New Horse Adventures

Moving across the country is great for many reasons (2 hours and $20 to get to NYC, for one!), bad for the horsey life.  Or at least bad for the horse life when one lives in the middle of a huge city.  But I've finally found a situation that works for now... after a bit of trial and error.

Barn #1:

Way too far away and was kind of falling down.

Wasn't worth the trip (and their pricier lessons) for the instruction I saw.

Barn #2:

Took a month of lessons at a barn that also does a great program for inner-city kids.

Lessons were... interesting?  Basically dodging horses/riders and trying not to inadvertently jump something!

Rode a cute horse named Gato, who really needed to be clipped, made me kind of sad:

Fun to ride, but after 2 lessons on him (and 2 on Jordan, a speedy little thing who I spent the first lesson trying to discern the difference between his trot and canter aids! Thankfully he had a cute little canter, but still kind of a pain) I knew that wasn't the place for me.  I value horsekeeping a bit too much, I've been spoiled!

Barn #3:

This is feeling a bit Cinderella and the glass slipper (or Goldilocks and the Three Bears...).

I was reluctant to try barn #3, because it's theoretically a "therapeutic" barn.  Which I don't really need, as long as I have an understanding instructor and good horses... but since I can't find that in a reasonable distance from where I live... And I like their horse care, horses get corrective pads and are nicely groomed, tack doesn't feel like it's going to fall apart in your hands, all good things!

I've had 4 rides so far on a great former eventer named Mason.  Not quite sure WHAT he is, some kind of drafty Appy thing? But he's fun!  He reminds me of riding Indy in the way he moves, maybe just because he's taller than Radar/etc?  His trot is great to post, and actually not as disastrous as I thought it might be to attempt sit.  He's fun like Indy in that he's physically forward but not "up" mentally - the perfect combination for me!

Not that happy with the fact that my lessons are only 1/2 hour, but that seems to be par for the course for all lesson programs around here.  Much better than nothing!  Yesterday we did some pole work and I learned that it's incredibly difficult to convince a former jumper to stop with front legs on one side of the pole and hind legs on the other!  We figured out our seat aids and got on the same page.  Excited to see what else he's capable of with his background!  Might attempt a dressage show this fall if I'm here!

(not my picture, and not that flattering of the poor, sort of homely but cute guy...)

 So that's my long-overdue horsey update.

 

Better late then never: photos

 So the orange pony was a pumpkin for Halloween... complete with vine and stem.  For only being on the property a few weeks before this, he was a good sport about everything!

He's being kind of a pill lately so I'm back to just riding (Saint) Indy, who does amazing things for your confidence and abilities!  Working on my two-point a ridiculous amount hoping that I can get strong enough to hold on to his canter stride... I love this horse, but the whole 16hh horse with long legs/big stride and 4'11" rider combination is interesting.

But he's a good sport about everything, even if he does insist on sliming me every ride.  He so is not the slobbery type, and yet...

Envy! Maybe not?

I think almost all of us wish something were different about our riding life sometimes. Of course I wish I had access to expensive, high-quality schoolmasters and shows. Perhaps someday I will, but I do have to realize every so often that I am learning and growing immensely as a rider - perhaps more than I would grow in a different riding environment. I like having the horsemanship knowledge and background that makes me confident and knowledgeable, and am continuously amazed when people who are exposed to echelons of the horse world that I will never reach don't know things such as identifying horse breeds that I spent my entire childhood reading and re-reading about. It's just nice to get a bit of perspective every so often. It was ridiculously hot yesterday, so I just walked Echo around a bit before lessons. He was good, as usual, I love older, well-behaved Arabs!

The Little Things

It's amazing how the little things can drastically change your ride and your horse's performance. I was having a perfectly fine lesson today, I was getting the job done... but I was crooked. Actually, more like torqued oddly to the left. So, for the rest of my lesson I worked on moving my left hip forward and upward... and it was amazing what this little change did! Suddenly, bending and flexing to the right became so much easier, we could leg yield both directions with minimal effort, and were generally working very well together. Have I said I love this pony?

Knowing versus doing...

Dressage is cerebral, I think that is part of what I love about it. But, alas, you also have to be able to do what you're thinking about. For a good year or so, I understood the theoretical aspects of what I wanted: inside leg to outside rein isn't that much of a stretch, is it? But my body just would. not. cooperate with that idea. No matter how well I conceptualized what I wanted to happen, I couldn't get it to translate to my riding.

Over the past year, as my instructor has pointed out to me, I finally started to get the concept of feel. I can actually sense what I'm doing and am beginning to make the changes necessary for my pony to go so much better. It's just so nice to finally be able to think about doing something, do it, and get the desired result! Hopefully more breakthroughs are eminent...

Why Write? Why Blog?

Actually these two sentiments are fairly intertwined, and things I ask myself (repeatedly!) when things aren’t going so well on either front. The simple answer, of course, is that it makes me happy and fulfills me in some way. This blog is perhaps mostly for myself, for me to chronicle my journey as I learn, struggle, and enjoy the horses I am so lucky to have in my life.

And who, exactly, am I? Grad student (almost done!), hopeless academic, theater-loving city girl who fell in love with horses at summer camp and never looked back, life-time lesson student who has yet to own a horse of her own, dressage aficionado, a rider who sometimes struggles to ride with a neurological impairment, and ultimately a (shameless) wanna-be competitive rider…. someday in the future. When I have time. And money. And talent.

I have ridden both school horses and privately-owned horses over the years, and the horse I currently ride is a privately-owned Fjord pony. We struggle with the same things many amateur dressage riders face: impulsion, straightness, forwardness (how many times do I hear “more forward!” each lesson? Quite a few!), and believing in ourselves. Recently we have become more “connected” with each other–well, that mostly amounts to me actually having a clue what my body is telling the poor pony to do!–and have begun to work on collection and rhythm.

No new horse blog would be complete without shameless pony pictures. Here is my poor, long-suffering pony dressed up as a hot dog last Halloween… posted because the expression of utter indifference is so hilarious:

So, more dressage blogging is to come soon!