Jumping Riley

Posted on June 15, 2016 by Britt

Is it just me, or is a case of jumping jitters going around the interwebs these days? Well it turns out I’m not immune to them.

Yay new media! Riley showing off his newly acquired dressaging skillz

With the help of Ali I took Riley over his first (for me) jumps. He’s jumped before in his random spurts of training, but I’ve not yet been in the irons over fences. The only time I had seen him jump was years ago, being wiggly to some tiny cross rails.

Not (yesterday) today though! Riley was all game and go when it came to fences, and it was me who was looking like the numpty. My classic move, throwing my heels in front of me, came out in full force, since I was a bit nervous about how it would go.

Steering, or rather bulging, is still a bit of an issue. Because of his bendy, short neck, it’s easy for him to throw his shoulders around a turn with my opening rein aids doing nill. It’s like having a short rudder and a strong, wide boat to steer. So we’re working on those outside rein aids and blocking the shoulders.

Even considering some of our less-than-straight approaches, and though it only included a couple crossrails and an oxer, I would say the first attempt jumping was a rousing success. I’m hoping that I can learn to let go of some of my confidence issues and continue to have fun jumping, even though he’s a greenie.

Because over-fences bonus: There’s a sh*t ton of mane to grab!

Let’s Discuss: Weathering the summer weather

Posted on June 13, 2016 by Britt

Summer in the Carolinas is defined by mugginess and heat. Unless your chosen sport is air conditioned (or swimming), exercising outside in heat-stroke inducing temps, in humidity that could drown you, isn’t for the faint of heart.

As being one of the tomato-faced clan when it comes to exercise, I don’t paint a pretty picture in the summer. But pushing looks aside, continuing to ride is important to me and so I soldier on, armed with tank tops and extra water bottles in hand.

I try to ride when it’s below 90°, but that can be tricky on the most scorching days of the season. Anything above 95 is an absolute no. I also like to hide in the covered arena unless it’s ultra early or late in the day and the sun is hidden. And of course I try to watch the horse’s breathing and make sure he’s not getting overheated as well.

As the mercury continues to rise, how do you guys prepare for higher temps? Do you have any pre or post ride tips to help cope with the heat? What do you do for your horse to help him adjust?

Adventures in Horse Shopping: About that break…

Posted on June 10, 2016 by Britt

Yeah, I meant to put a pause on things, but it hasn’t really worked out that way.

Yesterday I saw a quiet hunter jumper with a great canter. Today I see another unstarted three year old (and a mare, no less! *gasp*). Sunday I’ll see another one, this time a well schooled dressage horse.

Those spots though!

For all you Teke fans, I’ve decided to hold off on him unless I learn a bit more about him. Though my greedy trigger fingers are dying to make him my next photography model, I’ve got to be smart and not get in over my head.

Gorgeous shiny creature is gorgeous.

It’s of course hard for me to share more details at the time, but suffice to say that it appears the horse hunt continues!

First Rides on Riley

Posted on June 9, 2016 by Britt

After giving Riley a few days to get over his culture shock, I’ve started getting in the saddle. Day 1 was just about walking around and letting him process the covered arena and mirrors. He thought he was very handsome at first glance, but after an initial sniff didn’t even notice that the mirrors existed.

Day 2 we started trotting and trying to maintain rhythm and direction. I know, thrilling stuff here. Besides some baby bulging through the shoulders, he’s got this one down. I got greedy and asked for a few steps of canter, which of course he ran into, but keeping balance and speed in the small covered arena was tricky so I didn’t push the matter.

Day 3 was rinse and repeat, with more emphasis on not bulging through the shoulder, at which we were somewhat successful. I added in the concept of contact and coming onto the bit, which was much more of a success. Riley is not blessed with a long swan neck, so keeping his neck soft and straight is probably going to be our biggest challenge.

Then last night, or Day 4 if you’re following along, I took him out to the outdoor ring. It’s a bit scarier in my opinion than the covered, in that there’s no view of any horses and it’s surrounded on 2 sides by a trailer park. But Riley handled it with bravado, marching around the arena, whinnying once, then becoming bored.

I warmed up by focusing on bending/not bulging and seeking contact with the bit. At the trot our main focus is regulating the rhythm, since that arena goes slightly downhill towards the gate he tends to speed up in that direction. Then we worked on the canter a little. My goal was just to get the canter, then maintain it for a couple laps in the arena. So I was pleasantly surprised when I got the canter depart within two-ish strides of my asking and we were able to repeat that a few times in each direction. Since Riley is still building up his fitness I wrapped up with that and cooled out on a long rein.

As I was driving home, feeling elated at what is seemingly such a simple ride, I was reminded of just how much working with horses means to me. I’m definitely grateful for the opportunity to work with this guy and I hope the next horse will benefit from our time together too.

Birth of a DQ

Posted on June 7, 2016 by Britt

Last weekend I had the pleasure of working and spectating at the NCDCTA Capital Dressage Classic. I relished in the opportunity to mentor a young dressage enthusiast in the art of bit checking and ring stewarding, watching talented pairs practice, parade and passage under the covered areas, and the best yet, see a dear friend accomplish her dreams of competing at the fairgrounds.

I met Nikki Gooch, nee Schweizer, by chance the first night of orientation as we started our undergraduate careers at NC State. We both became members of the NCSU dressage team and each had roles as Student coach, captain, and President for that organization. We were privy to one another’s most private mistakes, successes, ambitions and personal goals, and beyond being teammates, I am proud to call Nikki a forever friend.

Ever since that first year of school, Nikki had always wanted to compete “in Raleigh”, at one of the big dressage shows at the fairgrounds. Coming from Hickory, that venue has always had a special place in her heart as a symbol of a dedicated dressage competition. But two undergraduate degrees, the retirement of her elderly dressage partner, and finally surviving vet school prevented her from accomplishing her goal.

Fast forward 11 years. Just last month, Nikki attended the Chris Hickey clinic with her 9 yr old Trakehner mare, Arieanna. It was interesting to me that Nikki referred to her own hunter jumper past, which Chris referred to at length regarding position and the different dynamics of seat and shoulder position. To me, Nikki has always been an eventing and dressage enthusiast, but it was apparent from the clinic that she did not quite yet believe in herself as a “real” dressage rider.

And then this weekend happened. After years of waiting for this moment, Nikki competed in her first recognized dressage show at the venue of her dreams, the fairgrounds in downtown Raleigh, NC. She marched into the dressage court 4 times, and came away with 5 ribbons: two seconds, one fourth, one fifth, and a giant Champion ribbon for the Training level division.

With each ribbon, every admiring comment of another rider’s bedazzled helmet or sparkly browband, and every step closer to her first Bronze medal score, I saw her begin to see herself not as the out-of-town hunter rider with a one-eyed warmblood mare. Instead, she blossomed into the dressage rider I always knew her to be. The smiles and hugs of friends, family, and volunteers made for the perfect backdrop for a transformational weekend. Because at the end of the show, I realized that Nikki finally learned who she is as an equestrian. And that person is Nikki Schweizer Gooch, Dressage Queen, DVM.

Congrats, Nikki, and thank you to the NCDCTA for hosting this show and making for a wonderful weekend.

House on a Hill 2.0: Painting Before and After

Posted on June 6, 2016 by Britt

Now that the new house is finally finished being painted, I feel that I can share with y’all some images of the new digs. You may remember my mentioning that the former owner’s taste and my own did not exactly align, and I shared the transformation of the pink room after I wielded my own paint brush one day:

SW Gauntlet Gray

The rest of the house, though in varying shades of either bright (and I mean bright) pastel or beige is now also converted. The majority of the house is painted in SW Repose Gray, a nice clean light gray that highlights the natural light that compliments many of the rooms. Otherwise I will note the colors I chose, just in case anyone out there is interested.

New color: SW Contented

Many of the rooms look sparse at the moment, and that’s because I still haven’t gotten around to putting up much of the artwork and decor. That will come later.

SW Repose Gray

In the kitchen and living room, we also completed 2 other big projects. One of the caveats to buying this home was the black granite, and specifically, the tiered kitchen island. My stubby 5’4″ frame could hardly see over the unusually tall granite tier, making conversation with any living room occupants almost impossible and making being in the kitchen more like operating in a dark black cave. So within days of moving in, we knocked the tier out and replaced the granite on the island with a mostly-white granite that was all at counter height. I’ll post more of the process later.

We also wanted to ditch the living room carpet, which was stained and battered and disrupted the flow of the house. It took some time hunting down the exact type of wood being used, but this is another project that I feel was well worth it.

For a lot of the house, I tried various shades of blue to bring in a modern and fresh feeling. While I knew I wanted blue in both bathrooms, I really hemmed and hawed over the dining room. It was the husband who suggested blue for the dining room, and after putting in this blue gray variant, I must say I am really please with the results. Eventually I will get some curtains that tie in with the color and of course eventually find a table to occupy the space.

SW Storm Cloud

SW Hale Navy

Another fun one was the upstairs guest bath. Already a bit confusing because of the Jack and Jill doors, interior closet and secondary (tertiary?) inner door that separates the shower from the sink room, the former owners also made the bathroom duo-toned- it was both yellow and pink. I was more than glad to unify the space with one color, and the four doors- well, for now they stay.

BM Palladian Blue

Now that the house finally feels a bit more like ours, I’m really enjoying the space. There’s a few more small projects to do here and there, but overall we’re glad to have put our stamp on the House on a Hill 2.0.

Adventures in Horse Shopping: It Takes All Types

Posted on June 1, 2016 by Britt

I feel so sorry sometimes for the people in my life right now that are sending me horses. I am so picky! I’ve been asked what I am looking for, and really, it covers all bases.

I’ve now seriously contemplated two different unstarted 3 year olds. If you have seen instagram, you got a glimmer of the latest- a 3 year old Akhal Teke stallion. Very, very sweet horse that was obviously intelligent and athletic. This is a breed I had read about before, and is often featured in articles like this because of their oh-so-shiny coats. I have to admit, seeing that horse come out into the sunlight, it really was rather dazzling.

I also got to sit on a super fancy warmblood gelding over the weekend, a giant floaty creature with the most amazing suspension in his gaits. But it takes more than fancy gaits to be an eventer, and so I decided he was not quite the right fit for me.

I’ve got a couple more contacts/horses I’m expecting information on before I make another move. But tonight, I look forward to heading out to the barn and walking Riley about the property. It will be nice to start some semblance of a normal routine again! That is, if anything with horses can ever really be described as normal. Or routine, for that matter.

Introducing Riley

Posted on May 31, 2016 by Britt

If nothing comes to a head in the next several days, I am seriously considering putting a pause on aggressively horse shopping. It gets exhausting, yo.

Luckily, I happen to know some people (*cough* my parents), who have horses that they would love to be worked.

Riley

This is O’Riley. Or basically Riley, since no one calls him that anymore. You may recognize him from a ways back, as I’ve known him for a long time.

Baby Riley

A long, long time. Riley is the product of our former Haflinger mare, Margo, and my former horse, Ivan, the Irish Draught. So technically he’s an Irish Sport Horse.. Er.. Cob.

With the help of Bette, I was the first person to sit on Riley. I did all his initial groundwork, taught him to lead, was there when he was weaned, and so on and so forth.

Riley’s been not much more than a pasture ornament for the last decade (ugh), with the exception of a few brief periods of training. Otherwise, he goes out on trail rides once a month or so with my sister, and basically lives the life of a pasture puff.

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Well, this weekend he was in for a bit of a shock. He loaded onto the trailer for the first time in years and made the trip to Raleighwood, where I’ve given him the last couple days to settle in and get used to the routine of coming in and out and being in a large barn.

The plan is for me to train Riley up a bit, get him fit, and depending on how long he’s with me, perhaps go to a few shows or maiden level events in the fall. In the meantime, I have some decisions to make for myself regarding the horses I saw this weekend, I have another horse to see tonight or tomorrow, and then we’ll just see where it goes from there.

Welcome Riley!

The House: The Transformation Starts

Posted on May 27, 2016 by Britt

Painters are here starting today at the House on a Hill 2.0, and I can’t tell you how excited I am. Well I could, but you’d probably think the paint fumes had gone to my head.

The color scheme that existed in this house is… let’s just say not my taste. The entire house is shades of beige, with the exception of 3 kids rooms upstairs, all varying stages of a so-cute-and-bright-I-want-to-tear-my-eyeballs-out palette. The pink bedroom was the least offensive of the three.

Before: Bubblegum Pink

Since patience is only sometimes a virtue of mine, and knowing that we’d have guests in this room in a matter of weeks, I took ~~a paint brush~~ matters into my own hands.

After: Gauntlet Gray

It probably feels a little stark at the moment, as I haven’t yet got art onto the walls or found curtains long enough for the high ceilings, but it’s progress.

When the painters are done, get ready for a full house before and after post! Happy Friday, y’all!

Nope.

Posted on May 26, 2016 by Britt

So I did not come away with a new pony yesterday. I so wanted to, I mean, we had the unicorn horn ready and everything.

To someone else, he may have be considered to pass the pre-purchase exam. But there was one question mark that came up, and no one could guarantee how it would go in the long run. So with the memory of having to retire a 9 year old horse fresh in my mind, I walked away. Ben and Jerry and a glass ~~or three~~ of wine consoled me. I’m disappointed, but I feel like I made the right decision for myself.

The search continues!