Quote from the Test of Choice judge last night: "It's hard to get that nice round outline when your horse is having none of it."

Yep. That's about the size of it. We were both really hot, stiff, and not really feelin' it. We had some nice moments though -- my circles were accurate, even the half-10m circle, and my center lines were straight, and the halts were obedient. So it's not our worst set of tests, but it sure wasn't our best.

We'll have a better day today, and tomorrow, and Saturday, and SUNDAY. :)

Second derby, coming up

Seems like both forever and just yesterday that I put Rev away after our first 2011 derby. The riding has carried on since, and jumping lessons last weekend were pretty good. Better on Sunday than Saturday, for sure and as always, and I'm reminded that if I want pictures of anything, they should be from Sunday.

Poor Rev. She's in heat, and we have a stallion on property. Of course, she and the stallion never meet, but she knows he's there. It scrambles her little mare brains until we're fully warmed up and under saddle. I'm just glad it's not her full first spring heat -- that would be utter misery. For both of us.

Tonight is a test of choice night at the barn, and I actually get to ride!! I'm excited and slightly nervous at the same time; I really want Rev to do well, and I want to do well, but it's hard to tell how things will go. We're riding USEF Beginner Novice tests A and B. Outside rein steady. Work the right lead canter. Stay calm, no matter what.

And then this weekend is the Rafter K derby in Sun Valley. Yay! I get to clinic with Allison Springer, which will be really fun. I hope we get to jump the jumps that'll be on the course. I'll ask to. It's funny -- for the first time, I don't have to ride first thing in the morning, and I wish I rode EARLIER! I ride dressage at 11:30, and then I jump at 12:30. No real problem there, except that I will have to swap saddles in a hurry, immediately after dressage. I might be able to get some help, but if not, no big deal. So: swap saddles, swap shirts, slap on my vest and my blue helmet cover, slap boots on Rev, and get drinks of water for both of us, then off to jump a few jumps before getting out on course. The good thing about this is that she'll be good and tired. The bad thing about this is that I'll be good and tired! I know I have the strength and stamina to get around the course, though. And I will be applying all the lessons I've learned from the last derby -- primarily, sit down and LEG ON. Never stop riding, never assume anything. Leg tight. LEG TIGHT.

Must prepare and pack some food -- I won't need too much, because there's a party Saturday night and concessions on Sunday, but as I found out, counting on that is a Bad Idea(tm).

And then, next weekend? Another derby! My goals for these are to get around the courses clean and to keep my dressage scores in the low 30s. :) I'll take middle 30s, but not more! Just to pin, that's enough. But primarily, get around the jump courses clean and topside. :)

First derby of the year

So we did the first event derby of the year on Sunday. And I am SO pleased to say it went really, REALLY well. We moved up to Intro to Beginner Novice for the first time.

Our jump clinic on Friday went great. We schooled everything we were going to jump in the derby, and I was really surprised -- the jumps were just logs on the ground, whereas we'd been schooling much higher. But this is the first derby of the year, so it was pitched pretty low. My friend's daughter took a really spectacular fall from a really rotten pony, but everyone came out okay. (The pony almost didn't ...)

Saturday was dressage practice on my own. At MT's recommendation, I longed Rev in side reins before I got on -- not to work the squirrellies out, but to get her stretching through her neck without as much of a fight as we had on Thursday. And I chatted with TW, a superb resource in her own right, about some of the issues we've been having. Her advice was to keep the outside rein steady-steady-steady, so Rev can find it and trust it. She suggested some exercises to get me familiar with the kind of steadiness and contact I need to have, too. So I lunged, and then I worked on taking TW'sadvice. And I'll be damned if it didn't work beautifully!! Rev was steady, rhythmic, and in my hand. We didn't have the outline MT can get, but it was a dang sight better than we'd been doing. So I was really delighted with our practice.

The rest of Saturday I spent in the shade, watching the visiting instructor teach while I cleaned my tack. Unfortunately, I watched my friend get pitched from her mare and break her arm. Poor girl!! Got all my stuff together and was ready to go by bedtime Saturday.

So our dressage on Sunday ... moment of truth! We had a good warmup, overall -- she was relaxed and in my hand as I got the outside rein connected. Our right lead canter wasn't really coming together, but I hadn't managed my time well enough and didn't have time to really address it. We circled the arena, NOT spooking at the signs, woo!, bell rings, and in we go. I could tell from the entry we were going to have a good test. Our first center line was straight and accurate, and our first short diagonal (USEF Beginner Novice A is a weird test) was nice and neat, and our corner was good. First trot circle was nice; good geometry and size ... and then a BEAUTIFUL left lead canter depart! Woot! Another good circle, through the corner after A ... and she broke gait! ACK! So I got it right the heck back and did a trot transition where we were supposed to, but my brain was all rattled. So our walk transition, medium walk, and free walk weren't wonderful, but ... I know what happened there. Right trot circle went well, then our right lead canter depart and circle were, as I expected, rocky. Bleh. Not bad, but rocky. She was resistant in the circle, and she kind of clattered into the trot. And then time for our last center line and halt. I sat UP, squared my seatbones, legs, and rein contact, made that last 10m half circle to go up center line -- she was so balanced! And I squeezed and sat up, and she halted quickly, squarely, politely, and on the bit.

That last center line and halt? Earned us a NINE. NINE!! The left lead canter depart earned an 8! And our entry and diagonal a 7! I was SO pleased with Rev; she did everything I asked her to, good and bad. Everything that went wrong was pilot error, not horse disobedience. GOOD GIRL!!!

We ended up with a 39.5, which was enough to put us in a tie for fourth (fifth when collectives were considered), and the first five scores were within a point of each other. Yay us!

Jumping went so well as to almost not merit discussion -- almost an anticlimax. We did have one bobble, though, which was entirely my fault. At the second to last fence (!!), I didn't have my leg on strong enough, and I was too forward, so she looked at the brush and ran out right. Alas. Pilot error completely. So we came around and re-presented, and I had my leg on TIGHT and was sitting UP, and she jumped the second time. Yep, I knew what I'd done wrong, and I fixed it that second time. Good girl!!

So in the end, we earned us a pretty pink ribbon!! For our first time out at this level, I think it was a pretty dang awesome day for us. We'll do even better next time!

And there might actually be pictures soon. A friend's dad kindly took some of me, and he'll send the ones he got as soon as he can.

Briefly

I haven't been riding, since Rev's in full training until Sunday and MT would prefer I not ride her without him teaching.

But I have been reading a LOT about horses and eventing, and I've been exercising and dieting. (Successfully so far, yay!) :)

One thing I've been reading is the Golightly Sport Horses blog about Phillip Dutton's event camp, and I have to say that going to that camp is becoming a long-term goal of mine. :D Not long-term because we're not ready, but long-term so that I can a) get a trailer b) save up enough money to travel to PA c) save up enough money to pay for camp!!

I'm also stressing a little over the fact that the event derby at home is coming up in 10 days or so, and I'm not in the least confident in my dressage. Eeeek! So I'll be riding every day next week, and I'll try to sneak in an extra lesson, if MT's available, to work specifically on dressage. I'm not too worried about the jumping, because Rev's good and we'll have a clinic Friday night, but the dressage does freak me out a little. Breathe ... breathe ... breathe. :)

I'm looking forward to the derby, though, too. And to the July derby in Bellevue. I'm especially looking forward to doing a clinic with Allison Springer! I've never ridden with her before, and I think it'll be a great experience. Yay!

XC lessons!

We had a cross-country lesson at the barn this last weekend, and I got to ride both days. My best friend came to take some pictures on Saturday, and he got us going over the roll-top for the very first time, among other photos.

A lot of these photos of me aren't very flattering at all, but hey -- it is what it is, right? And some of them have Rev looking very green, but again, she IS green. :)

Without further ado:

This was a little warm-up canter exercise -- canter this pole, then sharp turn (right, in this case) to canter a second pole. The trick was to get straight on both poles, centered on both poles, and get the number of strides MT asked for. In this case, we're about to get the five strides he asked for.



Then we moved into the field to jump some cross-rails and some real xc jumps. We need work on jumping downhill:



Uphill, she jumps fine, even though this is just about too small to bother with:



When we went to jump the double log jump backwards, Rev tried to duck out left -- I held her in pretty well, and she ended up jumping the left corner of the fence and veering off left ... but I stayed on:





She jumped it every time afterward, especially when my position is screaming JUMP IT DAMMIT like it is here (except for losing the contact in front of the fence; now I know what I need to be aware of!):



And then we moved on to the rolltop! This is the first time we'd jumped it, and I was starting to really fatigue at that point, so I didn't get her set up as well as I could. So she got awfully close, and she hung her knees -- I swear it looked better the next several times and on Sunday! Here's her being strong like ox (just LOOK at those strong quarters and hind legs!!), but hanging her knees:





Lots of fun, and we did a lot better on Sunday, even though there aren't any pictures. We jumped the rolltop like it was nothing, and we jumped a new-to-us and bigger-for-us log jump, too. :) Rev's a good little jumper!

Good stuff!

So -- some really cool developments in the past week or so. :)

Rev and I started jumping grids and bounces, for one. Lots and lots of fun! When I ride into the grid correctly, with my leg on and Rev moving forward and having made a decent turn, Rev just jumps rhythmically and enthusiastically. She's SO fun to ride over fences with some height!! I love her jump. It's balanced and feels just completely capable. I had some rough rides in the bounce at first, getting in front of her, quitting riding three steps before the fence, et cetera. However, there was one ride when I suddenly felt my hips bend correctly. I was with her motion, and it made up for a lot. Ah-HA!

On Wednesday evening, we had another lesson, this time over a one-stride grid. We moved from one cross-rail and one vertical at about 2'3 (more on this in a sec) on Saturday and Sunday to one cross-rail and three verticals at about 2'3 on Wednesday. Wheeeee! That was really, really fun. I think something clicked in my brain, muscle memory or something, about how to ride over jumps. Whatever the source, I'm glad of it, and I'm going to try not to jinx it. :) I even got several "Good job!"s from MT. And those aren't handed out with that kind of enthusiasm (and even a little surprise, haha) often, so I'm super-pleased. Again, trying to not-jinx it.

And the other cool thing is the jumping up to 2'3! Heh. We'd only been doing cross-rails and little logs out in the field up until last Saturday. :D It is SO much easier to jump over something a little bigger, for sure. And fun to get some air time, even just a teeny bit. And like I said, I love Rev's jump!! Can't wait for tomorrow ...

Tomorrow is the monthly cross-country clinic at the barn! I am excited to see what Gary asks us to do. Maybe jump a few bigger jumps? We'll see. Even if we don't jump any bigger, I won't be upset, because we need whatever practice we can get.

We especially need the practice outside, and especially given that I've been a little tentative when it comes to riding Rev through her spooky or squirrely moments lately. I've asked MT to hop on her almost every time I've gone to ride lately, and I feel pretty wimpy for doing that. I can't decide if I should be easier on myself (tell myself that it's okay, that I don't want to get hurt again or hurt my shoulder worse, that MT is okay with getting on Rev for me) or if I should be much tougher on myself (tell myself that I need to learn to deal with this crap and not rely on MT so much, learn to cope myself -- basically, "toughen up, cupcake"). I'm not at all sure. We'll see how Rev goes tomorrow morning.

I think we're going to give Golden Spike a miss this year, because of the EHV-1 outbreak having started there. MT and TW aren't confident in the venue yet, so we'll skip it. No problem there -- it's way too much of a risk to take for us if the disease is still going around. Too much for me, with only one horse that I can't afford to replace, and too much for MT/TW/TD, with a whole barn full of horses that they can't replace. We'll see if there's an event in Montana or something that Rev can go to with MT later in the year.

Oh. And. I am really beginning to understand how fit I need to be in order to complete a full event successfully. As a corollary, I'm realizing how fit I'm not. So I'm more committed to my workout schedule than I had been. It's working really well so far, but I need to keep at it. Lots. Gym tonight, for a workout on the elliptical and the weight machines. *nodnod*

Memo to self re: jumping.

Dear Self,

Grab mane and kick on. You can do it, your horse can do it, so brave up and DO IT.

That is all.

Love,
Me.

PS: Good job on just DOING IT on Saturday.

Ooof. I think it might not have been the world's best idea to go ride last night, given that I knew Rev would be squirrelly and that I've got a sinus infection.

At the same time, though, it needed to be done. I hadn't ridden in quite a while, and we have a Derby coming up next weekend, and a dressage test or two to ride next Wednesday. So -- MUST ride. Reveille is, blast her, going back into heat. Seems like the first month or two of spring is one long heat cycle for her. :/ She's usually pretty good under saddle when she's in heat, but last night was an exception. See: not ridden in a while. Like, almost a week. So she was jumpy and spooky and wanted to scream for her friends. I was able to keep her focused for about 20 minutes and even get some good work from her, but then I started to feel like the Danger Spring was getting wound tighter and tighter.

Don't mess with the Danger Spring. Especially when you're already injured and ill. ;)

So I got off, grabbed the side reins and the longe line, and set her to work. Lots and lots of work. Lots of transitions. I wanted her to transition smoothly, and as a great side benefit it gets her brain focused better. Even though longing sometimes invites her brainlessness, I really felt like she needed a VERY wet saddle blanket last night, and I didn't think I was safe doing it from the saddle. If MT had been there, I think I could have worked through it, but ... not while I was alone.

So yes. Today I am very tired through the shoulders. And sore sore sore in the right shoulder. But glad THAT's over. Tonight will be a different story, I hope. I hope she's damn tired. ;)

Money for full training acquired. And I found out that my saddle sold at the tack shop, so that's good too. I must NOT spend all the money from the saddle at the tack shop!! Heh. I might get another pair of breeches, and if there's a dressage coat in my size ... or maybe I'll splurge and get Rev a dressage bridle. Or maybe I'll be a mothereffing adult and put the money right into savings. *grin*

We'll see.

Bullets!

So. Bunch of things to catch up on, so I'll bullet them!

* The weekend of 4/30, I joined a cross-country clinic at our home barn, taught by MT. I was a little concerned at first, since it was our second jumping lesson of the year -- we'd had a jumping lesson that Thursday, but nothing else since December. So at first I was pretty nervous. Not so much that I'd do poorly, but that Rev would be spooky and squirrely out in the field. As it turned out, she was a little looky at first, and I was holding her in fairly tightly -- not really ideal for jumping, because we couldn't get much of an active trot! But once I relaxed some, we had much better jumps. Rev was a star. :) I shouldn't have worried so much. Sunday went better than Saturday, predictably, and I had a great time. :) I also love getting to ride with my friend Tara -- we're similar in a lot of ways, and we have such a good time talking and laughing and riding. I'm feeling a lot more confident about jumping in general, and more confident in my riding skill and Rev's steadiness. As TW put it, I have more motivation to stay on, and Rev has much less motivation to dump me. :) She commented that we've worked through the hardest part and are on to the more fun stuff now. Whee!

* Didn't have the world's greatest rides last week at all. I'm still working on getting consistent soft contact and getting Rev into a good outline. MT can do it fairly easily, of course, but it takes a lot more work for me. The best I do tends to be after we've been working for 20-30 minutes, and it always starts in the walk. I need to be able to keep good contact through transitions and in all gaits. I can do it fairly easily in the walk and canter, but it's harder in the trot, and hardest in transitions up. Of course, it's easiest to keep good contact when my balance is perfect: seatbones even, stirrups even, not gripping Rev's sides with my legs. And of course, this is the hardest thing for me to do. Looks like more practice is in order! And probably a rekindling of my relationship with my chiropractor, as my SI joint is giving me trouble again. ;)

* I need to figure out what MT means when he says to not use such clumsy leg aids. I sort of understand, but only sort of. *puzzle* I'm sure it'll help my transitions and my contact, but ... I need to figure out how to do it. Funny; one of MT's stories he tells is about the time he was in a clinic with a big-name trainer that he never names. Apparently the BNT told MT that he'd be a good rider if he ever figured out how to use his leg right. :) I suspect that's true for me too.

* I scribed for a big dressage show here this weekend. I always have a great time scribing -- I learn so much, and I love getting to see some really great dressage. :) This weekend I had two great judges who were not only knowledgeable and gracious, but also really fun and pleasant to work with. Both Judge Lowey and Judge Glass made a point of letting me watch some of the tests, even nudging me while writing and telling me to "look up! watch this!" when something was particularly good or illustrating a point they were making in just about everyone's tests.

Some of the things I took away from this show were about lengthened stride in canter and trot: think LONGER, not faster, and make the transitions between lengthened or medium stride and working stride very clear. Also, rein backs should have the horse's legs moving diagonally; one judge awarded a 9 for one person's RB. The stretching, of course, in both free walk and in the stretchy circles at the trot, is really important -- stretch, stride, and energy. The fastest way to tank a score is for your horse to break stride -- it's an automatic one point reduction, and if your horse is breaking, you're probably having problems to begin with, so it comes out to something like a 4. Yikes! Let's see ... what else ... don't cut corners. Balance and bend are critical. One thing I'd like to know is how to develop that good balance in a horse. I think Rev is pretty well balanced -- I think? Maybe? Shows my total ignorance about it. :) Must talk to TW about it one of these days. She's better at explanations, sometimes, than MT.

* Golden Spike entries are open. I'll get Rev's entry in around the 15th. Squee! Exciting! I'm very reluctantly holding off on trying to Make A Plan with MT and TW for getting there, where I'll stay (hotel?), and what I need to be prepared for when we get there. :) I don't want to over-plan, but ... this is an unfamiliar event! Must be prepared!! ;)

* I'll be actually RIDING in a Test of Choice night this month, instead of only scribing. :) I'll scribe as soon as I'm done, but it'll be good to ride. I definitely need to get my act together, because the first Event Derby is coming up in two weeks. Heh. Nothing like using already-developed knowledge and a prayer ... Nah, we'll be fine. :) I just need to ride a lot over the next couple of weeks to feel fully confident.

And that's all I have to say about that. For now. :)


* Ah ha -- I knew I'd have one more thing. :) I am having to resign myself to the reality that the coat I bought last year never did fit quite right. :/ It was okay, and I can get away with it, but honestly? I could use a size up. After watching some of the riders at the IDF this weekend and their too-small coats, I think I'd rather not be in those ranks. Seriously, far better to dress the size I am than the size I plan to be soon. So I'm in the market for a bigger, preferably dressage frock, coat. And some new breeches -- I'm enamored of the Kerrits Sit Tight Supreme Full Seats and the Kerrits Channel Rib Full Seats. Only full seat britches for this girl. :)

Looks like ...

... my ride days this week are Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Bleh; I'd have liked to ride last night, but work and life conspired, as they do. Fortunately, I have no other such conspiracies brewing this week! I might even get to ride tomorrow, but only if I get to work really early. It's my goal to ride tomorrow too, so we'll see.

So what I'm working on this week is still contact, but achieving it through less fussing than I had been doing. I want to keep Rev's neck long and stretched from wither to poll, and I want her to lower her poll. I will work to do that through consistent, soft contact through the outside rein and little gives and takes on the inside rein -- unless, of course, she hangs on the right rein, whether it's inside or outside, and in that case, I'll give and take on the right rein until she stops hanging. The other part of this equation is keeping her moving forward, getting her hind end pushing through. This I'll work to accomplish through non-clumsy leg aids and then seat aid. When she responds, I stop asking. And I'll keep an "eye" out for her haunches and shoulders falling in and out (depending on which direction we're going) and work to keep those in line with leg and weight aids backed up by rein aids.

*nodnod* Yes. This is the plan.


AND ... I had wanted to save more money for this, but ... I will end up spending a good bit of my tax return money on putting Rev in full training starting May 15, so MT can take her to Golden Spike in June. Good grief, JUNE? Not far away! Anyway, I'd thought I might get a Point Two airjacket, but ... I think investing in Rev's training (and my own) is a better safety measure in the end. I'll get a Point Two eventually, but not right away.