Athlete

3 stars, 3 days, 2 grooms and 10 horses

We left on Tuesday around 11am for Hawke’s Bay, which is about 7 hours away. We loaded up the horses (6 in one truck, and 4 in the other) and headed off. We got about half an hour from home and we stopped for fuel, and to reorganize the horses on the bigger truck and Lesbos was causing some problems. Lesbos is a horrible traveller and this week definitely was no exception. After we got her relaxed we were on the road again. We travelled 4 hours to Taupo, where we made another pit stop and then finished off the last 3 hours of the trip through two major mountain passes. Definitely did not sleep much through there, for two reasons: the scenery was amazing, and also petrifying all at the same time. There was one bridge that was very VERY high up, with a straight drop onto rocks and a huge river- with little to no guard rails and a decently thin road busy with other trucks and traffic.

 We got to the show grounds around 6, and set up shop. We had 5 horses with indoor stables, and 4 in covered yards. And we were very lucky to have the stables closest to the rings- huge blessing. I set up my bed in the back of the horse truck, after it had been cleaned out from travel. With two sleeping bags, two sweaters, and sweat pants for pjs- I was golden for the night. 5:45 am came quickly (as it usually does) and the first day of showing began! After all the horses were fed, watered, mucked out, and the feed dishes washed I began studding (caulking) some of the first horses to go. Then they were tacked up, brought to the ring, flatted, warmed up over fences, and went into the show ring. All the horses went amazing the first day- 9 out of 10 had double clears! After studding, unstudding, tacking up, untacking, putting blankets on and off, setting jumps, fighting with fidgety horses, and dealing with a rather pushy 5yr old stallion (“rather pushy” is the understatement of the year) both Neve (head groom) and I were done for the day- after feeding, watering, tucking in, and hauling everything back to the trucks of course. Everything ran very smoothly, and there wasn’t really any chaotic moments. It really helped that we were so close to the rings.

The next day started just as early, and we had 12 rounds to prepare for. Same routine as the day before, only this time the rounds were close together and a few of the horses were scheduled to go basically right after one another in their classes. The pushy stallion from the day before got pushier, and caused us to lose about 7 studs- which made our plan for the day get a little bit crazier as we had to take studs out of one horse and put them in another before they went into the ring. Needless to say we were working very fast. Again, all the horses did very well and Neve and I were quite ready for when the day slowed down and we could enjoy the delicious burgers that the food stand sold (best thing I’ve ever tasted. Kiwi burgers rock!!).  I met a few people while standing in the middle of the chaotic warm up ring who noticed Kyle’s accent, and then my accent and again had absolutely no idea where Manitoba was. It’s quite hilarious watching their expressions go from “Oh, Canada! Where abouts?” to “Wow, I have no idea where that place is” to “Oh! Well, I’ve been to Kamloops- is it close to there?” in about 10 seconds. Nonetheless, everybody is very nice and one lady even said she planned on googling MB when she got home.

The final day rolled around, and we rolled out of bed with as much vigor as we could find in those early hours. The weather was fantastic all week too- we drove away from the rain (It poured at home the whole week) and only got a few showers and one thunder storm after the show day was finished. The nights were chilly, and the mornings were freezing- but all in all, great horse show weather. The last day was definitely the nicest. Sunny majority of the day with a nice breeze. More studding, unstudding, ringside watching, jump setting, tacking, untacking, braiding, unbraiding, brushing, walking, etc and then the day was coming to an end. The horses were all exceptional and did very well in all their divisions. LC Rodeo Drive was double clear the entire week! After everybody had been skipped out one final time, wrapped, and booted up- they were loaded back onto the trucks and we set off for the seven hour trip home. Neve was in the big truck to supervise Lesbos, and I was with Kyle again in the smaller truck. Kyle and I got about half an hour out when we got a call saying the Lesbos was causing some problems. So we turned back and found the other truck on the side of the motorway and four of the six horses already unloaded and (surprisingly calmly) eating grass on the side. Apparently Lesbos had managed to fall over and basically lie down in the truck- while Shakira, the next horse over, stood there not even caring about anything other then looking at the pretty views outside her window. Lesbos, for some reason, doesn’t know how to balance herself while travelling in the trucks. Everytime the truck shifts gears, brakes, or goes around a corner/roundabout she lets herself fall into the partitions. She is fine once you get going at a steady pace, but stopping and starting are definitely not her favourite. We ended up taking the horses in Kyle’s truck back to the show grounds, while I held two horses on the side of the road along with a kind passer by who held the other two. Shakira and Lesbos stayed standing in the other truck during this ordeal. Once the stallions and two of the geldings were back at the grounds, Kyle came back and we switched Lesbos and Shakira over to the smaller truck while Jolie and Baboon had been picked up by two other trucks that were passing by and offered to transport them closer to home for us to allow more room and less hassle in our trucks. We went back to the show grounds, Neve and I standing in the back of the truck coaching poor Lesbos through the short drive. She was much more relaxed in this truck- whether it was the difference in driving styles, or the smaller area. We ended up putting the two stallions, two geldings, and two mares onto the big truck, and just taking Lesbos and Shakira on our truck for the ride home. Neve came with us, and stayed in the back keeping a close eye on Lesbos for the first few hours of the journey. She quickly settled down and we got home around 1am.  We had planned on being home around 8pm.. but plans change right? Especially when horses are involved. Always when horses are involved. Lesbos only had a few cuts on her hip, and a slightly swollen knee out of the ordeal- thankfully- and doesn’t seem to be traumatized. She hopped on and off the trucks like a champ during the whole thing.

The next morning began at the regular hour of 6:30, as we had clients coming to see horses at 8am. No rest for the wicked! I washed out the inside of both trucks while the others mucked out the barns and prepared horses for clients and later on Steve and one of the other grooms made the two hour drive to pick up the horses that went with other trucks. To be honest, I’ve lost sense of time. It takes me a while to figure out what day it is most of the time. I realized today that I’ve already been here a month and a half! I’ve received a lot of positive feedback about how I handle the job, which is good. I’m sure thankful for the skills I’ve learned from my own riding and showing- all those years dragging myself to 4H meetings and events are finally paying off. This job is definitely not for the faint of heart, but I’m starting to appreciate what it’s teaching me more. I actually love the fast paced days spent at the horse show, which doesn’t really surprise me. I’ve always been one for thriving on going flat out nonstop. I’ve also noticed a big difference in my riding since being here. It’s definitely improved, and being able to sit on different horses almost every day is definitely a factor. I’m not doing much more then basic flat work, but I’ve learnt how much each horse can differ in style and how to adapt to those styles. Each one learns and functions in a different way, just like people. My back/hip hasn’t really been appreciating all these lessons and although I survived the show fine I can tell I’m starting to push it a little. Because I’ve been going full speed the past few weeks I haven’t been able to stretch as much as needed and that’s starting to bite me in the ass. The amount of riding I’ve been doing probably doesn’t help either.

I just looked at the clock and saw that it was 9:30pm- way past my bed time. So I’ll leave it at that for now and go stretch. Here are some pictures from the show!

Double J Angelic (Jolie)

LC Rodeo Drive (Nippur) warming up!

Got braids?

BERGER FACE!

My favourite, LC Telepathy aka Buck!

 

Daily Routine/ Horse Physio

I’ve had a few people ask me what an average day for me is like (Mom), and request that I write about it on here (Mom). So here it goes, the average day of a groom at LC Horse Farms for your reading pleasure.

6:30 am- wake up and get dressed as quickly as you can to avoid the morning chill. Eat something, and by…

7am- be walking to the barn (a grand total of 25 ft away). Our first tasks in the morning are to feed (but usually this has been done by the head groom earlier); one person goes out to the ‘yards’ where there is another 10 horses to feed them, then we look at the turn out list and begin moving horses into the paddocks. To do this, we grab a halter and a lead rope from the tack room, go to whichever horse we’re turning out at the moment, take off their heavy overnight coat and the fleece underneath that and replace it with a outdoor blanket. Then their feet are picked and the halter is put on. This process is repeated until all the horses (9) are put outside to their allotted paddocks for the day. After doing this task, we move onto putting some of the remaining horses on the walker. 4 horses go on at a time- mares with mares, geldings with geldings, and studs by themselves. There are usually 8-10 horses that go on the walker each day for 20-40 minutes depending on if their being ridden or not. After the majority of the horses in the barn have been moved somewhere, the mucking out begins. There is approximately 20 stalls to be cleaned out. They all get one wheel barrel of fresh shavings put in after being cleaned- at least. Once the stalls are mucked, the barn is blown out with the leaf blower, then swept. The yards surrounding the stables are raked free of any excess hay or shavings and whatnot, and all the horses that are inside get a slice of hay. While all this is going on, Kyle and Megan are tacking up and grooming their own horses to ride. This brings us to..

9:30am (approximately)- The grooms take a coffee break. Yay more food!

9:50am (approx.)- Back to work. Usually by now the head groom has written up what she would like each of us to accomplish in the day. All the waterers in the barn need to be cleaned out, horses hand walked, horses tacked up for Kyle/Megan, different rooms cleaned, various horses bathed/brushed/brought in/etc. Each of us is assigned different things to get done before or after lunch. After each horse is ridden, they need to be hand sponged to remove any sweat marks and then left to dry before you can groom them and put them back into their stall. Their feet are picked when they leave the stall, when they come back from a ride, and when they come in from the paddock. There are to be no sweat marks from the bridle left over on their head, or girth area. If the horse is sweaty after being ridden, it’s bathed. Each groom usually gets assigned 1-2 horses per day to ride or lunge or both. This fits into our assigned tasks.

By 12:30 (usually ends up being at least 1pm)- all horses (including the outdoor ones) should have been fed their lunch (once slice of hay and grain), the feedroom and tack room swept along with the cross ties and wash stalls. Once the barn is organized and clean, we go for lunch (sometimes to the beach) until..

2pm- This is a continuation of the morning tasks. Riding, grooming, cleaning, organizing, grooming, bringing in horses, cleaning horses, taking off blankets, putting on different blankets, etc etc. Myself and another groom have recently been given the job of horse  ‘physios’. Between the hours of 2pm and 4pm we each have 7-10 horses to massage and stretch (about 15-20 minutes is spent on each horse). These are the things we focus on in that time:

  1. Mouth exercise- Use on of three points- top gums, tongue or lower gums. They should be fighting and moving their mouths in a variety of directions, follow the movement with your body, do not block if they want to turn one way or another. Alternate the side of the horse you stand on every other day. Grinding teeth is very good! 45 seconds. This helps the horse to stretch out the muscles at the top of their head, neck and in their jaw.
  2. Massage TMJ joint (along the jaw bone and down the cheek starting under ears) 30 secs each side.
  3. Head on shoulder- Place lower jaw of horse on your shoulder and let them drop their weight on to you. Do not pull their head down. Alternate sides every other day. 30 seconds. This stretches out the muscles up their jaw and down their neck.
  4. Cat Claw down neck muscles (1 min each side), and down shoulder muscles (1 min each side). The horse usually tells you how hard to press based on their reaction. Grinding teeth and moving head lower to the ground in a relaxed manner= good. Pinning ears, tensing, and eyeing you up = bad. Each horse has a different preference. This brings circulation to the muscles and removes any toxin build up.
  5. Fetlock stretch- hold foot up like picking out hoof, holding just the toe. Fell where the horse wants to put this and t hen hold 45sec each side allowing gravity to stretch the muscles gently down. Will work first in lower leg, then upper leg, then shoulder, wither, and into back.
  6. Shoulder stretch- gently pull horses leg forward until extended straight, hold the toe of the hoof just off the ground (5-10cm) and let gravity pull the weight down and stretch itself (45sec each side).
  7. Upper Shoulder/Neck Stretch- Gently pull leg back until hoof vertical, then keep hoof 5cm off ground and let gravity stretch travel through the forearm into lower neck.
  8. Wither Stretch- Gently put finger nail into girth area under stomach pushing up until horse raises it’s back through it’s withers, hold 2sec then release. Then go to wither and run fingernails down spine to push muscles back down. Repeat 5x. With this and the next stretch, be aware the horse will think your finger nail on it’s underbelly is a large bug and will try and kick you off. If possible, keep the pressure on until they put all 4 feet on the ground and then release so they learn that kicking doesn’t equal you buggering off.
  9. Back Stretch- Gently push fingernails into middle of bottom of stomach until back noticeably raises. Then move to top of back and run fingernails alongside the spine to push back down gently again. Repeat 5x.
  10. Croup Massage- Cat claw through croup muscles (top of butt). This is a very sensitive muscle on a lot of horses, so adjust pressure accordingly. 1 min each side.
  11. Croup Stretch- Run fingernail down side of croup gently (you’ll know the trigger point when you find it) getting horse to raise it’s pelvis. 5x each side.
  12. Hip Massage- Toughly run fingers in 30cm circle around hip joint. Direction very important, the top of circle should always go towards the tail (with the hair). At the top of the circle, the horse should drop down through hip, at bottom should be lifting hip. Repeat 5x each side.
  13. Hind leg forward stretch- same as front shoulder stretch except using back leg.
  14. Hind leg reverse stretch- Same as upper shoulder/neck stretch for front legs.
  15. Tail Stretch- Pull tail gently straight back from horse for 5 sec, then release quickly and watch ‘shockwave’ travel up horse’s body- note where it stops as that is where there is still a muscle block. Repeat 3x. This is a big evaluation for where problems lie for future sessions.
  16. *For mares only* Ovary Pain Release- ‘punch’ horse from shoulder to hind quarters everywhere to reduce sensitivity, then pat (watch for grinding teeth or a deep breath to show release of tension (actually works- who knew)). Repeat 3x each side. Find the last rib, massage with gentle cat claws down the rib to stifle area. 20sec or until no discomfort. The connection between the last rib and the hip is what causes pain and inflammation. Notice the inflamed band across the upper stifle in horses that are very sensitive- this is often mistaken for a muscle. Often one side will be bigger then the other.
Some horses really love these sessions. Other, more sensitive ones, you have to make sure to adjust for. This is how I got double barrelled in the side the other day. Mares don’t always appreciate that you’re trying to help them. Luckily she only got my leg and hip, and not my head or ribs.
This process takes us till 4pm, when we begin the supper routine. The horses in the yards must be fed, all the horse inside given hay first and then their grain (third serving of grain for the day), their blankets for the night put on, and the windows in their stalls closed. Then the barn is blown out and swept again, the feed room swept after all the feeds are made for the next morning, tack cleaned, tack room swept, cross ties swept again along with wash racks. We’re supposed to be done all this by 4:30. That never happens. Hopefully we’re done by 5, but more often then not it’s 5:30. Especially now since the owners son comes out to ride his two horses under the supervision of Kyle only at 4:30. And God forbid he have to tack up or untack his own horse. So after everybody is in their stall, with their food, tucked in for the night. We head out too. And then come back for night check between 8:30 and 10pm. Then we’re done until the next morning. Finally.
This whole schedule gets upset on weekends during shows of course. I won’t go into detail because I’m much too exhausted to type it all out. Usually two people are left home to do all of the above (there are usually 4-5 of us working), while the other two are at the show. For shows close to home where we switch horses during the day, one person rides in the second truck to switch. This is supposed to run smoothly, go to the show grounds, unload, reload, come home. But the show is always delayed, or the wrong time always given, so usually it ends up being, drive 1-2 hours to show grounds, sit in the horse van waiting for 1-3 hours, unload, reload, drive another 1-2 hours back. That was my day today. Thankfully tomorrow only one load of horses is going, so we avoid that gong show.
Quote

Somewhere

“Somewhere behind the athlete you’ve become.
The coaches who pushed you.
The people who believed in you.
The long hours of schooling.
The dirt beneath your nails.
The falls you’ve taken.
The ribbons you didn’t win.
The tears you’ve cried.
The horses you’ve given your heart to,
Is a little girl who fell in love with a horse
And never looked back.”

Don’t know who wrote this, but it describes the sport very well!

Vernon, BC

We haven’t stopped speaking to each other yet.. 3 days in a van with the same people and CBC full blast could potentially do that to some people.. but.. We made it to Uncle Darryl’s place outside of Vernon today, where we’ll stay for the next few days before heading to the resort in Kelowna for the wedding. The past two days have been pretty uneventful, and full of driving. We spent last night at a B&B outside of Cochrane, which had a gorgeous view and great hospitality. Lyle and I went for a bike ride before supper, which first I convinced myself I shouldn’t do, then I decided I might as well, so off we went. I went 10k in the hills surrounding our area, and I haven’t done any sort of hills for at least 3 years, since the last bike trip I did with good ol Lyle Myers, and even then, those hills were only MB hills. However, I handled this short trek really well, beating Uncle Lyle up most of the hills (he trains for triathlons) and still having energy to spare when I got back. Yay for the lower body strengthening I’ve been doing! I wasn’t even sore today.

After convincing the hosts to make us breakfast an hour and a half earlier then they normally do (Rance time), we were off in the morning by about 8:30. Driving through the mountains was gorgeous as usual, and I had a fantastic nap most of the way from Golden, after lunch, to Craigalachie where we stopped to stretch our legs and look around at the “last spike” site of the railroad. We got some ice cream and I had some fun in the photo op, which you’ll see below..

Over our borsht supper in Vernon we discussed the violence displayed in girls basketball, especially at the rural high school level. Brought back many memories of going flying across the key after taking a charge, stitches, bruises the size of small countries, broken noses, the dirty plays the refs never saw…or pretended not to, playing full games with no break but the few time outs, throwing elbows when the refs weren’t looking, letting your nails grow out before a play off game against Morris, beating Morris by 1 point numerous times, the adrenaline. Man I miss it. Especially the bruises. Nothing better then sitting around in the change room comparing bruises after a game. And all those times our little team from Carman beat out or came very close to higher ranked teams (Elton in 2010, and those AAA teams this year come to mind) with nothing but pure hard work and determination are memories never to be forgotten. Definitely going to have to find a rec team to play on sometime in the future. Team sports are nothing something I’m ready to be done with. It was nice talking about those days past around the dinner table.

Strengthening

As the show season here in MB has come to an end, I’ve been putting lots of energy this week into developing my strength training routine again. Yes I know I’m moving to another country in less then a week.. but I plan on keeping up with this while I’m working overseas.

The first exercise I do is called a reverse lunge. This exercise works your glute (butt), calves, quads, and hips. It’s a very good strength exercise for balance as well. I do this with my back leg elevated (about 1.5-2 ft is good, I usually use a picnic table bench or step). The picture shows a regular lunge. You should go down to approx 90 degrees. But, if this is too hard on your knees go as fas as you can. I do 3 sets of 12 on each side. Start with less reps if you are just starting out with this exercise (maybe 8 for the first couple weeks). 

Next I do side plank leg lifts. Side plank is probably the hardest exercise I have to do. Especially on my weak side. I started out doing the “half version”.

This exercise is excellent for your core (as all plank exercises are). It also strengthens your hips and outer legs, OH and balance. All key in riding. And daily life. The pictures show the half version (with “clam shell lifts”) and the other picture is the full version with leg lifts. I try to do about 3 sets of 10 reps on each side. I am now doing the full version, completing 10 lifts on my good side, and usually 6 on my bad side. I am working on strengthening my bad side by holding the side plank position longer on that side. Once again if you’re just starting out with this exercise, either do the half version for the first while until you feel ready to move up OR just to the full side plank with NO leg lifts. Even without the leg lifts the core will be strengthened! It’s important to work up at a pace where you aren’t going to overdo it.

I now move onto squats. I try to alternate muscle groups. I do a set of each exercise and then start over from the beginning. Squats are a pretty basic exercise. They also simulate the posting movement. When doing squats you want to be sure your knee isn’t going past your toe when you’re at the bottom of the squat. Also, 90 degrees is the general guideline for how far you should squat. Remember to keep your back straight and your stomach tight throughout all these exercises. Oh, and shoulders back! I do 3 sets of 20 squats. If you have access to a balance board or bosu ball, doing squats with the added challenge of balance is EXCELLENT for your core, and it definitely benefits your riding ability.

Next I do basic plank with leg lifts. This strengthens my core, glutes, hips, and the muscles surrounding my SI joint.

If you aren’t able to hold a proper plank position for more that 45 seconds without bursting into tears (it happens. Been there) Then focus on building up that strength first before adding leg lifts in. Same as with side planks. I do 3 sets of 10 reps EACH LEG. Proper plank position (as shown in pictures), your back should be even with your butt and you should be keeping your stomach muscles (core) tight. Be careful you aren’t clenching your butt too much. You want to focus on your core muscles supporting your body weight. DO NOT let your back sag towards the ground. If you need to, start out with half plank, with your knees touching the ground. Same thing though, keep your back straight and tummy tight. Work those core muscles!

Next I do bridge exercises. This is again for my back, hips, and core. Also hamstrings.

Keeping my core tight, as always, I also add in leg holds.

Your hips should stay even through this whole process. This builds stability in your hip muscles. I hold each leg straight for 10 seconds, and then switch. I do 3 sets of this 4 times each leg. The basic form of this is just holding the bridge position (first picture), and then moving your hips slightly up and down about 15-20 times. You want to be sure your back is staying immobile and your hip and glute muscles are doing all the work.

Last but certainly not least in this routine is push ups. FYI, push ups are less about arm strength and more about core strength. Certainly they do benefit your arms, but the are much more beneficial to your back and core muscles! They work all the same muscles as the plank exercises, but include the arms (if you can). Push ups are notoriously dreaded. My suggestion: If you can’t do full push ups, don’t immediately drop down to the half push up (or “girl” push up). Instead, focus on holding the starting position, with the same guidelines as a proper plank. As your core gets stronger, bend your arms to 45 degrees and work on holding the position at the lower angle. Then go to 90. Then work on pushing yourself up again. Once you can to one push up, try doing two. Etc etc. Even if you can only do 3 reps of two push ups, that’s a great starting point. In may this year, I couldn’t do one. Now I can do 3 sets of 15 full push ups. With time and determination, anyone and everyone can do push ups.

I always do atleast 20 minutes of cardio to warm up (running, biking, dancing around my house (only if I’m home alone)). Also, I do these exercises every second day. Or, three to four times a week. On the off days I either do a longer cardio work out, or just have a day off. During the busy riding season I kept up with these exercises, but at a lower intensity because of the numerous weaknesses I have in my hip, shoulder and back. You have to be careful not to overdo it. You should “feel the burn” while you’re exercising, and definitely be fatigued afterwards. Maybe even sore the next day or so. But, if you’re so sore you can’t function you’re pushing it too hard. Also don’t expect to see immediate results with any fitness routine. It takes time and dedication to see results. But it’s definitely worth it!

This is just one of my routines. I have lots of other exercises and stretches that I do as well. These, however, are the ones I’m focusing on right now. I have noticed a huge difference in my riding skill since I started some of these strengthening exercises in the spring.

Click

You know that moment where you feel everything you’ve been working on for so long just click into place? That describes this weekend. Perfectly.

Schooling rounds Thursday night were like a dream. We were there in plenty of time, the rings weren’t busy, and Will jumped around to everything on a nice gallop. We even got striding on all the schooling lines, usually we work on adding to slow Will down, but he was on such a good pace we were able to gallop up the 8/9 stride and the 6 stride with no problems.

I went into my first class Friday, picked up a gallop, and we went around the course like it was the easiest thing in the world. It was our 2’9 Jr. Ami class, we placed third in this round. Then we moved into our Sr. Low division. Same thing. Walked into the ring, picked up the beautiful gallop Will has finally figured out how to do, and had the rounds of our life. Placing fourth in the first round, 2nd in the handy, and first in the under saddle. The first round we would of placed higher except I made a tiny mistake coming into the two-stride (yes there was a two stride, and yes it was fantastic). I got him into a tight spot at the first jump and then in between I had a slight lean to the right. He of course just ran out the side, which my lean didn’t help. But, we went right back to it and he got through it beautifully. We were reserve in the Sr. Low Division, out of about 10 good horses and riders! Willard was a very good pony.

Saturday went just as perfect. Our first class was the 2’9 Jr Ami Handy round, which we won! Then the undersaddle, where we placed 2nd for another Reserve Champion title in that division. Then we went into our Open Low division. Where we had AMAZING rounds, especially the handy. I came out grinning just because it went SO nicely. We placed 4th in each class, the low, handy and the u/s for that division. We were up against some pretty good company, and everyone had great rounds.

It was a perfect way to end off our season. We could’ve competed Sunday in the Hunter Challenge, or the Derby (which had added fences such as a big castle jump and the bank, vern, and grog from the jumper ring), but it was decided that we should end on a good note and not push our luck by trying to do the derby challenge with all it’s new jumps which we’ve never done before. As much as I would’ve loved to try it (we were allowed to school over everything in the morning before the show), I know it was just as worth it to come home and be happy with how well we did and wait for next season to move up. I couldn’t be happier with my horse and everything we’ve accomplished so far.


The Partially Elevated Trot Grid

I found a book!

I got this book a few years ago at RMWF after helping work at the Horse Country Magazine booth. I never really looked at it until today, when I was feeling inspired to do more than just hack around. Flipping through I found a lot of exercises, starting with just poles on the ground, to grid work, to more challenging things such as introducing bank jumps and fixing common problems (running out included). So, I picked an exercise and set off across the yard to set up my jumps and poles and then headed out to get my horse who was loving all the grass outside, but not loving the bugs.

Willard is still the outsider here at home. The other three horses we have keep him atleast 10 feet away from them in the big pasture. They must be jealous of his mad skills. Or just scared of how big he is. Both?

Anyway, back to the point. The exercise I picked for today’s ride was “The Partially Elevated Trot Grid”. A very simple exercise consisting of four trot poles, each one elevated on one side. I started out with just basic trot poles, and actually didn’t get around to the exercise until 40 minutes into the ride as I had to get Will’s focus back on me and not on how high his head to get in the air looking for the other horses. My refocusing strategy today was very blunt. Since all Will wanted to do was prance around like a fool and over collect his neck, I decided that if he wanted to show off his energy I was going to use up some energy. So, we did laps. This gave me a great chance to work on my two point and keeping my upper body back and leg steady as we galloped for a good 15-20 minutes. After a few laps each way, I began asking him to do small collected canter circles on the short ends, and lengthen again on the long sides. Then I did serpentines with flying changes up and down the ring, then did some canter-halt-canter transitions, and then, when Will was finally ready to break to a trot, I did some more lengthen and shortening work around the whole ring. After this extensive refocusing/energy ridding warm up, he was much more compliant to what I wanted to do and much less worried about where his “friends” were.

This is the point where I started working the exercise. The benefits of this exercise are, that by raising the alternate ends of the poles, a definite straight line to ride straight through the centre of the grid is defined. This allows you to concentrate and establish your calmness, balance, and rhythm before moving on to other exercise. It also gives your horse a chance (if they meet the first elevated pole on an off-stride) to figure out how to adjust their step to stop over the poles cleanly.

The first few times I went over the grid, Will banged his way through, slightly surprised at the newly raised poles. But, after a few times through (going away from the gate) he was stepping neatly over each pole. Then I switched directions and started coming home. This changed the scenario a bit. Will was now refocusing on where the other ponies were and not really seeing the grid ahead of him. So, after a few times of him rushing through and not paying attention, I added in tight turns, or stops, or walk transitions, to get him concentrating on mea gain. Horses are sometimes like boys (ages 8-19) who have a gameboy in their hands. You have to do something dramatic to get their attention. Throw a loop into their plans every once in a while.

I used the grid as part of a circle, getting Will to bend around my leg and coming to the centre of the pole off the curve of the circle. This got him listening in no time, and I was able to end with him in a gorgeous frame and calmly chewing the bit and licking his lips. Finally. I got through to him. 

Thirty Six

36 days until I get into a car with my Uncle, grandparents and mom and head off to BC for my cousin’s wedding. I leave Carman on September 5th, and a week after that I fly from Kelowna, BC after celebrating my 19th birthday with my grand-parents, to Vancouver- where I spend 8 hours hanging out at the airport waiting for my 8:30 pm flight to…. AUCKLAND!!!! I fly out of Canada on a Wednesday (Sept. 14), and get to the other side of the world at 6:30am NZ time on Friday morning. It’s getting close! And starting to feel much more realistic!

If all goes as planned, I’ll be picked up at the airport in Auckland and taken to my new home and job for the next 8 or so months at LC Horse Farms (www.lchorsefarm.com).

I have no idea what to expect, and therefore no idea what to buy or pack for my trip. Of course, breeches and a helmet, boots, muck boots (cause I know I’ll be doing lots of that!), running shoes, and all the other necessities. You have no idea how excited I am to pursue my dream in the horse industry and travel while gaining experience in the industry.

I had my second appointment at Legacy yesterday with Dr. Pethrick (chiro) who assessed me again. I swear, I’ve got the assessment routine so down I can assess myself by now. He said that with my shoulder he wants me to do some work activating my lat muscles, which are the big muscles in the back that keep your shoulders down and back, because

when I raise my arms above my head when being assessed my tendency is to scrunch my shoulders up in compensation for not using the lat muscle. He also gave me a couple exercises to improve the stability and movement in my hips. Links to these are at the bottom of the page. The third link is the exercise for “waking up” the lats.

After assessing me he did some active release on my hip and shoulder. It ended not being as painful as I thought, my AT has done worse anyway. Basically it was deep tissue massage, while moving the joint and muscles being worked on. He also did a chiro adjusted my hip. I must say, he is very good at his job. So far, besides my regular AT, he’s one of the only ones I’ve felt confident in and I found it easy to talk to him. I’m not always the most trustworthy with doctors.. I’ve been through a few who don’t listen well. He told me to come back in two weeks, unless everything has been phenomenal and I don’t feel I need to.

One day at a time.

So, as a result of all this good news and pain free week I’ve had, I’ve moved back into my strength training routine and I’ll start back riding full time again on Monday. My AT said she’d help me set up a strength fitness plan, so I’ll go in and see her after competing Thursday. Now we get to see if this painlessness lasts once I start working my body again. The real test will be Heart of the Continent, which starts Thursday and goes through till Sunday. As I recall, the last show wasn’t so great on the pain front and that was only a three day show. But, one day at a time. That’s my motto and I’m sticking to it.

What have we learned from this? Equestrian is definitely a sport and definitely requires cross-training to develop and maintain the muscles necessary to ride properly AND effectively. Anybody who says otherwise is a fool.

(http://www.functionalmovement.com/exercises/chop_from_half_kneeling_with_fmt)

(http://www.functionalmovement.com/exercises/lift_from_half_kneeling_with_fmt)

(http://www.functionalmovement.com/exercises/reach_roll_lift_assisted_with_fmt)

 

Beautiful

Got to Legacy Sports Clinic half an hour early today, the same time the receptionist arrived. So I waited in my car like a dork for another 15 minutes, then got out and managed to set off my own car alarm in the process. Embarrassing moment of the day number 1! I then spent the next hour with Dr. Priestly, who assessed my shoulder, back, hips, neck and knees. He came to the conclusion that all my nerves, joints, and ligaments work and move beautifully, and other then the minor issues I’ve had with my lower back and shoulder, there is nothing wrong with me. He got me in the one of Legacy’s two chiropractors for Active Release treatment this friday, which is basically a combination of acupuncture, chiro stuff, and really deep tissue massage. He said it’s a bit painful, but usually effective. He also said that because all my joints are so flexible, I need to up my strength training a shittonne. Well, he didn’t use those words exactly, but that was his point.

So, I have 39 days left to complete my transformation into superwoman.

I called my AT after my assessment and we discussed what comes next. She agrees with the Active Release, so I’ll be doing that Friday afternoon. And she is going to help me get back into strength training. We plan to start off where we were before things got bad again, and work from there. I’m going to start biking, plus aquafit classes starting tomorrow and then add weight training back into my schedule. We’re moving Willard back home to Carman next week, so things should get easier with him here. It’ll free up a lot of time that I previously spent driving 45 minutes there and back to ride 3-5 times a week. Let’s not mention the gas money.

I’ll need to focus a lot of time strengthening my legs, as the equestrian sport demands a lot from our legs and core muscles. While I already have decently strong legs, there is always room to improve. Especially in my hips. So lots of squats, bridges, lunges, and balance work are in my near future. I’m actually excited to get back into an intense training routine- there’s nothing nicer then seeing improvements in your riding when you’ve been doing extra strength work on the side. Because it really does help. I believe every rider should have an exercise routine outside of just working horses, even if you ride everyday seven days a week, there are some muscles that need more attention then what you do on the horses back, and you’re equitation will thank you for every squat, plank, bridge, sit up, lunge or core work out you do.

Break…?

Worked a half day today, and left at lunch to head downtown for my appointment at the AT centre. My back pain has subsided a little this week, but it’s definitely still there. I still have an appointment with a specialist next week, but I went in to see my AT so that maybe I could function the rest of the week. She reassessed me, and (to my relief..sort of) said that she still doesn’t think it’s anything more then the little joint in my back and hip acting up. Which is what she first said 7 months ago. I agree with her. She also said that she really thinks I need to take a break from riding. Unfortunately I know she is right, and I’ve been in enough pain the past 2 weeks that I’ve been forced to.

This is so discouraging coming off of a show like I had at Beach. I have a lesson scheduled for Thursday night, and a clinic on Saturday this week. I consulted with my AT on this and brought up the point that it’s near impossible for me to take a full break from the sport when I’m working on two horses for sale by the time I move. That’s quite a bit of money and pressure- too much to sit on the sidelines. She understood and suggested that I try my best to minimize the amount of training I do. Ride in my lesson and clinic this week, but don’t go out and hack in between. And the week after, stay away from riding as much as you can but still be prepared for upcoming Heart of the Continent (a gold level MHJA show). I’m really not sure how I’m going to swing the next few weeks. I’m horrible at taking breaks- and obviously that’s why I come up with stress and overtraining issues.

I’m not so much worried about the fitness of myself or my horse being jeopardized as much as our progress sliding backwards again. I’d like to think that it won’t and that I could take enough time off to heal properly- but is that really the way life works? No. The world keeps turning just as fast even if it feels like your world has been stopped in it’s tracks. Yes I’m being slightly overdramatic. I know. It’ll all be fine and everything will work out eventually. I can’t help but stress a little bit over my progress as a rider/trainer and my horse’s progress as a competitive hunter and prospective jumper when I’ve hardly been able to ride since the last show. I guess we’ll see how my lesson goes on Thursday- and the Curry Clinic on Saturday. I’m determined to do both of these to the best of my ability and hoping that pain doesn’t conflict with my riding too much so I can get the most out of both sessions. I take my riding so seriously that I understand that it is very important for me to take the time to rest my back- because nobody can ride properly OR effectively under any amount of pain- it also effects your horse’s movement and comfort more than we know. So I’m just going to take it one day (ride) and a time and hope for the best results. That’s all I can do. Oh, and stretch. And ice..

PS Thank you to Kiirsten (http://prairienerd.wordpress.com)  for the kind words about my blog and what I’m trying to accomplish in the sport. It meant a lot to read her opinion on what I write, and it also re-inspired my determination to get better physically and within the sport. Us amateur’s gotta stick together- this is more of a team sport then most realize.