. My original plans were a trail marathon on Saturday and an easy day Sunday. That changed multiple times for multiple reasons and my weekend ended up being cross-country schooling on Saturday and volunteering at the starter event at Fair Hill on Sunday. Both were great fun, if a long way from Rolex and Badminton (in so many ways).
Saturday, Keegan and I went cross country schooling with Eden and her mare Fancy. Both horses were super good and very brave, jumping everything they were pointed at. The only low point came at the end when Keegan somehow twisted a shoe, tearing some foot and stepping on the clip. He does seem sound today, so we're hoping all is still in line for Plantation next Saturday. Meanwhile, the Blue Hill dressage contingent had headed to Morven. Rachel, David and Mary were all showing there. Dressage continues to lack live scoring so I can only let you know that Topper won both his 4th level tests and 4th level high point (via David's facebook). Later on Saturday, Jason Racey contested the mini-prix at the Radnor Pony Club Jumper show. Many others I know were also there, but they too are lacking live scoring, so other than hearing from Jason that he finished 3rd (if I recall correctly), I have no other information. Saturday finished up with Lesley and Bill's wedding reception in Malvern. It was a great occasion and great to see Lesley and Bill as well as Jan and Jeremy Beale, Lesley's mom, Susie, Chris, Amanda and Gillian, and Gloria Cascarino. A really lovely evening.
Sunday, I volunteered as the dressage steward for the Fair Hill Started event (Elementary through Novice levels). I saw many riders I knew, although many others were spending the weekend at MCTA (more on that to follow here). As always, lots of nice people, horses and riders learning the ropes, and after a chilly start, we got a nice day. I saw some of the Cairn O'Mount gang, including Susie and Gillian, Alex Makowski riding 3 or 4, Erin Sylvester, once again coaching fresh from Rolex (we did comment on how much warmer it was last year), and lots of others. My Sunday wrapped up with a dinner at http://www.heirloomdining.com/ and a chance to catch up with Katrina Armstrong on her first two weeks as physician-in-chief at Massachusetts General Hospital http://www.massgeneral.org/about/newsarticle.aspx?id=3962.
Meanwhile, at MCTA, Sally was winning the Advanced on Joule, Kate the Intermediate on Liberty, Kaiti and Truman gathered the red ribbon, and Caitlin Silliman had a bunch of rides from BN through Preliminary. Even further south was the Southern 8ths, heart of the Carolina Horse Trial and Long Format Event. One of the Long Formats most dedicated volunteers blogged about it here: http://www.teamflyingsolo.com/. And going south again, the Area 3 championships and horse trials were happening at Poplar Place. Looks like Andrea Leatherman is back in the tack, which is great to hear. I know Lynn Cronin was riding at Penny Oaks and saw a couple of great pictures on facebook, but they too lack live scoring. Maybe we can get a blog from Lynn.
And in Texas, they were holding a CIC*/** along with the horse trials. They did have live scoring. Rowdie Adams won the 2* and Heather Morris the 1*
So lots going on in eventing world as the northern season gears up and the southern season finishes up.
Monday, May 6, 2013
Thursday, May 2, 2013
Firing up the northern show season
This blog started as the florida chronicles and then went beyond when I kept it up after the 2008 Florida season. I tend to think of my riding schedule in two chunks, the Florida chunk and the Area II chunk. Of course, I always think of the Area II chunk as kicking off in my beloved Area VIII with Rolex. This, despite the fact that eventing starts up in the north prior to Rolex. While I didn't ride, I was able to join in the fun watching a lot of horses jump as the sj judge at Plantation and enjoying a day volunteering as the xc starter at Fair Hill (aside from almost freezing at both).
Last weekend, I headed to Rolex. It was, as always, inspiring, educational and a huge amount of fun. As always, I don't feel that I can add to the extensive coverage already provided by EN and dozens of other outlets. My Rolex was great. I volunteered as a cross country steward again and got to watch my area partner Lee Ann in action taking her incredible photos. I got to hang out with Caitlin Silliman and her family, supporters, sponsors and colleagues. I went to my first PRO sponsored event, an excellent party at a gallery full of amazing horse art in downtown Lexington. I did some shopping, most notably buying yet another dressage saddle, but for the first time feeling I really liked it as opposed to just something that would work. I sent it home with the Windurra gang and am looking forward to riding in it for the first time today. I hung out in the KHP Foundation tent, where Kevin went above and beyond in extending hospitality. I was sad that Jennie and Ping didn't get to run and that Sue wasn't up to jumping with Sally (but am looking forward to seeing what both of them do next). I clapped extra hard for Lynn and her excellent finish on an OTTB, and (of course) hardest of all for Caitlin and Hoku as they completed their first 4 star. I met people, and dogs, and horses all weekend. I came home ready to ride and am looking forward to reports from the busy upcoming weekend, with the Blue Hill crowd divided between dressage at Morven and eventing at MCTA. I'll be volunteering at the Fair Hill starter and will be interested to see how many Rolex riders make it there.
Last weekend, I headed to Rolex. It was, as always, inspiring, educational and a huge amount of fun. As always, I don't feel that I can add to the extensive coverage already provided by EN and dozens of other outlets. My Rolex was great. I volunteered as a cross country steward again and got to watch my area partner Lee Ann in action taking her incredible photos. I got to hang out with Caitlin Silliman and her family, supporters, sponsors and colleagues. I went to my first PRO sponsored event, an excellent party at a gallery full of amazing horse art in downtown Lexington. I did some shopping, most notably buying yet another dressage saddle, but for the first time feeling I really liked it as opposed to just something that would work. I sent it home with the Windurra gang and am looking forward to riding in it for the first time today. I hung out in the KHP Foundation tent, where Kevin went above and beyond in extending hospitality. I was sad that Jennie and Ping didn't get to run and that Sue wasn't up to jumping with Sally (but am looking forward to seeing what both of them do next). I clapped extra hard for Lynn and her excellent finish on an OTTB, and (of course) hardest of all for Caitlin and Hoku as they completed their first 4 star. I met people, and dogs, and horses all weekend. I came home ready to ride and am looking forward to reports from the busy upcoming weekend, with the Blue Hill crowd divided between dressage at Morven and eventing at MCTA. I'll be volunteering at the Fair Hill starter and will be interested to see how many Rolex riders make it there.
Monday, March 25, 2013
Diagnosis, decisions, discoveries
For those of you who follow with any interest the running aspects of this blog, you may have noticed that the last few long runs (Boulder Marathon in October, first 42 of JFK in November and NOLA marathon in February) all mentioned that my lungs didn't seem to want to play and that I went (even more) slowly to finish each of them. Then I had the cold from hell in January and when I was totally out of breath going xc at Rocking Horse (both the E time and the successful, but slow, time), I chalked it up to that. When I saw my physician for my annual exam a couple days after the NOLA marathon, I mentioned to her that I should probably get a pulmonary consult as my lungs seemed to be getting worse. She agreed and also scheduled me for a stress echo. The pre-stress echo got finished up with not a lot of waiting, but then the cardiologist came into the room. Turned out that things didn't look so good. Apparently, the radiation for Hodgkins impacted more than my lungs (and my shoulders, but that is a different story) and the echo had detected "moderate" aortic stenosis - maybe:
Classification: Aortic Stenosis Severity
Classification: Aortic Stenosis Severity
- Aortic jet velocity
- Normal: <2 li="" m="" sec="">
- Mild: 2.5-2.9 m/sec
- Moderate: 3-4 m/sec
- Severe: >4 m/sec
- Mean gradient
- Mild: <25 li="" mmhg="" nbsp="">
- Moderate: 25-40 mmHg
- Severe: >40 mmHg
- Critical: >50 mmHg
- Aortic valve area
- Normal: 3 to 4 cm2
- Mild: 1.5 to 2 cm2
- Moderate: 1 to 1.5 cm2
- Severe: <1 cm2="" li="">
- Critical: <0 cm2="<!--0--">
While the area appeared to be around 1.1, the gradient looked much more on the mild side and they were having trouble figuring out the velocity. Apparently, when you go around running marathons with your heart in this condition, it screws up the standard diagnostic procedure, but there is definitely a diagnosis and an issue (and, of course, the symptoms). Next on the medical front is a discussion with a cardiologist, probably catheterization as it will provide a more accurate picture and is especially recommended when the echo findings aren't consistent or conclusive (true in my case). Then, they will likely still do some sort of functional test to see what the heart does under a workload.
Aside from the medical side of getting figured out exactly where the diagnosis falls, they have said that in the meantime, physical exertion is not a great idea. After talking with several physician friends (both internists and cardiologists), I decided to continue with the plan to do the 50 miles at the Inagural Prairie Spirit Trail Ultra, but to walk it rather than making any attempt to run. Looking at a forecast with a low of 30, a high of 40 and a 70% chance of rain/sleet/snow, I had more than a passing thought that I had the perfect excuse to bag it. But, I'm pretty well trained right now, there is no time limit, I own vast amounts of warm and waterproof clothing and who knows what might happen over the next few weeks/months, so decision made - and remade several times in the days leading up the event. I had the perfect excuse to not go out in the cold and rain/sleet/snow, but I knew that if I didn't, it wasn't for the good reason of not wanting to harm my heart, but for the feeble reason of being a weather weenie, so the decision didn't change.
I flew into Kansas City on Friday afternoon and the weather was promising. The drive down to the bed and breakfast was easy, as was check-in, packet pick-up and a pasta dinner. This time, there were no Friday night nerves, they waited to make an appearance until around 5:00 a.m. Saturday morning. I didn't need to be awake that early, but I was, so I sorted through gear, prepared my drop bags, had a cup of tea and then headed off to the start. We hung out in the gym at the Don Woodward Community Center for a bit. I chatted with some other participants, especially a woman named Amber, who ended up with a great finish in her first 50 miler and started gearing up. Runners are great. Ultra Runners (in my limited experience) are even more into supporting each other and offering help and tips. Then it was time. At 8:00 a.m., it was full light and in the upper 30s, not bad at all. I set off at a walk. My goal pace was 16:00/mile. I was very near the end of the group and alone most of the time. I met up with a trio from Oklahoma (Caroline, Roman and Bobby) several times during the run. The first time, when we chatted a bit at the first unmanned aid station at mile 5.25. I also made a point to eat my Almond trail bar before then and my first packet of Clif Shot blocks before the first manned station (Princeton) at 9.75, knowing my chewing interest wanes as events proceed (one of these days, I'm going to need to embrace gel - maybe - see I forget (or am in total denial) that I may not be able to continue to do this). Spent about 5 minutes at the aid station, turned down the offer of a taco. Sonny (son of organizer and part of the Brigade) was having a potato taco, which was interesting, but not at all appetizing sounding to me. On then to Richmond at mile 16. The trail was lovely in many places. Woods (which you don't necessarily expect on the prairie), lots of birds, bridges over lovely creeks and rivers, cows in the field, something very, very green (maybe the last of the winter wheat?), and a smooth trail. Richmond to Garnett went well and I pulled into Garnett at 6:26, 15 minutes ahead of goal. I used that time and more warming up, changing hand warmers, resting a bit and chatting with Roman and Bobby. Then, off for the second half. By this time, it was snowing. It had started lightly in the last couple of miles to Garnett and was coming down in earnest as I left. Big soft, but very wet flakes of snow. It wasn't sticking on the paved part of the path in Garnett yet, but was once back on the trail. Around mile 27, a stunning big fox crossed the path right in front of me. That smile lasted at least a couple of miles. Had it been warmer and drier, I would have taken some pictures (would have missed the fox - he was very fast), particularly of the beautiful blue of the juniper berries on the ground, some of the birds, and more amusingly a "can you identify this scat" series as there was sign of any number of animals all along the trail. Got back to Richmond (mile 34) feeling good, but a little soggy (much thanks to Rob for advice on the Patagonia Houdini - it was working its magic, hence only a little soggy). I had ramen and hot chocolate, switched out my gloves and added a second pair of handwarmers and put my Arc'teryx jacket in a ziploc and added it to my pack (much thanks to Barry Lewis for suggesting the Ultra Aspire pack - I didn't use the water bladder, but it was amazingly comfortable for carrying stuff and I was able to hook my hand held water bottle super comfortably into the front straps, so I didn't have to carry it), and then headed off to Princeton. At Princeton, I discovered that my one packing failure was not having a third pair of gloves, but Andrea (another Brigade member) was good enough to work hard at getting the ones I had a bit drier. I pulled my Arc'teryx on over my pack and added my headlamp (thanks to Andy Glick for the Petzl Myo RXP headlamp for my birthday present), and headed out for the final (not quite) 10 miles. I think I did cover 10 miles because by now there was pretty significant slow on the ground. At the road crossings, it was quite deep and slushy in places and so I walked around a bit to avoid the deepest parts, same as I passed into the final three miles and the snow was deep and slushy on the paved path, so I wove around a little. I still felt quite strong and passed a few people in this final stretch. I was also passed with somewhere between 2 and 3 miles left by the first finisher of the 100 mile race. He looked amazingly strong. I just continued along. Getting to the finish was a bit of a comedy. I didn't really understand the cones that were set up and so went to the front door of the center and went in, then was told to go back out and around to the back. When I did that, I ended up at a locked door. I pounded on it and waited a little and was about to head back around to the front when someone came to open it (apparently the door stop had failed - oops). I was able to head in, where they had set up a really neat finish line and had a photographer (I will try to add the photo once they are posted). I walked in the front door at 10:16 p.m. Attempting to correct for the longer aid stations stops, I mainted my 16 minute walking pace. I was not the final finisher and not everyone at the start line crossed the finish line, but everyone of them had a story, all of them in one way or another EPIC. Thanks for reading mine.
I'm not sure that a pretty epic March snow was what Eric Steele (the race organizer) had in mind when he was thinking that the event would be epic, but I'm really glad I did it. It is a nice bucket list item to have participated in an inagural 50 mile event 2 months after my 50th birthday. I fairly quickly got back to the bed and breakfast, almost cried when I wasn't sure I could manage to turn the key in the lock with my frozen hands, but succeeded and had a short soak in very hot water in the lovely big tub in my room at the Three Sisters Inn. I got up in the morning, got packed up and headed out - into about 10 inches of snow and an unshoveled driveway. With the incredibly generous help of another guest, I got the car out (after about an hour of shoveling and rocking and pushing and shoveling) and headed to the airport. Driving was a little slow, but easy enough. Apparently, despite being in the midwest, MCI airport hasn't quite figured out the logistics of plowing the runways, so it took our plane over an hour to get to the gate, meaning I missed my connection from Cleveland to Philadelphia. The good news was that missing a flight in the middle of March Madness isn't that sad, because sitting in some sports bar watching basketball would be on my list of preferred activities for a Sunday afternoon anyway. It was fine that it was at an airport. Finally got home around 10:00 p.m. and neither yesterday nor today was I particularly sore (the benefit of walking or of being cold acting like icing during the endeavor?).
So, what are the discoveries alluded to in the title? I don't really remember, I wrote the title on Friday, but I can say I've learned: That the ultra community is a great one and I hope I can stay involved as the diagnosis progresses; that the praririe is lovelier than I expected; that I can overcome being a cold weenie for a good enough reason; that I have amazing people in my life and that life is good (the latter which I knew).
I also need to add some shout outs, to Caitlin Silliman winning the Intermediate at Southern Pines on Remi this weekend, Jenna for texting me those results as they happened, the Blue Hill Crew and Sally Cousins for successful weekends at Poplar, Rob Colenso for his blazing fast Terrapin 50k time, Kaiti and Jen for their messages leading up to and through the weekend, Natalie Hollis for successfully completing the Jungle Cup in weather almost as bad as in Kansas (and more water obstacles involved), and always Henry for setting his worry aside and supporting my crazy endeavors.
I'm not sure that a pretty epic March snow was what Eric Steele (the race organizer) had in mind when he was thinking that the event would be epic, but I'm really glad I did it. It is a nice bucket list item to have participated in an inagural 50 mile event 2 months after my 50th birthday. I fairly quickly got back to the bed and breakfast, almost cried when I wasn't sure I could manage to turn the key in the lock with my frozen hands, but succeeded and had a short soak in very hot water in the lovely big tub in my room at the Three Sisters Inn. I got up in the morning, got packed up and headed out - into about 10 inches of snow and an unshoveled driveway. With the incredibly generous help of another guest, I got the car out (after about an hour of shoveling and rocking and pushing and shoveling) and headed to the airport. Driving was a little slow, but easy enough. Apparently, despite being in the midwest, MCI airport hasn't quite figured out the logistics of plowing the runways, so it took our plane over an hour to get to the gate, meaning I missed my connection from Cleveland to Philadelphia. The good news was that missing a flight in the middle of March Madness isn't that sad, because sitting in some sports bar watching basketball would be on my list of preferred activities for a Sunday afternoon anyway. It was fine that it was at an airport. Finally got home around 10:00 p.m. and neither yesterday nor today was I particularly sore (the benefit of walking or of being cold acting like icing during the endeavor?).So, what are the discoveries alluded to in the title? I don't really remember, I wrote the title on Friday, but I can say I've learned: That the ultra community is a great one and I hope I can stay involved as the diagnosis progresses; that the praririe is lovelier than I expected; that I can overcome being a cold weenie for a good enough reason; that I have amazing people in my life and that life is good (the latter which I knew).
I also need to add some shout outs, to Caitlin Silliman winning the Intermediate at Southern Pines on Remi this weekend, Jenna for texting me those results as they happened, the Blue Hill Crew and Sally Cousins for successful weekends at Poplar, Rob Colenso for his blazing fast Terrapin 50k time, Kaiti and Jen for their messages leading up to and through the weekend, Natalie Hollis for successfully completing the Jungle Cup in weather almost as bad as in Kansas (and more water obstacles involved), and always Henry for setting his worry aside and supporting my crazy endeavors.
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Running and Riding
No, not a Ride and Tie event, although that seems like it could be great fun http://www.rideandtie.org/whatis.html, but rather two separate weekend activities. February 23-24, I spent in New Orleans to run the Rock 'n' Roll marathon. I was lucky enough to stay at the really lovely home of Bonnie Kibbie's parents in the garden district, close to everything. I posted a picture of one of the dogs on my facebook, temporarily confusing Bonnie who had forgotten that I was spending the weekend at her parents' place. Bonnie's dad had headed north to be with his mother and Christina (Bonnie's mom) headed up Sunday morning (after not only totally setting up the guest room for me, but also treating me to a lovely dinner on Saturday night). Bonnie is a big winner in the parent jackpot (although I suppose there is always some amount of other people fully appreciating your parents more than you ever can). The race itself went well. I went slowly, still not a 100% recovered from respiratory remnants of the plague some unknown viral infection, but finished fine and felt quite good. I did yogilates on Saturday afternoon and yoga on Sunday afternoon (at a studio owned by a woman with whom Bonnie went to high school). If you are in New Orleans, I can highly recommend http://www.reynstudios.com/. The music component of the marathon was very good. In the past, I sometimes have been disappointed by the amount/quality of rock and roll at Rock 'n' Roll marathons, but not this time. Super rock, southern rock, blues, country, even some jazz influenced stuff and all of it good. It made the miles pass faster. I walked and chatted with a woman at about mile 22. She was running her first marathon, 3.5 years after a heart transplant (necessitated by CHF due to treatment for recurrent breast cancer). Talk about a complete inspiration. Never say your life is too difficult to achieve your goals. Sunday night, I had dinner at the Irish House, excellent food, Irish hard cider and the basketball game. The only downside of the weekend was somewhat wet weather (although it held off through the race). It was great fun meeting Rex, Taiki and Abby and getting to spend some time with the inimitable Fennel.
This past weekend was back to Rocking Horse, this weekend the Rocking Horse Winter III Horse Trials. Keegan and I were making another run at training level. Our dressage test was right where it has been, despite what I consider the much more difficult (and not very sensible to my brain) Training Level Test B. I had an error, but without it we would have been right in the same ballpark where we have been. He did get a 7 on his second canter lengthening. We've been working hard on that with Hilda's help. The trot lengthenings are apparent, but not super organized. He seems to lose track of his legs, but we'll keep working on that. Free walk less stretchy than usual, but still good for a 7 and stretchy trot good although apparently lacking bend (something that it has never even occurred to me to work on, I love the endless learning opportunities in dressage). Got off and swapped tack to get right back on for SJ. Short warm-up and then in. Hilda was concerned that I would be toobrain dead lackadaisical in my approach to the course and pointed out that some of the turns were tough. Once again, Keegan went in and made the whole thing feel incredibly easy, including handily jumping out of a totally dead distance to the swedish oxer on a bending line. I apparently somehow managed to execute the turn to the liverpool beyond Hilda's expectations and she was also surprised by how smoothly we performed the inside turn from jump 2 to 3. I'm going to take him to some jumper shows this summer. It will be good for me. My riding is approaching the nearly acceptable level (a couple dead distances aside), but my position is still firmly in the barely trained monkey category.
So there it was 10 am and I was done riding for the day. Loaded Keegan up in the trailer (he has a slight aversion to the two horse, which is amusing given how good he has been about all other trailers) and Hilda kindly took him back to hang out in his pasture at Ashmore. I got to spend the afternoon hanging out in control with the fabulous Cyndi Kurth Turk. It was much colder than it is supposed to be in Florida. The wind was especially cutting. There were lots of really lovely rides, but also a couple of tough falls. Rowdie Adams reported being ok, but grounded and stuck in a neck brace for several weeks. I didn't hear any follow up report of the other rider that was transported, but it was a long hold. Marley Stone and Lauren Keiffer get props for coming off the hour plus hold and jumping clean through the rest of the course (only the final fence in Marley's case), both of them ending up in the ribbons. I got to see Abby the dog (as opposed to last weekend's Abby the cat) and as always enjoyed the close up view of what was happening around the cross country course that being in control provides. Forrest Nymph and Lauren DeNeve looked great, very cute and good jumping pony there. A couple of Mike Huber's students were completing their first preliminary or intermediate horse trials and Olivia Cliver recovered from having to chase down her My Mitch (who escaped while in warm up) to take first place. There are always a hundred little stories going on at a horse trial. We finished fairly early and I headed back to do some day job work and wash off the sand that the wind had blown everywhere.
Sunday morning we headed off again (earlier than anticipated due to compressed xc ride times for the training, novice and bn). We got tacked up and headed out to the cross country warm up. The event had kindly provided a whole row of actual cross country fences to warm up over. I think there were at least 6 available even when the bigger ones from the upper levels were removed. We jumped several of them, working on some turning and keeping a good tempo and then headed out of the start box. The first four fences were perfect, although Keegan had to help out to 4B, which he did. Then Keegan found another gear and a bit of willfulness. Fence 5 (big green bench) went well, the training corner/table at 6 was a non-issue, and although I had been worried about it, the Trakhner didn't warrant a look from him. He did hit the ground really running though, so in line with my actual plan, I slowed him down significantly before heading to the half coffin (which was a very kind question at this event) and he jumped it very well, then pretty much totally blew me off on landing. The next table was jumped from a far too flat open stride and had me actually saying to my horse, "D**it, listen to me! Do you want to get a DR penalty??" I actually halted him there and then trotted 10 and 11 (which were angled ramps at two strides), no trouble. We then cantered off to the big picnic table, which jumped beautifully and then to the banks area. I jumped him over 13 in a direction to land on the flat ground, then brought hime to a trot to make the quite sharp turn to head down the steep slope before jumping up the double banks. That also cost time, but what we've been noticing is that sometimes if he sees too much, it makes him doubt. This way, he was able to focus on the single obstacle and then turn and go slowly enough to understand the banks. We made the turn and picked up speed to the next table and the chevron and then I trotted again as we approached the water combination. I may not have needed to. He was very bold over the roll top, down the log drop into the water and out over the (pretty big) chevron - despite my having overslipped my reins and having little steering to that last. He then took off again, but I got him slowed down and turned to the final two fences, a cabin and a table. So we finished very slowly, but with no jumping penalties and I felt a great learning experience for both of us. I also discovered that my rubberized web reins have lost all their rubberization, so new reins before the next event. We ended up last in our division (8th), but I was incredible happy with the weekend and with my rockstar OTTB! Cyndi said that she was so thrilled for us that she called Keegan, Keebler - twice! We are eagerly awaiting the eventing debut of Jordan and the menace.
This past weekend was back to Rocking Horse, this weekend the Rocking Horse Winter III Horse Trials. Keegan and I were making another run at training level. Our dressage test was right where it has been, despite what I consider the much more difficult (and not very sensible to my brain) Training Level Test B. I had an error, but without it we would have been right in the same ballpark where we have been. He did get a 7 on his second canter lengthening. We've been working hard on that with Hilda's help. The trot lengthenings are apparent, but not super organized. He seems to lose track of his legs, but we'll keep working on that. Free walk less stretchy than usual, but still good for a 7 and stretchy trot good although apparently lacking bend (something that it has never even occurred to me to work on, I love the endless learning opportunities in dressage). Got off and swapped tack to get right back on for SJ. Short warm-up and then in. Hilda was concerned that I would be too
So there it was 10 am and I was done riding for the day. Loaded Keegan up in the trailer (he has a slight aversion to the two horse, which is amusing given how good he has been about all other trailers) and Hilda kindly took him back to hang out in his pasture at Ashmore. I got to spend the afternoon hanging out in control with the fabulous Cyndi Kurth Turk. It was much colder than it is supposed to be in Florida. The wind was especially cutting. There were lots of really lovely rides, but also a couple of tough falls. Rowdie Adams reported being ok, but grounded and stuck in a neck brace for several weeks. I didn't hear any follow up report of the other rider that was transported, but it was a long hold. Marley Stone and Lauren Keiffer get props for coming off the hour plus hold and jumping clean through the rest of the course (only the final fence in Marley's case), both of them ending up in the ribbons. I got to see Abby the dog (as opposed to last weekend's Abby the cat) and as always enjoyed the close up view of what was happening around the cross country course that being in control provides. Forrest Nymph and Lauren DeNeve looked great, very cute and good jumping pony there. A couple of Mike Huber's students were completing their first preliminary or intermediate horse trials and Olivia Cliver recovered from having to chase down her My Mitch (who escaped while in warm up) to take first place. There are always a hundred little stories going on at a horse trial. We finished fairly early and I headed back to do some day job work and wash off the sand that the wind had blown everywhere.
Sunday morning we headed off again (earlier than anticipated due to compressed xc ride times for the training, novice and bn). We got tacked up and headed out to the cross country warm up. The event had kindly provided a whole row of actual cross country fences to warm up over. I think there were at least 6 available even when the bigger ones from the upper levels were removed. We jumped several of them, working on some turning and keeping a good tempo and then headed out of the start box. The first four fences were perfect, although Keegan had to help out to 4B, which he did. Then Keegan found another gear and a bit of willfulness. Fence 5 (big green bench) went well, the training corner/table at 6 was a non-issue, and although I had been worried about it, the Trakhner didn't warrant a look from him. He did hit the ground really running though, so in line with my actual plan, I slowed him down significantly before heading to the half coffin (which was a very kind question at this event) and he jumped it very well, then pretty much totally blew me off on landing. The next table was jumped from a far too flat open stride and had me actually saying to my horse, "D**it, listen to me! Do you want to get a DR penalty??" I actually halted him there and then trotted 10 and 11 (which were angled ramps at two strides), no trouble. We then cantered off to the big picnic table, which jumped beautifully and then to the banks area. I jumped him over 13 in a direction to land on the flat ground, then brought hime to a trot to make the quite sharp turn to head down the steep slope before jumping up the double banks. That also cost time, but what we've been noticing is that sometimes if he sees too much, it makes him doubt. This way, he was able to focus on the single obstacle and then turn and go slowly enough to understand the banks. We made the turn and picked up speed to the next table and the chevron and then I trotted again as we approached the water combination. I may not have needed to. He was very bold over the roll top, down the log drop into the water and out over the (pretty big) chevron - despite my having overslipped my reins and having little steering to that last. He then took off again, but I got him slowed down and turned to the final two fences, a cabin and a table. So we finished very slowly, but with no jumping penalties and I felt a great learning experience for both of us. I also discovered that my rubberized web reins have lost all their rubberization, so new reins before the next event. We ended up last in our division (8th), but I was incredible happy with the weekend and with my rockstar OTTB! Cyndi said that she was so thrilled for us that she called Keegan, Keebler - twice! We are eagerly awaiting the eventing debut of Jordan and the menace.
Monday, January 28, 2013
5 years later, more bad birthday riding that is still big fun
Five years ago, this blog started with Rocking Horse I, on the weekend of my 45th birthday http://seema-thefloridachronicles.blogspot.com/2008/02/first-event-of-season-in-which-horses-i.html. The horses were much better than I was. As we know, history oft repeats itself, and this weekend, for my 50th birthday, I headed off to Florida for another go at Rocking Horse I. Last year, this was Keegan's first event at the BN. This year, we had a go at the training move-up. The weekend got off to a great start with a very good dressage lesson on Friday. There was a brief flurry of texts to figure out where our Coggins was, but it was in Missy's truck and Missy was headed to Rocking Horse even earlier than I was the next morning. Hilda and Ken, along with Lynn and Johhny headed up to Rocking horse in the lovely motor coaches on Friday evening. I hung at the house listening to basketball.
Saturday, I headed up to Rocking Horse with Keegan fairly early in the morning. I was a little worried that he might not want to load in the dark, but no worries, he marched right on. He remained calm and easy when we arrived at Rocking Horse. I picked up packet, chatted a bit and then hopped on for dressage. The test felt really good except for the first canter transition, which was a bit fussy, but overally quite good. Watching the video later (thanks, Ken!), I saw that I lost his hindquarters at the end of a couple turns (something Missy has been working with us on) and that my arms tended to be a bit too low and straight (an improving, but never-ending issue). Overall, I was really pleased with him and despite his lengthenings still being a work in progress, there was no drop-off from his prior scores at Novice. Still plenty of room for improvement.
After a little time off, I got back on and headed over to the stadium. I got there a little earlier than necessary and so got to watch Grace Carpenter's very nice dressage test on her Isabella. We jumped a few and headed into the stadium, which was really just an amazing experience. It felt totally easy (although others said it was a challenging enough track, with just over half the horses having a double clear). I got a clear round and a happy birthday from the announcer, both of which were fun to hear. Hilda and Cyndi also engineered a lovely happy birthday "advertisement" in the program, very cool.
After taking Keegan home, I came back up and Hilda and I walked the cross country course (more on that later), then returned to the coach, where a wonderful birthday party was underway. While, I had guessed there might be something planned, I had not envisioned the scope which included Henry sending wine and Lynn following Henry's recipe to bake me my very favorite cardamom pound cake. I got some lovely presents (including a great picture of Keebler with Jordan to start my collection of that great partnership). In addition to Hilda, Ken, Lynn, and Johnny, Genny (another Ashmore rider), Jordan, (her mom) Billie and (another Cyndi studnent) Emily came by as well as Cyndi, Sam Bueckananon (who rode Gaston in the clinic last week and also had a good day) and her mom, Jeff, Missy, Steph Cauffman representing the Blue Hill crowd, Maripeg Bruder (never one to miss a party), Sandra McDonald and Laura Duhamel from adult riders and several others stopped in to say hello. It was a great crowd and great fun. Missy had a great day on both her own Ike and on Super Nova (who is for sale - total jumping packer - Missy said she had a blast http://bluehillfarmpa.com/Pages/SalesHorses.html). Steph and Dylan also had a great day (other than Steph not having quite all the rust knocked off her distance finding) and Steph was in first place on Cindi Cauffman's Ben (Absolute Bearing) after dressage and SJ (and ended up winning their division with clean xc on Sunday). Sandra rode both of hers at training and Laura Duhamel apparently came off the xc grinning ear to ear and finished on her dressage score. Sam and Gaston were also doing well with the clinic paying off. After enjoying all the yummy food and wonderful company, I headed back down
Sunday morning, same routine. Pop Keegan on the trailer and head up to Rocking Horse, hang out a bit, then tack up for cross country. Keegan was adjustable and listening in the warm-up and I felt we were quite good to go. On the other hand, the cross-country was quite substantial. I heard later from one of the officials that they felt the training level course was the one course that wasn't really a move-up course. 5-4-3-2-1 have fun! and off we went. Keegan jumped brilliantly through the first half of the course, handling the big enough bench, the accuracy question at 3, the turning question at 5 all well. Then we had a stutter at 8, when he got distracted going into the woods, paid no attention to my leg (admittedly weak as I've been battling a pretty grim upper respiratory tract malady) and had a stop to take a look at the in to the half coffin. We regrouped and finished. He was then brillian over another table, through the major terrain question and over the big picnic table, but then just found too much too look at a the water, and I just wasn't riding him well, so our day ended there. It was vaguely disappointing, but mostly I was impressed at how easy the bigger fences felt. He clearly needs a little more trust in me (and to pay attention when stuff gets tougher), but I also thought back and realized that this is his 5th cross country run total (BN at RH 1 last January, N at Ocala last February, N at Fair Hill in May and N at Radnor in October), that other than the clinic last week, he hadn't been on a cross country course since October and that in general, he had never schooled anything as tough as the questions he was being asked on this course. So, back to the drawing board with some more schooling and another novice run at Ocala in a couple weeks, but overall, this horse is a total rockstar. Once I manange to get my act together, we are going to be having even more fun (I think that is possible). The birthday fun continues with dinner with Henry tonight and the city party tomorrow night.
Meanwhile, the training sessions are under way in Ocala. Caitlin is there, so I'm hoping for a report. Jenna posted a lovely facebook picture of Caitlin jumping Hoku earlier today. And further north, Full Gallop took place. Sally had some great finishes on Joule, Oliver and Charm; Erin Sylvester won the training; Kate Chadderton rode her whole string; Ryan Wood had several Courtney Cooper was back in action, and Chris Talley and Super Pony put in an appearance. Up north, basketball was the big news as Villanova beat #3 Syracuse and the Celtics lost Rondo for the season. I returned to an icy mix coating my car this morning, but it has turned to rain since and I hear it is warm in the midwest which means it should be warm here soon. Of course, I am so lucky, I get to head back to the warmlands next weekend.
Saturday, I headed up to Rocking Horse with Keegan fairly early in the morning. I was a little worried that he might not want to load in the dark, but no worries, he marched right on. He remained calm and easy when we arrived at Rocking Horse. I picked up packet, chatted a bit and then hopped on for dressage. The test felt really good except for the first canter transition, which was a bit fussy, but overally quite good. Watching the video later (thanks, Ken!), I saw that I lost his hindquarters at the end of a couple turns (something Missy has been working with us on) and that my arms tended to be a bit too low and straight (an improving, but never-ending issue). Overall, I was really pleased with him and despite his lengthenings still being a work in progress, there was no drop-off from his prior scores at Novice. Still plenty of room for improvement.
After a little time off, I got back on and headed over to the stadium. I got there a little earlier than necessary and so got to watch Grace Carpenter's very nice dressage test on her Isabella. We jumped a few and headed into the stadium, which was really just an amazing experience. It felt totally easy (although others said it was a challenging enough track, with just over half the horses having a double clear). I got a clear round and a happy birthday from the announcer, both of which were fun to hear. Hilda and Cyndi also engineered a lovely happy birthday "advertisement" in the program, very cool.
Sunday morning, same routine. Pop Keegan on the trailer and head up to Rocking Horse, hang out a bit, then tack up for cross country. Keegan was adjustable and listening in the warm-up and I felt we were quite good to go. On the other hand, the cross-country was quite substantial. I heard later from one of the officials that they felt the training level course was the one course that wasn't really a move-up course. 5-4-3-2-1 have fun! and off we went. Keegan jumped brilliantly through the first half of the course, handling the big enough bench, the accuracy question at 3, the turning question at 5 all well. Then we had a stutter at 8, when he got distracted going into the woods, paid no attention to my leg (admittedly weak as I've been battling a pretty grim upper respiratory tract malady) and had a stop to take a look at the in to the half coffin. We regrouped and finished. He was then brillian over another table, through the major terrain question and over the big picnic table, but then just found too much too look at a the water, and I just wasn't riding him well, so our day ended there. It was vaguely disappointing, but mostly I was impressed at how easy the bigger fences felt. He clearly needs a little more trust in me (and to pay attention when stuff gets tougher), but I also thought back and realized that this is his 5th cross country run total (BN at RH 1 last January, N at Ocala last February, N at Fair Hill in May and N at Radnor in October), that other than the clinic last week, he hadn't been on a cross country course since October and that in general, he had never schooled anything as tough as the questions he was being asked on this course. So, back to the drawing board with some more schooling and another novice run at Ocala in a couple weeks, but overall, this horse is a total rockstar. Once I manange to get my act together, we are going to be having even more fun (I think that is possible). The birthday fun continues with dinner with Henry tonight and the city party tomorrow night.
Meanwhile, the training sessions are under way in Ocala. Caitlin is there, so I'm hoping for a report. Jenna posted a lovely facebook picture of Caitlin jumping Hoku earlier today. And further north, Full Gallop took place. Sally had some great finishes on Joule, Oliver and Charm; Erin Sylvester won the training; Kate Chadderton rode her whole string; Ryan Wood had several Courtney Cooper was back in action, and Chris Talley and Super Pony put in an appearance. Up north, basketball was the big news as Villanova beat #3 Syracuse and the Celtics lost Rondo for the season. I returned to an icy mix coating my car this morning, but it has turned to rain since and I hear it is warm in the midwest which means it should be warm here soon. Of course, I am so lucky, I get to head back to the warmlands next weekend.
Monday, January 21, 2013
Leslie Law Clinic Report
I was waiting for pictures, but have become too impatient and feel the need to document the weekend clinic while the euphoria is still stronger than the ridiculously cold weather to which I have returned. Hopefully, some pictures will follow.
For the second year in a row, Keegan and I set off to get a jump on our winter season by participating in the Area III Adult Riders hosted Leslie Law clinic at wonderful Rocking Horse Farm in Altoona, Florida. Saturday was stadium jumping day. I arrived at Ashmore, put Keegan in the trailer and headed up. I arrived in time to watch a bit of the preliminary group prior to my ride. Last year, the theme was to develop the proper canter while in your jump position and then to not change to the fence. This year, the theme was supporting the horse (with a slightly raised hand toward your belt buckle) to a forward distance to the base. Leslie emphasized not going for the big distance you see and not softening too soon (and especially not leaning forward) as this leads to the horse chipping in and not being strong to the deep distance, making it much harder. I watched a bit of this and then tacked Keegan up and walked up to the ring (no walking about or preparing him at all this year, and he was totally quiet and focused on his work). Prior to jumping, Leslie had us do some trotting and cantering. The cantering exercise was to canter 12 strides and then walk, then back to canter 12 strides, etc. He ended up getting on Keegan to demonstrate the effectiveness of keeping the hands in line with the horse's mouth, even when the horses head was high, and to resist with the hand while continuing to move the elbow toward the horse's mouth, creating what he described as an "elastic towline effect." Keegan looked quite good after a few minutes of this. Leslie also said to use the spur more to create reaction to the aid rather than kicking. I wear a spur, but have a bad habit of kicking rather than using it. All of this with the supporting hand. We then moved on to jumping with the theme of the raised supporting hand. To practice this technique, there were turning questions. We started with a vertical, serpentine turn to an oxer, serpentine turn to repeat the two fences in the opposite direction. That went fairly well. Then we did vertical, serpentine turn to oxer, serpentine turn to a box under a rail and roll-back turn to a triple-bar. Keegan launched over the triple-bar (though from a good canter and distance - he was just a bit impressed, having never jumped a triple bar before). I was jumped out of the tack a bit, but managed to recover to the final vertical. There were 4 other riders in my group. First was Allison and her lovely mare, making a guest appearance from the jumper world. Allison had the technique down very well and it showed as her mare reached good distances from a powerful stride to virtually every jump. She did have her head high enough that Leslie said he would definitely try a losely adjusted running martingale, though wasn't sure how it would work. Then there was Lauren on her DWB cross. This was a very honest jumping horse that simply lacked some motivation (Leslie's term). Leslie rode it over the fences a bit, adding a bit of stick behind the leg at take-off. He pointed out that it was important that the use of the stick involved minimal movement away from the rein, and did it very smoothly producing more enthusiastic impulsion to the jumps. Sandra was riding an Irish mare that whe only acquired in the spring. She had a bit of a temper, but was a very good jumper and Sandra rode her very well. Last was Barbie on her great jumping Connemara pony. They were very good at these exercises. The second exercise was to jump a vertical (the one finishing the prior exercise), turn 90 degrees to a bridge cut out jump and then do either the 5 (straight) or the 6 (bending) stride line to the triple (vertical, oxer, oxer - 2 stride to one stride) and then a 90 degree turn to the box fence. The first time I did it, I missed the distance badly, although Keegan saved me and got himself through with no hesitation, despite the poor distance and lack of power. Leslie talked to me about the position of my hands and how to ride the line and I went back to a vaguely better attempt and then on the third attempt a very successful line, including a very tidy effort to the box, which hadn't occurred the first two times. Everyone else had a better go, although Sandra did it twice to work out the best line for the six strides for her mare. We ended there and I headed straight back to Ashmore, not staying to watch the novice groups, but hearing reports that they also went well.
Sunday, my group was all back (even Allison, who had claimed that she wasn't going to do the cross country). We started over some logs, which was easy-peasy and then moved on the the log on the lump, which went very well for everyone. I seemed to be riding better cross country than I had in the stadium and the raised, supporting hand was really working well for Keegan. We continued on to the ditches. After a bit of hesitation at the small one, he was great over the bigger ditch as were the rest of the group. We then did the bounce bank up, which was excelent. Barbie was a bit nervous about this one, but Leslie explained that she needed to trust and support as her pony needed to take a longer reaching stride to make the distance, and they looked really good the second time up. Keegan was careful as was Sandra's mare on the first go, but they both attacked the banks enthusiastically on the second go. Then off to the water. Small drop and log drop great. Drop with funny footing a little shuffling, but off he went. Of course, I slipped my reins too much and really missed the line to the (quite big) chevron out, leading to Keegan trotting over it from two strides away (good super-Keegan). The second time, I managed my knitting better and it was super fun. Leslie got back on to school Lauren's horse down the bigger drop as he was having a bit of an issue with it (none of the rest of us did that bigger drop). It got well sorted and Lauren was also able to take him down the drop. We finished up with a bending line question that all the horses were very good to. It is always surprising how well they jump those questions (if they don't have run out issues). I think we get more nervous about them as riders than we need to.
For xc, after getting Keegan put away, I headed out to watch the novice groups jump cross country. Leyna was there with Mr. Binx, looking very grown up and jumping well. Johnna and her guy were there from last year. He also seemed more settled and not rushing the fences. Sam was there on a big guy who wanted to run to the fences a bit. The raised hand seemed to help with him as well. I don't remember as much about the other two riders, Patricia and Maureen, but both had good sessions as well.
I then watched the final group which included Jordan riding Keebler. After only 10 days together, they were ready to tackle the clinic. Leyna was also back with Riley, her new young TB/Clyde cross. Lauren was there on her lovely Chase (they were in our group last year) and Dena was there on her (relatively) new guy. Very impressively, this group went off and tackled almost all of the questions that we did. They did the lump on the log in both directions. They did the little ditch and the big ditch. They did the bounce bank up. They did the log drop into the water (although they didn't do the drop to the chevron). They also did some additional galloping fences and a slightly different bending line as well as some other turning exercises. I was amazed at how good Keebler was. Leslie described him as "totally genuine." He and Jordan looked like seasoned partners and everything looked quite effortless. Leyna had to work a bit harder as her guy is very green, but he is quite a good jumper and was very brave to ditches and water. The turning was the bigger issue than the jumping as is so often the case early in the training process of a young horse, but Leyna handled him very well and they ended up jumping everything. Lauren and Dena also had excellent rides, both of their horses having the occassional "cheeky" moment, which they quietly sat through and proceeded from. Cyndi was there taking video and photos, so I hope to be able to add some soon. Jordan's mom was there a bit nervous - but absolutely no need. It was altogether a wonderful day, with perfect weather, a super clinician and great horses. Thanks to the organizers, Rocking Horse and especially Leslie.
There were two loose horse episodes on Sunday, but neither invovled a clinic horse. No falls at all for anyone participating.
For the second year in a row, Keegan and I set off to get a jump on our winter season by participating in the Area III Adult Riders hosted Leslie Law clinic at wonderful Rocking Horse Farm in Altoona, Florida. Saturday was stadium jumping day. I arrived at Ashmore, put Keegan in the trailer and headed up. I arrived in time to watch a bit of the preliminary group prior to my ride. Last year, the theme was to develop the proper canter while in your jump position and then to not change to the fence. This year, the theme was supporting the horse (with a slightly raised hand toward your belt buckle) to a forward distance to the base. Leslie emphasized not going for the big distance you see and not softening too soon (and especially not leaning forward) as this leads to the horse chipping in and not being strong to the deep distance, making it much harder. I watched a bit of this and then tacked Keegan up and walked up to the ring (no walking about or preparing him at all this year, and he was totally quiet and focused on his work). Prior to jumping, Leslie had us do some trotting and cantering. The cantering exercise was to canter 12 strides and then walk, then back to canter 12 strides, etc. He ended up getting on Keegan to demonstrate the effectiveness of keeping the hands in line with the horse's mouth, even when the horses head was high, and to resist with the hand while continuing to move the elbow toward the horse's mouth, creating what he described as an "elastic towline effect." Keegan looked quite good after a few minutes of this. Leslie also said to use the spur more to create reaction to the aid rather than kicking. I wear a spur, but have a bad habit of kicking rather than using it. All of this with the supporting hand. We then moved on to jumping with the theme of the raised supporting hand. To practice this technique, there were turning questions. We started with a vertical, serpentine turn to an oxer, serpentine turn to repeat the two fences in the opposite direction. That went fairly well. Then we did vertical, serpentine turn to oxer, serpentine turn to a box under a rail and roll-back turn to a triple-bar. Keegan launched over the triple-bar (though from a good canter and distance - he was just a bit impressed, having never jumped a triple bar before). I was jumped out of the tack a bit, but managed to recover to the final vertical. There were 4 other riders in my group. First was Allison and her lovely mare, making a guest appearance from the jumper world. Allison had the technique down very well and it showed as her mare reached good distances from a powerful stride to virtually every jump. She did have her head high enough that Leslie said he would definitely try a losely adjusted running martingale, though wasn't sure how it would work. Then there was Lauren on her DWB cross. This was a very honest jumping horse that simply lacked some motivation (Leslie's term). Leslie rode it over the fences a bit, adding a bit of stick behind the leg at take-off. He pointed out that it was important that the use of the stick involved minimal movement away from the rein, and did it very smoothly producing more enthusiastic impulsion to the jumps. Sandra was riding an Irish mare that whe only acquired in the spring. She had a bit of a temper, but was a very good jumper and Sandra rode her very well. Last was Barbie on her great jumping Connemara pony. They were very good at these exercises. The second exercise was to jump a vertical (the one finishing the prior exercise), turn 90 degrees to a bridge cut out jump and then do either the 5 (straight) or the 6 (bending) stride line to the triple (vertical, oxer, oxer - 2 stride to one stride) and then a 90 degree turn to the box fence. The first time I did it, I missed the distance badly, although Keegan saved me and got himself through with no hesitation, despite the poor distance and lack of power. Leslie talked to me about the position of my hands and how to ride the line and I went back to a vaguely better attempt and then on the third attempt a very successful line, including a very tidy effort to the box, which hadn't occurred the first two times. Everyone else had a better go, although Sandra did it twice to work out the best line for the six strides for her mare. We ended there and I headed straight back to Ashmore, not staying to watch the novice groups, but hearing reports that they also went well.
Sunday, my group was all back (even Allison, who had claimed that she wasn't going to do the cross country). We started over some logs, which was easy-peasy and then moved on the the log on the lump, which went very well for everyone. I seemed to be riding better cross country than I had in the stadium and the raised, supporting hand was really working well for Keegan. We continued on to the ditches. After a bit of hesitation at the small one, he was great over the bigger ditch as were the rest of the group. We then did the bounce bank up, which was excelent. Barbie was a bit nervous about this one, but Leslie explained that she needed to trust and support as her pony needed to take a longer reaching stride to make the distance, and they looked really good the second time up. Keegan was careful as was Sandra's mare on the first go, but they both attacked the banks enthusiastically on the second go. Then off to the water. Small drop and log drop great. Drop with funny footing a little shuffling, but off he went. Of course, I slipped my reins too much and really missed the line to the (quite big) chevron out, leading to Keegan trotting over it from two strides away (good super-Keegan). The second time, I managed my knitting better and it was super fun. Leslie got back on to school Lauren's horse down the bigger drop as he was having a bit of an issue with it (none of the rest of us did that bigger drop). It got well sorted and Lauren was also able to take him down the drop. We finished up with a bending line question that all the horses were very good to. It is always surprising how well they jump those questions (if they don't have run out issues). I think we get more nervous about them as riders than we need to.
For xc, after getting Keegan put away, I headed out to watch the novice groups jump cross country. Leyna was there with Mr. Binx, looking very grown up and jumping well. Johnna and her guy were there from last year. He also seemed more settled and not rushing the fences. Sam was there on a big guy who wanted to run to the fences a bit. The raised hand seemed to help with him as well. I don't remember as much about the other two riders, Patricia and Maureen, but both had good sessions as well.
I then watched the final group which included Jordan riding Keebler. After only 10 days together, they were ready to tackle the clinic. Leyna was also back with Riley, her new young TB/Clyde cross. Lauren was there on her lovely Chase (they were in our group last year) and Dena was there on her (relatively) new guy. Very impressively, this group went off and tackled almost all of the questions that we did. They did the lump on the log in both directions. They did the little ditch and the big ditch. They did the bounce bank up. They did the log drop into the water (although they didn't do the drop to the chevron). They also did some additional galloping fences and a slightly different bending line as well as some other turning exercises. I was amazed at how good Keebler was. Leslie described him as "totally genuine." He and Jordan looked like seasoned partners and everything looked quite effortless. Leyna had to work a bit harder as her guy is very green, but he is quite a good jumper and was very brave to ditches and water. The turning was the bigger issue than the jumping as is so often the case early in the training process of a young horse, but Leyna handled him very well and they ended up jumping everything. Lauren and Dena also had excellent rides, both of their horses having the occassional "cheeky" moment, which they quietly sat through and proceeded from. Cyndi was there taking video and photos, so I hope to be able to add some soon. Jordan's mom was there a bit nervous - but absolutely no need. It was altogether a wonderful day, with perfect weather, a super clinician and great horses. Thanks to the organizers, Rocking Horse and especially Leslie.
There were two loose horse episodes on Sunday, but neither invovled a clinic horse. No falls at all for anyone participating.
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
A guest blogs about Keebler's new adventure
Thanks to Jordan's super trainer and my friend Cyndi for sending the following update on Keebler and Jordan. I think I speak for myself and for Lynn (who deserves much of the credit for Keebler's development)in saying that we are thrilled with his new situation. What Cyndi has to say about their first jump school (the stuff in pink is my commentary)
So...Keebler...
What an amazing, wonderful guy. What an amazing feeling to have someone say this about my horse.
Jordan hacked him up to the barn where I teach (Mom following in the Suburban) ; it is a 1.25 mile ride on a dirt road, with dogs and pot bellied pigs, etc.
He was wonderful through it all, until they came to the BLACK BUILDING OF DOOM.
The BLACK BUILDING OF DOOM masquerades as a fernery. You know, mesh-type walls and roof. Sometimes we get a surprise when they turn the sprinklers on - the water hitting the mesh makes an interesting sound.
But that didn't happen on Sunday.
No, on Sunday the HORSE EATIING ZOMBIES FROM HELL had taken over the fernery. Disguised as fern workers, they whispered their evil plans amongst each other. They were nearly invisible through the fernery walls.
Keebler the Wonder Horse heard them...and stopped in his tracks. He knew if he entered the same dimension as the BBOD with the HEZFH, bad things would happen. Very Bad Things. He must protect his young rider. He turned in circles, trying to let Jordan know that Evil Things were ahead. But Jordan didn't understand Keebler-speak yet, so she kicked and begged and pleaded with him to GoForward. Really, Keebler - you managed to convince her you were trying to save her. How lucky are you that you didn't get seriously walloped! You go Jordan!
The HorseEatingZombiesFromHell were delighted. They yelled and screamed at Jordan and Keebler the Wonder Horse, and laughed among themselves, saying evil things in their own language. All seemed lost.
But then, the mom had an idea. She called forth her Billie the Brave personality, and placed her Suburban between the Black Building of Doom and Keebler the Wonder Horse. This blocked the Horse Eating Zombies From Hell from sending their Evil Thoughts towards Keebler the Wonder Horse, and he and Jordan continued on their journey, safely arriving at the New Place With Interesting Fences To Jump. Every teen out there has a million things (and double for those involved in expensive, time consuming sports) to thank their parents for. Add this one to Jordan's list.
Now, for the Rest of the Story.
Keebler is AWESOME. We started out slowly, checking that he was good in company, checking brakes, etc. He walked calmly over the ditch-simulating-a-tarp. They warmed up over the Tadpole jump course that Emily and her pony are practicing. Gradually we added the larger fences. Keebler was eager but adjustable, jumping scary flying balloon fence, the NowADitchAndWall tarp fence, and normal oxers and verticals.
And this is why we put up with his appytude. I'm really looking forward to seeing the dynamic duo in person next weekend and hearing about their adventures in the days to come.
So...Keebler...
What an amazing, wonderful guy. What an amazing feeling to have someone say this about my horse.
Jordan hacked him up to the barn where I teach (Mom following in the Suburban) ; it is a 1.25 mile ride on a dirt road, with dogs and pot bellied pigs, etc.
He was wonderful through it all, until they came to the BLACK BUILDING OF DOOM.
The BLACK BUILDING OF DOOM masquerades as a fernery. You know, mesh-type walls and roof. Sometimes we get a surprise when they turn the sprinklers on - the water hitting the mesh makes an interesting sound.
But that didn't happen on Sunday.
No, on Sunday the HORSE EATIING ZOMBIES FROM HELL had taken over the fernery. Disguised as fern workers, they whispered their evil plans amongst each other. They were nearly invisible through the fernery walls.
Keebler the Wonder Horse heard them...and stopped in his tracks. He knew if he entered the same dimension as the BBOD with the HEZFH, bad things would happen. Very Bad Things. He must protect his young rider. He turned in circles, trying to let Jordan know that Evil Things were ahead. But Jordan didn't understand Keebler-speak yet, so she kicked and begged and pleaded with him to GoForward. Really, Keebler - you managed to convince her you were trying to save her. How lucky are you that you didn't get seriously walloped! You go Jordan!
The HorseEatingZombiesFromHell were delighted. They yelled and screamed at Jordan and Keebler the Wonder Horse, and laughed among themselves, saying evil things in their own language. All seemed lost.
But then, the mom had an idea. She called forth her Billie the Brave personality, and placed her Suburban between the Black Building of Doom and Keebler the Wonder Horse. This blocked the Horse Eating Zombies From Hell from sending their Evil Thoughts towards Keebler the Wonder Horse, and he and Jordan continued on their journey, safely arriving at the New Place With Interesting Fences To Jump. Every teen out there has a million things (and double for those involved in expensive, time consuming sports) to thank their parents for. Add this one to Jordan's list.
Now, for the Rest of the Story.
Keebler is AWESOME. We started out slowly, checking that he was good in company, checking brakes, etc. He walked calmly over the ditch-simulating-a-tarp. They warmed up over the Tadpole jump course that Emily and her pony are practicing. Gradually we added the larger fences. Keebler was eager but adjustable, jumping scary flying balloon fence, the NowADitchAndWall tarp fence, and normal oxers and verticals.
And this is why we put up with his appytude. I'm really looking forward to seeing the dynamic duo in person next weekend and hearing about their adventures in the days to come.
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