Monday, January 21, 2013

Episode deepfreeze

Well, we all knew it was coming sooner or later - Manitoba winter! Today officially saw us plunging into the -40's with the windchill for overnight lows and no close end in sight. We are gearing up for Mexico in another week, so riding has been sporatic at best! Kali has ridden her twice since my last post and she was fantastic. Because of the weather, we can't get them sweaty so we decided to play around tonight!



Jynx has been silly about bareback for awhile which is odd for me since I used to spend SO much time riding bareback. I used to trail ride her bareback in winter when she was 3 and she dumped me twice (once accidental spook, second time was deliberate bolt and buck) so that kind of ended that for awhile. Her lead issues started shortly after that so considering we couldn't even ride her in a saddle, bareback took a backburner!



So we've tried bareback occasionally in the last couple years and it never went well - she's squiggly, all over the place, and doesn't do well on a loose rein. She'd pin her ears and crowhop and even if I bumped her up to a trot, as soon as I ask for the canter, she would stop DEAD and just hop around, ears pinned. She always shook my confidence and I would give up immediately!



So tonight was great! This is the second tiome I've really "ridden" her bareback and she seems to be more willing now! My seriously improved seat from Dressage clearly helps, as well as my increased confidence. She still likes to pin her ears and act grouchy at canter but at least she listens! It's a work in progress, but we had a blast today! YAY FOR INSULATED HEATED ARENAS!!

Monday, January 14, 2013

Double whammy

What a fantastic Monday! Although bitterly cold (come for the fun, stay because you're frozen to the damn ground!), the sun was shining so I was in a good mood! I finally had time to ride both my girls today, so figured I'd bring them both in and work on some herdboundness while I was at it! Zierra's partboarder has decided to do some barrel racing with her this summer, so I just want to put some work on her to get her a little more soft and supple so she'll listen a little better! So I grabbed both of them and tacked up:



And then left Zierra standing in the aisle while I rode Jynx. She called and danced a little when we first left but surprisingly calmed right down - I left the arena door open a crack so I could keep an eye on her but other then calling every 10 minutes or so, she basically just want to sleep! On the extreme bright side, Jynx didn't care at all granted with the cracked arena door I think she was a little "reassured" that she had company! She usually works fine solo anyway, she only acts up when a friend comes and goes. As long as they're constantly there or constantly awya, she's fine.

What a productive ride! We went right into the four posting four sitting exercise Kali tried with me yesterday and I FINALLY GOT IT. HALLELUJAH! After a few circles it was like everything clicked and I was finally able to do the exercise without having to check my diagonal constantly or realize suddenly we weren't even going in a circle anymore I was so distracted! I have to say, it's definitely a favorite exercise already! Once I got it figured out, it smooth Jynx out SO amazingly it was awesome! We've always had issues with me transitioning from posting to sitting trot and Jynx's head coming up, getting shorter, tenser, etc. This exercise eliminated all the problems! I was so happy!

We went into some shorten and lengthen trot down the long side and she was great - staying long in the neck, and keeping her head down. We worked on some diagonal lines as well as she tends to be VERY wiggly on the diagonal and speed up, tense up, raise her head, etc. I went into sitting trot and we worked on some lovely leg yields - she's so good at them now I can REALLY concentrate on myself and keeping my hands low, shoulder down, not collapsing. We also did some shoulder in which to the left was just phenomenal - as good as her leg yields now, so fluid and supple without any resistance. Not quite as smooth to the right but still extremely lovely. Travers, as usual, was a little more tricky but no getting stuck today which is a huge plus!

We went into canter and having the arena all to myself, went immediately into some 15m circles after a little shortening and lengthening. She was just BRILLIANT. I'm running out of words to describe how stunning my horse is. We worked on three 15m circles down a long side and it went just great. Not worrying about other riders I was able to really focus on supporting her as she's still quite weak and obviously slows and wants to break stride halfway through. We got through all of them without breaking stride and her staying nice and listening to me! I was so proud!

I walked her out and then took her out to switch ponies - took Zierra into the ring and left Jynx in the aisle to dry off and all went great, no calling! Zierra worked amazing tonight as well after an initial fight over the cattle chute - AGAIN. Once I got her past it, we had a brilliant workout as well! I worked on serpentines with her, and a lot of canter work - she did fantastic on the diagonal line exercise where we canter down the diagonal line, trot at X and then pick up the new lead at C/A. I was really surprised how well she was on my outside leg cue - most of her transitions were quite smooth as opposed to racing into the canter. Maybe she still does remember her training from 7 years ago! I was also immensely proud of her for getting a flying lead change when I asked for it! And both legs! She's famous for only switching in the front or being late in the back. She's not really balanced or supple enough to do flyings, but she has them for the most part on the pattern and that's all that really matters at this point. I wish I had time to take her back to basics and start from scratch but it's just not feasible so I'll do my best to make this all go as smoothly as I can for her! They both worked great today!

Sunday, January 13, 2013

Canter dodgeball

Whew, what a great lesson for what was a rather difficult night! The arena was packed tonight, and although the individual with a lesson booked is supposed to have the right of way, when there are three other riders it's just borderline impossible.

We started out great considering we had a small spat in the aisle way over herdboundness again. She was great tacking up, and then someone came out of the arena and tied up by us. She was fine until I "ground tied" her to go grab my gloves and the other individual left the barn with her horse - Jynx took it upon herself to turn around and follow. I grabbed her reins and asked her to whoa and she stood briefly before heading off again. I reached out again to grab her reins, and she decided to throw her head and shoulder check me. I grabbed my Dressage whip and gave her a good pop across the chest and told her to stand which made her jump pretty hard but she listened to me and stood! I gave her a good pat and told her good girl and thankfully it ended there and she went into the arena calmly - probably helped by someone else already being in the arena so at least she wasn't alone.

Warmup went great, I kept her on a loose rein. Shay-la was playing around roping a dummy cow at one end and she was looking pretty good so we stood and chatted for awhile until she was fine with it. Went into a nice loose rein working trot until she was nice and loosened up. She stayed nice and round when I went into sitting trot, so I bumped her up into canter and she was fantastic - nice, soft, and supple especially considering the long rein I had her on.

Kali arrived and we went right into some posting trot four strides and sitting trot four strides. Wowsa, talk about tricky! Poor Bella, I was so busy counting and trying to pay attention to my own position, I pretty much just let her head go. She was so patient with me being all over the place - timing has never been my strong suit! We finally managed to pull things together (aka. I managed to stop flopping around) and the exercise went well! We went straight into canter and she was fantastic. We worked on shortening and lengthening her strides, which is especially difficult with such a sensitive horse! I don't think I quite match her in sensitivity yet so I tend to over cue - we broke stride a few times before I refined asking her to shorten a little. We went into downwards transitions which went half decent! I still have to really work with managing to keep my hips loose enough and moving with her enough into sitting trot.

It was getting crowded in the arena, so we went into some walking travers which Kali had me turn into the beginnings of walk pirouettes. Jynx was just phenomenal - no getting stuck, no resisting, just soft and supple and willing! Our first few strides were great but kind of tended to fall apart near the end as we came further out of travers and I lost feeling with her a little. She stayed great though - it's SO easy for me to get her stuck doing any sort of lateral work, it was nice to not even approach that point. We did several which were kind of big and sloppy, but for a first time it was pretty damn amazing!

So we went back into posting four strides and sitting four strides in the other direction and then up into canter again and working on shortening and lengthening before moving onto 15m circles. At this point, conditions in the arena just deteriorated to the point where I was having a lot of trouble doing any sort of real circles without breaking stride, dodging or almost running the poor girl into the wall. At this point, another person came into the arena and I just called it quits. Jynx was working far too good to keep punishing her with these circumstances. I couldn't have been more proud with how she handled everything today.

After I walked her out, I took her out and threw a cooler and then brought her back in to a much quieter arena. I hopped on bareback to cool her out but she's had a lot of issues bareback in the past (pretty much hates it, pins her ears and stops when asked to canter, and lately has been just crowhopping on her partboarder instead of even walking), so I decided to work with her a bit. Again, grinning from ear to ear. She was absolutely brilliant - walk, trot and canter in a halter and on a loose "rein". She wasn't overly happy in the beginning but I assume my seat has gotten a LOT better so she smoothed out and handled it like a pro!

No pictures tonight, but I dressed up the Arab Western and decided to play on barrels tonight and she was a champ to. Needless to say, both my horses got a lot of love and treats tonight for being utterly amazing!

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Introducing obstacles!

So tonight was a blast and Jynxy was a doll! I doubt I'll be doing much jumping this year in shows, but her partboarder is and as much of a doll as she is over fences, I want to make sure she's good and safe! Also, after seeing photos from the Pine Ridge show on October - OH BOY. As I'm sure you can tell, I clearly need help:



Thankfully, Jynx is just as forgiving over fences as she is on the flat! I had my very first lesson tonight with Stephanie so I officially have two amazing coaches! Jynx warmed up by giving her partboarder Katrina a lovely lunge lesson - she could be a vaulting horse her gaits and transitions are getting so smooth!

So we chatted a bit and set up a gymnastic to start working on my severe equitation issues - clearly my clenchy shoulders and habit of STANDING instead of two pointing. Jynx was just a amazing - working on trotting into a crossrail first and then cantering out over a pole and then went to two crossrails. She's a little wiggly going to the first fence but is great over the second fence! We worked on remembering to half halt to prepare her for the first fence and again if she tried to rush to the second fence, and worked one ME remembering not to get clenchy when we don't get our striding perfect!

We ended up going from a crossrail to a 2'3" vertical so I could use myself a little more over bigger fences and work on staying in two point and not bumping her on landing which I am notorious for. Jynx was such a CHAMP. Seriously, this pony can be such a packer when she wants to be. I'm pretty sure she still likes Dressage better but she clearly enjoys jumping to and is so calm and steady. Really, I'm nitpicking at the things I'd like fixed before Katrina starts really jumping her. But it's all part of a well rounded education!

Monday, January 7, 2013

Winning

Great ride tonight! After seeing what I could do when I put faith in myself, I decided I would work a little on her herdboundness tonight! Ashley brought her filly Solstice in, an adorable little silver buckskin grade Quarter Horse filly coming two years old. She's a little awkward now but I have it on good authority she'll be the next Jynx! ;) Meet little miss Sol:



They were great in the aisle and then I took Jynx into the arena and of course she got a little tense but I stayed relaxed. I gave her a pat and a kiss on the nose which sounds ridiculous but for some silly reason really settles her probably because I have to be really calm to kiss her nose. I mounted up and she was great. Solstice started calling and she would tense and lift her head for each call but didn't take it further then that!



So I worked her up into trot, she continued to be fantastic. I limbered her up and then we went back to walk to work on shoulder in, travers and leg yield along the wall which she's really got at the walk now but struggles a lot at the trot. After doing so well at the walk, I pushed her up into trot and she again did shoulder in lovely in both directions, travers well but started getting very panicky at leg yield along the wall. She gets about three strides in and dies on me, panics and spins to evade. And then she panics the minute she's going towards a wall in anticipation. So we did lots of circles along the wall so she would stop anticipating and she finally gave me some nice calm strides in each direction so we ended on the wall leg yields on that note!



After that Kat took some videos for me of her leg yielding in both directions at the walk, and some sitting trot/canter and halt transitions! And then the poor girl had to give Kat a lunge lesson after that. She was so pooped! She was so good today though and even when Solstice came in the arena, I had minimal issues! Good Bella!









Sunday, January 6, 2013

Meditation is my friend!

Well, Sunday's are lesson nights and tonight was a lesson and a half! Due to schedule conflict, our lessons have been less then regular lately! I also had the flu over Christmas and was very weak, so I believe Kali rode Jynx for me on a scheduled lesson night as she was quite heavy and was tiring me out.

Our night didn't start overly well as Jynx was brought in alone, but then Dove (her pasture buddy/best friend) was brought in part way through tack up and she started spinning so we got into a little scrap in the aisleway when I insisted she COULDN'T RUN ME OVER. At this point, her herdboundness was kicking in, so I did my best to remind myself to relax. We got into the arena and I could see her blood was going. Once mounted, she set off at the fastest walk known to man, tense and ears going, head up and trying to trot off. I partially gathered my reins to try and keep her to a walk, and probably started forgetting to breath as my anger at her silliness increased. I decided to put her to work so we worked on shoulder in, travers and leg yield along the wall at the walk. Although jumpy and sensitive, she listened quite well and managed not to blow up. I tend to trap her during lateral movements and that's the only time she'll pitch a tantrum and do a little rear and spin to evade.

So I put her into trot, and we RUSHED off. I worked on half halts, worked on softening her to the inside and she would listen briefly but clearly her mind was not in it. Mentally I tell myself to relax, and internally I can FEEL my body tighten in anger. It's my worst habit and blatantly leading cause of my show jitters. I seem to have an inability to mentally block myself from going to that place. I've sabotaged myself in lessons and the show ring before, letting myself believe I am a horrible rider. And my only saving grace is having a coach who nightlights as my therapist as well. That poor woman has dealt with more of my rage, tears, and emotional rollercoastering than any licensed therapist!

Kali arrived ten minutes in, and at that point, my willpower snapped. I coasted my tense and agitated horse to a stop, dropped my reins and immediately launched into a tirade about her ridiculous herdboundness and attitude problem. I told Kali I needed to learn how to meditate. Immediately Jynx stood quiet and relaxed because clearly, her savior was her to rescue her from this awful angry tense human she can't do anything right for! Poor Bella.

For the first time in my life, I managed to close my eyes, focus on my breathing and just LET IT GO. Jynx was standing, head low and hind foot cocked. Clearly she was capable of being calm and the X factor here was me. I opened my eyes and told Kali "ok, we are starting over. The last ten minutes didn't happen. I just got on." We set off on a loose rein warmup walk and magically, Jynx was back to being Jynx. Calm, slow, steady. We walked as I stretched and talked to Kali. Partway through, the door opened up and Dove came through. Immediate head up, whipping around, ears perked. I ignored it. And within three strides, she was back to loose rein walk. I avoided the silly fight over nothing! Dove ended up going back out again, and Jynx worried about it for awhile but I kept calm and steady and so did she.

Progress to real lesson time! Usually in these moments is when I sabotage. I managed to clear my mind for probably the first time in my life EVER and just listen to Kali and not get down on myself. Thankfully, for all the initial issues, Jynx decided to be quite light in my hands today. Between trying to manage my equitation and her softness, I tend to get most discouraged on days when she's SUPER heavy in my hands and exhausts me. I also have an amazing coach who is able to put a gauge on my mindset in every lesson and know what to work on. So we went back to basics today! I just bought Bella a GORGEOUS 18" Amerigo Vega saddles and although luxuriously comfortable, I'm still learning to ride in it after mashing my fat arse into a 16.5" Max Hofner for the last year! Bella is ridden in draw reins right now to help her softness and my steadiness. We did TONS of sitting trot today, and there just isn't any exercise in the world to make you feel more like putty by the end. We worked on serpentine's, and almost exclusively worked on a 20 meter circle at walk, trot, canter and transitions! The nemesis of every rider's core! For how dismal our warmup was, I was AMAZED that I managed to have such a productive lesson tonight!

Jynx did lovely, and we did a lot more work just off the snaffle rein tonight as we gradually start to work towards less draw rein work. Her canter transitions are coming along beautifully, and man does my new saddle ever make me enjoy her lovely canter more! We also worked on trot to halt transitions and halt to trot transitions. Let's just say they're a work in progress! We finished up the evening with some lovely soft leg yields, clearly becoming her favorite movement! Thank goodness it isn't quite freezing tonight because poor Bella was DRENCHED after a solid hour of Kali yelling at us! I was immensely proud of her tonight, and even prouder of myself for managing to come out of that horrible dark place and put in SUCH a productive ride. Usually Kali gets to spend 45 minutes listening to me bitch, whine, moan, complain and cry that "I'M TRYING AND I CAAAAAAAN'T, I SUUUUUCK, I SHOULD QUIT RIIIIIIIDING" anytime Jynx pisses me off! I'm starting to think my coach deserves a raise. ;-)

And since there are no pics from today, I'll share a pic of my perfect new saddle! Jynx LOVES it - never gotten so much happy snorting from her and Kali is thrilled at how much rounder she becomes in it. Saddles are love.

Friday, January 4, 2013

Small beginnings

I figure anyone reading this will likely read the first post so I'll start with the history of me and my Jynxabella. I found her as a gangly, skinny, dirty two year old on a farm in Dufresne, Manitoba. I think I bought her to rescue her as much as I fell in love with her personality. In retrospect, I paid too much for her but none of it matters now. I planned to keep her only as a project to turn into a trail horse as she didn't really seem destined for much more. Jynx the day I bought her in April 2009:



I fell in love with her willing attitude and sweet personality almost immediately. I began training her to saddle that fall and all went great. She progressed steadily over winter without protest or complaint. As of spring 2010, we moved to Birds Hill Park ranch and began exploring the trails. She took to trail riding easily, unspooky and reliable. She was ridden mostly Western and developed lovely slow gaits. She went to her first show at Pine Ridge Equine Park in October 2010 and did fantastic -> we collected several ribbons for flat English classes, Western classes and gaming classes despite her newly learned habit of never taking her left lead. Me and Jynx in October 2010 at the PREP Pumpkin Party:



Through that winter, Jynxy's left lead problems became worse and worse. Due to living conditions, our horses were miserable where they were. They all became neurotic and unusual in habit, though Jynx was the worse. By spring 2011, she could not even be ridden without bucking in place when asked to go any faster then a walk. The vet's official diagnosis was that my horse had lost her marbles. We moved to the wonderful and refreshing barn of Nicole and Leo St. Hilaire in spring 2011 and it was like our prayers had been answered. Within two weeks, our horses were healthy and happy again in their lush and enormous pastures. It was during this time I met the amazingly wonderful and talented Kali Parry and was also diagnosed with scoliosis - suddenly all of Jynxy's problems became clear. I was badly twisted in my hips and shoulders, and I was carrying 21 pounds more pressure in one leg causing me to dig badly into one side of her back and make her so resistant to her left lead. That summer, she began training with Kali Parry. Within a few rides she went from this:



to this:



And then she decided to go do this in June 2011:



Thankfully, no tendon damage was sustained. It only took a few months of stall rest and bandaging to return her back to soundness. In late fall, I began lunging her lightly to get her back into shape for Kali. And as we shifted into the beginning of 2012, my little superstar was looking like a superstar under the careful and patient guidance of Kali Parry:



After a winter of several rides a week, Kali finally felt that Jynx was steady enough in walk, trot and canter that I could begin lessons. Her lead problems were a distant thing of the past. We came into spring both far more balanced and knowledgeable then we had been in the past. Gradually, my twisted hips straightened and although I still struggle with my shoulders, I ride about 95% straighter now then I did previously. We came into 2012 with a whole new set of problems though -> show nerves and herd boundness. We attended several schooling shows in 2012, and each event became depressingly worse then the last. My jitters exacerbated her herdboundness and her herdboundness exacerbated my jitters. By July, our partnership had broken down so badly she finished a rodeo by throwing a tantrum to end all tantrums, and throwing herself violently against our trailer repeatedly until she snapped her halter and tumbled across the field, screaming and shaking the whole way. I was done. Completely and totally done. I never wanted to attend another show as long as I lived, not with Jynx anyway.

By September, I was no more ready to attend the final Dressage Winnipeg show then I was in spring. I handed Jynx off to Kali, having no desire to fight it out yet again with my horse. By a stroke of luck, Jynx was the only horse from our group going to this show. Between having no one to attach herself to, and me being visibly calmer from not having to compete, the weekend was flawless. Jynx was calm and steady, I was calm and steady and Kali kicked butt. They did four Training Level tests at Bronze Level and her scores were all over 65% with one score of 70%. She would have been Reserve Champion in her division if they acknowledge a reserve at Bronze Level! I could not have been prouder of my A team:



We ended the year at PREP Pumpkin Party. I took a deep breath and reminded myself over and over that I was her reactivity, and I needed to stay calm. We stabled her on the other side of the tack stall so she could hear, but not see her stablemates. She called the first few hours and then calmed. We went into warmup that night cool and collected. We schooled the 2'6" jumper course setup without batting an eyelash. Crazy wave jump? Scary rainbow jump? Horrifying chess piece jump? She didn't see a single fence. She hopped over them like she'd been doing this for a decade. I almost burst into tears of pride and joy -> we had finally overcome our show demons. We both remained calm and steady the entire weekend and she showered ribbon after ribbon over our heads. She won her first ever jumper course, 2'0"! We pinned in every class except one. It was a phenomenal experience:



And so here we are! Weekly Dressage lessons with Kali over the last several months have me and Jynx almost ready to compete at First Level and schooling most Second Level movements. Our rides are productive and energizing. As her training increases, so does her sensitivity and her resemblance to a mini Warmblood!

And so here we stand, poised on the beginning of 2013, excited for an adventurous show year after four years of obstacles and perfecting our partnership! Though we still both enjoy the occasional trail ride from time to time!