Waiting....

So, Obe was started on the alfalfa pellets this past week.  She's had a few days on them (she started full time on them on Friday after a test run on Thursday morning to make sure she'd eat them!).  So now begins the waiting game.  I'm excited to get her off the grain completely and get her NSCs as low as possible to see how that affects her attitude and general well being.  If she drops any weight, I can always add beet pulp or a ration balancer or Cool Calories...there are many options other than grain.  Right now, she's getting right at a pound of alfalfa pellets and a cup (about half pound) of Empower Boost at every feeding.  In the morning, she gets her MSM SmartPak...and that's it! 

Let the waiting game begin! 

If only this weren't true...

Sadly...I can't tell you how many times I've heard or had this kind of conversation.  *sigh*

Not horse related....

This morning, as I was preparing to start my eleven o'clock class (ENG 111 - the basic composition course that every student has to take), one of my students turned to me and told me the most wonderful news.  She had scored very well (nearly perfect) on a writing assignment in another class - this assignment required her to do research, use citations, and develop her ideas in a highly organized fashion.  She smiled as she said, "The teacher told me that it was easy to read."  She knew I'd love that.  After all, it's something that I've repeated about a thousand times since the start of the semester - your writing is all about your audience.  How do you get your ideas, your knowledge, your experiences across to someone who doesn't live inside your head?  She obviously "got it."  And she knew that that statement was a fantastic compliment to her writing. 

That is the kind of moment that makes me want to keep doing this forever.  I love it when students recognize the impact of what we talk about in composition - when they see how the concepts translate from one context to another - when they engage in active transfer (a buzzword in the education world) from one class to the next.  Seeing students make connections is what makes my day.  Isn't that really what so much of our lives are about?  Connection?  Connection to one another...connection between that beautiful image in a poem to the way we feel about our spouses...connection from that discussion in anatomy to the lecture in graphic design...connection between that truth in one area to the truth in another.  When a student, thoughtful and wrestling with ideas, starts a sentence with, "It's kind of like..." I just want to go ahead and say "Yes" before I ever hear what that student is connecting to.  It doesn't matter, really, in the end - what matters is the fact that a connection was made - a tiny thread that links one idea to another.  Eventually, more threads emerge, and the student begins to weave a tapestry of knowledge that decorates the space inside her head.  I think that is quite possibly the  most beautiful creation in the world.   

Fingers crossed

Just a quick note...

Keeping my fingers crossed this week.  Michele is going to ask the barn owners to supply alfalfa pellets for her mare and for Obe.  That way, I can take her (Obe...not Michele) completely off grain.  I'm excited to try that, hoping that maybe it will help with the random spookiness (which ONLY happens when I ask her to work) and general distractedness, especially when we're alone in the arena. 

So, hopefully soon...these....

Will be going into these....

Cycles...phases...whatever

I think we've gotten the whole "feed the horse too much grain" thing figured out.  For the last week and a half, Obe's gotten the correct amount of feed, and she's also been fed the correct number of supplement cups (I've kept count).  The gas and pooping while riding have stopped...she has NEVER been one to poop while I'm riding her, so that was another sign of her gastric distress last week. 

However, even with all that "fixed," she's still a bit crazy.  I rode her in the outdoor yesterday, and we were alone for most of the time.  I walked forever...and she stretched beautifully, taking big, swingy strides and giving both sides of her jaw in flexion and counter-flexion.  I did a thousand and one trot transitions - six or seven strides of trot, back to walk, six or seven strides of trot, back to walk.  I wanted to warm her up slowly, and I wanted to make the ride as positive as possible given how sketchy our rides have been over the past week and a half.  After being out for about 30 minutes, she started her "I'm suddenly scared to go in one area of the arena" act.  We were trotting happily along for a brief distance when she suddenly put on the brakes, her ears went forward HARD, and she started backing up.  For the rest of the ride, I could hardly get her ears to flip back to me.  Ugh....

Maybe I'm doing too much concentrating on her ears.  However, when I read the book by Yvonne Barteau, she mentioned ALWAYS being able to "get an ear" as a requirement for the work she does with horses.  Mary Wanless also mentions it in one of her books...how "getting an ear" is important to know what the horse is focusing on.  I HARDLY ever am able to "keep" Obe's ears for one circuit of the arena.  She is always focused on the barn...whether we're in the indoor or the outdoor, anytime we're pointing that direction, her ears are hard forward.  She still moves off my leg, she'll still flex/counterflex (usually), and do what I ask...but she's ignoring me otherwise.  If another horse is being brought down to the barn, she focuses on that.  If the neighbor is in his garden, she focuses on that.  If imaginary creatures begin crawling along the edges of the arena fence, she focuses on those. I don't know if this is an issue that I should continue to worry about or if I should just let it go and accept that that's how she is.  I've gone through both mindsets over the past couple of years, and neither one seems to work all that well.

Or, maybe we're just in a phase...we seem to go in and out of various phases over the course of a year.  We'll have phases were every ride feels like we're really working and moving up.  Then, we'll have phases where every ride feels like a fight...spookiness, random bucking, flipping out about being alone in the arena.  I really hope this is just a phase.

In related news...I'm hoping to take her completely off grain soon.  I'm hoping to put her on alfalfa pellets and Empower so that the total NSCs are as low as possible and I can see how much of these antics are related to grain.  Fingers crossed....

Sundae for breakfast....and dinner...and breakfast again

The poor Obester.  Last week, I'm sure she thought she hit the jack pot when the new guy started feeding.  I'm not sure how many feedings she had gotten before I caught the mistake...but he was feeding her three times MORE grain than she's supposed to get.  She only gets a little more than a handful, mostly to get her to eat her supplements and to have a few extra calories.  She was getting nearly a quart from the new guy.  Needless to say, her belly was upset for the whole week...and she chose to express it in "creative" ways.  I'll let her explain...

So, I've heard that humans sometimes get these treats called sundaes.  They're rich and tasty and huge...and they taste amazing at first.  But, if you eat too much, you get a tummy ache.  Well, I think I understand about sundaes now.

See, the new guy fed by himself a few times last week.  When he first came to my stall to dump in my feed, I couldn't believe my eyes.  Seriously, he dumped in a mountain of grain.  I had to swallow REALLY hard to keep from gasping in amazement.  I didn't want him to know that I wasn't supposed to get that much!  Oh, man...it was so good!  I ate and ate and ate some more...it was like the grain just kept coming!  I could hardly taste the two powders Mom puts in my food (one is for my joints and one is called magnesium...I don't know what it does).  I just KNEW I'd never get a meal like this again, so I took my time and enjoyed every bite! 

I almost whinnied with delight when I saw the new guy feeding the next day.  I couldn't WAIT to get my mountain of grain.  I was dancing in place and shoving my nose out the feed access in the bars of my stall.  He dumped the grain, and it was like a sundae all over again...man, it was so good! 

Then, Mom came out to ride. 

I don't know...once we started working and I started moving around, that sundae didn't agree with my stomach so much.  I hate to admit this, but I was so gassy.  Seriously, I'm a lady, and I know that ladies don't typically make those sorts of noises, but I just couldn't help it!  Trotting and cantering just shook it out of me.  Then came the cramps.  Oh, boy, the cramps.  I finally had had enough, and I needed to make Mom stop.  So, as we were cantering along one long side of the arena (in this stupid move she calls "counter flexing"...it's hard), I bolted and bucked as hard as I could.  I ALMOST got her off my back, but she managed to stay on...I'm not sure how.  Anyway, after that, she was MAD.  She made me keep working, but I was hurting so bad I didn't want to relax my belly and my back, so I held them tight the whole time.  That was NOT a good ride. 

Maybe sundaes aren't a good idea.  But, man, are they good!  *sigh*  Mom eventually found out about the sundaes and she put a stop to it with a permanent marker.  She marked a BIG LINE all the way around my feed bucket to show how much grain I get.  It's a pitiful amount, really.  Oh well...it's better, I guess.  It took nearly a week for all the cramps and farts to go away. 

So, that's Obe's story.  Yes, she almost got me off with her massive bucking, and yes...I was angry.  But, once I found out about the over feeding, I felt sorry for the poor girl.  She's been back on her normal amounts for a week now, and last night she was much better for me.  I'm hoping to take her off grain completely soon...just feed the Empower (rice bran) and alfalfa pellets for extra calcium and calories.  If I do that, I will do all the measuring and have her meals pre-packaged for her.  I don't want to risk having this kind of thing happen again.  I've got too much to do this winter!  We have shows to go to next year and Bronze Medal scores to get!  ;)

Obe takes over...

Obe decided she wanted to have a voice in all this jibber-jabber (that's her word), so I've handed the keyboard over to her for this post...I feel like I should genuflect and say a prayer, because I'm not real sure what she's going to say. 

Hi all you people on the interwebz.  I just had to take over this post to tell you about the horrid things my mother has put me through the last couple of days.  I figure that the more people know the TRUTH, the more they will sympathize with me and bring me ginger snaps. 

First, she came up to the pasture to steal me away from my boyfriend, Rocky, while we were sleeping in the shade.  I'm not kidding.  She walked right into the gate and started crinkling the plastic wrappers on the peppermints she'd brought.  Dang it, she knows how to get me and Rocky to stand still!  Rocky was too interested in the peppermints to run away...if only he would have run!  I would've gone with him!  But, since he was interested, I had to be interested too.  Of course, before I could have my peppermint, I had to put my head in the halter.  *sigh*  So, she captured me and dragged me away from Rocky. 

Once in the barn, while she was grooming me, Adora and her human, Michele, came up the hill.  I like Adora...she makes me feel safe and comfy.  So, Michele and my mom WOULD NOT shut up the whole time they were grooming.  I like to snooze while I'm being groomed, especially when mom conditions and brushes my tail.  My ears get all floppy and I let my lip hang loose.  Not this time.  Nope.  Mom and Michele yacked the whole time.  I don't know how in the world they can find so many things to talk about...and laughter, dear me, the laughter!  I think they're losing it, if you know what I mean.

Mom got me tacked up in my jumping saddle, then took me outside.  But, rather than taking me down to the arena to lunge and work, she stood on this big green box outside the barn and got on me...without lunging me!  The nerve!  Then, she turned me AWAY from the arena.  Oh well, I got to follow Adora, at least.  So, we walked down the driveway and past Adora's house.  Then...you won't believe this...I almost can't believe it, and I LIVED it...once we got past the bridge and started up the big, long hill....she kicked me and made me trot!!!  Can you believe it?  Adora was trotting in front of me, and Mom wanted me to keep up with her!  That hill is long, and, while I appreciate the fact that Mom was in half-seat, it was HARD lugging her up that hill!  When we got to the top, I could hardly catch my breath.  My nostrils were flaring out so far even I could see them!  The nerve of some people...at least we got to WALK back down the hill!

Then, we weren't through!  We walked to the outdoor arena, and Mom made me warm up like usual...trot AND canter!  Ugh!  Oh, and it's not over...nope, not yet.  After we warmed up, we jumped, like forever.  She kept cantering me and cantering me to these jumps...I kept doing them perfectly so maybe she'd stop, but she just kept going.  Finally, she stopped me.  I was so icky sweaty...I mean, seriously, I have a winter coat coming in and it was almost 80 degrees.  What did she expect?  I got to watch Adora jump, too...but she was just as tired and confused as I was.  *another sigh*

Then...THEN....Bella came down with her human, Patti.  Michele and Mom said they'd LOOOVE to go on a trail ride with Patti.  REALLY?  A trail ride?  Did they bother to ask the horses?  Nope.  So, off we went.  We walked up that REALLY steep hill by the new pasture, over the hill in the woods, by that gate that I always try to use to scrape Mom off me, and back through the neighborhood and down the driveway (AGAIN) and back to the barn.  Sheesh...

When Mom FINALLY got off and took me to the barn, I fell asleep in the cross ties almost immediately after she got my bridle off.  I was exhausted!  Can you believe it?  Can you believe what horrible things I have to go through?  Shouldn't someone call someone and get someone out here to save me?  Someone?  Anyone?  At least Mom kissed me several times and told me I was such a pretty and good girl.  She seemed happy with the torture session.

At least I've had the past couple of days off to rest my sore muscles...crazy lady. 

The most respectful thing we can do...

I don't know Andrea, and I've never met Gogo, but I have kept up with their adventures and lives through Andrea's blog.  Andrea has made the decision to do the most respectful thing she can for Gogo.  In the animal world, we call it "sending her over the Bridge," meaning the Rainbow Bridge (which is an image from Norse mythology). 

Andrea, I don't know if you'll ever read this - a blog from a stranger you've never even heard from (apart from a couple of comments I put on your blog).  Please know that there are many others who have shed tears for Gogo.  She leaves this world with so much love and care - from you, from your friends, from those who have anonymously followed her travails online. 

On the other side of the bridge, she'll meet a handsome, tall, bright red gelding named Flash.  Even though he's been on the other side for four years, he still looms large in my dreams.  His arthritic, crooked right knee is straight again, and you should see how the wind whips his mane as he gallops like he did when he was younger.  Gogo's suspensory will be whole - the light in her eyes will return - and she will gallop with those beautiful bare feet with Flash and all the other loved horses that await her. 

I know it doesn't seem like it, but the pain gets a little easier to bear.  Sometimes I wonder...if it doesn't still hurt, am I still remember Flash like I should?  I know that I am.  Just because the tears stop doesn't mean I don't remember and love him. 

My prayers are with you and your beautiful mare...godspeed, Gogo.

What I Did on My Summer Vacation

I'm an English teacher.  More specifically, I teach writing - "composition" as those of us in the know call it.  Sometimes, I can't help but sympathize with the teacher on the classic movie A Christmas Story.  In Ralphie's dream scenario, she assigns A THEME (and states it so dramatically that it warrants the use of all caps in this case).  Ralphie sees her as she - in the midst of Ralphie's reverie - agonizes over the poor writing she has received.  She marks each theme with an F until she comes to Ralphie's.  She reads his in complete rapture, nearly singing every word.  After reading, she leaps from her desk chair and fills the chalk boards with "A +++++++++."  I understand how she feels. 

Anyway, I was thinking today of the timeless classic THEME of What I Did on My Summer Vacation.  How many of those have you written in your lifetime?  And, if you didn't write it, you were probably compelled to somehow share with your classmates on the first day of school what you had done the previous three months.  There was inevitably the classmate who did something so magnificent, so earth-shattering that your stories of going to the community pool paled horribly in comparison.  You so desperately wanted to be the cool kid who traveled or got to meet someone famous.  But, that never happened.  So, in that vein, I'm going to share what I did on my summer vacation.

I did lots and lots of weedeating.  Seriously.  And I don't mean the simple, trim-around-the-edges-of-your-freshly-mown-lawn kind of weedeating; I mean practically blazing new trails in a jungle kind of weedeating.  Here's the deal - to help pay for Obe's board (and to aggressively tackle the debt we have), I took on the weedeating at the farm for the summer.  On a horse farm that is nearly 30 acres - and is fenced and cross-fenced for pastures - and is situated on a steep hillside where a mower or bush hog can't go - that means A LOT of weedeating.  So much weedeating, in fact, that there's no way I could ever be "caught up."  Add to that the fact that we had ample rain this summer, and you've got me practically running around the farm with the weedeater trying to stay on top of it all. 

Allow me to use some visuals to help you see what I'm talking about.  First, the tools of the trade:

On the left is the trusty weedeater.  Beside it is the ear protection/mesh face mask that I wear - gasoline and Cyndi, the loppers (get it?).  The only missing tool is the small spool of weedeating string, but I had just used the last of it for this morning's jaunt. 

Now, prepare yourself for this next picture.  Seriously, small children should probably be removed from the room, because this picture is the stuff of nightmares.  I have successfully startled nearly every horse on the property in my get up.  I'm sure I look like a horseflesh-eating creature in their prey minds; some will bolt to the far side of their pastures while I work on one fenceline.  As I make my way around the pasture, they will strategically graze around the fence farthest from me.  Anyway...this is me, believe it or not:

Ear protection/mesh face mask, baseball cap, dust mask, bandana around neck, long-sleeved shirt, long pants and boots.  Every single time I did the weedeating this summer, this is what I wore.  This morning, with temps in the mid-60s, it wasn't so bad.  However, on a few of those 90-degree afternoons, it got a little brutal.  Okay, a lot brutal.  Note the flecks of eaten weeds stuck in the face protection.  At the end of a day weedeating, I would be completely covered in these flecks.  I'm not exaggerating at all to say that I had grass all over my body at one point or another while weedeating - all I can say to that is, "eeewww."  Seriously.

So, this morning, I decided to work a bit on Adora's pasture.  Adora, the special mare that she is, has her own little pasture that is basically a long, narrow run that opens up into a large square of a field.  Her pasture borders Obe's, and they've become quite good buddies.  They even travel well together, and Adora is kind of particular about who travels in "her" trailer.  The long, narrow run part of Adora's pasture was a little crazy with weeds...and I mean WEEDS.  Huge weeds...as thick as my arm and as tall as I am.  Here are a couple of before pictures.

 That's Adora on the right, looking typically aghast that I would come into her pasture at all, let alone in the get up that I showed you above.  The two greys on the other side of the short, electric fence are Spirit and Jasmine, two of the best school ponies in the world.  Anyway, that's one section of fenceline that I attacked today. 

This is Adora's little run - I like to call it her catwalk, because she's kind of a diva.  You can't even see the fenceline on the left.  It has been completely swallowed up by weeds.  It is definitely time to fight back the jungle. 

So, over the course of two and a half hours, I hacked away with Cyndi the Loppers and my trusty weedeater.  I would do one section of fence at a time (from fencepost to fencepost), digging through the weeds and lopping off the large weeds that would spell death to my weedeater string, then cranking up the weedeater and mowing down all the rest.  So...the after shots...

 This is where Adora was standing in the before shot.

And this is her catwalk.  Notice that you can actually see the fencelines!  Yay!  Clear fencelines are one of my favorite things.

There you have it - what I did on my summer vacation.  Yes, school has started and I'm still weedeating, but that's because the weeds are still growing!  They don't know that summer is over.  But, I must admit that it sure feels good to look down that fenceline and see it all clear and pretty - hard work is just that, hard, but it's also very rewarding. I'd give myself an "A++++++++++."

Now, was that so hard?

I just want to open up this post by reaffirming that I believe it is wrong to abuse horses.  Clear?  Okay...moving on....

Yesterday evening, I rode Obe for the first time in a week (life got CRAZY last week with the beginning-of-the-school-year faculty meetings and going out of town to see long lost friends in Virginia).  I gave her all the benefit of the doubt I possibly could and longed her forever.  In fact, as I longed her, I let her walk for nearly 10 minutes each direction, making sure that her back was nice and stretched and warmed up.  She was all cool and calm, not even looking around in the scary corners of the arena.  I was pretty impressed, to say the least.  After all, it had been an entire week since she'd been ridden AND she had been stuck in her stall the night before because of too much rain keeping the horses from being turned out. 

After our long and leisurely longe (like that alliteration, folks?), I got on, and she struck out at fantastic walk.  It was big, stretchy, forward, swingy...all the things we love in a walk.  Now, I've learned over the past few months that if I let her warm up on the longe, I can get to work pretty quickly under saddle - nothing too collected or tough, just get her moving.  This has made life MUCH easier, and it's really changed the way she's working under saddle...for the good!  So, I went to a canter pretty quickly (easier to get a good canter first, then go back and work on trot...again, nothing too collected...just loose and moving around).  Both directions were nice, and the transitions were prompt off my leg.  So, I decided to work a little in walk. 

Now, Obe doesn't like truly working in walk.  Walk on the buckle?  Absolutely.  Medium walk and perhaps a turn on haunches or two?  Not so much.  Work on lateral work in the walk to truly confirm it?  Yeah, right.

I had her in a fantastic working walk to the left.  As I made a turn through a corner, I put my left leg on to ask....well, let me just share the conversation I had with her. 

Me:  Obe, could you move off my left calf and engage your left hind a bit?

Obe:  *humming*

Me:  Hello?  Obe?  Could you move off my left heel?

Obe:  What?  No...I can't.  I'll stop moving my feet so you quit asking me.

Me:  No, we still need forward...both heels will now ask you to move.  I may even use my spur.

Obe:  Oh yeah?  Well, what do you think of backwards?  And for good measure, I'm gonna toss my head up so you see my forehead just inches from your eyes! 

Me:  Seriously? 

Obe:  Yep.

Now, let me interject that we've had this EXACT SAME CONVERSATION about a million times over the past year and a half.  It is nearly always in the same spot in the arena, and after I address it, it goes away.  She is not in pain; she just happens to BE a pain sometimes.  This issue has pretty much disappeared since I've started letting her warm up her back on the longe, but it occasionally shows up when she decides that she doesn't want to do what I ask.  Back to the story....

So, I put both reins in my left hand, turned my dressage whip overhanded in my right hand, and cracked her across her butt.  Immediately, she took off bucking.  I kept her head up, and after a few bucks, she settled into a trot, and I released and praised the daylights out of her.  After that, we didn't have ANY issues moving off leg, whether they were asking for sideways or forward.  In fact, we got some darn nice shoulder-in left on a 20m circle, proving that the engagement of the left hind was not only possible, but quite lovely! 

Seriously, mare...I just wanted forward.  Is it really that hard? 

Calgon, take me....to the barn!

Life just gets in the way sometimes. 

I haven't ridden since this past weekend (it's Friday right now), and I'm getting ready to head out of town for the weekend.  So, when I finally do get to ride sometime next week, it will be over a week since my last ride.  Obe will be nuts.  I HATE that...I hate feeling like I'm getting somewhere and making some decent progress only to be set back by being busy.  Ugh....

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm totally excited about going out of town this weekend.  I'm seeing some dear friends that I haven't seen in ages...one I saw last year; one I haven't seen in several years; and the other I haven't seen in seven years.  I can't wait!  I love these folks like they were my own family, so I'm completely content with leaving town.

I just want it all, I guess.  I want to leave town, see my friends, and somehow be able to ride my horse!  Until that whole "teleporting" thing gets ironed out, that kind of situation is not happening.  *sigh*

The good news is that classes start on Monday, so I'll be able to fall into some sort of routine with work, lessons and riding.  Routine is good...routine gets stuff done.  Yay, routine!

A good time was had by all...

I feel it's only fair that I update you on how the schooling went at this past weekend's show at Tryon.  In short, Obe was a rock star!  The day went perfectly, even with her brief moments of complaining and protest (during which she stops, hollows, and backs up).  After riding through several of those protest moments, she settled in and I got some decent work out of her.

Allow me to set the stage.  It was HOT.  I don't mean it was warm or a little uncomfortable, it was downright hot.  My friend Stacey had a reading of 104 degrees on her truck's thermometer as we left the showgrounds around 1:30 PM.  Misery. 

Michele and I, though, braved the heat.  We loaded up our ponies around 9 AM and headed south to Tryon.  It's always a blast to ride places with Michele because she's so easy to talk to.  We talked about Rebecca Farm, how to open your seat to encourage lateral movements from your horse, movies that are playing at Cinebar...fun times.  We got to FENCE and parked by the barns (near the wash areas), opened up the trailer doors to let in some air, then went to check in.  I've discovered that this helps Obe.  If I leave her on the trailer with doors open, she gets a chance to rest, look around and decide it's not so bad.  Once we got our numbers, we pulled the girls off the trailer, tacked up and hopped on.

The show organizers were smart...they put warm-up in the covered arena.  Typically, you ride in warm-up longer (and harder) than you do in the show ring, so it's a good idea to put it in a cooler location.  I can handle warming up for 30 minutes in a covered arena, then sucking it up and showing in the blazing sun for about 8 minutes.  No problem.  Stacey was warming up her new horse, Mitchell.  Michele wanted to pop over a few of the warm up jumps, which were down at the end of the arena.  So, I poked around on Obe, working her through her initial stickiness and protesting.  She did well...she was a bit looky, but I'll forgive that since the covered arena creates some interesting shadows.  I then followed Michele over to the jump ring and watched her do a round at Novice height.  Stacey's dressage ride was in the very next ring, so we sat and watched that, too.  Obe was awesome, allowing the other horses to leave without dancing or jigging.  I think the heat helped with that a bit, too! 

Stacey's ride was the last one in the short court arena.  Once the judge and scribe left, Michele and I went in and played around a bit.  This is where Obe started to get a little sticky again...after all, she had to keep an eye on Adora and where she was at all times.  Michele just hacked around the arena while I got Obe inside the dressage arena and worked a bit.  After a few circles and work on lateral stuff, she sighed and got to work.  I love discovering little tools that help, and shoulder-in is THE lateral movement to use with Obe when she's being sticky.  I have to remember to keep the trot energy moving through my knees so I don't lock up.  Once I'm there for her, she engages and settles.  So, I exited the arena, let Michele go in and practice a test, then worked on canter stuff at the end of the larger arena.  Obe was soft, responsive, and fantastic!  So, I quit, walked her out of the arena on the buckle and waited for Michele and Stacey.  I love the fact that she'll just stand and wait patiently now.  Again, the heat probably helped with that - she was begging to stand still - but, it's a nice way to just chill with my pony and let her know that all is right with the world.

The three of us took our horses across the street to the xc area.  FENCE is a great facility, but I HATE crossing the street there.  First, it's on a curve, so you never know when a car is coming.  Second, you have to walk up the street a little ways to get the entry gate, and you walk under the Interstate...so, two over passes above you with cars zooming across WHOMP-WHOMP!  WHOMP-WHOMP! Obe is most comfortable following, so we hung out in the back of our little line of three, and she marched right through like it was no big deal.  Love her. 

This is part of the xc course at FENCE. 



We hacked around a bit around a few of the trails at FENCE, and Obe was so brave when a couple rounded a corner facing us and their off-leash boxer came bounding up to us.  We halted, of course, and just waited for the incredibly apologetic owner to get her dog under control.  Michele looked over her shoulder and said, "Relax your butt cheeks."  I smiled, because I needed to do just that!  I was so tense, scared that Obe was going to either lash out at the dog and kill it or bolt off into the next county.  She stood very still, her ears flicking around, while the boxer sniffed at her legs and her (beautiful) tail.  I was so proud of my girl! 

This is a cuter version of the dog that took its life into its own hands by sniffing Obe's tail.

Back at the trailers, I sponged her down (she was foamy) and gave her ginger snaps.  It was fan-freakin'-tastic! 

Maybe, just maybe, my pony is learning to trust me even more.  :)

Rider, calm thyself!

I'm planning on taking Obe to simply school at a dressage show in Tryon this coming Saturday.  I haven't entered any classes (partially because it's so expensive!  Only $15 to go school all day...I can even school in the competition rings during breaks and after all the rides...THAT'S a deal!).  So, why am I already getting kind of worked up?  When I think about Saturday (and doing the laundry I'll need, making sure I pack my nice helmet, clean up my boots, etc.), I get that little flutter at the base of my ribcage that makes me breathe a little shallower than normal. 

Seriously, JB...get aholt a yerself!

I know it's just a vicious cycle.  I expect Obe to be tense and perhaps interested in schooling the airs above the ground when I take her off campus.  Past experience has shown that she has a proclivity towards this.  My expectations build the tension in me.  My tension then transfers to Obe, which pushes her closer and closer to that cliff edge.  Which makes me tense.  Which transfers to Obe.  You get the picture. 

A couple of months ago, I went with Michele to school Obe at the last dressage show.  While we went to check in at the show office, we left our mares on the trailer with the doors and windows open.  They happily munched their hay.  Once we had our numbers in hand, we pulled the girls off, leisurely tacked up, then hacked around the warm up areas.  We managed to get into the performance rings...AND, I worked Obe in one ring while Michele took her girl to another ring.  Obe wasn't sure about that, at first, feeling a strong desire to keep track of where Adora was and what she was doing.  But, I got some good schooling done.  On the drive home, I was elated!  You would have though I had just won my first FEI class.  I was so proud of my girl...and, let's face it, of myself!  We had a calm, positive experience off campus! 

So, I'm working on making this weekend a repeat of that one.  I just want to hack around, school in the warm ups as though I were going to show.  The show is even offering a schooling show jumping round for various levels, so Obe will be seeing other horses galloping and jumping.  A good thing...we hope.

One of these days, I'll have my own truck and trailer.  Then, Obe is going to get VERY used to trailering off for rides in various places...we're going to go EVERYWHERE.  Or, maybe I just need an old ratty convertible!

Flash Week

Just some time to remember the sweet horse that taught me so very much.

The games ponies play

This morning, I was riding alone in the outdoor arena.  Don't worry, I wasn't alone on the entire property; I won't ride if I'm the only one there.  But, I was the only one riding.  This means that Obe was COMPLETELY distracted, needing to look everywhere and pay attention to everything except me.  It must be the alpha mare in her driving her to feel like she needs to take care of everything.  *sigh* 

The first 35-40 minutes were fantastic.  I got some great canter work, and I then I moved to working on some lateral stuff.  The shoulder-in has improved by leaps and bounds since I've stopped cramming her with my inside leg and, instead, have started opening the outside leg from my hip joint and inviting her to step into it.  Much more fluid. 

After a walk break, I picked the reins back up to work a bit on the timing of my half-halts in sitting trot.  I've been working on making them happen on the upbeat so that I really catch the energy rather than on the downbeat which would kill the energy.  All of the sudden, a corner that we had been riding in for over half an hour became the Lair of All Things Deadly.  Obe absolutely wouldn't go near it.  Her ears were hard and forward; she stopped dead in her tracks, then started back up with that telescoped neck and dropped back that I really hate feeling.  It took all I had in me not to get mad and take it personally.  Seriously, walking around on the buckle, the mare isn't scared of anything.  As soon as I pick up the reins to work, we have the most despicable monsters living in the corners of our arena.  *sigh...again*

This is what she sees in the corners.

So, I walked her a few times through the spooky corner, went to another part of the arena, and worked on my plan...my half-halt timing in the sitting trot.  I actually had some nice collected steps...and the transitions from trot to walk became much more fluid as I really thought about the timing of the half-halt to ask for them.  I have to move my concentration towards the fronts of my thighs and half-halt towards her crest (about where a martingale would sit).  This keeps me riding on TOP of the wave of energy rather than squashing it with my butt.  There's really no delicate way to state that...it's just what it is. 

After my successful school, I dropped the reins back to the buckle, and we walked bravely everywhere.  Silly mare. 

Lesson learned...and still being learned:  Don't take it personally.  She isn't scheming or out to get me.  She's simply acting like a horse...a mare, at that. 

A few thoughts on Aachen...

Not that it really matters what I think in the world of international dressage, but watching the Aachen CDI the other day and reading subsequent articles about the results got me to thinking. 

Steffen's ride was beautiful.  Ravel's half passes were fluid and his transitions were seamless.  The extended canter took my breath away; it looked like he covered the diagonal in three strides.  His ride should have scored better. 

Totilas looked much more pleasant.  Now, I'm not a Totilas basher, per se, but I haven't liked what I've seen.  Sure, he's flashy and bouncy, but the tightness, the poll dipping very low, and the absolute lack of hind end engagement in the trot lengthenings just irks me.  I can't see how he has been scored so phenomenally well.  However, under his new rider (whom I DO NOT envy for having to follow up the Gal/Totilas freak show), Totilas looked much more fluid.  His passage and piaffe were not so extravagant; no hooves flashing up by his ears.  His throatlatch was more open; his frame was longer and more swingy.  Here's an article that gets to the point a little better than I do.

And video of the black wonder horse...

I'm disappointed that Steffen and Ravel didn't score/place better.  I really do love that team.  However, I am glad to see what Rath is doing with Totilas.  The horse looks happy; despite a few bobbles, they were scored fairly consistently across the board and in keeping with the quality of their work.  Well, done, Toto.

Can't...stop....looking

I am completely obsessed with catalogs.  My husband laughs when he sees how excited I get when a new catalog comes in the mail.  Of course, most of my catalogs are horse-related...Dover, SmartPak, Valley Vet Supply, Wild Horsefeathers, Back in the Saddle (there are a couple of sweaters in that catalog that I lust after). 

I can look at catalogs hundreds of times.  The big, annual Dover catalog sits out for the whole year.  Their ubiquitous sales catalogs are devoured time and again...at least, until the next sales catalog comes along.  I even read all the supplement descriptions in Smart Pak, even supplements that I'll know I'll never need for Obe (like energy builders). 

I haven't had a catalog come in the mail for a couple of weeks now, and I'm beginning to feel the strain.  When Jim went out to the mailbox this afternoon, I watched his reflection in the TV screen, craning my neck to see what he was pulling out of the box.  When he came in, I saw some colorful pages in his hands, and my heart began to race.  Unfortunately, it was merely a class catalog for the local community college (NOT the one we teach at...like I'm going to look at that catalog).  Not the kind of catalog I want. 

There's always the online version...but there's something about having those glossy pages in my hand that I can flip back and forth...something compelling. 

Come on, mailman, bring me a catalog!

Miss you long time!

Wow...it's been ages since I last updated my blog. Trust me, it isn't because my life has suddenly paused and nothing has happened! Quite the opposite, in fact...I've been busy and life has kind of gotten away with me. Anyway, here I am.

Today, I turn 35 years old. Ick, even writing that sentence made my stomach do weird flips and flops. That number means I'm on the downhill slope towards that age that begins with the letter "f" and ends with "y." Double ick. And so, I find myself wistfully pondering the passage of time. Ha! No, I'm actually sitting in my office, bundled up in a fleece against the rabid air conditioning that causes my office to hover around 40 degrees, kind of oblivious to the whole birthday thing. Don't get me wrong, I like receiving presents and well wishes as much as the next girl, but today just seems like any other day.

So, I'm going to treat it like any other day. This isn't the day I head downhill towards forty...today, is just another sunny, summer day. I'll teach composition in my summer session class; I'll go to the barn and teach a lesson to a fabulous young rider; I'll work with my own horse; I'll speak with friends; I'll celebrate the fact that the National League won the All-Star Game; I'll have a turkey sandwich and diet 7-Up for lunch; I'll snuggle with my dog; I'll water my flowers in my window boxes; I'll listen to music while I work. It's just like any other day....right?