What a beautiful weekend it was! The husband and I went down to Charlotte to see my parents, grandmother, and an aunt I haven’t seen in 10 years. It was a happy reunion, and we had a lovely time at a formal charity event called the Red Cross Ball.
Not much else to update on- I was able to get back yesterday to ride Foster and he felt fantastic. I finally feel like he’s back to where we left off in the winter, he is super supple and really responding to my seat. We even had a couple nice canter transitions, sans underneck! Now to try and fit in that jump school before the show this weekend!
This spring we have been busy busy trying to get some big goals accomplished! Namely, these include fixing the fireplace and remodeling the kitchen, half bathroom, and sun room. Now, we are about halfway through these projects, which means everything is a little catty-wampus, but it’s a step in the right direction…
Before: no glass, no logs, and a pet gate to keep the furbabies away… Now: Glass and a safe, functioning fireplace!
Out with the white, and in with the laminate!
And then, I’m getting a little ahead of myself, but here’s what’s going on with the kitchen!
The floors still need staining, but Drake approves of the progress so far!
Of course, as far as the kitchen goes, the new floors mark 1/4 of the whole remodel being complete. Eventually, the goal is to put in new countertops, update the cabinets with paint and crown molding, and replace the white appliances. You might say it’s a work in progress!
Lots more changes outside happening as well, but that’s another post!
Welp, we did the clinic! After attacking the wind puff with some DMSO based cream, the heat magically vanished and the worry-wort inside me took a deep breath of relief. We got in maybe one decent dressage schooling and then clinic day was upon us!
I definitely cut my warm up time short (let’s be serious- what warm up time?) by arriving a mere 10 minutes before my scheduled ride (um, it was Rolex XC day!), but this gave us a good opportunity to talk to Brendan about what’s been going on or not with Foster. I was hoping to get some confirmation of the lateral work we’ve been working on this winter, but it seems we had bigger fish to fry- the dreaded under neck.
Hot mess moment, displaying his fabulous under neck muscle
After our lesson last year, I worked really hard to get this muscle softer and encourage Foster to use his bum to balance himself instead- then things fell apart a bit. Brendan wanted to see Foster go in a much deeper frame with his nose just in front of the point of his shoulder. We struggled for quite some time, and about half way through I felt some of the tension in his back melt away and he gave in to the new way of going.
Finally getting his head lower (also, let’s ignore how low my hands are and how big my butt looks in this pic!)
While working on getting him deeper (and deeper and deeper), we tried the canter transitions, again asking him to stay round without popping up in front. Mostly we were unsuccessful, but there were definitely a couple attempts that were close. I think it’s safe to say Foster is finally fit enough to do this correctly, and I will be working hard on this in the coming weeks!
Working on roundness in the canter
Lastly, Brendan got us focusing on riding forward and backward within the working trot. This will help us get closer to true lengthenings, although Brendan confirmed what myself (and Eliza, from our last lesson) thought, which is that he may never have a true, exuberant lengthening. If the trade off is a great brain, but no lengthening, I’ll take that trade any day!
Pushing forward within working trot
All in all, a great lesson and it was really interesting to watch the video (props to A) afterwards. A great lesson, even if I felt like I could not ride through most of the lesson, and basic steering flew out the window when I was concentrating on Foster so much! I was having some serious issues with my jods sticking to the saddle (and causing the extra bit of the stirrup leather to bunch up underneath my leg) and with the excess of reins getting in my way constantly. New reins will be in our future I think, as this has happened a lot recently as I ride with a shorter rein! Otherwise though, we have some serious work to do, and I am thankful for the opportunity to squeeze in this much needed dressage lesson!
A video clip from the lesson:
In other pony news, Foster has pulled a shoe. And sometime this week I need to fit in a jump school, to get ready for our first ‘big’ Novice at CHP on the 11th! Gosh, it’s coming up fast!
Viva Carlos has a great topic for their blog hop this week- loving the pony you have, whether you own them or just ride them. I’ve had many ponies over the years, and sometimes it’s unfair when I compare Foster to them, because in his own right, he’s got a lot going for him.
He’s super easy to handle (just last night I was clipping his legs, basically underneath him, and the BO thought he looked drugged, but he was just falling asleep!)
He self loads and unloads when traveling
He is adorably cuddly
This was my favorite moment from the shoot- Foster wanted to cuddle!
He’s adorably playful, and I have to watch that he doesn’t pick up stools, buckets, steps- you name it.
He’s got super fun lateral work
He knows his people (he picks me, and now my friend A, out of the crowd!)
He’s consistently tight over fences
He’s got a fun looking tail, and he keeps it mostly clean!
Or this post could be called, “Attack of the Wind puff”.
Foster developed some swelling in his back fetlock while I was in Savannah, and after having several people who are much smarter than me (i.e, the vet who did his shots, another vet looking at pics, and a former vet-tech) all diagnose it as a fresh wind puff, I haven’t been too concerned. It had a minimal amount of heat it in, which again I wasn’t terribly worried about since it is so fresh.
Of course Foster doesn’t care, all he wants is more grass.. yay spring!
A few days ago though, this poofy blemish took on a little more heat than I was comfortable with. So I’ve been poulticing the crap out of it and hoping it goes down. I’ve worked Foster only a few times since the last clinic, and kept our rides pretty simple- lots of stretching, some basic transition stuff, and given him a gram of bute after each ride to reduce the swelling. After not seeing much change, I’ve gone the next step and started applying Surpass, a DMSO based cream, to it.
Fetlock a week ago
A couple days ago
Technically, Foster is sound and ready to go, but I’m being a total helicopter mom and watching his leg like a hawk. Nothing shows up lameness-wise when I ride him, and if anything he feels more forward than ever. There was a wee bit of tension in his back last night, but I put that down to us not working on transitions recently and insisting that he not use his neck to pull himself into the next gait. So, my hope is to ride him and apply more cream Wednesday, and check on him Thursday morning and see what it looks like. Rinse and repeat for Thursday night/Friday morning. If the heat really has not gone down at all, I’ll consider scratching.
thank you, google, for the pic of Brendan riding
If you’re wondering what the clinic is about this weekend- it’s a dressage clinic just 15 minutes up the road, with Brendan Curtis. I’ve seen Brendan ride many a time beside Jim Koford when they both trained at a barn I used to board at. I never got to take a lesson from him, but I have a friend who has become a beautiful dressage rider who highly recommends him, and I’m very curious to see what he would do with us!
So, our preparations this week are mostly focused on easing my mind about Foster’s leg, and if it gets better we will just have to see what happens at the clinic. He should at least be able to rock a stretchy trot and some lateral work! I’d love to have the opportunity to ride, but Foster comes first. We’ll see what happens.
As many designers and artists do, I love texture. Maybe a little more unusual, when I see texture, sometimes I want to photograph it, and use it as desktop wallpaper. Am I weird? Nevermind, let’s not get into that.
Anyways, that is what I was thinking when I saw the beautiful wysteria at the Dresser Palmer House in Savannah.
I’ve uploaded these bad boys at a rather large size, in case any of you guys have the same idea… just click on the image, zoom in and right click to Save Image.
Meanwhile, this weekend we will be doing some serious landscaping of our own- but that’s a future post! Have a great weekend y’all, and happy Easter!
Day 2 was our second cross country lesson, and I felt really confident after the prior day’s success. Unsurprisingly, when I got Foster out on the field, he felt sluggish- the poor thing was tired! But he put his game face on and rallied (for a while). Since he felt so relaxed, I allowed myself to finally relax too, and felt a big difference in the ride. I could follow with my elbows more, and pay a bit more attention to the task at hand. Because I was feeling more confident, I asked Holly if we could push the envelope a bit, and boy did she deliver! We hopped over this rather large training oxer (right after the rollback in the video), and did a super fun bank combination. Foster particularly loved this, and launched himself off the bank with all the boldness I could ever want in an event horse!
Off the bank we go!
When that went well, Holly asked if I’d like to try the ditch/up bank combo. It’s a bit hard to see in the pic, but there is a shallow ditch behind the ground line- and I was super stoked to try it! Foster flew up it without hesitation- it was very exciting!
Woohoo!
The themes of the day were continuing to allow him to come forward, and keep my elbows soft (though this was improved over the day before). I definitely need to add more pace to bigger fences (such as the bank above, and the training oxer in the video), and keep him straight/allow for a straighter approach to the jump. Also might try lowering my hands, as with show jumping.
Unfortunately towards the end of the session, Foster had decided he had had enough, and put in a couple of naughty run outs. These were all to the left, and it’s my job to pull him right if this happens. No matter what! Things were going so well, I definitely let my guard down and he slipped out on me a couple times. I honestly think these were due to him being fully exhausted, and while that’s no excuse, I’m still proud of him for all the good work he did over the weekend. We ended on a good note, jumping over a small vertical into the water, and called it a day!
Summing it Up
All in all, this clinic was hugely helpful in re-establishing the basics and getting us back to where we need to be with our confidence. It was a nice, laid back atmosphere with fun people, and left us with a manageable amount of homework. I’m excited to hear that Holly will be hosting multiple clinics this year, and I am already looking forward to the next one!
Whoo! What a weekend. The clinic was a great success, and Foster and I came away tired, but with some definite goals and advice to keep with us as we practice on our own.
The clinic included 3 lessons of any combination, and knowing my weakest areas (jumping), I opted to do 1 showjumping lesson and 2 cross country lessons. Day 1 was our showjumping and first cross country lesson. And boy, did we struggle at first.
heads up like a turtle!
Day 1 Showjumping
One of the first things Holly pointed out is that I was riding with a dressage seat, and I needed to lighten my fanny for jumping. Needless to say, after about 3 months of doing almost nothing but dressage, that fanny felt heavy, and I struggled to find my balance after being out of practice for so long. She also had me lengthen my rein and lower my hands, to encourage Foster to have a slightly rounder shape and therefore jump with better bascule.
The course included a few single fences, a 3 stride line, a 1 stride, and the biggest grid I’ve seen (in life). Foster has never jumped a grid like that, and normally when we do grids we build them up bit by bit. Not to mention, when’s the last time he did a 1 stride? (I’m sure I don’t remember!) Thankfully he was game, and we struggled through.
This exercise showed us that we could benefit from more gymnastic practice, to get him sitting, me waiting (and steering), and improve balance issues.
Overall themes included getting a more active canter (no surprise there), looking without leaning, and getting him straight to the fences. The latter is one of my biggest issues right now, as I don’t tend to take the time to get his shoulders straight at the approach to the fence, and then we jump crooked, or if it’s a line, drift through it. I will be working on this for sure!
Luckily we did end on a good note where I actually started to ride, but the video is sadly a bit blurry. Just a few jumps together, but beginning to see improvement. I do notice in these videos that my form over fences has suffered some from lack of practice (belly button to pommel!), but hopefully we will be able to get more jump schooling in soon!
Day 1 Cross Country
Figuring out how to turn
After Foster had a quick rest, we headed out to the cross country course. I was pretty excited to see what he felt like, but that didn’t keep me from being tense. I had mixed success with getting the tension out of my elbows, but Foster was an honest, solid citizen the whole time, which helped me relax more and more. Everything stayed pretty small as we revisited the basics… No, we didn’t always get our distance, and tempo was occasionally a mixed bag (though admittedly, mostly on the slow side), but I was very happy and got the confidence boost I needed!
Again themes of more canter and allowing him to come to the fence (this is a trust issue with me, left over from his rushing days), and relaxing my elbows. Watching the video I can see exactly when I lock up and when I start to relax my arms, and generally speaking, he looks relaxed when I look relaxed. Definitely something I’ve been working on for some time, and finally started seeing better results towards the end of the lesson.
Following cross country, we headed back to the barn and Foster got a much deserved dinner and I got to hang out with my fellow participants, some of whom are friends from our old barn! It was so nice to catch up with everyone, and hear how they are progressing with their rides!
After getting back from being out of town for a week (due to Pittsburgh work stuff, then our amazeballs Savannah trip), I wasn’t sure what to expect with Foster. My buddy A rode him a few times and commented on how straight and stretchy he felt, compared to last year when he wanted to be neither straight nor stretch. This is great news, and I really welcomed another opinion on how he is going!
Dirty pony is dirty.
Happily, I can also report that he is indeed gaining some more weight. Still not plump, but definitely not ribby anymore. I am hoping to further encourage weight gain by switching to SmartGain supplements (he was on Cocosoya before) and switching his feed to a higher quality mix. On the flip side, he has a bit of a puffy fetlock, but he’s sound on it, so we’re monitoring it closely. It seems somewhat superficial, thankfully!
Foster’s been going well on the flat, and last night I added some proper canter work in the mix. It’s still coming back, and he felt a little braced through the jaw in transitions, but I was happily surprised at the quality for the most part. He does seem to be slobbering a lot lately (a good sign!), and its been making all his polos nice and green. But I like happy, chewing Foster a lot. Slobber away, buddy.
Trying to share slobber
Otherwise, we are still getting ready for a clinic with Holly Hudspeth. We’ll be taking 2 lessons on Saturday (1 showjumping, 1 cross country), and a second cross country lesson Sunday. So I must get in a jump school tonight, since we haven’t jumped since the last show, weeks ago! I’m hopeful that he will go well nonetheless, as I’m feeling pretty confident at Novice right now. I do want to tackle trakehner and scary type fences cross country if we can, and I’m positive I’ll need work on my eye, straightness, and timing during the showjumping. Ok let’s be serious, I’ll probably have to work on everything, but that’s alright!
Also in the mix for this week is a saddle fitting presentation at Dover! I am very interested to go to this, since as you guys know, I’m in the market for a new saddle! And I may have found one, too! It is the right size for me, but too narrow for Foster, so I just need to decide if I should get it and invest in making it his size… Decisions, decisions! Either way, the presentation should be very informative, and bonus! We get $5 Dover gift certificates for attending! Maybe I’ll go crazy and buy myself… a carabiner or something!
Last weekend we celebrated our anniversary by taking a trip to Savannah, Georgia. Savannah’s somewhere I have always wanted to go, and was the perfect place for two history buffs to relax for a few days.
We stayed in the most beautiful historic inn called the Dresser Palmer House. This inn was originally two houses from 1876 that were joined to create a 16 room establishment that prides itself on having the longest porch in Savannah. We particularly enjoyed the gourmet breakfasts each morning, complimentary cocktail evenings, and lazying it up and watching the world go by from the front porch. Added bonus that it is just one block away from Forsyth Park- the prettiest park in town! Highly, highly recommend to anyone and everyone wishing to recline in style in this beautiful southern city!
How cute is our room!
We had absolutely ideal weather Friday and Saturday, which I swear I could not stop remarking on- when you have a desk job, having nice weather on days off means that much more! We made sure to stop by some of the town’s historic landmarks…
Enjoying a house tour
One of the gardens on a house tour
Girl Scouts!
Chrystal Beer Parlour
And not so historic landmarks…
Wet Willy’s!
Hanging out at Six Pence Pub, where apparently Something to Talk About was filmed (we were there for the pub grub!)
Sitting on the bench where Forest Gump was filmed!
Of course, horses had to be incorporated somehow into the mix, so we took a tour around on a carriage ride. It was interesting to talk to the driver and hear about Rose’s history, and while we learned that maybe no one tells the history of Savannah the same way, we enjoyed our ride around town. We also took a ghost tour for fun, and our guide was also a horsewoman, and I have a very interesting lead on an Azteca horse to follow up on!
Overall, the trip was the perfect time for us to get away from the worries of our normal life, and take the time to just be with one another. We’ll be back one day, and I can’t wait!
Red on the Right 