Jack is trotting!

Long time-No Blog. The biggest news has to be that Jack has started trotting under saddle. The first attempts were done lose in the paddock, but given his easily distracted nature it’s proven to be easier and more productive to stick him back on the longe line. The amount of circles he’s done around Tom, vs the amount of time he’s been ridden by me is like comparing your life span to the combined lifespan of your ancestors. So, Jack sees it more as work and less of an opportunity to turn his neck and bite my toes (which didn’t happen today, by the way).

Look at those trot steps!

Ami is going BN at a show in Deary, Idaho next month. We’re going beginner novice, max height 2’7”. So, the height is not an issue, but time might be an issue in the speedy-sense. You’re score goes down for going too fast. Getting her to slow down and respect the need to go slow is difficult, at least if her attitude going schooling is any indicator. I hope we can at least get down in pace a little bit.

Other than that, it’s hot and stuff. Both Tom and Deb will be gone for a few days, each doing different stuff, so I’ll have the farm to myself for four days. I’m also getting down to my last eighteen days on the farm. Where did summer go?!?

Rebecca Farm Event, XC Schooling, and the horrible Longe Line Exercise.

Jessi and I made it to Rebecca Farm, located in Kalispell, Montana, just fine. We had lots of fun watching the horses go, hanging out, playing around and got back safe in the old brown car much to the surprise of my friend Gabi.

Some quick things:

-Wow, Montana is really hot.

-We were given a one person tent when we asked for, and thought, we were getting a two person tent. Jessi kindly let me sleep in it, and took the back seat of the car the first night. We were very tired and had a hard time falling asleep. Then, at 2:30am, it started pouring and there was thunder and lightning. I know how to count how far away lightning is, and I knew Jessi would tell me if I should get in the car or not. As it turns out, I was sleeping through it by the time it got to be seven miles away, and Jessi never had to call me in. All was fine, and this is story is also known as “That one time I slept in a tent with my dog in a thunderstorm.” Luckily the family we were staying with lent us really big tent, and we slept comfortably in it for the rest of the trip.

-Advanced, 3***, CCI/CIC fences are really big. Intermediate fences are big. Some training fences look like they command some respect.

On to the rest of life, and not just fun vacation times. 

Cooper has gone home. His sales video is made so hopefully his owner can move him along quickly. I had fun riding him while he was here. By the way, I totally put a Ratatat song in his video. Matches his trot perfectly. 

Ami went XC schooling at Stanton. We’ll be doing a beginner novice event there next month so we went to see the fences and school them. She was very happy and excited! Tom put verticals up in the water, one going in, one going out, and Ami seemed to really like that and have fun with it. Every time we went down to the water she seemed get more enthusiastic.

We had a good ride today, she was nice and soft, but the exercise was hard. Tom snapped a longe line to my inside stirrup, stood in one place, and I got to practice riding truly round circles. It’s harder than it looks, especially at the end of a big arena with no markers. I felt like my thighs were steering her more than my calves, which was interesting. I almost wish I could have tried at the canter, but walk and trot was hard enough.

Tommy and Jack are going well. Tommy gets a bit cantankerous about growing up and developing a work ethic, but basically every ride he gets better faster. It’s been nice learning the intricacies of inside vs outside leg on him, because it really matters with him. And those aids really are intricate. Jack has been being ridden off the line in the small pen, and today went in a much larger pen back on the longe line. He is learning where his feet are more, and feels more balanced underneath me. He is three and already my leg can’t really wrap around his barrel.

Just a few of the advanced/3*** fences I was talking about

Played around in the Palouse River, going to MT tomorrow!

It was supposed to get up to 97’ today, so we (Tom included!) all took Runoff, Dolly, and Ami down to the Palouse River. Around here it runs parallel to Idaho 6, which is what Tom’s driveway connects to. It involved riding down the hill, through some cow pastures (more on that later), and some exploring, but the river was really fun. I saw fish in it, which admittedly is not that exciting, but I enjoyed it none the less. 

First off, the cows. Ami has seen cows once, and it involved her sort of calmly spinning and running away with me back in 2007 at Lincoln Creek. I was actually laughing at this, because she was sort of like “Don’t worry, I got this, we’re going to be safe.” So, as we were going through the woods and all three horses stopped and starred at some trees suspiciously, we figured what was up. Dolly and Jessi, solid as a rock, lead Ami past the cattle with little skittering. Runoff wasn’t as easily as convinced that the cows meant no harm, but took some solace as she walked towards one and it ran away.

We got to the River and the ponies splashed around happily. Jessi had a laugh when I stopped Ami, because she immediately rested a back leg and lowered her neck, relaxed. I described riding in the Puget Sound to her, and had a laugh as I saw Ami realized it wasn’t salt water she was standing in, and thought about taking a drink.

By this time a larger herd of cattle had worked their way into the field we had crossed. Ami and Dolly easily pushed them back, giving Runoff ample room to pass. At one point a steer was trying to get more acquainted with Dolly, who pinned her ears aggressively and spun around at it. Ami was much more confident than earlier, also noticing that when she went towards the cattle that they moved back. She even volunteered a few steps towards the inquisitive #71, probably to sniff noses and declare herself as herd boss.

Side note: it’s fun being a Natural Resources major and riding horses on trail rides. I can sound all sorts of intelligent as I say “Oh look, cheat grass. It’s invasive and a good sign of disturbance to an area” and similar stuff I learned in school this past year.

In other horse news, Jack has been ridden twice now off the longe line. The pen I am riding him is pretty small, and getting him forward is just a bit easier than doing a U-turn in a Bravada on a two lane road (ask me how I know). He’s pretty slow and happy to stand still at this point, and requires a lot of motivation to keep his feet stepping. He hasn’t gotten pissy about the amount of kicking he gets, which is funny thinking of the ponies I’ve helped back, which are much more forward-thinking and would take protest to that style of riding.

He’ll get the next couple of days off, as will all the other horses, as everyone but Deb will be gone doing various things in Montana. Can’t wait to go the event at Rebecca Farm! 

Guess who is going to Rebecca Farm? This girl.

 Well, Tom and Deb were both gone this past weekend at a horse show on Whidbey Island. They got back late last night, apparently everything went well. Tom is leaving this Thursday for the weekend, and Jessi and I are taking off for a brief road trip to Montana that same morning.

Riding instructions were pretty clear when Tom was gone. Basically, try to not ride anyone in the arena, because horses are happier when ridden out of the arena. True story.

Siblings Ami and Tommy were the happy ones. Ami went on rides in the woods, including an epic trail ride with Dolly. It’s really fun to have a horse that doesn’t know it’s going above and beyond when faced with all sorts of things: really steep hills, brush, odd logs, creeks, etc. She goes along on a loose rein, picks her way over things, around things, past things, etc. There were a few moments, as Ami walked up or down a steep hill, under something or over something, or I thought the logging road was ending (apparently they never do) that I realized wouldn’t want to be riding any other horse given the circumstances.

Trail riding with Jessi makes me painfully aware that I didn’t grow up in Idaho. She knows her way around things, and the things around so intuitively. Both of us are lucky that Ami and Dolly are so game and chill, because otherwise we’d probably get ourselves into trouble out there. I’ve found some adventuresome trails on Vashon, and I am sure Jessi would laugh at them and just bush whack it, probably scaring the pants off anyone who asked to join us.

When Tom got back Ami and I had a flat lesson. Tom basically always incorporates at least two caveletti in his flat lessons. Today they were on the center line and I was counting steps in walk, trot, and canter between the rails on the ground, then after them riding straight, and at each end riding a sort of tear drop shape components of bending, straightness, and leg yielding. It’s a very different style, but it’s nice in a very basic way because you feel the horse get more consistent, or you don’t. No need to talk about how much or little it’s there. I feel like it’s a way of going about things that you would have to do consistently to see benefit from; just once or twice when you need a fresh idea for a horse wouldn’t quite cut it.

Tommy was ridden in the woods with Runoff as a trail buddy, and it was more like Tommy was Runoff’s steady trail buddy. Still, it was fun, and he enjoyed it. He used to have a hard time walking down a hill with me on his back because he hurt so badly, and now that’s a thing of the past. We did a little lesson today, just at walk, and he felt much more positive when we started, I assume because of the trail riding.

Cooper was ridden in the arena. His owner wants to sell him and wants me to ride him in the video, and I felt like the video would look better if I rode him in the ring a bit so we could get a feel for each other. I like how the video turned out. It’s not how I want to ride for the rest of my life, or how Cooper should go for the rest of his life, but for now it’ll do. He’s getting much better already. I should be able to have him be more forward and softer by next week.

I finally had a flat lesson on Cooper! I didn’t start out that positive. He isn’t easy right now and needs to solidify a lot of the basics. His canter can be so rough I have to focus on sliding across my saddle rather than pogo sticking on his back. I was worried about sitting his trot, and Tom sort of yelled “You’re not punishing his back!!!! You’re teaching him to let you sit on him!!!!!!!” We did the same exercise as Ami did earlier. He really got better, and by the end of it I was feeling a little “Wow, look where I got this horse!” Tom could say “Turn right. Straight. Turn right. Straight, turn left. Straight. Turn left” and Cooper would stay soft through all of that, changing his bend without losing his balance. Of course, I know there is a chance I’ll get on tomorrow and feel like selling my saddles, but I’m going to hang on to that more positive feeling, and keep telling myself about how easy horses are nice, but its ones like Cooper that teach you how to ride. As much as that sucks.

(Not from my lesson, but before we shot the video)

Well, two more days of riding before Rebecca Farm! We’re taking the old brown car (the one that got a pat on the hood once I got in my driveway on Vashon) to Kallispell, Montana for three days to watch the biggest event on the west coast. Squee. I’ve heard a lot about it, but it will be nice to see it. Also seeing two of my horsey/Pullman friends, which is super exciting for me, as I’ve been in the zone of solitude as I like to call it. 

Today is the day I lost the war on having an even tan in the year 2012.

I’m not sure how I can spend maybe an hour and a half in the sun and have my chest turn as red as it is now, when it wasn’t exactly pale before. No biggie, it’ll brown in a day or so. I swear I could spend three hours bare legged in the sun and nothing would change though. Anyways, when you see me in person and laugh at my tank top tan lines, know that those happened really badly today. 

Well, it’s been a week and Tommy has worked every day of it, so dare I say he is back in work? It hasn’t been an easy week, we’ve had some pony moments, we’ve had some thoroughbred moments, but he’s been coming around, getting more consistent, and grudgingly accepting that he needs to work for a living. He was very good today, not on spectrum of good riding horses, but for where he has been the past couple of days he was fantastic. So that ride gets the gold star for today, beating out Ami and the New Guy. Tom is going out of town this weekend, so I think he’ll just get longed or hacked rather than worked in the arena.

The New Guy! His name is Cooper; he is a seven year old, 14.2ish hand, chestnut Welsh/TB cross. I’ve ridden him three times so far, all of which I enjoyed, so I’ll just go out and say I like him and hope that doesn’t bite me in the butt tomorrow. He’s been fun, that’s for sure. Also on my first jump ride he cantered to a 3ft vertical and made it happen. I didn’t doubt his abilities, but it was a “Isn’t that rushing the relationship, a bit?” moment for me. I’d be quite happy cantering new horses to much smaller fences, because I do get worried about my equitation going to crap once the fences get higher on horses I can’t yet ride 100% because of the lack of familiarity. 

Earlier in the week Ami and I were able to go in our dressage saddle TWICE. We did some lateral work, haunches in and haunches out, and also worked on stretchy circles.  Apparently when doing lateral work, the inside leg is whatever leg the horse is bending around, not necessarily the right leg if you’re tracking right, or vice versa. Tom is really getting after my tendency to pull (at least I don’t hear that dirty word “elastic” as much as I used to), and a lot of the time I have to assume that the way he is having me ride is to avoid me pulling. I’m getting better,  I assume because I hear “Give!” less, because I think I’m starting to feel when he is going to want me to give.

And today Ami taught me not to change the warm up routine and expect a not changed ride, at least changed for the better. I was feeling a bit “This horse needs to grow up and go in an open frame” so I warmed her up like that, and she was good and open and such. Then we started jumping and it was like I had no horse. Next time I change the warm up, I want it to make the ride better, not the ride worse.  Our course work could have been better, she is still over jumping some spooky jumps, but I’m glad she is going at the end of the day. I’m actually hoping I jump her again tomorrow so I can give her a better ride, I won’t be able to have a jump lesson again until next Monday, otherwise. 

"Ami, do you hear that? You need to be rideable, and give me options"

Hmm, well, I had some time off the farm. I traveled in the old brown car (it had its 168,000 mile birthday) to visit home. It got a big pat once it got me in driveway, and not a cross road sooner. I didn’t get much time off horses though; there was only one day I didn’t ride while I was back. I did some beach riding, sat on a 4yo gelding for the first time in his life, and had a few lessons on my favorite gelding, Ari. I had a great time seeing everyone on the little adventures that popped up here and there.

Grady, the 4yo, being backed. 

Not taken from my trip, but this is Ari and I jumping last winter. 

Now, it's back to work in Idaho. Jack has graduated from doing circles in the barn aisle to doing circles in a small outside pen. He adjusted well, the first day he was really thinking about the footing with a person on his back, the second day the footing and his balance was no concern. He tried to turn his head and bite my boot; hopefully he doesn’t ever succeed because I am sure he would enjoy that game!

Tommy has been ridden twice since getting a few visits to the horse chiropractor. I felt a tremendous physical change in him just in the first few steps of walking away from the barn, to arena. It’s quite something and if I doubted chiro work for horses, it would have changed my mind. The first ride to the second ride had a big change, it’s like he is starting to realize his body isn’t going to hurt and being much less defensive in his movement. He’s quite nice when he is relaxed, I hope he gets more consistent.

Ami has had some dressage/flat riding, and did some bank and ditch schooling today. After riding Ari back home I came back and was thinking of my nice ride on him and trying some of the exercises I did with him. She was a bit surprised, Ari is farther along than her, but she accepted the exercises well. Her jumping today was quite entertaining. We warmed up over some verticals with some walls underneath the rails that she thought were something to put some space between her and the fences. Tom kept on saying that Ami needs to be rideable and give me options, not get rev up and attack things. I was wondering if I was riding her too aggressively, causing her to lose some rideability, or if she was just spooking at the walls.

After the spooky verticals, we all went up and worked on the bank complex. We’ve done banks before, but not for a while. I haven’t done a lot of bank work, I know the basics, but I definitely think of them of an obstacle where if you ride a little poorly, you'll have a big problem. What’s nice about Ami is that even though she can be tugging on me when we’re cantering around, when we are going to a bank or a jump she definitely sees the upcoming obstacle, gets serious and balances herself for it. She still gets excited, but she keeps her brain, knows where her feet are, takes care of herself and keeps me safe. At one point we jumped up the bank, cantered a stride across the top, and dropped down. Ami jumped big up the bank with much enthusiasm, took her canter stride and had a “Oh, I didn’t know there was a down element here!” moment before launching down.

The ditch was fine. I had our ditch issue at the clinic in my mind, and chose to walk up to the ditch and let her jump over it, which I was told was a good plan. Ami doesn’t have enough experience cross country to know that a ditch could be coming up, and she’ll stop when she is surprised by one. The ditch was little, and I thought it would be fair to give her plenty of time to see it and jump it, and to avoid any issues. She kept walking, looked, rocked back, and jumped it just fine. We were then able to trot over it with out anyone getting worried about it. 

Fran Clinic!

Fran is the woman who taught me how to really ride. I met her when I was 15 and started working off lessons, riding her nice show ponies and my horse of questionable sanity, and almost no ridability. She and Tom trade off teaching at each other’s farms doing clinics. It was nice to meet all the other Tom-Students and hang out with them, we had 14 people at dinner! 

Nice!

The clinic here was more of a practice horse show than lessons. The morning was dressage, having groups practice components of their dressage test that they would do Sunday morning. A dressage test gives the rider the opportunity to show how well trained their horse is; at the lower levels focusing primarily on quality of the gaits, transitions between gaits, and accuracy of the ring figures. If you don’t ride you would be surprised at how hard it is to get a horse to do a round, 20 meter circle and be told it was "fairly good". The afternoon was jumping. Each group warmed up in the arena over some simple stuff, and the more advanced riders then went out to the field, XC vests zipped up, to jump some natural obstacles. Sunday was judged dressage rides (Fran is a judge, after all) and then in the afternoon each rider picked a jump course to ride, talked about how it went with Fran, and then worked on what they didn't like.

Practicing Novice level dressage 

On Saturday Fran was pleased to see where Ami was in her way of going, which meant a lot to me. For where we are at we need to pay attention to having quality gaits (not to fast, not to slow), quality transitions between gaits (think shifting a manual transmission), and accurate figures (truly round circles, straight lines, even corners). The afternoon jumping got interesting, there was a pony-mare moment involving a five-foot wide ditch and some name calling, but other than that she galloped up to things with a “I’ll jump that sucker like it’s never been jumped before!”

(This is what a normal, attitude and hormone free, effort over a ditch looks like) 

We did dressage tests on Sunday morning. Our overall scores were 35 for Novice A, and 36 for Novice B, which both fall between “satisfactory” and “fairly good,” and are good scores for the sport. She had some tense moments, but I had my own goals which were accomplished (good downward transitions, and my position), so I was happy.  Jumping in the afternoon went well; people commented on how cute Ami was and said it was fun to watch her go around. She jumped some 3ft jumps and gave them much more respect than she does to the stuff that is 2’6”. One of the other participants, Chris, was taking lots of pictures, so I'm spending some time looking at them and seeing what needs to get better. 

Horse shows, backing three-year-olds and so much more

Well, it looks like the weather has changed for the time being. It’s been warm, breezy, and in the 60’s. Of course, when we all went to a horse show on Saturday it felt like January in Seattle, soooo cold! It was a fun day though. We went to Stanton Farm in Deary, Idaho and did some jumping classes. I only heard how I did for one class, the 2’ Hunter, and we ended up with second place. First place went to a professional on a fancy horse. Two other classes were timed jumper classes with some tight turns in a little indoor, then there were two derby classes in a gravel outdoor with portable cross country fences. It didn’t matter what the class was or how it was being judged, Ami jumped very eagerly, never looking at the new fences or giving anything a second thought. She really is so much fun to jump. 

When she wasn’t jumping she was being rather heard bound, which was super annoying. Since she was so good for her first outing in four years, was otherwise being rideable, and was improving throughout the day so I tried to look past it.

I had the opportunity to ride Runoff on the flat. It wasn’t a lesson, which was nice because I was able to work on ideas that I had with her. She took to it well and at the end was doing walk-to-canter transitions right off my aids and had a nice, balanced canter as well. My goal is to have her listening to my holding and driving aids much better before I jump her again. There has been another girl riding at the barn a lot and she actually had a good laugh about how sad my leg looks going not even half way down Runoff’s side. I have to wonder how effectively other short people control such big horses.

Ami’s Monday lesson was good. The three of us did a flat lesson on the hill behind the barn. I’m still missing my dressage saddle, and it’s a bit weird for me to work on things like lateral work in my jump saddle. Another focus of the lesson was canter depart work, which Ami is no stranger too. We would be trotting along, pick up the canter, canter five to eight strides, go back to trot, establish the trot, and repeat. It’s actually the downward transitions that I’m struggling with. I have the habit of thinking just a little backwards in the transition so trying to be soft and still get a good transition is almost a mutually exclusive idea at this point, but it’s getting better.

Oh, BIG NEWS, Jack, the three-year-old, was sat on for the first time this summer. The people who were me last summer did this, but didn’t get much farther than that. The idea is that by August he’ll be rideable and doing walk, trot, and possibly canter. He a bit confused by my leg squeezing him, but other than that he was a gem. 

Here is a picture of Benson and Dexter cuddling. Dexter gets really cold so I imagine he was taking advantage of Benson's larger mass and body heat. 

You need to get everything perfect and hope it works out

Well, I had my first really bad ride. I guess you should see a ride like that coming when the instructor starts a dialogue with “I don’t care if she quits, but ……” It’s funny; when I was younger I used to be sort of snotty if anyone said anything bad about my riding, mostly teenagers never take criticism well and think of themselves as invincible. Now I am in my 20’s, I had a bad ride with Runoff, and I now all I want to say is “I’m OK with not being a good enough rider to jump Runoff. I am perfectly fine riding her on the flat until I can get her to respond to my aids.” I actually said something like that, and was sort of scoffed at. Maybe my expectations of myself are low, rather than fair, I dunno. I have realized I’ll be perfectly content bopping around on oversized ponies for the rest of my life rather than being a master horse trainer who can fix anything and everything. 

In contrast, Ami was a super star, not only for the day but even in looking at where she was on Monday. In one ride she went from nearly running away with me and eagerly over-jumping everything, to cantering around obediently, waiting for my input and respecting my aids at every jump. Tom explained that we both have bad habits with each other, and really need to get comfortable with the leg being put on as a supporting “keep going” aid, rather than rocketing “go for it” aid. We seemed to get it right after he said it, I am sure it could be even better still, because nothing is really 100% the first time in riding. I am really happy though that she has seemed to settle down in two sessions, rather than two weeks or two months, which is realistic with horses.

Ok, it’s time to get wordy. I’m not one of those owners who thinks that their horse is perfect. I know Ami has had her questionable moments over the past seven years that we’ve been together, and I accept that she has been truly rotten at times. However, I know her inside and out, and when she isn’t behaving ideally I know how to work through it. I have faith that it’s going to work out, because I can think back to the hundreds of times it has worked out. That’s a relationship. In contrast, I’ve been riding Runoff for a month or so. She has nice conformation, is well bred, has nice gaits, and has had correct training her whole life. I feel like I know her well enough, and I enjoy riding her, but in the face of adversity she hasn’t done anything to earn my trust. Meanwhile, on Monday I didn’t ride Ami as well as I could have to a new fence. She just about slid to the base, crawled over it, and bless her heart cantered away just as if I had given her the ride she actually deserved. We turned around, and she jumped it again eagerly, obviously not remembering the bad ride she was given a moment ago. That’s why I love ponies. 

Anyways, had a nice trail ride today. I found a spot where Kari and I said "Oh, we're really lost!" and it was literally 200ft from one of the main logging roads. Found this cute little creek, I think it's called Turnbow Creek. 

She needs less "lock on 'n go"

Well, I never knew the weather would be so crappy in June. I was suffering from the impression that I would be getting the horses ridden before it got to be 80’F at 10am, but here I am sitting by the fire drinking hot cocoa. Tuesday it was so awful out, raining and windy  that none of the horses were ridden. Today wasn’t much better, I sort of questioned how much I liked horses as I was tacking up, but at least everyone got out and did something.

Sunday was a work day, the horses (Runoff, Ami, Peggy) just did hill work in the hay field. It’s nice to go out and think “I will move my hands forward each time I post” or “I will sink my heals down” and not worry about jumps, or what else is going on. It’s actually not easy to ride a horse around a course of jumps, or even up to a grid, and keep track of making sure the horse is correct as well as working on position flaws. Usually muscle memory wrongly takes over.

On Sunday I was also told to work on cantering, you know, because horses jump out of a canter and it’s good to practice like you’re riding between fences. With Ami and Runoff, each being part thoroughbred (think ‘race horse’ for anyone who doesn’t ride), cantering was more like easy, slow galloping. Runoff is very comfy and easy, she reminds me of a cat with how light she is off the ground. Ami also has nice gallop, but isn’t as round in her movement as Runoff. However, as far as adjustability and maneuverability, Runoff is like a train (an eloquent, graceful train) and Ami a sports car. That’s what 9 inches and being half pony vs. being one-quarter draft can do for a horse.

After riding Sunday morning I saw a bit of Princeton. I actually went to a western game day where it seemed that everyone who owned a horse and their brother was in attendance doing all sorts of events, all essentially coming down to different ways to kick a horse at a fast canter down the arena, stop and turn around, then spur them into a gallop back the way they came. Maybe they went through a shoot or grabbed a flag, whatever. Quite different from the world of eventing!  The biggest thing I learned was that I never want to live in rural Idaho, or probably any super rural region. 

Monday was more jumping. I did a lesson on Runoff, with Deb on Peggy, and another girl on Dolly. Tom reminded me “Remember, Runoff likes to look at things, even if she has seen them before.” We had some stopping issues last week, teaching me that she requires more than just a half-way decent ride to a fence. I did feel her think about stopping, but she never felt like she was actually going to. I commented that it didn’t feel like the most attractive riding, and got a response that went something like this “McKenzie, please, this is eventing. Good job with the horse.”

Ami finally did some cross country (XC) schooling! Ami would probably tell you that her dad was a good jumping pony, and her mom was a race horse, and when you combine those two things you get what Ami loves to do: galloping over things.  We started over a little 2’ A-frame type fence and she was basically running at it and pretending it was at least 3’. Her canter eventually settled down and she started being a little bit more realistic about the whole idea. Being tired probably helped her with the reality check. Tom said “She needs less ‘lock on ‘n go’”, which is sort of a funny thing to hear about an event horse, because that is what they have to do on XC.  I'm not too worried about it; she was fun, she likes it, and they way she has been improving I imagine just doing more XC will settle her down. 

It is confirmed: Ami, and possibly Runoff, are going to a “fun show” on Saturday.  Hopefully a camera can be passed around and I can get pictures of everyone. 

"Go watch some good dressage, you'll be a better rider"

I realized I haven’t introduced the horses!

Dolly: Middle aged, Draft/TB mare, 16.2hh-ish. She has been here since she was an unbroken 4yo. Steady, slow, reliable, probably wishes she was a plow horse or at least more of a lawn ornament. She goes on the flat, jumps, and is of course super fun to hack/trail ride

Runoff: Dolly’s first baby, ¾ Thoroughbred. She is about 10 years old, 17.1hh. She is steady like Dolly, but much more forward off the ground than her, and isn’t in a hurry. I really enjoy riding her, and I know I’ll miss her when the summer is over. My leg goes about halfway down her belly, and some days I wonder if my femur is long enough to effectively wrap my leg around her (See below for pictures if you don't know what I am talking about!). Here is a picture of me standing with her and Ami. It makes me giggle. 

Tommy: A Connemara/TB gelding, brother to Ami and Peggy (All three are by the Connemara stallion Skyview’s Orion). He is about 9, and is very broke but doesn’t have much for consistent, long term riding. This summer he is being brought back after a year off and the plan is to see how it goes, and it looks like he needs some more body work. His “air freshener” brand on his left hip is from Lone Pine Farm, out of Deer Park, Washington.

Jack: Dolly’s second baby. He is three, and by a TB/Holsteiner. He reminds me of a little brother, a little annoying but super cute and sweet. He is being long lined and ponied from Dolly, and will be backed this summer getting to walk, trot, and hopefully canter under saddle. He looks like he'll grow up into a really fancy dude! 

Peggy Sue: A Connemara/Arab mare, born here and acquired by Deb a few years ago. I actually knew her before they got her when she was on Vashon for a year. She has since grown up a lot, has gone eventing to training level, and done a lot of clinics. Here Kari, my second year Pullman roommate, riding her. 

Tiger: A home bred horse of some sort of TB/Irish/Selle Francais combination, and super fancy and smart. Beautiful face, and when she is done being an awkward two-year-old she’ll turn a lot of heads.  She already belongs to one of Tom’s students and is enjoying being a horse with a big pasture for the time being. This is her letting me take a picture of her. 

As for this week riding has been filled with jumping as well as a surprising amount of time dedicated to visiting Pullman. My current roommates are in the process of vacating so I decided I should like, make sure I have things to cook with, eat off of, and be able to shower as most of those things are owned by other people and vacating with them. Also, I love riding horses and living at the farm, but it’s going to be a long summer of riding three or four horses a day and it’s nice to go back to civilization and hang out with people.

I did courses on Runoff and Ami, no XC except for that one time on Runoff. Runoff tried to see how much she could get away with when I was riding her for the first time. After sorting through that riding her to a fence didn’t feel as freely forward and relaxed as it has been, but hopefully I made an impression on her and we won’t have further issues. Tom told me I did a good job on my last sequence, and I’ll try not to think about if he meant “good job overall” or “good job making yourself ride.” 

Ami was a blast. She was relaxed, she was soft, she was ride-able, she was point-and-shoot, and everything a person would want to see in a jumper. Now we just need to maintain that over an actual course with some height! She let me “just sit” as Tom puts it and kept her rhythm all the way to the base and hopped over it like “Hey Girl, I got this, you just sit up and enjoy the ride. Great job being soft in your elbows.”

I was told that Ami and Runoff are going to a show some weekend in the near future. I think it’s an event derby, so dressage phase and then a combined stadium-cross country phase, all in one day, I think. It could be the “Shedding Off” schooling show with rail classes like equitation and dressage suitability, with some jump courses in the afternoon. We went up to Spokane today to a facility called Deep Creek to watch some of Tom’s students compete in a derby there. Watching the whole scene made me excited to be part of it again. Here is a picture of the jump field from a hill with a training or prelim long on top of it. 

In other news, I rode Dolly with a driving rein (the reins backwards through my hands) and finally felt like my arms were being soft of their own accord, not of my own concentration and will. Also, I was told to watch good dressage, so I am taking that to mean to go watch some on YouTube. Yay for horse-internship homework! 

I learn so much I can blog for two days!

I did some cross country schooling on in the field today. I had only ever done grids with her, which require no steering or rating of pace, so doing a course was a bit of an adjustment. It became very obvious to me where my weaknesses are, mostly my leg and the still present tense arm. I’m starting to get really frustrated by that bad habit; I just don’t have a lot of experience riding horses that allow a rider to have a soft arm. Runoff does though, so hopefully I can relax on her and let her draw my hand forward over fences, as well as in general. Also had a moment where I went to bring shoulders back as a way to balance her, and shorten her stride and was reminded that her neck is longer than my upper body.

Ami did grid work after Runoff jumped around the cross country field. I was very bound and determined to not be told my leg was slipping back, and I never heard that, so I guess the goals for that ride were accomplished. It’s much easier for me to wrap my leg around Ami’s flat side than Runoff’s round barrel. I’m trying really hard to do this soft, easy, not running the horse off its feet stuff, but then I don’t always get the horse really going and in Ami’s case she takes advantage of that and quits if I let her, so we did have one stop. I “solved” that by getting her quicker off the ground in the grid, not the correct solution, but she never thought of stopping again. So, where I didn’t hear “Lower leg is slipping back” on Ami, I did hear “We just need half that energy, next time” quite a few times.  It’s just a matter of finding the new balance in the slow, relaxed, marching pace and getting the job done when it seems iffy and not just going back to the strong-minded pony mentality of jumping.

 Riding Tommy has been interesting and fun. He isn’t scary, but riding him sort of reminds me of standing in front of a crowd to give a speech or presentation (except I actually look forward to riding him, unlike public speaking). Nothing bad ever really happens, and one ever got hurt , but it’s still nerve racking. He is really tense and inconsistent in his step and head carriage, doesn’t always move reliably off my leg, and seriously won’t relax. I still have a few moments where I think I should be last person on him, but I’m what is here so its going to get done.

As far as other news, Benson picked up a femur the other day, and chased a coyote over the hill and was gone four about ten minutes this morning. He came back in one piece, looking rather pleased with himself. I had asked Tom if I should bring the dogs in when I saw it in the hay field and they were in the pasture, and he said they should be fine. I think I'll just bring them in next time.

Ami gets to cross country school tomorrow. I'd say "Hopefully it goes well" but I know I need to say "It's going to go splendidly!" Then its off to Pullman for some time off from horses. 

Hill work for everyone!

Well, Tom has traveled to Vashon to teach a clinic. He is going to bring my tall boots back! 

Meanwhile, I was told that all the horses needed to so some hill work. Also, Kari visited for a second and final time before becoming a real adult next week and starting a real job. There is a pretty nice slope, gradually downhill leveling at the bottom with changes in slope behind the barn where the horses worked this weekend. The idea is that when horses go down the slope they need to bend the joints in their back legs more and step farther under their belly to maintain their balance, having a somewhat collected frame. When moving up hill, they need to open their length of step, stepping under to push themselves off the ground a bit more, having a somewhat extended posture. Practicing this on hills will make doing it in an arena much, much easier. It also adds a strengthening component that can’t be achieved by riding on the literal flat.

Both Ami and Runoff rode really nicely there, and I felt the added work out in my legs, as well. I’m excited to do more work back there. Everyone tired out faster, including Tommy who was just long lined.

 Jack was long lined. He graduated from the tiny pen to the paddock, where he could trot a full circle, or more.

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.Kari and I took lots of pictures of each other. I feel like I am riding much better, but I don’t see the same amount of improved feel in the photos. Ami looks better, for sure, but Runoff feels much better than she looks. Pictures where I am wearing a green shirt are the most recent. 

I'm very excited to ride in my tall boots tomorrow! Goodbye half chaps! 

Dressage gives me body image issues, but it's cool because horses can jump

Ever since I was told I didn’t have Runoff between my aids enough, I’ve been warming up thinking flat work than preparation for grid work. I dropped my irons three holes and I’m starting to feel like I am sitting in a dressage saddle again, instead of the saddle designed for cross country that I am riding in. Also paying close attention to my hands, which Runoff reminds me of often, and maintaining a good degree of bend in my elbows, which Runoff thanks me for. She is a nice horse.

I’ve jumped three days a in a row, and I feel it. Only ‘badly’ in my abs, at it’s only bad when I vault of Runoff or Dolly and I have to stretch those muscles before hitting the ground from their tall backs. And it’s never really a bad thing to feel an ab work out, am I right? My lower leg feels a lot stronger, probably the strongest in the past seven or eight years I’ve been riding. I finally felt a difference when I put my leg on and my leg got longer rather than shortening, which was like a physical epiphany.  

Of things I am working on over fences: maintaining a solid leg that doesn’t slip back, and not jumping ahead of the horses. Both things are going well, and I’ve had lessons where I finish successfully, not just better. Given how stiff my arm is on the flat, I am surprised I didn’t hear anything about my release over the fences. When jumping Ami it’s hard to be soft in the elbow, because likes to rush the fences and won’t respect holding aids from my seat. I think she is mostly just happy to be jumping again, and then has a strong pony mentality to go along with that exuberance. I am sure she’ll resemble a hunter pony in no time, though. When I was warming up today Tom said she looked relaxed and obedient, which wasn’t exactly the story last week.

Jumping Runoff today was fantastic, possibly the best thing of my summer so far. She is just about the polar opposite of Ami, being big and in no hurry, and jumps around things all the time rather than diving at them half the time. It’s much easier to focus on keeping your lower leg in place or landing in a light seat when the horse you’re on isn’t trying to attack the fences. If I didn’t get something right the first time, on Runoff I was easily able to correct it by one or two more trips down the grid, which was a nice feeling. I didn't ever think I could enjoy riding something so big, but there it is. 

Oh, Benson is doing well! He loves it here (where does he not love it?) and his dog friends, Sophie the labradoodle, and Dexter the min-pin. They all run around outside like real dogs and come in and do this: 

Don't worry Mom and Dad, I still don't want to be a horse trainer

Thanks to Kari, here are a series of pictures to show you what exactly I plan to improve on this summer.

Here is my leg not being good:

Here is my leg being good (maybe with just a tad more flexibility in the ankle):

Congrats Blog Reader, even if you know nothing about horses, you can now be my eyes-on-ground! I’ll buy you an apple fritter. 

I had jumping lessons on Tuesday. Ami started out very quick and tight but eventually settled down. She hadn’t jumped in two months, but after two quick, inverted trips down the grid of ground rails, I realized it wasn’t going to be the worst ride ever.  It was nice when I was told to shorten my reins, and I was about to ask “How do I tell when my reins are too long or her neck is too short?” and Tom said “I love her topline right now.” I actually started to be able to feel how things were going, and make adjustments with out hanging on her. 

I jumped Runoff, too.  My last lesson Tom disapprovingly said I didn’t have her between my aids enough, so I was surprised that I was granted the privilege of jumping her. If someone couldn’t have Ami between the aids, I would tell them that was the reason I wouldn’t let them jump her, but I am sort of mean like that. I warmed up with longer stirrups and shorter reins though, and didn’t feel like I had to get off the horse to run around the arena three times to think about my riding. Anyways, jumping Runoff was like “Oh, that’s what it’s like to have a horse wait and jump up to you? What a nice feeling. Oh, by the way, I’m not surprised I lived, but I am still glad I did, because this horse is rather gigantic” and otherwise uneventful and actually not worth writing about, but there it is.

Tommy was the last and third ride of the day. It was his fourth ride in over a year, his second ride off the lead rope. Riding him consists of riding a small circle on the grass behind the barn around Tom, changing direction and leg yielding out trying to get him to unlock his back. We trotted for the first time, and at the first transition he did a few quick, little jitter-skip steps, and that was his biggest bad thing. I eventually figured out he would have gotten me off if that his intention and started actually riding him, and things went much better than when I was being tentative (another life lesson to be seen here). He is a really sweet boy, and judging by the ride today I’ll be a much better rider after a summer of working with him. I feel at risk for getting very attached to him <3.

Here are the pictures Kari took. Thanks Kari!

Cuddling with the babies (3yo Jack on left, 2yo Tiger on right):

Long Lining Tommy:

My first time long lining Jack: 

I also did three hours of paid work today! Woo! I had a nice dinner with Tom, Deb, and their son Clay. Don't say you're hungry at this house, they over feed you. After dinner a moose ran across the field, and I couldn't find my camera. The end. 

Epic Trail Ride

It’s been an exciting time with lots of visitors! I went to Pullman to get some down time (not really) and when I came back I had the farm to myself for just a day.

I learned that there won’t actually be another person joining me, so I have the farm to myself. Saturday a previous working student came to see the horses and ride. It was nice to have someone to do trot sets with, it made me really wish someone else was going to be here this summer. Kari, one of my other roommates from Pullman, joined me Saturday and stayed the night, and stayed most of Monday. It’s nice to have someone to do the work and riding with, but then that means things get done sooner and the afternoon has more down time.

On Sunday Kari and I took Ami and Dolly and got so, so, lost in the woods on the logging trails. At the start of the ride Kari said "Did you hear that? It sounded like a bear" which was sort of unnerving. The idea was to ride around and learn about the trails, but we were mostly thrilled to stumble through a new forest planting into a field. Luckily at that point we were about ten minutes from the barn. Also good that all of us have some cross country experience, because we needed it! Other than that it was for the most part trouble free. We ran into a few spots where some horses would have lost their minds if they didn’t know about jumping ditches.

Monday we each took a lesson, Kari on Dolly and I on Runoff. I had some trouble with right canter with Runoff, getting it and keeping it, but we got there and then went for a hack. I know my left leg is weaker than my right leg, which would explain right canter trouble from my perspective. Kari seemed to have fun and was doing a good job at keeping Big Dolly going, and had some nice walk-canter-walk transitions. After Runoff and Dolly were done we took Ami and Peggy for a walk in the woods, and managed to not get lost!

Kari took some pictures, I don’t have them yet, but hopefully I can add them next time. 

Trot sets and riding lessons

Here is a picture of all the horses presently on the farm. The top is some order or Tiger, Tommy and Jack. The other three are Peggy, Runoff, and Dolly. There are now three dogs too. 

Both Tom and Debby were out of town over the weekend, so Lacey came up from Pullman to keep me company. She got out of the car and exclaimed “There is nothing out here!” When I said if I was going to be in the start of a horror film I didn’t want to be alone she replied that it was good I wasn’t surrounded by corn fields. The house actually has wifi and satellite TV, and there is cell reception on the top of the hill. Power is generated by windmills, meaning things that suck power need to be turned off when not in use. 

Trot sets over the weekend went well. I started to feel when my elbows weren’t soft, my leg shortened or fell back and paying attention to how I asked for leg yield. It feels good to build new muscle memory, and riding three horses a day will speed that along (as well as make it hard to stand up after sitting in a chair). The horses definitely feel fitter now. Ami even went out there and did some dressagey circles and serpentines and was just fine.

Lessons have been focusing on riding the horses into a stretchy rein, just from the leg. This is something Ami and I have never done, so it’s a foreign concept. Ami is getting the idea though, and because she is so much smaller than Runoff I find her rides easier, even if Runoff has been ridden like that her entire life. It's nice that Ami is a good enough horse that she is cool with the style of riding changing with out acting like the world is ending, even if I am at times struggling to be positive about the change myself. I've been trotting and cantering over rails, doing transitions, practicing sitting trot, making sure to maintain the bend, maintain the forward, and maintain the connection all with working on my bad position habits. I was told I was riding much better even just from my first lessons on Tuesday to my second lessons on Monday, which was nice to hear. 

Anyways, I stayed the night in Pullman, so here I go back to the farm. 

I hate keeping blogs

Well, I’ve been at Tom’s for four days now, soaking up horses and beautiful scenery. I’ve been good about coming in and typing up what the day has been like, let’s hope I can condense all that adequately and someone enjoys reading about it.  Here is the view from the house of the barn and the ring. 

So, this summer I am living in Princeton, Idaho and riding horses at a farm owned by Tom Ordway. I met Tom back when I was 15 and he was teaching a clinic on Vashon Island. I sat and watched, as this was before I was jumping, much less knew anything about riding a horse between the aids on the flat. I rode with him in my first clinic ever about six months later on a pony named Ami who I bought a few months later. As far as I heard Tom was part of the reason that Ami came to the island, as he found her for the neighbor that bought her originally. I rode in his clinics for a few years, and eventually Fran, my riding instructor on Vashon, mentioned he had working students in the summer, and that it might be something I would be interested in. Between school and family stuff, here I am years later finally being a working student.

Day one was just arriving and settling in. Earlier in the day, sitting at my table waiting to be picked up my friend said “It’s like you aren’t sitting still even though you’re sitting down.” That probably didn’t help Ami who was quite nervous and wound up upon arrival and stayed that way until Tuesday. Benson too was quite nervous and confused, but has adjusted quite nicely. Of course, an endless supply of dear to chase may have helped with that. We were feeding the horses one night, Ami carrying on loudly and nervously, and Tom said “I guess I’ve always seen her at home, so I didn’t know she had this side to her.”

Anyways, it’s basically all been about horses since I got here. I’m sure 12, 13, and 14 year old me would think I was doing the coolest thing ever (oh wait, 23 year old me doesn’t think this is so bad either). Benson is here as well, and is great friends with the resident dog, Sophie, a middle aged Labradoodle. There are seven horses here as of now: Dolly, a draft (Belgian?)/Thoroughbred cross, Dolly’s daughter Runoff, who is by a thoroughbred; Dolly’s son Jack, not sure who his dad is; Peggy, a Conn/Arabian mare who is Ami’s sister; Tommy, a Conn/Thoroughbred gelding who is the brother to Ami and Peggy; Tiger, a two-year-old some of some sort of warmblood breeding, and Ami makes seven. Everyone does something, either being ridden, long lined, or tied up and groomed. There is also an endless supply of reading material from Eventing USA, Dressage today, Horse Journal, The Horse, and others. Its like textbooks, only better.

I’ve done a lot of hacking so far; Ami, Peggy, Dolly and Runoff all got to go through the fields the first two days. Ami and I grew up a little when Tom told me to take her for a ride through fields on Monday morning. She is 12 and she has never gotten to a new place and just gone out for a trail ride by herself, so that was sort of a big deal to me. It was quite a nerve racking ride, she was quite wound up and tense, but more or less walked in a straight line without jigging and  kept all four feet on the ground, so that ride was a success. Day two we even went in a different direction and the energy was much more subdued. Day three we had a lesson. I haven’t had a lesson in about a year, so it was really nice.  Tom really got after me about my hands, which are quite busy to say the least. In getting after me about my hands he had me work on moving Ami off my inside and outside leg, getting her to move out from an inside leg yield, and then either lengthen her step or shorten it from the outside leg. Timing is apparently everything.  It went very well to the left and pretty soon my horse was soft and stretching without any help from an opening rein. It wasn’t going as well to the right, so we quickly changed direction to the left, got the answers, then went right again and got better responses.

I also had a lesson on Runoff. The first thing I asked about that horse was how she got the name, and the answer is that her full name is Gold Hill’s Spring Runoff. She’s probably the largest horse I’ve ever sat on, being around 17 hands and just big in every way, and I find that just a little intimidating. The first time I rode her was a trail ride, and Tom just had me get on and go. I’m used to some arena introduction on new horses to feel how they respond to cues and such, and I’m not used to big horses, so I was admittedly a bit nervous. The lesson I had on her went well, mostly just practicing of holding and driving aids, and then bending and straightening aids. However, after about three trot circles my knees and ankles were killing me, I guess that big horse will put some more suppleness in my joints this summer.

Tom is out of town through the weekend, and Debbie, his wife, has two days off from her night shifts in the ER at the hospital in Moscow, and will also be out of town Saturday night. We rode Dolly and Peggy together today, and she said I could go to Yoga with her tonight. While riding Dolly I was trying to work on the tests of the inside and outside legs, but that was going so well I just decided to work on having a relaxed leg and keep my hands still. I can’t tell when my hands are still (because it feels so right when they’re everywhere), but luckily Dolly tells me.

Oh, it is like, super-duper pretty out here. The farm sits on top of a grassy hill with trees surrounding it, just south of a place called Gold Hill, and Moscow Mountain to the south, which I can see from window (picture from window as shown). Tons of wildlife, I’ve seen a coyote (he’s a biggun),  plenty of deer (usually as Benson and Sofie chase them away) and I guess a moose frequents the pond down the driveway.

Anyways, time to go feed.