Last September, the husband and I decided that this was the year we were going to take on a new adult adventure- Christmas cards! But first we needed some updated family photos, since our last professional photos were from our wedding, and of course didn’t feature any of our furbabies. I hired a fellow equestrian photographer, Southern Horse Photography, to make our portraits, and I’m finally getting around to sharing the results with you!
I also took this opportunity to get a portrait done for branding my photography business- so here’s me with my trusty D750!Have a wonderful weekend everyone!
My WEG tickets have been purchased (and bitched about- seriously that price hiking shit is a scam) for some time now. And now, the tickets to the Land Rover 3DE have been on sale for a few weeks. After 3 years of having major wedding conflicts that particular weekend, I had originally vowed to go, come Hell or High water.
Rolex 2012 with Mr. Fox Pitt himself
But…
I effing HATE driving. Like, 3 hours in a car and I need a straight jacket and a padded room kind of hate. And the trip from NC to KY is not a short one. Normally the insanity can be cured with lots of distractions friends, but it seems everyone is opting out of Rolex (err, Land Rover) this year in favor of the WEG trip come September.
2012, showing off our team shirts for now-trainer
So it seems, without buddies to travel with (and therefore also split the financial costs of gas, hotel, etc), Kentucky may be a bust this year again.
Boyd Martin and Remington, Rolex 2012
My typical partners in crime are therefore encouraging me to switch gears and do the long-format BN 3-day at Heart of the Carolinas the following weekend. And even if I just do the regular HT, it’s an interesting option.
So friends… who is going to Kentucky this April? Go ahead, stoke my FOMO. Or, help me feel better about potentially not going and let’s chat about how exciting WEG will be instead! And, go!
I’m pretty sure the bane of most first world countries has to be using a fork to spear crispy bacon. Am I out of alfalfa at the barn? “Give love, get love.” (Thanks Yogi tea bag)
But mostly, I’m wondering…
What kind of chemical help can I give Jack so that he doesn’t turn into a distracted spazoid in the dressage ring?
That is basically to say that we went to the show on Saturday, where I just did my dressage test and scratched all the jumping. I thought I was getting closer to unlocking what Jack needs in the warmup, before entering the actual dressage court and blowing all the good work out of the water.
Admittedly a 34.8 isn’t the absolute worst score, but to me those 6’s are frustrating to see on a scoresheet. There were lots of comments about him being resistant, which mostly came down to his getting tense or distracted by things that I feel he really truly isn’t scared of (such as people walking the course in the distance). The overbending comes down to my attempts to get him soft through the underneck, and I would definitely prefer to have him straighter and more under- the whole test felt mostly forced with a few decent movements. Highlights including the fact that I almost got a 7.5 on my rider score, and Jack giving me a solid left lead canter depart for a 7. And I mean, the beautiful horse comment- because who doesn’t like hearing that?
At least he’s pretty?
In making a game plan for our next outing (namely the big Recognized show in 3 weeks where I would like to actually be competitive in the dressage), I would like to help Jack a little bit mentally. I’m mostly not a fan of lunging a horse down because I feel that is counter productive in many cases when XC and SJ are to follow (not to mention putting unnecessary torque on fragile legs), and I of course want to stay within the legal allowances for any chemical aid.
So I’m looking at a few of the calming pastes on the market that might help. Perfect Prep products are one I have heard are well used in the H/J rings, but I know less about eventers who use them. B highly recommends Nupafeed Magnesium for its effectiveness on her similarly-minded Chimi. I’m willing to give anything a shot, so long as it’s legal and has no real side effects that could make things worse for one palomino worry-wort.
What do you guys think? Have you ever used the above products? Anything that isn’t listed that you suggest? What are your previous experiences with calming agents at shows?
I have felt pretty good about our move up to Novice in the next Combined Training event, meant to take place tomorrow. We’ve practiced the dressage – I have a gameplan for executing the new-to-Jack serpentine and where to highlight his trot in the test. We’ve been working on combinations, bending lines, and even mastered the dreaded roll top in our showjumping lessons, and the height shouldn’t be a problem for the giraffe Jack’s abilities.
What I am hemming and hawing about though is all thanks to Mother Nature.
Can’t we move to Sunday? Puh-lease????
With no stall, and a pretty strong hunch that it’s going to pour all day, both the trainer and I are debating giving it up. Who wants to stand around in the cold rain all day long? Not me.
Now, 60% isn’t all that definite, so we’re going to keep an eye on the forecast this morning, but let’s just say there’s a pretty decent chance of our glorious moveup being postponed to a… more inviting opportunity. Watch instagram to see what happens!
So… Due to a few computer issues of late, I had to wipe my entire computer hard drive. And you know what also went? My blog list.
So, friends of the Blogosphere- tell me… Now that I am starting back at square one- what are your favorite blogs that you are following right now? Inquiring minds want to know!
Two weekends ago, I participated in a rider position clinic that the trainer was hosting. It was a casual atmosphere with a small group of avid learners, and started out with a lecture on what good rider position looked like, before doing a short yoga class, and onto rider demos.
Much of what we discussed was the proper alignment of the body, from head to toe. The visual that was used over and over was of the pelvis as a bucket, and that in a correct position, the bucket is neither tipped forward or backward. Because of my own conformation, I tip my bucket forward and have a very hard time getting the darn thing to sit straight. But more on that later.
Bucket visual
Our yoga class was fairly challenging, and the teacher emphasized places that equestrians (and in particular, women equestrians) could improve. It’s been years since I last did a yoga class, and definitely found myself much shakier than I was back then.
Turns out this is pretty hard. And thank goodness no one photographed us trying it
Having a strong core was absolutely essential for most of the yoga poses, and as it turns out, was pretty darn necessary once I got on Jack. The lesson started with just getting Jack to calm down- he doesn’t tend to have the best downward transitions on the lunge line (a work in progress), and took several minutes of showing off his fancy prancing before I hopped on. After just a minute or so my stirrups were taken away, my reins tied to the bucking strap, and away we went.
Much of what was discussed I was aware of- my issues getting the long flat part of my thighs on the horse and my lower hollow back. The first the instructor worked to resolve with what she called ‘frog kicks’. These entailed taking my whole leg off the saddle, kicking outwards and back with each leg, then putting it on the horse and allowing my leg to be dragged along the saddle until it was underneath me again. I can’t tell you how many of these frog kicks we did during my ride- but my outer thighs in particular were fairly upset with me as a result.
Yup, pretty much like that.
For the lower back issues, we tried all sorts of things. What you see in the video is mostly related to that. In order to get me to engage my core, she asked me to put my arm out in various positions. Her challenge to me was to not allow any bend in my arm, and not to let my arm bounce. She also used a mental image that my trainer often uses, which is windmilling the arms slowing backwards, thinking about scooping water forward at the bottom. As you imagine the ‘scooping’, you also allow your pelvis to scoop forward, which in turn engages the lower core muscles and helps fill the void in my lower back.
One thing that was also called out in the lesson, though we didn’t focus on it much, was how I tend to tilt my head without realizing it. This (but more often paired with my shoulders) has also haunted my jumping lessons of late, and was helpful to hear within the rider position context where I could really focus on my overall alignment.
Overall, this was a great way to get off property and focus on me for a change, instead of Jack. Although I will say that one of my biggest take-aways from the day is just a feeling a pride for Jack’s behavior and how well he handled what can be a spooky place. Despite my not being able to walk in a normal fashion for a few days, I would absolutely do one of these again, and hope that lunge lessons can be incorporated into our routine more often.
Also, I decided a great thing to do in the middle of a busy week at work was to go visit my parents and spend a day purging 30 years worth of equine-related nonsense. So smart. So dirty. So many things came back with me that shouldn’t. (shh- don’t tell the hubby)
But beyond all the things crammed into the bed of my truck, I wanted to share with you guys this:
I’m so excited, and grateful for the opportunity to talk about equestrian photography with a community of horse-lovers from around the country. It’s an exciting little adventure!
If you want to read the article, check it out HERE!
Due to a range of ever-changing circumstances, I ended up being on Jack for a lot longer than anticipated. As a result, my calves have been basically screaming in agony for the last 3 days.
Now, recently I have come to the light-bulb conclusion that dressage does not exactly require heels down- and that my over-elastic ankles actually made for a bracing lower leg that brought my leg forward. Since having this epiphany, I am working to allow my leg to simply hang, focusing on making my knee point downwards and bringing my heels under my hips. That’s made going back and forth from dressage to jumping, which definitely requires heels down, that much more tricky. Hence sudden anguish after lots of jumping.
~2014
Which brings me to footwear. At work, I reside in the same building as the executive suite, and so the common wardrobe tends to skew towards the more business-side of business casual. Most women wear heels, skirts, dresses, and in general more ‘done-up’ than you would find elsewhere on campus. But most women don’t have a hobby that requires their heels to flex down. I pretty much wear some version of flats (or boots in the winter) every day, and it’s easy to feel a bit under dressed surrounded by these magazine worthy creatures who occupy the same space. And after this weekend, and the constant calf stretches I have been doing to ease the pain, I have even less desire to up my footwear game to fit in.
That would be me, on the right.
So I want to know, other equestrians with office jobs of the world: does your hobby effect how you dress for work? Do you struggle to get your heels down in general? Does riding influence the footwear choices that you make? Inquiring minds want to know!
This weekend, the Carolina Horse Park put on the most amazing schooling day, giving Jack and I the opportunity to get in and out of the showjumping ring over and over with absolutely no pressure to perform. We paid for unlimited rounds, and with a prepared course got to go in at a roughly allotted time and get ringside assistance from the trainer- all good things for us!
Round one was at 2’6″, and for me I attempted to micromanage Jack’s anxiety that comes with this ring (meanwhile warmup continues to be a relaxing snoozefest). I had to use my bat to get him down the final outside line since the stack of poles just outside the ring was terrifying to the BDH, but overall it was a better round still than what we’ve had before. We decided to go back in for another round and work out the kinks, and Holly wanted me to get a straighter, more forward ride out of the blonde beastie.
What resulted ended up being our best round to date. It’s amazing what can happen when you sit up, think, and ride. Could he be softer through his outline? Totally. And ya know, he basically canters some of these fences instead of jumping, but whatever. I was thrilled coming off of this ride, and we decided to wait around for the 3′ course and school at that height as well.
It’s a little sticky, as you can see. I think at this point we were both a bit tired, and I needed a lot more of a forward ride. I’m not used to jumping the max width of some of these oxers, and so I need to adjust my position to stay with him when he puts in a bigger effort. And I’m so annoyed about that last distance, and was tempted to circle back to it had the next rider not entered the ring. But I was told to shrug it off and be pleased with our first full course at this height.
Overall it was a great day. My friend A was then able to do a cool down flat in the dressage ring and Jack got to also learn that there’s nothing scary about the sandbox. They ended with a super stretchy session that had to feel good after all the waiting around of the day.
When you consider that the video below is where we were just 5 months ago, it’s pretty amazing how far we’ve come. My trainer and friends keep reminding me of that, but I need to keep it in perspective. And really, it makes me even more excited for what’s to come!
The comments from the discussion about finding the right trainer brought up some really great points- including having a trainer that understands your beastie’s brain, trusting your trainer to make good decisions for your development/safety, the trainer’s education, and more. Amanda also addressed the reality of having to change trainers, a really interesting topic that I’ve thought about a lot myself.
I don’t consider myself a trainer-jumper, but I have worked with lots of different folks for all sorts of reasons. In high school, I tried out a couple programs for a couple years before moving on. In that case, one program was so lax as to barely constitute riding lessons. The other was with a ULR whose occasionally drill sergeant ways didn’t jive with my then-fragile nerves. I eventually found a trainer who was the right match, and though that program didn’t really benefit me from an equitation perspective, I learned the most and still appreciate her guidance in those formative years.
Shameful photo of me jumping Merry in a dressage saddle circa 2007, very much not equitating
Since college, my focus has shifted. After getting Foster I worked with a trainer who was very-very supportive, but eventually I felt that I needed a more rigorous program than her style afforded. I remembered Eliza from my working-student interview with her (a post for another time), and set up a lesson. Since then, when it comes to dressage, I haven’t looked back, and that was roughly 7 years ago.
The fun days with Foster and [sort of] attempting piaffe
Finding the right jumping coach has been a completely different journey. There aren’t so many eventing trainers in our area, and I found that some of the local H/J trainers had a hard time empathizing with either my dressage-theory discussions, or I didn’t trust them to advise me in a safe way that translated to XC. I got lucky in having access to Doug Payne for a while, who is brilliant, but sadly he hasn’t come back from Aiken for some time. Since his departure, I bounced around from trainer to trainer desperately.
Rare moment of having my ish together in 2015
Since Smitty didn’t end up doing a lot of jumping while I had him, and obviously Foster hardly jumped at the end of his career, I was all out of sorts trying to get a professional opinion by the time I was horse searching again. But I knew I needed help, and I was finally able to find a trainer who met all of the requirements. She’s been around Rolex on multiple occasions, finishing as high as 8th place. She’s tough, which I need to get me through my years and years of lost and misguided attempts at equitation. And she gets Jack’s occasionally squirrely brain, and has the balls to help the hamsters get back on the wheel when needed (see below).
Right now, I feel like I have the perfect team to support Jack and I in our attempts at greatness.
What has prompted you to change trainers? Have you ever gone down a road with someone and realized you needed to about face? What is it about your current trainer that you appreciate most?
Last September, the husband and I decided that this was the year we were going to take on a new adult adventure- Christmas cards! But first we needed some updated family photos, since our last professional photos were from our wedding, and of course didn’t feature any of our furbabies. I hired a fellow equestrian photographer, Southern Horse Photography, to make our portraits, and I’m finally getting around to sharing the results with you!
Have a wonderful weekend everyone!
Red on the Right 
