My oh-so-wonderful husband has agreed to experiment with a monthly blog post for House on a Hill! Last month we played ’10 Questions’, but today let’s look at a trickier subject…
A lot of people think that equestrianism is a hobby exclusive to the wealthy. Based on your experience sharing finances with an equestrian, how would you respond to this stereotype- is it justified? Why or why not?
First jump in the Champagne / Caviar combination?
No, this is not a realistic stereotype. I remember when Britt and I first started dating her typical meal was simply Rice-a-Roni because most of the money she earned working 2 and sometimes 3 jobs went toward gas to drive to the barn, vet bills, and boarding for her horse. She did not even eat it as a side – it was the whole meal. She did not have much money left over for many other things, but I do not want to imply she was starving. No problem, as I am anything but a picky eater.
Ah yes, my old friends, Rice-a-roni and Chef Boyardee
I think most people’s image of horse riders is that of people who house their horses on their own luxurious properties. This feeds the stereotype that all horse riders have the funds to own a lot of land and multiple horses. Very few non-riders (myself included until I met Britt) knew anything about boarding barns/farms.
Truth: Most of us frequent barns of the non-chandelier sort / PC: Pegasus Builders
Most riders I see at horse shows with Britt do not appear super wealthy. Britt notices some of the nicer trailers and points them out to me, but overall it is a regular [Britt: isn’t it nice to hear the word ‘regular’ applied to equestrians for once?] crowd.
The fanciest trailer I could afford / PC: Toystogrowon.com (ironic!)
Now that Britt and I completely share finances, I have even more of an appreciation of the investment she puts into riding. The most obvious is boarding and gas, but when those vet appointments come up I really start to notice [Britt: uh yeah, me too]. However, I know that when you have a working horse that you are constantly training to move on to the next level then it takes a lot of time and also money. In the end though, seeing the satisfaction and joy that Britt gets from riding definitely makes it worthwhile.
Flying changes keep coming up in my training, and I admit, I’m at an internal impasse.
One one hand, and to state the obvious- having a flying change would make showjumping courses less embarrassing much more fluid, as my requests for a simple change mess with our forward momentum. Granted, he is almost amazingly well balanced in counter canter, so it’s not like we are careening around lopsided on the wrong lead, but still. He will offer the change occasionally, but it’s fairly random. Also, I need to work on getting the correct lead over fences and not leaning left dammit.
PC: High Time Photography
On the other hand, we are working towards the goal of a Second level test this year. Counter canter starts at First level test 3. Counter canter gets a lot easier when your horse is not trying to switch leads on you when you change the bend. Again, Foster is quite well balanced at the counter canter.
I have never taught a horse a change, and could count on one hand the times I have sat on a school master, much less practiced a change on a schooled horse. I understand the theory, just have not practiced it. We (as in a friend who knew what they were doing) started trying to teach Foster to change over a cavaletti, but the results were mixed. According to her, he is a tough cookie when it comes to changes. My dressage trainer is happy with not schooling changes (obviously).
PC: J
In Great Britain, they don’t worry about the change as much, and I’ve heard a couple opinions over the years that changes really aren’t required until Preliminary. However, there are other disciplines like H/J where changes seem almost necessary even from the pony stages.
So I ask you, wise readers- what do you think? Forget the change and focus on getting my lead over the fence/Second level wondrousness? Or, get the change and figure out the counter canter later?
It’s been some time since my last photography post, and admittedly I haven’t done much recently. But stuck inside with yet another snow day provided some inspiration, and Drake loved running around and eating the snow.
2 weeks isn’t the longest amount of time we’ve gone without jumping by any stretch of the imagination, but still, with the impending show season looming in front of us, it seems like we will never have a chance to prepare.
Yesterday we got 2 inches of snow (I’m sure those up north are snickering right now) and expecting (supposedly) another 8-12 inches in the next couple days.
It’s enough that our outdoor arena, which was already under water from the melted ice, will be unusable for some time.
Today’s post marks the 250th post here at the House on a Hill. So far we’ve discussed everything from happy weddings to helpful tips, and of course houses and horses. Since I started documenting Foster’s journey, he’s gone from Beginner Novice hopeful to making his first attempt at Training, and from an inconsistent connection to schooling second level dressage. This blog has been such a fun exercise for me, and I hope you all enjoy following along on the ridiculousness that is life here at the House on a Hill. To commemorate the occasion- surprise! A slightly new look for the blog. I hope you guys like it 🙂
On a different note, North Carolinians everywhere woke up to see the fluffy white stuff coming down from the sky in torrents. Considering the supposed chance of precipitation for today was 0%, this was a surprise indeed. Since I hadn’t planned on working from home I attempted to drive in, and now speak to you in front of my fireplace, having given up on driving in. The salt trucks here were also caught off guard, and so snow and ice is packing quickly in the rush hour traffic. Even 4 wheel drive couldn’t get me down the hill without a little trouble, and things are currently getting worse.
I only skidded off the driveway a little…
So, at least I got to get out to the barn last night, because it’s definitely not going to happen tonight. Or even tomorrow. I hope everyone is staying safe and keeping warm! Thanks for reading!
[Thanks Bruno Mars for this song that has been stuck in my head all weekend]
Though the weather has started to warm, and the ice has mostly melted, I find myself having a hard time being cheerful about it. After mentioning my funk to the husband, he observed that this seems to happen around this time every year for as long as he’s known me. Huh. Probably the lack of saddle time combined with minimal sunshine that’s got me down? Really, it’s probably just the lack of saddle time. Damn ice.
Come here human, let me lick you
Foster may have been feeling similarly, as we attempted half heartedly with some dressage work last night in the tiny part of the arena that wasn’t beaten to bits by lessons prior. We’re all waiting the time when the footing in the covered arena will be fixed, but right now as it’s the only arena available (the outdoor being under water, basically), they can’t get in to fix it and we’re all having to deal. If you’re lucky enough to get in there just after it’s been dragged it’s great, but if you’re late to the game (as I was both days this weekend), you end up doing 10 meter figure 8’s. Foster was less than pleased.
Wild man (not really) got lunged on Saturday to see how he was feeling. He was feeling like he would prefer to stand.
On the bright side, J reminded me that it was the one year anniversary of our first Novice outing yesterday. It was a bittersweet show in a way- our most relaxed dressage test, a clear but fractionally wild feeling showjumping round, and then an awesome XC that culminated in me going into cruise control mode and getting a stupid runout, blowing our chances of getting a 2nd place ribbon. Still, I remember being elated that his Novice debut had only suffered due to rider error- a good reminder for how my attitude should be regarding the clinic move up to Training.
Our first Novice / PC: Brant Gamma
Still, it’s fun to think that a year later, we’re so much improved. The canter has changed immensely, lengthenings are finally coming, and we’re talking about Training with a little less trepidation. Our next attempt is going to come up sooner rather than later, as I’m planning on attending a Combined Training show mid-March. The course should be technically easier than the clinic, although in a smaller arena. My worry is that with all the standing water on the ground, will be get a chance to jump before the show? Guess we’ll just have to wait and see.
News broke recently that the famous Irish stallion, Cruising, has not one, but two clones on the ground. If you are not familiar with Cruising, you probably know his prodigy- Mr. Medicott, or Flexible, for instance, to name a couple. The clone 2 1/2 year old stallions (nicknamed Rooster and Booster), are to be made available at stud to select mares this year. Personally, I was shocked to hear this news.
The late Cruising meets his two clones / PC: Horse and Hound
When we sold our farm, it was purchased by a man with a vision to breed Irish horses (after going through breed books with my parents over the kitchen table, no less). He went to Ireland, purchased himself one grade-A stallion and 10 purebred mares, and imported them to the States. He then bought 40 Belgian draft mares (some halter broke, some not), and started an embryo transfer practice using the draft horses as the recipient mares. For some time we continued to live in the house while he took over the farm, and a little piece of my heart broke seeing half the barn turned into a laboratory. The Irish Draught registry must have felt similarly, and had an absolute shit-fit. They determined that only one foal by a mare/stallion combination could be registered per year. So, if one Irish mare donates 3 embryos that year that become live foals- which one gets registered?
Crusing
I’m sure this rule was at one point overturned (this having happened in the late 90s), but the Irish Draught Society still ruled with an iron fist over their registry books. Getting an Irish horse registered is no joke, including hours of preparation, grooming, and training in hand before going to the inspection in your region. And even then you are not guaranteed approval- we were told to represent one full Irish mare the next year because she wasn’t fully matured in her back end. The approval of Ivan as a registered stallion, an even more rigorous test, then was a huge relief.
Ivan at his stallion inspection
So, knowing as I do that the Irish Draught Society errs on the conservative side, how did such a prestigious stallion come to be cloned, and the news stay secret for so long? Is it right of them to allow cloned horses into the registry books? What about the multiple clones, such as in Cruising’s case? Personally I’m not fully decided. But I do think if there’s to be a clone for breeding purposes, maybe it should just be one horse and not two, so as to keep the integrity of the breed by not ‘polluting it’ with one genetic line by having it available for the space of three stallions’ lifetimes.
Read the Horse & Hound’s article on the clones here.
Weigh in! What do you think of introducing cloned horses to the genetic pool, and how do you think this will set an example for future generations?
Last night we got hit with a bit more snow, but even so, my office was actually open at normal business hours, so with that in mind and feeling a bit stir crazy at the thought of another day in the house, I decided to drive in.
This post is evidence that I did indeed arrive in one piece, however, after a few moments of precarious fish tailing on some black ice, I think perhaps I should have stayed home. Maybe even more importantly, I don’t think it will be safe to chance driving the 30 minutes back from the barn in the dark tonight. Foster will have to just go on without me.
I feel completely guilty about the situation, especially knowing that going long periods with no exercise is the last thing he needs. But if I can’t get back in one piece I won’t be good to either one of us. Essentially, this week is a wash.
At least the weekend is looking promising, so I’ll just have to hope that I get out to the barn Saturday and get some quality time with Foster. In the meantime, I am extra grateful to the barn staff who are handwalking the horses in the covered, since all the paddocks are sheets of pure ice.
Here’s hoping all of you are staying warm and safe, be careful out there!
Winter weather has officially hit North Carolina (and seemingly a lot of other places too), so obviously, pretty much everything that can be closed is closed. And of course the problem with living in a house on a hill is that when said hill ices over, you’re pretty much stuck anyways. So if you want to find me, I’ll be in my sweatpants working from home the next couple days.
The upside to all this is that everytime I look outside I think of this…
… and therefore sing all four parts to my husband, complete with cheesy railroad noises. I like to think I’m adorable, but I’m probably just hurting my chances on getting that next blog post out of him. Whatevs snow snow Snow SNOW SNOW!!!
Before the ice storm hit, I was able to squeeze in a dressage lesson and discuss the feedback from the clinic. Foster had a couple days off after the clinic, then a long stretchy session to work out any kinks, so even though I hadn’t dressaged yet since the clinic, it was still helpful.
Basically the lesson was a repeat of lessons before in that there was a lot of emphasis on transitions within and between gaits, lateral work in the form of shoulder and haunches in, and more work on our lengthenings. Foster’s still figuring these out to some degree, and part of how he is dealing with the added ‘pressure’ of the lengthening is to curl under, so I’m learning how to get his poll up and keep him going, or for now, come back to the walk then try again.
One of the most aggravating parts of my test was getting that 5.5 on the free walk, and so we worked on getting him to really take the extra stretch without rooting. Part of solving this problem includes my moving my hands towards his mouth (i.e, pushing my elbows to the fence!) so that he has even more ‘place’ to go. So obviously this is a feeling that I need to get the hang of in order to get the most out of my horse! Funny how habits transcend disciplines!
It seems like it’s been a long time coming, but the moment is finally here to discuss how our first Training course went.
But before I get ahead of myself, let’s talk about the warmup. Lizzie Snow handled warmup, and I was glad for it. I won’t lie when I say I was fairly shaking in my boots with trepidation the whole week leading up to this, and visions of destroying my horse’s confidence by landing him in the middle of a meter-high fence plagued my every other thought. So the first thing I did when I got to Lizzie was tell her- I’m anxious about this, this is our first try at this level, and please don’t let me die (OK, so I didn’t say that last bit). Thankfully Lizzie exudes a kind of quiet confidence, and kept us going and talking us through each and every fence.
One thing we talked about before warmup was the approach we would be using that day. Instead of riding the cross rail, then the vertical, then the oxer as I normally do, she wanted each rider to start over to oxer. It could start at a small height and grow to the competition height, but jumping the oxer would help horses start thinking forward, and help the riders not focus on the spot. Also, an ascending oxer would help horses with their shape over the fence, but ending with a square oxer as you will typically see in the ring was key. We would finish over the vertical before going in the arena to reinstate balance, and that was it. A lot of what she also focused on with me was getting the forward canter (Foster feeling quite on the sluggish side, as per usual) and not losing energy through the turns. We also revisited the vertical a couple extra times because I started pumping to it, and Lizzie wanted me to have a quiet upper body and get a balanced ride to it before going in the arena.
After that, we caught our breath for a hot second before starting our course. At this point in time I think we were both a little tired, but I was not going to quit now, and did my best to keep the forward pace through the course. Where I got into trouble was the second one-stride combination coming out of the corner. We lost impulsion at the last stride, making it over the vertical but not forward enough to jump the second element. Totally understandable refusal, and after standing about like a deer in headlights thinking the clinicians would talk to me about it (they didn’t – whoops), I picked up my canter and re-approached.
Following the course, Bobby Costello talked to us about how it went. He thought that Foster was acting a bit like a deadhead (which he maybe was that day) and that I needed to give him a lot of extra support in the energy department. The big observation he made was regarding my elbows. While in my mind I am following his mouth, every time my elbows come back I am actually taking a little of his forward canter away. In Bobby’s words, even if it’s only 1% that I’m taking away, over the span of the course that adds up and eventually saps my forward energy. Instead, I need to think about pushing my elbows towards the fence. He praised Foster for being game going through the one stride on the second go, and decided we wouldn’t revisit that particular element. Instead, we went back through fences 1-6, which included the oxer-to-vertical one stride, focusing on pushing my elbows to the fences.
Although he took out the last fence, the second course was a much better ride. It felt much less sticky, even though Foster ignored my ask for a simple change up to fence 3. Bobby’s advice on this was that we need to get the lead immediately after the fence (2, in this case) and if we can’t get it, canter on. Foster will absolutely be visiting simple change bootcamp soon, because that nonsense doesn’t sit well with me. I also realized that I am not helping with my tendency to lean left, essentially blocking him from picking up that lead after fences. Responsibility on both ends, I guess.
Before we left, Marc also chimed in, saying that it would ride smoother if I remembered that bending lines are like combinations, and not to ride them as completely separate fences. This particularly applied to the ride from fence 1 to 2.
For myself, I think increased fitness would have made this task a lot easier for both of us. Looking back I really did squeeze in just a few jump schools to get ready for the event (my calendar says 3-4 jumping days since November) and that probably wasn’t enough to get us in jumping shape. Foster and I both came off the first course winded, and after the second course we definitely earned our couple days off. But improving our cardiac fitness (and my calf strength, ha) should make getting the forward canter easier, and leave him with enough leftover energy to be more responsive to my cues.
And so we end our recap of the clinic, with a bevy of information to ponder while the winter storm keeps us locked away. All in all, I found the clinic to be a massive success in that we didn’t die, I didn’t wet my pants, and we have a lot of homework that will prepare us for success our next time out. Huzzah!
Red on the Right 