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.