Perfect 20 Meter Circle

Conversation I had with a friend last night:

Me:  "I never smile like that when I'm trying to ride a perfect 20 meter circle, and even if you do manage to make it a really nice circle - who gives a fuck?!"

Friend:  "Oh god - you're never going back to dressage, are you?"

Over the past few months I've been slowly introducing jumping to Gavin and my regimen.  And get this - I LOVE IT.  I'm not scared (something my mom engrained in me when I was little "it's too scary, it's so scary, no jumping!").  I feel awesome when I'm circling a jump - I feel excited, I feel confident, and I feel confident in Gavin.  And I smile.  Like a ridiculous smile.  It's been awesome.

So... yeh... I'm switching disciplines.  Eventing here I come!

(Now I just need an instructor to help me learn everything there is to learn about jumping - since I'm a total noob)

Pic of us this last weekend. Grrr - heels down Erika! But doesn't he look like a doll!

 

Butt/Spine - ALIGN!

Christmas day - two of my boys :) <3

I've been away from my blog for about a month now - I just haven't felt inspired to write.  Partially, I felt drained after my blog rant (negative feelings really don't do me any good), and partially, I'm lazy.  Luckily, this laziness hasn't translated into me not seeing or riding Gavin.  On the contrary - I've been making a lot of positive steps with my boy in the last two months.

Just for a recap, we've:

• had his saddle looked at by a saddle fitter (more on this in my next post)
• continued working on the canter (the right lead is now a joy, the left lead is still wonky as hell)
• ridden bareback quite a lot

I decided to ride bareback one day with my friend.  And when I say bareback - I mean really bareback. No pad, no towel, nothing.  Oh god - the terrible pain.  It's TMI, and I shouldn't tell you all, but I got blisters on my butt.  It wasn't pretty. 

My face when I realized what a mistake I had made…

I decided, NEVER AGAIN will I ride completely bareback, but I wanted to continue riding basically bareback because I learned one important thing while getting blistered:

I learned that I twist my body sooo much to the right and put so much weight on my right butt cheek, that my left side is almost center.  I realized this when I felt his spine poking into my left butt cheek.  I kept thinking - wait, this isn't how it's supposed to feel (durrrrr).  That's when I noticed that my whole upper body was twisted to the right and that when I untwisted myself not only did I sit evenly, but my connection with Gavin got a whole lot steadier (funny how that works).

cutest pony in the Denver-Metro area

So I've been working a lot on consciously un-twisting my upper body.  Mostly I just think "left shoulder back" and things automatically get a lot smoother in the ride.

This experience made me realize how important bareback work is for really feeling my position and my own body.  So I immediately went out and purchased the Best Friends Bareback pad (basically the thin line pad without the thin line material on top) and have ridden bareback once a week.  The last time I rode I cantered bareback.  That was the first time in my life I've ever done that and it wasn't scary and I didn't feel unbalanced.  It felt pretty much the same as in the saddle except Gav was a bit more up and more responsive!  Cantering bareback showed me the next thing I have to work on - quiet legs.  At the canter to the right my legs are relatively still and stable, but to the left they fling around like they've been possessed.  I'm not sure what's causing this, but I know it can't be helping Gavin balance or focus on the task at hand.

WARNING: Rant ahead... Probably just don't read

I am absolutely appalled by another blogger's comments on someone's blog that got posted today.  Absolutely appalled.  She doesn't read my blog, and thus I'm sure won't be reading this.  But, I'm disgusted.  I'm not going to comment on her comment, because it would be rude to the blog owner to start a fight.  But I have to say that it shocks me that a horse owner could be so callous to the sanctity of animal life. 

When you end an animal's life for an inconvenience, you may have ended your inconenience for the day, but you have ended that animal's life FOREVER.  Forever might be a hard concept for some people, but you have taken away the biggest blessing any living creature has been given - LIFE.  I would expect a rational person to understand that there are alternatives to killing something when you don't like it's behavior. 

I grew up in a community that thought nothing of killing animals (cats, small dogs, etc.) simply for trespassing.  Yeh, like an animal can comprehend property lines.  It drives me nuts, and so this comment really hit a sensitive spot on me.  I'm an animal lover, and I believe that life is precious (my life and others).  If anyone (human or animal) is going to die - it better be for a damn good reason, and not for a little indiscretion.

Rant over.

Buy My Stuff!

Okay - I have a few things to sell.  If anyone wants them just let me know!  I assume most of it will take ~$5-8 to ship.  I have a paypal account, and can issue invoices etc if you're interested.  Just email me at erika.dehmel(at)gmail.com with any questions.

First up - an unused quarter sheet.  Someone gave it to me, and I've never used it, but it's been sitting in my tack trunk, so it doesn't look brand new.  Someone hand wrote 78-80 on it, so I'm assuming that's the size you can expect.  It's polartec fleece, and is a pretty purple.  :)  $15

 Next in line is this wonderful, pre-loved grooming tote.  :-D  Just what it sounds like, it has two straps to make it easily portable, and has what appears to be a water-proof bottom.  Used thoroughly by moi, so ya know, it looks a little beat up.  Selling for $5.

Rope halter with attached lead rope - in fancy purple, pink, and white ;)  Bought last summer, and used for a few months until I went back to ole faithful (Gavin's leather halter).  $10.

Stubben web reins with leather stoppers.  Used by me, and currently in use by my friend.  Great reins - just don't use them anymore!  $30.

Romfh  grey vest - small - never worn.  Always wanted a vest, and then never wore it.  It's been hanging out with my other horsey clothes, so I wouldn't call it pristine, but it's seriously never been used.  $15

And finally, black, full synthetic seat breeches by ovation.  30 regular, but they run small! No zipper, just pull on.  Ankles are also elastic.  I will admit that I don't find these breeches to be comfortable, but to each their own - which is why I'm selling them.  You want them, you got 'em -$15.

Picture for Cara:

EquestrIan Journey Hop: What won't you do?

On this horseless night, I decided to join in on this interesting blog hop from Equestrian Journey:

horse porn - velvety soft muzzle ;)

        "We all like to share on our blogs what we do with our horses and what we would like to do, but I want to know what you will NOT do.  For example I will not carry a bag of feed into the middle of a herd of horses, especially if I don't know some of them.  I will not teach my horse to rear on purpose.  I will not ride my horse into a field full of loose horses that could kick me in the leg and break it.  Things like that.  I look forward to hearing what you have to share!"

Often times I don't even think about what I WON'T do.  I'm so focused on what I will do, and what I want to do in the future.  So this is an interesting thought.  What won't I do?

Well, until last night I would NOT wash Gavin's disgusting, greasy sheath (yeh, thats right - my horse has hygiene issues… ick!!).  I still haven't done it, but I need to and I'm committed to it because it's gross, he's obviously uncomfortable, and I can't afford to pay the vet to come out for a special trip.  So check that off the list ;)

This greasy guy here has issues down south… grrrrroooossssss!

So - on with the list of things I won't do.

1.  This wasn't always true, but I won't work with a trainer who is unfriendly and who acts like they're doing me a favor by even looking in my direction.  I recently wrote to a trainer to see if I could come watch her give lessons, with the hope that our styles would sync up and she could give me some lessons.  Her response was so unfriendly, so "I'm sooo busy, and soooo important, but I guess if you're a serious rider I can help you" that I never responded.  And I won't.  I ride for pleasure, not to be treated like crap.

2.  I will not own a horse that scares me, and I won't put myself in a position with my horse that scares me.  It isn't worth it to me.  If I'm scared, it means I'm not ready. <-- because I'm scaredy-cat this means I wind up not doing a lot of things, including: trail ride alone, jump alone… you get it!  I like the buddy system!

3.  This is a strange one - but I WON'T allow my dog off-leash around my horse.  Since I've changed barns it isn't even an option as my poor puppy isn't allowed out.  But regardless it's a safety thing for all of us.  I don't want my dog doing something doggish, freaking my horse out, who accidentally hurts me, himself, or my dog.  None of those options would be cool at all with me.  I realize some dogs are my horse-savvy.  This only relates to my dog.

Save me from myself!!!!

4.  I will not stand for abuse.  In the past I've witnessed people doing things to horses that should not be done (tacks on the outside of cavalettis or jumps, jumping off a horse after a little spook to beat the shit out of them, hitting a horse in the face with your lead rope for no obvious offense).  I stood by, and said nothing.  Not anymore.  If I feel that someone has crossed the line, I'll say something.

And that's it!  Those are honestly the only things I can think of that I WON'T do.  :)  I like the list, actually!

Canter Part 3 and Photos Galore!

I wound up traveling over Thanksgiving to see my family - it was wonderful, but it means I haven't ridden or written since Wednesday - YIKES!

I've been abandoned!

I had a really good ride on Wednesday.  I decided ahead of time that I was going to work on the canter transition on the lunge line with my willing and helpful riding partner, Laura.  We warmed up on our own, walk/trot/canter, and I have to admit - he was pretty good with transitions, but since my main focus right now is sharpening the transition between trot and canter, I don't want it to be "pretty good" I want it good, or even great!

I also bought a new lens for my camera, and so we got some pictures of our warm up and lunging.

Check out that left hind!  

What does this picture say to me?  To me he's pretty engaged and working from his butt, but he isn't really through.  I feel like I'm blocking his motion right at his shoulders.  I need to bend my elbows, pull my shoulders back (which I think would help me pull my chin back), and put my heels down!

I like this picture of Gavin and I.  I'm not screwing so much with his front shoulder action in this one, and you can tell!  He's extending more and appears more connected from back to front.  I still need to put my heels down, but my elbows look much better!

Nice heels baby!

We got to work cantering.  I made it my mission to prep him.  I'd say 1, 2, 3 and then kiss while asking for the canter.  While I was saying 1, 2, 3 I was bumping him with my inside leg.  He picked up the canter easily both directions.  In the picture you can see that my heels are down and I'm holding the whip in both hands.  I couldn't figure out what to do with my hands, but I wanted to work on bending my elbows and keeping those damn heels down!  The hands still need to be a smidge higher in my opinion, but I think it's an improvement to what you see in the first riding pic.

Chicken wings! ;) - Whatev! I like how hard Gavin is trying in this, look at his ears!!

I didn't want to drill him in the canter, but I wanted to make sure he picked up the canter easily and didn't break to the trot.  Gavin believes it's my job to keep his engine revved in the canter.  And it's not, and I don't want it to be - he's not a baby horse anymore, and I'm lazy! ;)  So while lunging I stopped asking every four strides for the canter.  I went along like a happy passenger with my seat, but I allowed him to break to the trot.  When he broke (which he did twice), I'd swat him and kiss.  Then I'd do a few more circles and then ask for the trot.  All of this was done with tons of petting and praise when he was doing a good job, which was the majority of the time.

Documenting the foam on his chest!

I need to clip this beastie!  :)

I just want to say thank you to all of you who have given me such thoughtful and useful advice for the canter.  I have tried everything everyone has suggested with definite success.  Just trying new things has helped me immensely.  Jodi from Racing to Ride suggested I leg yield and then ask when I hit the wall - this has been a very successful technique and also taught me how important it is for him to be soft to the inside aids to pick-up the canter.

Gavin watching his partner in crime getting lunged

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving, or a great weekend (in case you don't live in the states - Aoife!)

Wordless Wednesday

My sweet boy <3