May 2019 Dressage Schooling Show

 Being a model citizen at the trailer.  I don't think I can resist the urge to go put this girl in some USDF DSHB shows this fall, she is too pretty and I just KNOW she would just absolutely own it.

Last weekend I took B to another local dressage schooling show.  She was MUCH more settled this time.  This time I also wanted to try an experiment.  I wanted to try a less is more approach with her warm up due to the way she warms up at home.  She has gotten to the point where every single ride her first canters are prompt, smooth, and obedient.  If she gets wound up over something it usually happens later on.  These times continue to happen less and less though.

I decided that I wasn't going to canter her until the test.  For her warm up I just walked, trotted, did some transitions, a couple halts, and some free walk, then walked around on a loose rein.  She already started off on her very best behavior.  She stood like a statue while I tacked her up and I got right on her from the fender of my trailer.  The past couple months she has been slightly unsettled to get on when she's at the trailer, she is back to her normal self.  She walked around on a loose rein first like she lived there.  After a few minutes of walking on a loose rein we did my simple, slow, warm up plan.  It worked.  We went in and got a 73% on our first test.  That's the highest score she has gotten, it's also the highest score I have ever received on any test.

She felt so good, I definitely trotted right on in there with a smile on my face, just happy to be there with her and happy to feel/see how comfortable she was.

Here she was waiting to go in...wound up, right? 

The next test started off ok, but unfortunately a barnmate of hers had just went before her and after the test his rider stood at the end of the ring on him.  B wanted to hurry down the long side every time we turned toward him.  She's not barn sour, and she doesn't call for other horses, so I'm not sure what that was about but she was definitely distracted by him being right there.  And, we all know that's just the way it goes, a bunch of things happen at shows that you have absolutely no control over and that is why we were there.  She needs to get all the experience she can to include situations like that where she just has to continue working and ignore the distraction. 

The judge even mentioned at the end of the test that it was unfortunate that he was standing there because it made a clear impact in that test.  But, even with the distraction causing her to hurry, break to the trot at one point where she picked up the incorrect lead when I corrected her, she still scored a 65% on that test.  So if she can get a 65% like that, I'll shut up, and I can't wait to see what the score will be when we don't have that going on. 

Definitely need to work on the engagement here but this is also where she was getting a little strung out so, she CAN do better than this.

A rated show was added to the schedule for the local area next month.  I'm still sticking to my plan of waiting until the rated fall shows for Klein to get her Second Level scores, so I will put B in the rated show next month.  It will be her first rated show and she'll just do Training Level for more show miles.  I have a lesson later this week on B too, this will the first time I've ridden her in a lesson, she is more than ready.

Escape

This was circulating on Facebook and I saved it last week because I thought it was appropriate.  Terrible irony that it mentions suicide, but I'm still putting it here because it's still applicable.

This past week was a sad reminder of how important a hobby is.  Something happened in my line of work that should have never happened and now someone no longer has their life.  I wish I could provide more details and tell the full story but I can't for various reasons.  I found it ironic that in the Chronicle of the Horse article I mentioned how much horses help me when it comes to my job and what it involves.  I am by no means complaining, I love my job, but it's not easy and not everyone lasts in it.  I don't know how people deal with it if they don't have a hobby.

I have written about this before, because I regularly have to attend training outside of work to remind me that I'm going to have vicarious trauma through my career whether I want to admit that or not.  I just had this training in March, before that it was last September.  Here is the post from last September about why hobbies are important.  In those times it is also mentioned how important it is to have a hobby or something that takes you away from the thought of the job and the things it contains.  For me, it's obviously horses.

Here is where these two things collide.  Last Monday afternoon I was getting ready to tack B up when I got a phone call that started off with "What are you doing right now?  You're not driving are you?  Are you sitting down?"  My heart jumped into my throat, I stopped what I was doing, I sat down, and braced myself.  I'll never forget the next sentence, it was the notification of a suicide of someone I worked very, VERY closely with and knew very well.  I'm not going to get into the details, because again, I can't for various reasons, but you have to know this part to understand the impact of the phone call and the point of this post.  I know why it happened, and it is directly related to my line of work, my line of work caused it in a way.  Honestly, I'm not sure what is worse, not knowing why, or knowing exactly why. 

After I was done with that phone call, my mind reeling, not sure if I wanted to cry or throw up I thought, "do I get on this horse right now?  Is this going to be fair to her?  Am I in the right state of mind?"  I decided that the best thing for me to do would be to get on the horse.  I finished tacking B up, I put Apple Music on with a song I have been thinking about for a dressage musical freestyle, and I let all my goals and expectations for the ride go right out the window because it wasn't about that.  It was about escaping.

For the time that I was riding I completely forgot about the devastating news I just received just 15 minutes prior.  B and I had a great ride.  This is what my hobby does for me.  Even typing this and thinking about the phone call makes me feel physically ill.  But B took all of that away in minutes just by being her.  If I had been tacking Klein up it would have been the same result, there have been other situations along these lines that Klein has taken me far away from.

After I left the barn, I was in such a spaced out state I stopped at a four way stop for a few minutes because my mind was running through all of these thoughts associated with the person the news was about.  All of a sudden I snapped out of it realizing I was at a four way stop and everyone was waiting on me.  That's a first.

Can riding take these feelings away or make me forget about any of the details of this entire situation?  Of course not, but a temporary escape is a massive help when it comes to dealing with it.  So again, even if it's not riding, say it's hiking or video games, I don't care what it is, knitting, photography, coloring books, it doesn't matter, make sure you make time for it, always.

The Chronicle of the Horse - Honor, Duty And Horses: Perspectives From Military Equestrians

A few months ago I was interviewed by a write for The Chronicle of the Horse concerning being active duty and owning horses.  Today it was published and she did a great job with it!  You can find it here:

Honor, Duty And Horses:  Perspectives From Military Equestrians

Freedom

Finally the last EHV quarantine was lifted last week.  Let's hope it stays that way.  That really messed up a lot of shows, clinics, and other events in the area.  The weather has been perfect here so I have had the girls out to enjoy it.  I took B out for some gallops and hill work in the state park down the road.  Klein and I went out for a bareback stroll through the neighborhood.

I just love this place.  Every single day I drive around still in awe of this place, the weather, the scenery, it's all pretty perfect here.  I also feel so much better overall being out of the northeast.  

Level 100 Mares

Level 100 Mares.

I have been busy with school for my Master's lately (5 classes left to go), so that has been taking my focus in the evenings when I'm not riding.  It has not taken my focus from Klein and Super B though.  They continue to work hard and bring their A game.  I've been jumping B at least once a week and working on dressage with her.  Some of her flat rides still include ground rails set up for various exercises if she's not jumping.  She has started to really put together some gymnastic lines lately too.

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Klein continues to stay on the next level with what I was talking about in my last post.  I have been jumping her regularly again now too.  Schooling B makes me realize how advanced Klein is with everything she does.  I can set up virtually any exercise with jumps in a ring and Klein will have no problem.  On the flat she continues to become lighter and lighter in the bridle as well.

The night I took the picture above we did a bareback dressage school and it was amazing.  She schooled all the second level movements wonderfully.  It helps she is super comfortable, so riding her bareback for an hour is really no problem.

Klein doing one of her stretches.

She sure has figured out what type of movement she is really capable of in the past two months.  Hard to believe this is a draft horse prancing around like that.  

Some video from this past weekend:

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B continues to look the best she ever has.  She also has decided I can brush her with whatever brush I feel like now.  She used to be VERY particular about what I was allowed to brush her with, but one day in the past few weeks she just stopped with that and I can use whatever brush I want on her.  

It still amazes me how well Klein and Super B hit it off when they first met months ago.  Klein's list of horses she likes has always been extremely short.  Usually she stays aloof and acts like they're not even there.  She has always liked B though and just look at them...

Funny thing about the night they were running around together, it was all fun and games until B thought Klein was trying to race her!  Klein may be way, way more advanced in her training, but she will never beat B at her own game!

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