Shot taken by Christine Budzak at Beach Party 2011. Love this picture, definitely one of my favourites of Mr. Willard.

Well. It sort of got better. Saturday we competed in Sr. Low Handy, Open Low, and Adult Ami classes. My first round of these three was a gong show. We added in everything and had a rail I believe. My second round started out gorgeous. Coming to the second jump, and oxer with natural rails, a brick box, and pink flowers with the perfect pace and distance to take off, my dear boy decides to run out the side instead. We went back the second time and he jumped it nicely and went on to complete the course. Okay, well that sucked. But we moved onto our next round. Similar course, coming to this oxer. He does the same thing. He wasn’t spooking. Just casually changing direction. It wasn’t something I could feel or predict. He really did have the perfect distance to the jump. And every time, he went back very perfectly the second time and did the rest of the course with no issue. FRUSTRATING. We placed 4th out of 5 in our Adult Ami/ Non pro that day, and third in the flat portion. He was very good in the flat, probably the best flat class I’ve had all season. He was trying to make amends I think.

Hanging out at Heart!

Sunday. Medal day. Our first class was the Open Age Medal. Once again a repeat of yesterday’s shenanigans. Second jump, and oxer out of line, runs out the side. Out of nowhere. Goes back, does it perfectly the second time around and finishes the course like a champ. A douchey champ. Next class, Adult Ami/Non-Pro Medal. Starts out gorgeous, does a beautiful roll-back from three to four but runs out the side of four. Goes back perfect and does the last half of the course better then anything he’s done this year. Go figure. Even Charlene had no ideas as to why he was doing this over and over again. I can’t feel it coming, therefore I can’t predict when to correct him.  Charlene is just as confused as I am.

As you’ll see in the video, he literally just changes direction in a split second. He comes right up to the jump, and like a stride out from a great distance he just shifts over. Wtf.

It all started with Chicken McNuggets and a very lucky conversation almost 13 years ago.

That’s right, McDonalds is partially responsible for getting me into this sport. The summer when I was 6, on the way home from dance class I believe, we stopped at McDonalds for lunch. While I was munching away on my nuggets, my mom started a conversation with a lady sitting near us. Long story short, because I don’t want to write an essay, she name dropped Sheryl Feller and Bluebear after my mom mentioned that I loved horses. Numbers were exchanged and we both went on our separate ways. Later on that summer, my mom phone Sheryl and a day was set up for us to come out and meet some horses. Another long story short, I was introduced to Bluebear Farms, and Otis. My mom and I started out just trail riding every once in a while, then it was decided I needed some lessons as I was very confident but had zero skill. Dangerous combo. Jaimie Feller was my first teacher, on Otis of course, in a western saddle. I remember always trying to run him over. Oh, and when he asked me to drop my stirrups? I only dropped the side he could see. Or I would drop them both but grab the horn. When he asked me to let go of the horn? I took my stirrups back. I was such a good student.

Oh, and Jaimie, do you remember that time on a trail ride when you bet me a dollar to jump the caution tape in between two trees? Did I ever get that dollar?
I continued with western for a while, and then got interested in english after I saw another student jumping. Sheryl started me with that, and the first time I wanted to canter, of course I fell off. This was my first of MANY falls, and I remember Jaimie saying to me “It takes at least 7 falls to be a good rider, you’ve got one down”. I’ve stopped counting, but I think I’ve surpassed “good”.

After that I went back to the safety of a saddle with a horn. By this point my mom and I had moved to Carman and bought a small acreage with a barn and pasture. Otis was purchased from Bluebear, and my beloved boy was moved to a new home. We continued taking lessons through 4H, which Sheryl came up and taught and I also went there and rode other horses. After a few years in 4H I was ready to try english again, in a big way. I started taking lessons on Buster, and I never looked back.

This must have been when I was about 10.

I rode Buster in lessons, and then moved onto others such as Scottie (who has taught many a rider what leg means), Ronnie, Kazoo, Maddie the pony, Hunter, Kodak (once, and she jumped me off), and then finally my own horses. Monty was the first one I jumped.. successfully anyway. I tried with my mom’s stubborn QH gelding, Washington. From Monty we went to Flash, and from Flash we took a giant leap to Willard. Fast forward and I now am not only taking lessons at Bluebear, but I’m a boarder there as well. Will spent a year at home, where we learned about his fear of cattle, and then we moved him into Bluebear, where he stayed for 4 years until we moved him back home tonight.

So, Bluebear, and all the people involved, thank you for the past 13 years and starting my career in this sport.  I’ve learned many lessons. Including, but not limited to:

• Not all horses can or like to jump, but trying to make them do this task makes you a better rider.
• It takes time and patience to make braids look decent. In my case, many years of patience.
• Learning how to fall correctly is an necessity.
• Fly spray fly spray fly spray.
• Rubber boots don’t pass for english boots.
• When you hit the dirt, you dust yourself off and get back on.
• Horses are relatively uncomplicated, people are a different story.
• Eliminate your tracks (shaving prints down the alleyway).
• Know which lights are the arena lights, before you turn them off.
• Always latch gates.
• You can learn something from every coach.
• Horses keep us humble.
• Wear gloves. Especially when it’s -30.

Today was better.

My body was functioning properly, which made riding so much easier, and fun. I could actually follow my horse’s movement with my body, instead of just sitting there and steering, like I was doing yesterday due to soreness. I didn’t actually start riding today until about 2, due to delays in the ring. My three classes today were Open Low, Sr. Low Handy, and Adult Ami/Non Pro. All 3fts! And let me tell you, the courses at Heart are actually the right height, 3ft looks gigantic to me! I guess it’s usually slightly smaller at other shows.

My first round was going VERY well. The first three jumps were gorgeous, we were on pace and jumping great! Then coming down a 5 stride after the first fence, Willard caught eye of something outside the ring and ran out of the exit oxer. It’s too bad, cause we were at the perfect distance and he was set up perfectly! Almost every horse today had issues with that line, it was spookier then it was yesterday I guess. He went back to it and jumped out nicely the second time.

Our next round, Sr. Low Handy, was not awful. It was definitely an improvement of  yesterday. Our pace and trust is starting to come back, inch by inch. I couldn’t get him back as quick as I would of liked coming to the trot fence, so we weren’t set up in a nice curve to get to the next fence. I’m not going to complain though, it could have been a lot worse.

Adult Ami/Non-Pro wasn’t as hot as Sr. Low. Will got a bit strong and mouthy after the first part of the course, and started dragging me to the base of jumps. We placed fourth out of five in this class. There is some tough competition at this show. And some gorgeous horses. Can’t wait to see what the next two days bring!

Videos coming soon!

Today was an off day for both horse and rider. Last night’s schooling was mediocre, but I was having a hard time focusing and Willard had too much energy. But whatever, we moved on. This morning I got to the show early to hack out some excess energy. Then we did the usual waiting routine, and begun our day with 2’9 schooling rounds. This is the only 2’9 class we’re doing this weekend! It went all right, there were parts of it that were very nice, like the far outside 6-stride, which we could get right for the life of us last night. Other parts, the the white 5 stride weren’t as nice. But, it was a schooling round after all. So no hard feelings.

My second class of the day was my Sr. Low Hunter.

This round was slightly messier than the first round. By this point in the day, my hip was even stiffer then it started out and my shoulder was being a bad word too. As anybody who rides knows, the hip is a vital joint in our sport. So when that seizes up, you’re pretty much screwed. I was riding very stiff today, and I think that’s why it was hard for us to find our pace on course. It’s frustrating, especially coming off such a great show at Beach. It almost makes me regret taking the past 2 weeks off to rest. Was it worth it? Even when the issues come back as soon as I start competing again? I mean, I didn’t completely take them off, but I did only ride twice in those two weeks. Even more frustrating? The two times I did ride, my body felt fine. Of course, once we get to Heart everything falls apart again when I really need it most.

After my classes today I went straight to an appt with my AT, where I was supposed to start my strength training routine again, but because all my numerous issues have returned, we were unable to do anything besides treatment. My quad, hip, lower back, shoulder, and glute were all worked on. Most of which are actually feeling a little better, except for the shoulder.

But you know what? Tomorrow is a new day. A new show day. We’re going to forget about the pace and distance issues we had today, and start anew in the morning. One day at a time.

http://horsejunkiesunited.com/category/rider-fitness-2/

The only thing I would do differently on this is take out the running and replace it with biking. Running is exceptionally hard on your body, and not in a good way. Biking also imitates riding and requires you to use balance the same way you would when you’re holding a two point or half-seat. You can get the same cardio benefit from biking. 1 mile of running is equal to 5 miles of biking.

 Got back into biking and strength stuff tonight, and this was my view! This was about 6 miles into my 8 mile ride on gravel roads. Here are some other shots I took while biking!

Last night I had two lessons with Charlene, one on my boy and one on Cash.  It’s amazing to me how much Will transforms and relaxes in that arena. Every time I have a lesson there he moves so nicely and he’s completely with me on everything. The atmosphere there is so great.

We didn’t really do anything in our lesson out of the normal. Started out working on three single jumps, which we handled nicely all around. Charlene commented on how much I’ve improved with supporting Willard all the way through jumps and not finding distances with my shoulders, but with my leg. Also how I’ve gotten much better at finding pace, not speed. Then we added a 4 stride line to our little course, and even the first time down to it we got the correct distance. Yay! We’re finally doing good!

After Willard, I hopped onto Cash. Her quiet demeanour was shown as she hardly even glanced at the new surroundings or the other horses in the arena. We walked trotted and cantered around a ring full of jumps (one 4’2″ fence set up in the middle of the ring which even Will looked at warily) with no issues, nice frame, and very very calm. Charlene kept saying ” oh she’s CUTE!”. We started with some poles on the ground for miss Cash to trot through. She’s never been worked over poles, but after a few circles through them she got the hang of picking her feet up quite well. It’s important to always start horses that have no jumping experience off with just basic poles. It teaches them to lift up their feet and gives them a sense of where their feet are.

Next Charlene set up a small X, which got progressively bigger. We discovered that Cash isn’t what you call a natural jumper, she isn’t “impressed” by little jumps. The first bit she literally just trotted over, like there was nothing under her. Charlene then made the X bigger and added a 9foot rail in front of the x, this encouraged her a little. But it wasn’t until we added a ground rail on the opposite side of the fence that she actually jumped over the jump. By adding that pole under the x on the far side, it caught her eye a little bit and by this time she had figured out how to lift her legs up in a jumping motion. Everything is about patience with young/inexperienced horses. If you don’t have patience, you shouldn’t be in the business of training horses. Some horses are quicker then others, and some are very stubborn. It’s all about reading what kind of horse you’re on and catering to how they are going to learn best. Each horse has a different learning style, just like we do. In the same way, each horse has something different to teach you. Riding different horses, especially when you’re learning to ride, is a valuable skill to develop. The best riders can get on any horse and go right into the show ring and compete successfully. Have confidence in your ability and your decisions, and the horse will have confidence in you.

That’s all I’ve got for today, specialist appt tomorrow. Wish me luck!

Rode in an Andrew Curry clinic today, after working from 6am-11am spraying 4000 rows of wheat. The clinic was pretty good, I was very stiff in the saddle because my back is not great today-but I’m pretty sure the only one who noticed that was me and probably Willard. We started off our session with a warm up of lots of transition work, which we nailed. I’ve been working with Will on transitions a bunch since the last clinic (6 weeks ago), and it’s really been paying off. Transition work is second to none when training a hunter/jumper or really any horse. Then we started jumping work.

The first exercise was a three fence gymnastic- one stride between each jump. Andrew’s only critique on this for me was to make sure I slow my body and don’t out jump the horse- I tend to duck sometimes going over fences, especially lower ones. It’s important to stay tall with your back and shoulders and close your hip angle with the horse over the fence, not throw your shoulders towards him in the air. The next addition was a vertical off the diagonal after the grid. Then a 4 stride line (trotting in) was added, later it became a 3 stride with a large oxer out, then around the corner transitioning to a trot and catching a skinny box out of the corner bending line (6 strides) to a vertical home.

Will and I handled everything in the clinic very very well today. I found everything so easy and kept wondering when Andrew was going to throw in another twist-but every time he did we handled it with ease. I guess all the work I’ve been doing with Charlene and on my own is really starting to pay off. Andrew himself said after the clinic that it’s clear that I’ve been working hard with Will and all the transition exercises he gave me are  really paying off. He also said that I’m much more supportive in the saddle, and that’s why today’s work seemed so simple. Good, bad, or ugly I am still there supporting the horse with confidence and a steady hand/leg combination- this makes the horse much more sure of his job and his ability to jump out of deep distances and also find the perfect distances is that much more improved.

After getting off today my body promptly re-reminded me that I’m supposed to be resting and healing.. I could hardly walk. As I write I’m icing and stretching. My shoulder is also very unhappy, which is another sign that I need to slow down. I have a lesson scheduled with Charlene on monday night, as my Thursday night lesson was cancelled due to a missing shoe on my horse. My plan for next week is to ride in my lesson and then see how I feel. If I feel like I do right now, then Monday is it for next week. I can’t push myself so hard if I want to be able to function in NZ.. I also have that appointment with the specialist at Legacy on Wednesday morning, and I’m wondering what he is going to say. Keep your fingers crossed for good news and a simple recovery!