This week in lessons

As promised, November is going to be "Challenge Month" and I will be keeping score...still not sure the prizes...I figure we can try the challenges again in March and see if their is any improvement.

The challenges will be divided into four categories: Strides/Pace, Turns, Equitation and Transitions, with each week focusing on one of the categories. Some challenges will be available to all riders, some only to jumpers, and some only to those who can canter.

This week's category will be Strides/Pace, with rider's needing to be proficient at canter to participate, although all riders can benefit from the lesson plan.

There will be two challenges:
1) There will be two jumps/poles set across the diagonal, one at either end. Riders will be challenged to add strides or leave strides out, trying to get a specified number of strides. Points will be awarded to the rider who can get the most strides, the least strides, and who is able to match the desired number of strides consistently (or most consistently).
2) For the Count Down Challenge, riders will have to count down the number of canter strides before take off, starting at "two, one", then "three, two, one". It is important when doing this that you look UP, as if you look down you will misjudge where the jump is, and almost always chip. Remember when trying to add strides, look up and balance the horse up into your hands, don't clutch at the horse and pull it onto its forehand. We will try this on a straight line...and may try it on a curve too.

Both these exercises are just to get rider's thinking about their horse's stride, and how the horse gets to the jump. It also lets me know how aware rider's are of their horses stride and approach to the jump.

Important to note though, that seeing how far away you can count down strides to a jump is just for fun and is not an indication of how good a rider you may be; keeping an even rhythm and good pace is far more important when jumping than "seeing" a distance.

Being able to select and ride a certain number of strides in a line on the other hand is very important, as when showing hunters, 12-13" strides are expected, and when showing jumpers, being able to add strides in a line can help you make a hard turn, or leaving out strides can help you save some time on the clock!

Karen

Happy Halloween!

I will admit that the "in barn" Halloween candies were bought more with the horses in mind...horses love corn syrup!

Last day of October and still no snow...YIPPY! Although I do admit I like the brightness the snow brings to the nights and mornings when I feed. Next weekend is Daylight savings so that will help a bit in the mornings...for a little while anyway.

Also last day of October means board is due!

Back to snow...if anyone has recommendations on good snow blowers, or ones to avoid, let Rob or I know. We are in the market for one I can use to keep the parking lot and barn entrances cleared of snow, so it needs to be easy to use and friendly.

Karen

Looking ahead to November..

I think November is going to be "Challenge Month". I am going to have a new lesson challenge each week. Sometime all the lessons can try (or at least the jumping ones for some of them) and we will see who comes out on top. November is such a dull month otherwise, so this is my attempt to soften the blow that snow is on its way and we have many dark and cold months to look forward too...

Karen

This wind is something else. Getting me ready for winter I guess.

I rode Spencer for the first time last night; I liked him better than I expected. He is much softer in the bridle and off the leg than he looked. I also really liked the Wintec 500 Close Contact saddle that ended up fitting him best. Really a nice saddle if any of you are considering getting a saddle of your own! Very well priced too.

I am headed to Tudor tomorrow to help Wyneke buy the rest of the gear for her fellow, so if anybody needs something, just let me know!

How do those arms feel today Debbie?

MANY thanks to Debbie who gave up her entire afternoon yesterday to help Rob and I make some upgrades at the barn. See if you notice the changes! Rob wanted to do more, but I was pretty much beat by 4:30, so we had to leave it at that, and the scissor lift leaves today.

Also something new to notice today, is that Wyneke's new horse, "Spencer" is due to arrive this afternoon! He is very cute, but I have a feeling is going to be a bit of a prankster too...it will be interesting. He is going to be in the wood pen while in Isolation and then I will put him in with Gody. They both could stand to loose some weight, with Spencer looking a tad like the round bale that was in his paddock...

Gody was all pacey on Saturday after the close encounter with the Moose (apparently to horses, 500 feet is a close encounter with a moose...), so I put Rocky in to keep him company. Poor Rocky! Gody is keeping him on his toes...which I suppose will keep him fit enough for Christine to ride for a few more weeks until he gets too hairy.

I got my flu shot today. Free with no real wait time at my Drs office. The key to not getting a stiff arm (in my opinion) is to get the shot in your dominant arm; you use it more, so better circulation, so less chance of stiffness.

I decided to get the shot this year after talking to me mom. For 18 MONTHS, after my dad was diagnosed, neither of them got sick. Not so much as a cold. Getting the flu shot was one of the things they did, as was being careful about washing their hands. They still went out to dinner, went on the airplane to conferences and so on...and managed 18 months without so much as a sniffle.

I doubt I can be quite that careful, so I have already stocked the house and barn with lotion Kleenex. It really is hard to go back to using "plain" tissues now that I know there is something better out there.

I noticed the flu shots were available while at the Drs to get me medication adjusted...anyone who has been out in the last week may have noticed I am a little out of it; I just cannot stay awake and have been downing caffeine to make up for it, which then leads to Migraines...and as Janine said, a drunk on caffeine is still a drunk; just a really alert one.

Hopefully I can find a better balance between being awake and gibbled, and being half asleep but more or less physically functional.

Until then, try to make sense of my gibberish, and feel free to bring out coffee and chocolates to share....but no cold or flu germs!

Karen

Canada wins Silver

The Canadian Dressage team won SILVER at the Pan-Am games in Mexico this weekend. This gives them a spot at the 2012 London Olympics, which is pretty exciting.

Of course the US won, with scores in the 80's...Canada's scores were in the low 70's at best, but did have pretty consistent tests which is important.

If anyone wants to support Dressage Canada by advertising in the 2012 calendar, let me know. Ads are $150-200 and I have until Friday to secure advertisers (I signed up for the task on Friday...nothing like pressure). They didn't have advertisers last year, so I don't have previous supporters to ask.

Not sure why I signed up for the committee other than to push myself to try new things and expand my horizons...or something like that.

I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. I actually got the evening off teaching...which made it hard for me to understand that today was Tuesday and not Monday.

Rob and I spent much of the weekend at the race track horse shopping, and with winterizing the barn, as it seems cold weather is on the way. No horses were bought, but a few leads that I will be following up this week. Race horses have such small heads when I compare with Coregel!

Lessons this week are on turning and using the eyes. It is a fun exercise I am going to call Spirograph. Hopefully a few of you are old enough to remember Spirograph. If today was any indication, we may be doing this exercise next week too...

We also had a visitor to the arena today...I thought it was someone's dropped plastic toy...until it moved! Apparently a wandering Tiger Salamander thought the arena looked fun. I took him out a few times, but he kept coming back, so I finally took him out back a bit...hopefully he finds a more suitable winter home. It felt pretty cool on my hand. Very light and quick on his (her?) little legs.

Karen

This week in lessons

This week in lessons we are doing a little work on getting a better/more forward trot by using trot poles spaced far enough apart you have to push a bit to get the right number of steps. Some of you will canter the poles as well.

For jumping I have a little grid set up, that I am altering a bit depending on riding level and the horses in the lesson. The grid is set a little forward, so working on the idea of releasing and using leg to encourage the horse to go forward and across the jumps.

Oh, and if anyone wants a very sweet but small Thoroughbred filly, I met the most charismatic little 3 year old today at the track...only 15.1 hands or so, but I bet she would make a nice little hunter down the road!

And if you want to shorten your commute to the barn, our neighbour's house is again for sale. Nice 3 bedroom house that has been completely updated (husband is a carpenter), with 3 acres. I don't recall the asking price, but it seemed reasonible when they told it to me.

Karen

Jackets are here!

The Hillside Logo jackets are here! I picked them up today and they look lovely! Price per jacked is $94.50 including tax. Bring out a cheque (or cash) made out to Hillside to get your jacket. Shirts will be coming later, as will your jacket Christine.

Amberlea Update

We had a great time at the Amberlea Harvest show this past weekend. The weather held, the horses were good, and it was a nice show. This year they split the warm up ring into two sides; one for jumping, and one for flat work/dressage. Perhaps one day they will also have a lunging ring as apparently some people can't get up early to lunge, and wait until the ring is busy to take over one corner with their close to out of control horse...

We had to go early on Friday so I had time to clean up and make it to my Dad's memorial (which went very well; heard lots of stories about him I had never heard before, and saw relatives I hadn't seen in decades!). Our schooling rounds were set for 11:30 and booked to be shared with someone, but we ended up having the entire ring to ourselves, and it was lovely! The horses weren't bothered by any of the jumps and we didn't even need the full 30 minutes.

The next day Lindsey and Nicole both placed in the 2'3" jumpers, and on Sunday they both placed in the 2'6" jumpers and Lindsey also placed in the 2'9". The classes were very competitive, so Nicole's double clear in the 2'9"s on Sunday wasn't quite fast enough to get in the top 6, but we were still quite happy with the horses and riders...we just need to work on inside turns and jumping jumps and angles. (We skipped 2'3" on Sunday)

Shawn and Magnus also did very well in Dressage, with some scores in the low 60's and so very good placings! Shawn took a little while to relax, so was tired by Sunday, but did he ever look fancy on Saturday; definitely strutting his stuff!

The show ran fairly smoothly, but as always there were some rude people who block the entrance and the barn, or who hog jumps in the warm up...or who are just plain rude. After watching some of the attitudes/reactions of some riders and seeing what other trainers have to deal with, I am very thankful I have such a great group of riders at my barn so I don't have to deal with the drama and pissyness!

Hopefully we can go to a few 2-3 day shows next year; they do have the advantage of giving you more time to settle your nerves, and learn from your mistakes so you can do better the next day. I definitely saw improvement in both Percy and Java by Sunday.

Brassy (and owner Kelsey) moved to Hillside after the show, so she is the big bay mare in Bre's old stall. The "new" black horse on the mare's side is just Tango...

So now show season is over, the weather is turning and the horses are starting to grow their winter coats, but it was a good year I think!

Karen