Fitness, thbpitness. Eh, I think it's naptime anyway.
It was really sort of a ridiculous decision.
Encore came sound last Friday, bruises healed and body restored, a little over a week before the CT we completed yesterday. In some form of horse-show-withdrawal frenzy, I scribbled his name onto entry forms and shoved them through the mail slot without much consideration of details.
Just little things, like, oh, test preparation (we haven't taken a dressage lesson since the beginning of July), or the fact that Encore hadn't seen coloured jump poles in three months, or the teeny issue that his rider was just as winded and out of shape as he was.
Lucky for us, his TB magic meant that with a concerted effort to ride/long line/hot walk him every day until the show, he regained more than adequate condition to perform two phases on a lovely fall day. His rider had a generous crew who kept a bottle of gatorade and a granola bar close at hand so there were no dramatic fainting episodes and only a little gasping for breath.
Suzpension iz hard.
Leading up to the competition, Sunday-Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursday-Friday-Saturday became long line-dressage-jump-hot walker-long line-dressage-hack. I was baffled to discover that Thursday and Friday's trot/canter transitions had become flying bucks akin to a Lippizaner's greatest triumph. Until it occurred to me that after what amounted to six weeks off for foot healing, Junior Pony was probably a bit sore after being thrown back into schooling every day. They weren't long or particularly demanding sessions, but certainly awoke slumbering muscles in his hiney! Hence Friday and Saturday's liberal application of Sore No More and a slow walking hack through woods and fields on Saturday to stretch and relax mind and body. Hey, it worked. Sorry, dressage judge, no entertainment for you!
Tip: Sore No More contains witch hazel (which you can also buy on its own by the jug at the drug store). Wait until the horse's body cools down completely and then begin rubbing it into the muscles. Any areas where there are knots, tension, or heat will cause the liquid to foam up a little as you gently rub it in, indicating a sore spot. You can then massage that spot some more or identify stretches or alternative techniques to relax and rest those a
Enter Working Cute.
reas.
I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little stunned that this all paid off. We've not exactly had a run of amazing luck over the past two years and I'd just spent way more time and money getting my horse sound once again than I would have liked. BUT IT WORKED.
In warmup, I focused on riding correctly and accurately and made sure to leave enough time before my test to do a little trot work next to the actual show arena so he could relax there (I've always rushed that part too much in the past). While he did sometimes get looky and tight in his neck and jaw in the arena, especially his corners, he was pretty obedient, there was NO acrobatic bucking, and that entering centerline felt really damn good (and nailed us an 8!!!!). All of the judge's comments were spot on and helpful, encouraging us to work on creating more jump and straightness in the canter (oh lady, if only you knew how awesome it was that we HAVE a sound canter on both leads), and better bend where it is called for (definitely agreed!).
But he is finding that suspension!!!
He earned himself a SECOND 8 on his first medium walk and 7's on both impulsion and submission (o.m.g. we finally have some submission) in his collective marks. I could not be prouder and I admit to squeaking with startled glee when the leaderboard whispered that Encore had nailed a 34.8. With only one week of schooling, my earnest kiddo was only one point away from Solo's best score of all time.
Sure, I be dressage poneh, whatevs.
We've got the step, just need the jump!
We then had somewhere around 2.5 minutes to change tack and be ready to jump. I confess, I wasn't thrilled about the horses not getting much of a break between the two, but it did mean that your jumping warmup merely required hopping over something a few times to get them thinking forward and over and you were good to go. And that he was -- as soon as we entered the competition ring, a firecracker lit up underneath me. Encore hadn't tackled a course in three months either and he fairly vibrated with excitement. The whistle blew and we were off.
I sendz telepathik Cuna-thankz youz!
The detail-oriented among you might notice something different in our jumping outfit. In a gesture of amazing generosity, the wonderful SprinklerBandit we all know and love from her adventures with the mighty Cuna and the new protege, Courage, sent us an incredible gift while she was sorting out her tack collection. I found it on my porch after work last week, definitely one of the best ways to end my day in recent memory!
So in honour of the badass-ness of the Cuna/SB mastery of mad skillz, Encore very proudly wore (and I had long coveted) the gorgeous chocolate and powder blue Five Star Tack breastplate (which is just as exquisite in real life as I imagined) originally sported by Cuna during his reign of glory. Encore must have absorbed some magic from the Cuna-dust in the elastic because we put in the first double-clear stadium round I can remember in a long time. He was bold, he was rock-steady, and he galloped through the finish flags begging for more. Oh, and his mom tried really hard to ride properly and WAIT for him. It helps, really.
Thank you, Aimee and Cuna, we will strive to live up its legacy!!!
2'11"?? Heck, I'll take 3'11", mom, bring it!!!
The elegant beadwork of his Topline Leather browband just sets off that classy TB profile!
We went home a tired bunch, but oh-so-pleasantly-surprised with our fluttering white reward. My spirits are buoyed indeed for next week's cross country lesson with David and then...HORSE TRIAL.
Good pony. Cute pony. Honest pony. At the moment, sound pony! Who could ask for more?
When I swung my leg over and settled into Solo's dressage saddle, I remember how close to saddle heaven your butt gets to be in that thing. Delicious!
That's right, I brought Mr. Shiny down to the arena for a change since Encore continues to symie us with his particular feet. I really didn't plan on much; for once, it was only 80 degrees with a refreshingly mild 50% humidity -- it practically felt like fall!!! Solo wandered nonchalantly through the gate with the clump of his front boots and the swish of his sparse tail. Ah, my follicularly challenged friend!
I had woken up in a funny mood and the idea of some time with my best buddy was especially appealing. With some lateral work and transitions within the trot, we both woke up and rather to my surprise, my often-uninspired chestnut found a bright rhythm as I felt his back and withers lift and the base of his neck reach into an extended trot. His lovely, balanced canter has always been easier to sit than Encore's (not quite the same level of horsepower back there), like riding a hammock, and we even did a couple of flying changes in a figure eight and a fakey gallop.
He felt great!
As we wandered back up the hill, I couldn't repress my smile and enjoyed the peaceful vibe of my horse. Solo's still got it, buttons are intact, and what's more, although he would still much rather soar than shoulder-in, now that he is on the more "finished" side of the training continuum, he enjoys the work so much more than when we were both grasping at straws, trying to figure things out. And thank you, Encore, for making me a better rider with a deeper, more educated feel and more polished technique.
Heck, maybe I should put him on the fitness trail and visit a show for fun. That USEA registration is a lifetime one...
Every clinic is different. Infused with the personality and riding style of the technician, distilled over years of experience and mistakes and triumphs, and hopefully capped with the flourish of their unique teaching style. Eric Smiley is no different.
It's difficult to accurately convey the details of this one though. With a quiet humility and a ready smile, he says he's "not one of the big boys," but with accomplishments from 1982's Irish Field Event Rider of the Year to 2012's Belgian Olympic Team Coach, one could certainly insist that there is more than one definition of big.
A gifted instructor, he makes a quick connection with all of us, asking each rider (1) what they like most about their horse and (2) what is one thing they would like to fix THAT DAY. "People coming to clinics always have a long list of negative things about their horses, but I want to get you to think of what you enjoy about them." And this is only the first of many questions and insights that strip away all of the fuss and details and noise surrounding How To Ride Your Horse and reach down to the heart of what we are trying to accomplish and polish the gems of wisdom passed down through generations of horsemen.
I'm a visual, logical, process-oriented person; I like to understand why I am doing something and what end I am trying to achieve. This is probably why I enjoy listening to all of Eric's lessons. There is no "use outside rein, now more leg, now your left buttcheek, now inhale three times..." Instead, he challenges us to really think about and engage into each ride, using questions aimed at simplifying and streamlining how you approach riding and training. These are concepts which you then fill in with details and through this, deepen your understanding. For example...
What is forward? The horse should be taking you. Not you chasing him or tapping him or nudging him. What is impulsion?Energy that you can then do something with. I thought of it this way: trying to ride without impulsion is like trying to wash a car with an empty bucket. What does 'through' mean?There are NO blockages in the flow of energy from your leg to hind leg to hock to stifle to hip to back to neck to poll to jaw to hand. So, are there? Examine each of these areas. How many ways is it possible to jump a fence? Four -- twice in each direction, one turning left and one turning right. Know them all for every fence you see. How do we turn our horse after a fence?Using the outside aids. Then the eyes and the inside hand show him where to go.
and... DON'T RIDE CORNERS! Yes, that's right. Why? Because they are hard. Try that one at your next lesson, ha! But in all seriousness, because almost no one rides them correctly. They lose impulsion and rhythm in the corner, so when schooling your jumps, keep your lines on a curve and your energy flowing forward, stay out of the corners and you won't get stuck in them. I heard this one alllllll day today, stadium day.
But I already know these things, you protest. Perhaps, but have you really, really thought about them, the biomechanics and the definitions and the reasons, and applied that directly to practice?
Encore has been, in short, a gem. On dressage day, I identified my one project as consistency -- in contact, in rhythm, in outline. I'll be damned if he wasn't solid as anything. Today, throughout the entire jump school, he remained attentive, balanced, steady as a metronome, and jumped as round and lovely as you could ever want.
Giant breakthroughs? For us, no (although several other riders have made amazing strides with their mounts, particularly the very green horses). Well, I was told my lower leg was completely wrong and got my stirrups jacked up two holes, details... However, the sessions have nonetheless been extremely valuable to me by offering not only a vastly simplified way to think about what and how I want to ask my horse, but perhaps even more noteworthy, how to think about what is NOT working. You can't fix a problem if you don't understand the cause!
What do you do when your horse is hanging on the bit? Push his hind leg farther beneath him with your leg. Why? Because if he is hanging, there is too much weight on his front legs. Placing his hind leg farther beneath his body shifts his balance back a bit, weighting his rear through the hocks and lightening his front end. He is, quite simply, a teeter totter. Understand this dynamic and you have the power to manipulate it into any variation of balance you desire.
Tomorrow is the best part, naturally, as we head over to Waredaca, just down the road, to school cross country both to ours and our horses' delight. We've been lucky so far and not really been rained on, as well as having the benefit of Sunset Hill's massive indoor arena. If the weather will hold until 3 pm, everyone will be home free!
Naturally, a wonderful part of it all, and one of the reasons I love this sport, is the people. Meeting (and perhaps re-meeting, hey, I have a terrible memory) fellow Adult Riders, spending time with the awesomeness that is friend Beth, soaking up my doggy fix, margaritas by the pool and the best sangria you've ever tasted (hey, these things are important) and basking in the exchange of knowledge and skill between teacher and rider and horse; all of these pieces just make me hungry for more.
I've been sucked into this trap. Where I get on Encore, we warm up, he is going well enough. Then, because I'm tired, because my brain checks out, because I'm hot, it's late, blah blah, I begin to pick. No, you've dropped your shoulder. No, you need to step under. No, you need to relax your jaw. No, you need to slow down.
Pick, pick, pick.
And we both end up annoyed after rides that are too long.
Because in this, there is too much no. When what we really need to get back to is yes.
After I get done being angry at myself for not thinking more clearly when I'm in the saddle, for making the wrong decisions, for focusing on the wrong things, for losing track of our forest path among the trees...
I reset our conversation to the affirmative. Yes, that is a lovely contact! Yes, that is how you move away from leg! Yes, that is the perfect rhythm! Yes, I would love for you to move forward!
I remember to choose a clear goal: ride the line is a soft rhythm. Pick up an uphill, balanced canter. Bend through your body on the circle. When we have achieved our ride goal, we are done. If we make a mistake, we simply ask again, seeking not so much to correct the mistake, but to reward a better attempt after creating an opportunity, a space for that attempt to exist.
It feels like we’ve been away. Lost in some nebulous pocket of time where we’ve
been bouncing in circles, up and down the emotional roller coaster for so many hills, I've lost count.
He's sound! Not sound. Oh wait, yes, he's...oh, maybe not. No, he'll be great! Or perhaps...no? Yes?
It's exhausting to contemplate.
I scrambled madly, struggling to pick up pieces of Encore falling apart and stick them back in proper order, all while trying to be five other people at once. There were thoughts coming at me from all directions, tugging me back and forth between hope and despair.
Everyone should own a horse. It makes so many of life's other aspects seem so easy!!
Since our field season at work is well and truly underway, I won't have a regular schedule for quite some time. As a result, once I decided to rest Encore a bit more post-Longleaf, I did mostly long lining and slow, brief schools during the sporadic intervals when I could squeeze him in.
April and early May, with their many trips and the whirlwind of Southern Eighths 3DE, came and went and finally, I had a couple weekends to myself and the resolve to nudge my horse back into some real work again.
What I found when I picked up my reins was a horse who had not only processed and finally accepted the contact thanks to the lines (go figure, that Holder lady was right), but one who felt like a horse again, instead of cobbled together parts, when he was doing it! I was too tired to jump up and down, but when I'm not riding like an idiot, I get off my horse with a smile these days.
Because Away Again is away again again again again again. Hmmm, I might have left out an again or two?
In the post-game analysis, I can see that his back and hind end were not strong enough yet for the intense work he did at Becky's. We were so close, but as hard as I worked to bring him back after my knee surgery, I fell just a bit short. Hence his back flare-up, causing soreness, which I can tell you from my own experience, just begets more soreness! I am glad I made the decision to re-inject when I did and very glad I was able to pull up the blog archives from last year to remind myself of the healing timeline.
Which brings me back to now. Given the aforementioned time pocket in which I had plenty of time to think.....mmm, just about everything to death, I did manage to clarify our path forward, armed with a much-beefed-up understanding of what Encore's body needs to be great.
Returning soon to theatres. Except with even sexier neck.
We focus now on building topline and hind end strength and lateral suppleness. I ride bareback and spiral and leg yield and pivot and bend and unbend and re-bend to get the closest possible feel of my horse's back and feet beneath me. We powerwalk hills, stretching forward and down while moving the hind feet up up up. I continue work on the lines, which become a more and more sophisticated tool as I get more practice. With trial and error, I've gotten the right feel and better body control and been able to graduate from asking him to step into contact to teaching him to lift and bend the base of his neck and his whole spine (REALLY REALLY haaardddd, says he!). I'm still playing with the best rein setup for that and he has only mastered a few steps at the walk that were truly great, but it's an excellent start.
Encore has had a year and a half now to mature mentally to his new life and job, as well as giving his rider time to clamber up the learning curve, complete with spectacular backslides. It seems like such a long time ago and it seems like such a short time ago that I was explaining that poles were for going over and necks were for flexing and there was indeed a gait between trot and gallop! So it feels pretty damn spectacular to be discussing fine-tuning transition accuracy and lifting that back to the next level.
Oh, and it should amuse you to know that it took me until I was done writing this entire post before I got my own unintended pun in the title. *facepalm*
Encore's back was available for warmup and his body felt decent, if a bit stiff from the trailer ride. His brain...appeared to have blown out somewhere back on Highway 1.
I worked at suppling his body and pushing his inside hind leg underneath him. I asked for many changes of bend and tried very hard not to hang on my left rein. Becky swung by on a big, stunning dapple grey going BN who looked ready to do Prelim Test A and she said hi; I tried not spit on myself in mortification because I already knew I was not riding at my best and my horse was spooking at camera shutters and apparently birdwatching, judging by his posture. I can only hope she was busy riding and did not actually witness my test. Afterwards, I actually stopped by to ask the secretary, a friend of mine, if she could post my score under a code instead of my name. Shame.
I was unaware that he was plotting evil.
Trainwreck would be an understatement. After trotting down centerline, Encore checked out and completely ignored my existence as he studied trees, other horses, dirt, and anything else that seemed remotely interesting. His rider was not even close to that category. I had zero response to leg, hand, seat, body, no bend, no push, no.thing. I hope the judge enjoyed my downward transition to trot where I finally had to yell, "WHOA, DAMMIT!" She tactfully wrote, "Against hand. Rider's aids ineffective." Ya think? I was not in love with my horse.
I could not let that stand. I rode back to the field behind our rig and we proceeded to have a lesson in who decides when and how and where things happen. It took about 30 minutes, but Encore eventually ran out of evasions and realized I was just going to sit there and keep asking, so he gave in and discovered that obedience is easier. That was when I realized that THAT was the ride I should have given him in warmup. I'm pretty good at lessons after the fact.
I did my best to let it go, although a set of stripped out stud holes and an ineffective wrench may have led to rage-hurling said wrench across a field. It wasn't my finest moment, although it did make me feel better for 45 seconds and since I throw like a girl, it didn't go very far; Amber had the grace to not laugh out loud and fetch it later. Bless her.
A rather more responsive horse warmed up for XC, which was a straightforward course with some good rider balance and steering questions. The first 3 jumps were also on the steeplechase track, which I have wanted to run on for yearrrrssss. Oh yes, my racehorse noticed the rail and the marker poles and the oval.
Beautiful track, I finally got to run on you...
I did not put on the helmet cam, my apologies. Time was short and I wanted to focus on my horse; additionally, post-course walk, I knew there would not be anything new or dramatic to see. Mea culpa. Although you might have been entertained when Encore teleported sideways when someone opened their car door (perhaps he just left his brain at home?) and I barely clung on with one calf muscle.
Oh, and car lady, it's fine to open your door, my horse usually has no issues with that on non-idiot days and you did nothing wrong, but when someone almost gets dumped (on their already trashed leg) as you do, it's common courtesy to apologize and at least ask if they are ok instead of squawking, "OMG!" Just sayin'.
We made it to about jump 7 or 8 when I could feel my horse was developing some muscle-tiredness behind. He was jumping very well, boldly and honestly, but between jumps, I had a cinder block at the end of my reins. Today I feel like I was dragged behind a truck!
It was good mileage for him though. Encore was excellent over a log two strides from the first big water and really showed off our improved "down" skills off a big drop. The following jump was the baby sunken road, so the ground dropped sharply behind a log pile fence and he is still leery of leaping when he cannot see the landing. He did stop in front of it, but I insisted and he climbed over (it wasn't very big) without taking a step backwards (GOOD BOY!) so we were able to finish with no penalties except for two seconds of time. Which was a result of my having to pulley-rein him in a circle mid-course and make him trot down a very steep hill so we would not roll down it instead. :\
As we crossed between the finish flags, I knew I had a tired horse and I felt in a couple of lead swaps that he had developed some butt soreness. It was not a difficult decision to just withdraw, call it a day, and head home. There was nothing to be gained by staying overnight and jumping a flat, ugly stadium course -- that kind of mileage I can do without, thank you.
In the end, it was not a total loss. We were pushing our timeline between his back injections and the event, so I am not surprised his muscles tired early. I hope that a few more weeks of slow, steady work on some hills and the lines will bring him back to solid.
Sure I caaan be round, but...oh look, pony!
There were good lessons: I need to push harder in warmup, take more time, and bloody well RIDE, no matter what anyone else is doing. Encore got in a much needed XC run and handily answered all questions, with only one minor hiccup. So my entry fee was not wasted and hey, even with all that, we still weren't last!
I will employ some Advil and enjoy an unexpected Sunday break crammed between two weeks of work travel and fish rodeos. Encore can rest and we will resume our work at a slower pace later in the week.
To come: the promised unveiling of a surprise at the event. Better pictures need to be procured to do justice to said surprise. Trust me, you will be filled with want.
Last but not at all least: THANK YOU, Amber, for being an expert team crew despite my dressage tantrums (I did not eat or drink enough, bad bad event blood sugar rule breaking!) and stud struggles. You are truly awesome and I am so so so grateful to have had your help!
It is the end times. *insert ominous music here* Tomorrow will be just washing linens and throwing things back in the truck and hauling our butts back to what I'm sure will be a very excited Solo!
After a quiet Tuesday morning watching the girls long line Comet and RJ (Becky was off in Aiken Mon/Tues for the USET High Performance Training Sessions -- I wanted to creep there soooo badly, but figured that might be pushing it) and helping set up a new stadium course, I fetched a rested Encore and Becky was kind enough to squeeze us in at the end of the day when she returned.
It's springy!!!!! Just like my horse. Or is that jumpy?
By "rested," I mean completely refilled with insane amounts of energy and with renewed conviction that large, hilly fields are only for galloping and avoiding large predators.
I knew I should have put the Pelham on. I won't make that mistake twice.
Shoulders ow.
But it was time to install some new gears, or rather put controls on pre-existing gears so they appear when I ask for them, rather than at Encore's whim. I quickly discovered it was NOT going to be a soft and round day, try as I might and I cursed myself for not rebuilding those core muscles faster after surgery.
Exercise 1: Working in a circle, establish teeny tiny canter, as close to cantering in place as possible. Key points: Wrap your calves around the horse and use your core/thighs to (as my dressage trainer put it) "suction cup" his back and ribcage up underneath you without losing the hind leg energy. It's ok if he breaks or loses stride, he just needs more strength. Think of making a transition to walk, but do NOT lean back; this will only dig your seat into his back and hollow him out. Keep hands low, connect your elbows to your hips, and ride through his assertion that he can surely go no slower.
Teddy watches big bro Comet give Dad a lesson.
Exercise 2: Push him forward into a big, giant canter for about 6-8 strides, then come immediately back to teeny canter. Stay on circle. Key points:Don't give up your position and seat when going to big canter or else he'll just get strung out. When coming back to teeny canter, GET IT NOW -- don't fight about it for ten strides. If you are not getting a change, you might have to get in his face a time or two. Again, don't lean back, make an elastic wall of core, elbows, thigh, and butt suction him back up to that tiny stride. Rinse and repeat a billion times and only do each (big, teeny) for a short time, maybe half the circle.
Exercise 3: Get soft, round walk, pick up teeny canter for 5 strides, walk, reverse direction, repeat ad nauseum. Key points: Don't ask for the canter until you have a moment of topline softness in the walk, then lead with your inside hip. Accept the first few tiny canter strides that you might feel like are just him being stuck; don't push him too far out of that, those are him really sitting on his butt. Come back to the walk quickly and as you reverse direction, use the turn to unlock him. Soften him, then get canter back.
I have been a wuss and avoided exercises like these so far because even though I knew it was time to take this step, I was dodging getting him riled up. Encore really did a lot better with then I thought, however, given that we had thusfar not played much with adjustability. As Becky said, you might just start out the exercises going through the motions, but give them a chance to relax into it through repetition and it will get better.
Solo demonstrates the barrel in 2010.
Exercise 4: Use a small jump (we had a single barrel on its side with two vee rails resting on it) and use all your canters in approach and landing. For example, approach in big canter, land in teeny canter. Approach in teeny canter, land in big canter. Approach in medium canter, land in teeny canter. Key points: Approach is easy, landing is HARD. Hold your position and committment to the gait you chose all the way to the base of the jump. Get the new pace as quickly as possible on landing. Even though this one was difficult, I really liked and could see its utility for a variety of training goals. I'm not sure Encore completely got it yet, but he did very well at holding the rhythm I picked and not pulling me to the fence.
Hopefully, we can build on this work today when we finally tackle show jumping. I tend to fall apart in the second half of courses, so I will be trying to improve my focus and slow things down. Which will, please universe, be a bit easier with some brakes not provided by the snaffle -- Encore is really very good about understanding that arenas are for work now. This is great news for, say, competing at the horse park. He just needs to get the memo (which has not failed due to lack of sending, believe me!) that work can happen anywhere, gasp!
Monday is break day. Well timed, as a windy, cloudy sky settles over us and makes for a good day to sit by the fire.
But Sunday was time to put together what we'd shown Encore during our first lesson and during his long lining session and see what we had.
The grey wunderkinds look on bemused. Who is who??
The wind had changed direction and was blowing the fresh scent of the neighbouring cattle our way, so Encore was on high alert. Add to that, the previous horse had dumped her rider (rider was unhurt) and hightailed it at Mach 10 back to the barn. We tried to head her off but she gave us the finger and roared by, leaving Encore puzzled as to what the fuss was about. I was left wondering if there was any chance I'd get a soft, round horse out of this.
Determined to stay focused, I started with our turn on forehand exercises we'd learned earlier in the week -- we've been practicing them before our lessons every day and Encore is getting much quicker at giving to them and I am getting better at keeping him moving forward into that give. Suddenly, I had this lovely round walk beneath me and I began to feel a little hope for our afternoon!
Becky did not have us perform any special technical exercises this time; we just worked on creating quality within the gaits and enforcing the new Dressage World Order, since Encore had shown us he was perfectly capable in his long lining work.
Within the trot and canter, we just kept asking him three things: (1) Move off thy inside spur. (2) Go forward with thy hind legs. (3) Give to thine contact. Three commandments of dressage.
The tricksy part was knowing when to push for more and when to give and move with him. Becky would have me sit, collect him into an eensy jog trot, leg yield him out and apply contact, pushing him into both to soften him. Then, when his topline opened and relaxed, post and start pushing him forward over that line. All while keeping your hands very steady, NOT throwing the contact away, and finding that hair-thin zone between riding into contact through resistance and just pulling his head around.
At the canter, keeping him slow, again, I would sit, apply leg and contact, engage the core and thigh, and compress him, then immediately when his balance shifted and/or he softened, to relax and follow his motion forward.
Sara (working student) and Winston have more fun than Encore!
He was trying very very hard, but he still opined that the new rules seemed rather demanding. He quickly figured out though, that life in compliance was much easier and less annoying and produced some VERY nice work.
I am so sad I was unable to get video of it; I guess I will have to reproduce it at home, ha. But we were putting together elements -- Becky had fine-tuned my aids in our first lesson, then showed Encore the correct response on the long lines. Now we were adding them up to equal more productive and successful work. Building blocks were beginning to make a structure, one that is hopefully portable and doesn't blow out through the trailer slats!
Also, you might as well start calling me Wrong Turn Reba; all these tiny SC roads around Encore's hotel look the same and as I'm driving along, lost in thought about all I saw in one day, apparently I decide to just randomly turn down one. It doesn't help that you have to go by SR numbers...which are tiny on dark brown signs. I think Encore is getting dizzy.
But you wanted to hear about horsey things. As everyone else here seems to think this is a normal, day-to-day activity, I am the solitary creeper, following Becky around like a stray dog gathering scraps. I should have brought all black clothing so I would be a ninja and no one would see me. But she hasn't run me off with the longe whip yet. I think Scrappy is rooting for me, I keep his ears well-scratched!
After finishing some work duties (it sucks being an adult sometimes -- an ancient old lady by comparison to the rest of the girls in the house, ha!), I spent the late morning filling the wide open creeper niche, stalking and watching.
One owner brought her gorgeous bay mare (when I asked Becky what type of horse she was, I was told "Eh, some warmblood thing or another"), who would throw enormous rearing mare tantrums when asked to connect, reportedly. Becky got on and immediately began engaging her hind end at the walk, keeping her moving sideways, crossing her hind legs beneath her and pushing her neck forward and down. Exaggerated turns on the forehand led to big leg yields, constantly pushing the inside leg over into the outside rein. Yeah yeah yeah, I need to do that, I thought. She did similar work in a stunning trot, which fancy mare tried to evade...by using passage. Encore tries that evasion too, it's so annoying. I mean, doesn't yours? A similar evasion presented in the canter, where the horse would just bounce up and down in a teeny four-beat canter to avoid moving forward into the contact with the outside rein. But no one beats Becky, so she was soon rocking along, being a very impressive little workhorse.
The staple diet of the horsewoman. Creeping takes energy!
Next was a long-lining session with a younger gelding, a big, strong-looking WB/TB ("some warmblood thing crossed with a TB" -- there seems to be a trend in broad categories, much to my amusement) who was quite the tryer and had just come back from SoPines I at Novice. Now I have long-lined Solo, but never like this. I drew a picture of the line setup to try as soon as I get home -- it was certainly much more effective than mine! In short, the inside line ran from high on the ribcage, through the bit, and back to the top ring on the surcingle. A side rein was connected on the outside to block his outside shoulder and teach him to accept the outside rein. With his brain whirling a mile a minute, he put the pieces together and then Becky showed his young owner how to work the lines (Becky used an outside long-line but simplified it with the side rein for owner).
I already had to run back to the house to write things down and then a quick calculation showed I still had time to watch a few lessons before I had to go fetch Encore. Students were working on some fun (ok, probably fun for me to watch, less fun for them to ride) canter/counter-canter/10-m circle diagrams for the Prelim dressage test. I confess I was happy to see the rider before me was a woman on a (mohawked!) stocky bay appropriately named Sofa who was working on outside rein connection and stretching over the topline -- woohoo, my level!
Has anyone picked up today's theme yet?
This afternoon, 5:00 pm was not beer-thirty, instead it was go-time. I'd warmed up Encore on top of the hill and thought I had him fairly supple and ready. I was instructed to put Encore through his paces quickly, at which point he did his best prancy, carriage-horse trot on the side of the hill.
The Becky Assessment: He has a huge step behind and comes very far up under himself, really using his hind end and back, but then it gets to the front and nothing is going on there. Correct again. I will never cease to be amazed at people like she and David and Jimmy who can assess everything in five minutes and one sentence! Actually, I think she got Solo in about three minutes.
Exercise 1: Execute turns on the forehand (oh, I knew I needed more of those!) at the walk. Key points: Don't worry about keeping the front feet immobile. Focus on the hind legs crossing over beneath him. Keep the outside hand in a steady contact with the pinky almost touching the saddle. The inside hand is an OPENING REIN ONLY, no direct rein, no pulling back with it, EVER (this was very difficult for me, I was scolded many times). Then push ribcage over into the solid outside rein, softening when he crosses over and gives in the bridle. Every time he gives, it's "money in the bank," each step a training investment in your future performance.
Exercise 2: Turn these into half circles at the walk and trot. Key points: Ride them the same way. Don't move that outside hand. STOP PULLING HIS HEAD AROUND WITH THE INSIDE REIN (this is where I have been going wrong!); simply use your inside leg on his ribcage, keep asking, and wait for him to find the right answer.
Exercise 3: Graduate to full circles at the trot and canter. Key points. Ride them the same way, hahahaha. Outside hand, STAY! Opening rein, NO PULL. Be patient and let him find the right place to be. At the canter, you can make the circle smaller by pushing him in with the outside leg and feel him shift up and over under you. Try not to pass out and fall off in front of Becky.
Encore tried very very hard and was excellent; he had "read the book" but his rider had missed some important parts! Her explanation of HOW to establish the outside rein first, then apply inside leg, then open inside rein was the one that finally made breakthrough sense to me and my little lightbulb nearly blinded me. But after years of hearing that to supple the jaw, we must "give and take" or "vibrate the rein," it was extremely hard for me to just open that rein as a guide and then do nothing with it.
As the hamster wheel in my head spun like mad on the way back to Chateau So8ths, I realized that the circle exercise was the same as the one David has us do and the aid requests are the same. Becky just nitpicked the details of my aids in a new way that allowed me to finally bridge the two. Which is why clinics are valuable -- a fresh pair of eyes and a different vocabulary works as a complement to the trainers that know you well, giving your overthinking brain a new angle to gnaw on, because in this game, sometimes you have to throw a lot of noodles at the wall before one sticks!
So, a month's worth of homework from my 30 minutes on Day 1. This afternoon, we are to show up for cavaletti and gymnastic work after lunch and I will NOT forget my protein bar today (idiot) and I will NOT throw myself up my horse's neck/hold my breath/clench the reins/all the other things I do when I am out of practice and get nervous.
For now...I have some important creeping to do: Comet gets schooled at 11:15!
Encore and I were able to sneak in two excellent lessons before the snowstorm hit, although I did most of my jumping with snowflakes in my eyes, gah! Friday evening, we allowed David to torture us in Death Circles on the flat, and Saturday, we attempted to brush the rust off my jumping skills. Rebuilding of my left leg is DEFINITELY not complete, ugh.
Two things emerged as themes, though, as we worked through unlocking all the parts of Encore and reminding my battered body that it is NOT supposed to be on my horse's neck (who knew?).
(1) It was with great enthusiasm that David pronounced Encore worlds sounder than he was last year. This news was received with equal enthusiasm, as the amount of money, energy, and time we have spent with Dr. Bob and his crew is not small. Every bit is worth it though when I ride his left lead and he feel like one horse instead of two ends of a horse suit loosely tied in the middle, doing their own thing. While I expressed that I wasn't sure if this was a compliment, David assured me that there is a difference between unsound and lame -- lame is limping, unsound is just...not right in the body. I certainly can't disagree that between his back and his injury in 2012, Encore needed "rightening."
Last year: a better haircut and less fat, but greener
(2) Traditional wisdom and training dictates that we ride our horse forward forward FORWARD into a steady, receiving contact and simply (simply....HAHAHAHAHHAHAHA) wait for him to offer the roundness we seek as he becomes supple through lateral exercises and transitions. However, almost immediately on Friday, David had me slow my horse down and work his neck and poll in flexions and bending while moving off the inside leg. My favourite instruction was, "Flex his poll to the outside while keeping his neck bent to the inside and his body bent around your inside leg." Ooga booga, is that even possible and how the heck does one do that? Apparently I did something correct by thinking about it, because he said, "GOOD!"
Our goal was to get him super round, even if he got slightly behind the vertical in front, and then let him carry the bit forwards and down. When we did, I IMMEDIATELY felt his whole topline unlock and become soft and delicious.
This left me confused, though; this would seem to contradict the FORWARD and waiting thing. One of the greatest things about David is that you can talk to him, so I asked him about this on Saturday. His explanation:
Training is not black and white, it is all shades of grey (oh, goody, just like life). With this horse, because he has a tendency to go tight in his topline and he stays locked in his poll and jaw, he has overdeveloped the muscle at his poll. This in turn makes it even harder. Were we to just run him along off his feet, he would spend most of the time working incorrectly. We have to unlock these spots and supple him first and then ride him forward over his back.
This makes sense to me. In January and early February, I had been riding him simply forward in lateral work. While we could eventually achieve some softening, there was a lot of back and forth, fighting, and a lot of time spent impersonating tense llamas. Every step doing that is definitely not producing good results.
Using David's process, the difference was dramatic (although much harder work, so I guess it must be right). It also meant I had a softer horse the second I got on Saturday morning, which caught me by surprise. He continued to emphasize riding what was underneath me in the moment and keeping the focus there, creating the feel, instead of wasting time hoping for a horse that may or may not appear in the future. This is why I keep stalking David around the region -- his tailored approach to the horse in front of him brings out the best in my partners, the way a generic program never would. Drawing lines in the sand never gets us anywhere but frustrated when it comes to training horses.
You see, we have been busy. Physical therapy is momentarily taking over my life, but I've been doing my best to squeeze in Encore wherever and whenever we can build strength.
Although the dork went and kicked himself in the front fetlock sometime yesterday, so that was nice and hot and swollen, sigh. Please be just a knock, please be just a knock, please be just a knock....
It's been a bit of an opportunity to reboot things, though, and one that I've found has offered a chance to elevate the sophistication of our training. The details are very, very difficult to elucidate, so much of it is feel and reaction and less contact and more contact and energy direction and waiting and very careful thought. The basics are the same simple paradigms of correct training: ride the back end of the horse and ride the horse straight. But as we all know, there is NOTHING simple about that and as George Morris quite correctly stated in his training session this year, it only takes about 30 years to learn how to do it.
Thus, probably disappointingly, I give you my reading material of late, which has led to just a few tiny adjustments which in turn caused a big change in my horse, letting go of the tension, saying goodbye to wrestling, and although it requires MUCH more patience, is creating a much more solid foundation this time around.
Watch Deb Bennett's lectures, selectable from the sidebar. Yes, they are a bit over-wordy, I confess to skipping through sections, as they could have been reduced to about 30 minutes and still been effective. And of course, watch George and Anne teach, especially when riding -- I still learn every year, new skills and new layers to add to my toolbox.
Read the three articles in the right sidebar. The biomechanics of straightness and the freedom it gives your horse, with some excellent mental images for your contact, really resonated with me for some reason.
A large part of what I've taken away thus far is that I need to do MORE engaging of the inside hind through lateral exercises as THIS is what creates straightness and impulsion in my horse. I was rarely able to truly engage Solo over his back successfully; now I can and think I am finally on the track as to why.
Wow, life would be simpler if I just had money to buy lessons every week. But then, I wonder if I would really dig as deeply if I did.
So what's your excuse? Oh, you're not Reiner Klimke? Psssshhh, look, all he did was make an adjustment in one second and his horse was perfect. I can totally not do that!
But in all seriousness, this video elegantly and simply illustrates incorrect and correct. We are all guilty of it at some point I think. I absolutely admit to losing my focus and wanting "pretty archy neck." But we cannot fall into that trap which leads to a dead end. Bonus points if you speak German. Because it's "Dr. Reiner Klimke war der
erfolgreichste Dressurreiter der Welt. In dieser Lehrfilmreihe widmet er
sich detailliert den täglichen Problemen des Trainings auf dem Weg zur
Klasse L." Which means "Dr. Reiner Klimke was the greatest dressage rider in the world. With diesel film, he tackles the sick details of lichen-based training problems auf dem Weg on Klasse L." Um, obviously!
Ok, all you have to do is watch the horse. Watch his back behind the saddle and his hind legs. On the surface, he "looks pretty," with nice suspension and rhythm. But with his neck overflexed and his head behind the vertical, his lower back is stiff and hind legs aren't really active, moving up beneath him. Let go of his face and ride him forward with magical Klimke power...
Now his lower back is loose, lifting and swinging behind the saddle. His hindquarters and hind legs have changed subtly and are now actively moving forward under his body and pushing up into the bridle. He is happy to stretch down and even then, his back remains soft and his hind end is engaged.
Voila! It's that simple. Ha. Go ahead and watch it 20 times. I did. But we do all need to remember to forget about the stupid head, to erase the word frame from our vocabulary, and ride our horses FORWARD, for lichen's sake!
Dr. Bob warned me on Tuesday that Encore would be sore for a while following a rather large chiropractic adjustment and recommended that I keep him on bute for the rest of the week. I asked if he would be ok to do the horse trial and he didn't say no. But I saw a look that I knew and I wondered. Looking back, I think he made a gamble and because he knows me, hoped it would work.
I schooled Encore lightly on Thursday, some walk/trot lateral and stretching work and a few crossrails. He felt great.
We trailered to the Horse Park on Friday and settled in for the night. I wanted to hack him that evening, but ran out of time and daylight and we had to settle for a walk.
Carolina dawn.
The Moment of Weakness
Dressage warmup was ugly. Encore was unfocused. I regretted not making the time to at least longe him the day before. He had no bend, ignored my leg except to leap forward from every application. He was stiff, cranky, and anticipatory. 40 minutes of work brought some improvement and I thought we might squeak through.
We didn't. He turned like a motorcycle, ignored every aide, had no bend in either direction, stiffened and braced whether I was soft or not, and generally brought me near to tears by the end. Which is almost impossible. I made a promise on this blog that I would be open about the whole process, that I would not create some kind of false Facebook life where only the good is shared. So yes, there is a video. A sad, sad video. Erm, at least I am getting better at sitting up straight? And yes, yes he is violently allergic to the rail and wanders drunkenly down the long side like a lost cow.
I slumped in despair when we left the arena. Arriving back at our stall, where we were next door to our friend Sue and her magical, wonderful homebred, Rocky The Amazing Horse, I finally said it out loud: "This just makes me want to give up. I want to pack up my trailer right now and go home."
The Rally
I didn't. I took a deep, shaky breath and took a long look at my horse. I gave him a snack and a drink and thought hard. He is a worker bee, he does not generally just behave like an asshole because he can. Gearing up for stadium jumping (it was a one day HT), I decided to feel every step and carefully evaluate what was going on beneath me.
He jumped five or six warmup fences well, moving up when I asked and mostly maintaining a rhythm. But he leaned hard on the left rein and his left lead canter was a bit flat. We started our course and after jump 1 when he hit the ground running, the pieces began to form a clearer picture.
He ran at the jumps and about halfway through, started pulling rails behind. There were only 9 fences so it ended quickly and as we walked out, the answer was clear: his left hip was still sore, despite the bute and he needed more time. Apparently a few jumps was ok. 15 was too many.
The Big Decision
We began our walk over to XC, my first thought being, "Well, we might as well finish." Then I paused. Why? There was nothing to gain -- the course was EXACTLY the same as the once we jumped at 5 Points, there were no new challenges. I hadn't checked our dressage score, but I've gotten fairly accurate in my assessments and it certainly was not competitive and we'd just pulled at least 3 rails. I knew my horse was sore and there was nothing to be gained by running him up and down hills for 4 minutes, knowing he would jump flat, chip in, and generally try his best while being physically compromised. That would just be stupid.
So I walked over to the steward (who was very kind and sympathetic, thank you), calmly informed her we were withdrawing because my horse was sore, and returned the barn to pack up.
The legendary CHP steeplechase infield would not see this Thoroughbred's hoofprints today.
Disheartening? Absolutely. A hard choice? Not really, because I strive to always put my horse first. Frustrating? Well, considering my day would have been better spent drinking and setting $300 on fire, yes, I'd say so. Six hours of driving and we had neither learned nor developed a thing.
The Aftermath
I knew someday it was a choice I would have to make -- looking out for my horse in the long term vs. the short term gratification of completing an event. It was a choice I will never forgive myself for not making for Solo and it cost us both a great deal. It was the indisputably right choice to make for Encore yesterday. I was also encouraged that people in stabling near us that I didn't even know expressed their support and good wishes for our choice and our future when we made it back.
I don't think there is any real damage done; I will talk to Dr. Bob on Monday and assess. The only real stressor is that we have four weeks and I'm already $400 in to the VA Horse Trials in November. A part of me wants to just give up, scratch, move the surgery up and be done with it. This fall season was supposed to be fun, the last good thing I had to look forward to for a long time. Since 5 Points, it has not been fun.
Because I think it all traces back to that point (ha, see what I did there): Encore was going very well and had an excellent dressage test. But he had two big slips on XC on the hard ground and even then, I felt something that I couldn't identify and he jumped poorly on Sunday. Now I am just upset with myself for not figuring out the problem sooner -- a tweaked up back that just needed a reset and some time, which I attempted to do too close to a competition because I was too slow.
But I am stubborn. Perhaps stupidly so. But I'm not giving up just yet; I never thought for a second any of this would be easy.
As of this past Wednesday, he is tapped for studs and wore them on Saturday, so we shall have no more slipping. Hopefully, all he needs is a bit more time for his hip to settle and rest and he will be back to good. Did you hear that, big, young, thing? Get good, I need you!
Oh, we'll be back. The dream will not die that easily.
That's what mine looked like on Saturday too. To be fair, one never does know what you'll get with a schooling horse trial, but I have been to a number of excellent ones in our area and never gave it a second thought. This particular trial had its inaugural run this spring; the farm owner is lovely, gracious, generous woman, who allows us to school on her her amazing XC facilities and enjoy her gorgeous farm. There were some hiccups (and 30 mph wind!) in what was Encore's first BN HT, not unanticipated given that this was their first go at putting it on. I sent some email feedback on points that I LOVED and points that I thought could be improved to make for a smoother experience. So I decided to give it another chance.
Sigh.
Our dressage test was once again a llama parade on downhill grass (Encore has not quite mastered the balanced AND round AND go down a hill thing yet). Even though our score was slightly better than the one we received at Five Points, I was very unhappy with the test and my horse was tense and unhappy in the "arena."
The rather humbling downside of going to a schooling event in Southern Pines is that half or more of your division is probably made up of people who have, at one time or another, ridden around Rolex, or train 8 horses a day. The horse before you and the horse after you will very likely perform a soft and lovely dressage exhibition that doesn't even have a whiff of llama hovering in the smallest corner. You are certainly left with no false impressions as to how you stack up in the wide eventing world!!!!
Ride times were again so close together that you'd have to be a marathon runner to walk your courses and get back in time for your jump times, because locales were far apart. Fortunately, I keep my bike in the back of my truck during eventing season; it helped some, but I was exhausted already when I finished the course walk and got on to jump.
The stadium warmup was.....uncontrolled chaos in a very small space. Encore cantered around very nicely and jumped well, but at once point, we slid to a halt as the path in front of us was completely blocked by two horses leaping and spinning and we had no where to go. My horse watched with much curiosity, like what is up with that???
The course itself had walked okay, but was taking down riders left and right with refusals and missed lines, many at the first fence. I closed my leg to it and told Encore it was over or through and he did it all! The lines were very twisty and difficult, especially for a green horse and we pulled the last rail, a big oxer off of a bending lines of 4 or 5 strides. But I was proud of him for being in the half of the division that survived it and making 9 out of 10 challenging fences clean jumping efforts!
Side note:Even though we've been at this for a year now, because of my job and travel, much of Encore's training is still rough around the edges, so he still remains quite green about some things in comparison to a horse who is ridden and in training every day. Finesse will come with time, but one of the hardest parts of being a working adult amateur is FINDING (usually MAKING) that time. I almost feel as if I am letting him down a bit because he has enormous ability and I should be presenting it better -- I know that he doesn't know that, but I do. And since I won't be able to ride after November for quite some time, we are out there, rough edges and all, while I still can.
Cross country was definitely a tough course if you didn't have an honest, bold, and steerable horse. Lucky me! There was even a mini Stockholm slide (watch for fence 11, a small log with a drop slide behind it) that Encore was sure had no ground on the other side. Fortunately, stumbling/walking over a jump still counts as "jumping." It was very different from any course I have ridden with several new challenges, so I really enjoyed it -- I could tell Encore was getting a bit tired, we did this whole event in 3 hours (0.0) but he jumped well to the end....and then fell asleep in his water bucket. You can watch the helmet cam, but I advise you to tilt your left ear about 45 degrees to your left shoulder -- we had so little time to get ready for jumping, I just slapped it on the helmet, so the horizon is, well, unconventional.
Because of the complexity of questions asked and the rideability the jump courses demanded, I did leave feeling as if we had just completed a Training Level HT with slightly smaller jumps. I'm not sure how I feel about it. On one hand, yes, I am proud of Encore for finishing it! On the other though, this fall was meant to be confidence-building mileage -- and I'm not sure bombing around sharp turns in showjumping is quite that. I also don't really enjoy having to dash around the entire time like a headless chicken. Efficient is great, but give me a chance to sit and eat my WHOLE granola bar at least and for my horse to get a snack and a drink, since we don't ALL travel with staff.
Again, the farm and owner are wonderful and it is a big, generous thing to open your land and private property so other riders can use the facilities you have built and I am always grateful for that. I am a bit sad that it appears my feedback fell on deaf ears, but I am not an organizer (HUGE job) so there may be limitations of which I am not aware.
We all also have choices of where we go to compete and this has taught me that not all are the same and not every event will have the same expectations of your horse, even though you are the same level. There were definitely lessons learned both positive and negative, so now we move forward to our next event, back at CHP, where I DO know what to expect and what is expected of me.
Edited to add: there appear to be some photo sizing issues in Firefox. When viewed in IE or Chrome, they appear normal to me. All photos have been uploaded at the smaller size, I don't know what's up with that. Sorry, working on it. Oh, Firefox, you disappoint me so, I have loved you long time... If you click on the pictures, you can see them at normal human size (as opposed to ginormous).
And nothing makes you feel like your HT experience was complete like sitting on the curb at AutoZone on your way home, waiting for a clerk to come bring you a new truck battery (my back was not in the mood to be lifting batteries). Ends up, he took too long, so I stole his tools and did it myself.
It started well though and I'm going to try to keep the story short and instead, crash your browser with media. Because I'm nice like that. All photos by High Time Photography, thank you!
Dressage: Wow, I had a heck of a horse. For the first time EVER, Encore was completely rideable in the ring. He was (mostly) soft, he did not anticipate and only had a few tense moments. He canter was sheer loveliness to sit on. The judge nailed him hard on almost every movement because he is still a bit counterbent quite often. I have ridden under her before and knew she was tough, she never liked Solo's work much either. But as I said before, she doesn't know his journey and she doesn't know what he was like even a week ago, or last Wednesday, when I spent a marathon NO MORE ANTICIPATORY BULLSHIT session that about killed my knee but apparently worked! So me = completely stoked with his test.
Where are my cute points?
Cross Country: Here, he started to feel the hurt. Because HE WOULD NOT DRINK ALL DAY. It was hot and humid and the little bugger would just not slurp any water. He galloped his heart out and went double clear, but he was getting tired. The footing was also hard and slick (never experienced that at CHP, would never have dreamed of needing studs there for Novice!) and he lost his hind feet out from under him a couple times, so he jumped around just feeling a bit greener than he is. Oh, and the last jump on course? His nemesis which he defeated this past spring. Ha! I cooled him off and we went "home" to our wonderful friend's farm where I hoped he would tank up overnight.
HELMET CAM I REMEMBERED TO TURN ON! It was supposed to upload to YouTube too. Crappy software fail. I'm not thrilled with this one and I'm not sure why it appears we are riding in an earthquake while being pounded by hail, but perhaps you should take some Dramamine first...
Stadium: Sunday woke us up with cool, beautiful air that smelled the way a fall horse trial should. After jump-starting the rig, sigh, Encore and I went back to the horse park and I expected a clean jump round. Expected. When we got to warmup, I found out that my horse had not taken full advantage of his pasture and trough Saturday night and felt a bit tired. I warmed him up and he was jumping clean, so I let him hang out till it was time to go. My plan was just to gallop him down the side of the arena to the start flags and just keep my leg on to keep him moving over the fences.
CHP had other plans. They had apparently had a group meeting and voted to use all their shallowest jump cups. The hollow "thunk" of rails in sand had been a common sound all day. So while Encore jumped double clear with the first 2/3 of his body, his tired back toes tapped a rail. Or five. I couldn't be upset with him, really, and I have a call in to David to see if he will help me analyze if there is anything we could have done differently. But Encore never gave up and never hesitated, so his heart was there. Naturally, once he walked back to the trailer, he drank two buckets of water. *eyeroll*
But he looked pretty...
It looked bigger, mom!
A little focus fail, but he looked too cute to pass it up.
The round:
In the end, I wouldn't have changed a thing and I already have a solution for the water issue -- I think the water in my container was just stale and I did not think like a horse and fill his bucket from the park hose until Sunday. Sigh. Nonetheless, I am very happy with his performance and overjoyed with his dressage transformation (I hope it sticks) and very much look forward to our next competition, a schooling trial on the 22nd.
This weekend though, we will hit the mountains, build some butt muscles, drink some beer, and be judged by no one but a few arrogant grey squirrels. Who says Thoroughbreds can't do it all?
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