Vaccination time again!

I have posted a chart in the barn for owners to check off which vaccinations they would like their horse to receive this year. If you don't remember, and just want to repeat last year, there is a check box for that too!

Please remember that E/W/T is required. I would also strongly recommend flu/rhino as well this year, as it does provide some protection against the Equine Herpes Virus (EHV-1), which has mutated to create a neurological form that can cause severe issues including death.

Horses usually contract EHV as young horses, but can carry the virus in their system to become ill again when under stress (such as long trips or shows). The virus can mutate to form the neurological form which is extremely contagious and easily transmitted. This means that show horses, and horses that travel are at higher risk, but that in theory, even a closed herd can be affected by EHV-1.

Strangles vaccine is also recommended, but Westnile is up to individual owners.

Vaccinations will be done beginning of April, and mid April (depending on our vet's recommendation we will vaccinate for some things one day, then the rest a separate day to limit the risks of reactions). Any boosters needed will be booked as required.

Owners are welcome to vaccinate their own horse, but please keep in mind that should your horse have a reaction to the vaccine, or get sick despite the vaccine, the maker of the vaccine will take some liability for treating your horse ONLY if the vaccine was administered by a vet.

Karen

Ah, pre-spring at the barn

Things are starting to melt, lending to a lovely odour of melting horse poop and a stream across the parking lot that you really don't want to walk in.

The horses are shedding and apparently nutty. Such fun!

For lessons this week we will be working a little on counter canter. It is important to work on counter canter along side flying changes, as we want the horse to listen to our aids, and not try to guess which lead we want. This is important for a few reasons: counter counter may be asked for in an equitation test or a dressage test, counter canter builds fitness, and also because being able to control which lead your horse is on can really help in bending lines so your horse isn't flopping around from one lead to the other.

For this week we will just keep it simple and ask the horse to do a gentle shallow serpentine at canter without changing leads. Next week we will up the challenge and ask them to pick up the counter canter on the long side and carry it through the corner! We will test the control in a bending line by not allowing the horse to change leads.

Obviously this will be easier on the horses that failed last week, but most horses did show a willingness to do flying changes when set up for them!

It is important to note that counter canter does not equal cantering on the wrong lead. You need the horse slightly bend towards their leading side, but with a fairly straight neck. This means a stronger than usual canter aid needs to be maintained so the hip stays OUT. The biggest mistake is if you lose control of the shoulder and the horse gets crooked through the neck/wither. It is very important to maintain the outside rein to keep the neck pretty straight, with just slight bend in.

For jumping we will do a straight forward course, with poles place to help with the lead changes after the jumps to see if last week's exercise can carry forward to a full course.

No challenge this week.

Karen

Slight change of plans...

So it seems many people are otherwise engaged tomorrow, so it won't be much of a barn party...but, this gave me another idea: we will still discuss goals and showing this year, and still chat, give out the challenge awards and get together, but we will do it while cleaning tack! Yippy!

This might become a monthly thing for the spring/summer, with different activities. This month tack cleaning, next month perhaps braiding? Trailer loading? Bandaging? Maybe a horse soccer game once we can get outside?

We will also continue with a once a month barn challenge: This month's winners were:
Ball challenge: 1st Emma/Java, 2nd Stephanie/Wolfgang , 3rd Shawn/Roberta. For the obstacle course challenge we had two successful horse/rider combinations: Amber and Kokanee, and Laureen and Percy. Can't say those are the two horses I would have guessed to be the most successful, but there you have it!

Hope to see at least a few of you tomorrow!

Karen

Spring Fever!

Spring has come early and a few of the horses are showing by being a little nutty...geldings in particular! I think it is in part that it is getting icy, but also because their is no Warrior to get them playing :) Boarders should consider free longing their horses if possible so they have non-ridden time to stretch their legs. I will be doing the same for any peppy lesson horses.

It also seems that working on lead changes and dealing with peppy ponies is  taking up enough of the lesson that we aren't doing the challenge this week and instead doing the lead change exercise and then incorporating that into a simple jumping course.

I may move some of the horses around over the next week as well, so please be sure to check the white board to find your horse if it isn't where it normally is!

Dale Irwin coming to Hillside!

Keep Easter long weekend open, as I have confirmed that Dale Irwin will be coming to teach a three day clinic the last weekend in March. Dale is a top level eventing and dressage coach. Two years ago I rode Brie in a clinic with him and really appreciated his teaching style and ideas. I feel that his international level experience gives him the depth needed to be able to quickly assess issues, and give us the tools to progress.

(don't confuse Dale Irwin with Chris Irwin the "Natural Horsemanship" trainer)

The clinic will be available for riders to ride in two or three days of the clinic. Single days will only be available if time allows. Friday will be flat work/dressage, and Saturday/Sunday can be either flat or jumping.

This clinic is open to anyone, and even if you don't want to ride in it, you will likely learn a fair bit by watching. I am planning to jump Izzy in the clinic, so could be entertaining!

He is good at teaching all levels of riders and riders.

Rates still to be determined. If anyone is interested in subsidizing the clinic by helping with morning barn chores during the clinic OR by offering to host Dale for the weekend, please let me know!

Karen

This week in lessons: flying changes & a new challenge

This week in lessons we will be working on lead changes. Advanced horses/riders will work on flying changes, while the less able horses and/or more novice riders will do simple changes. We actually worked on lead changes over the skinny pole two weeks ago when we were jumping the figure of eight, but this type we will do it with intent!

What is a lead change? A lead change is the horse changing from one canter lead to the other. There are two types of lead changes: Flying and Simple changes. In a flying change the horse maintains a canter and changes from one lead to the other without breaking the canter gait. In a simple change the horse is brought back to a trot or walk (or in Rocket's case a pace...), rebalanced, and then the other lead is picked up. Dressage uses the transition to walk as it requires balance and collection and will help with developing a dressage suitable flying change, whereas when jumping, a simple change will be through trot as it is less likely to take away the forward momentum.

Why is it important? In dressage, flying changes are required starting at 3rd level as a test of training and ability. For jumping, being on the correct lead around the horse will help the horse be better balanced through the turns. In hunters this is judged, and a horse going around on the wrong lead, or even worse, disunited, will be heavily penalized (although the ideal in jumpers is to have the horse land the correct leads as it looks smoother). In jumpers this is not judged, so some riders may allow the horse to be on the "wrong" lead if that is the lead it is stronger on.

(disunited is when the horse is on two different leads on the front end vs the back end)

Dressage vs Jumping lead changes:

A dressage flying lead change is born out of collection with the horse able to "skip" from one lead to the other through increases suspension. The foot falls going from left lead to right lead would be:
RH/LH+RF/LF, (moment of increased suspension), LH/RH+LF/RF, so the horse sort of skips on the LH. This requires the horse to have good strength in its haunches as well as enough time in the air (suspension) to be able to swap the hind legs around.

A hunter flying change is different as the horse needs to maintain a forward flow, and the same amount of precision is not needed. Although some horses will still do their flying change with the same footfalls as for a dressage change, it is also possible for them to take a stride or two to complete the change without  penalty by a judge. A typical flying change for a hunter will involve the front end changing first, and the hind end changing the very next stride. This is the kind of lead change we will be working on this week.

Here are some examples of horses schooling flying changes using the methods we will be using. Both these horses are new to flying changes.

Izzy Flying changes with a ground pole to assist
Coregel flying changes without poles to help.

With both horses I am trying to get the lead change before the corner, but still using the approaching wall/corner to help set them up. I am also trying to be light on their backs to encourage the increased suspension, and not worrying too much if they get quick, as this will also help them achieve the lead change.

Please note, there are many ways to school flying changes and this is just one of them!

Aids I am using for the left to right lead change:

Turning across the diagonal with as straight a horse as possible (through the neck), I am light in my seat, but have a fair bit of right leg back and on, similar to how I would ask for a leg yield to the left. If I do get a bit of sideways motion that is fine. As I get to the pole (or second quarterline if not using a pole), I swap and put my right leg on/back and may give take with my new inside hand/rein, but again, the aids are similar to a leg yield, only this time to the right. Important the neck stays mostly straight!

I make sure to focus on the goal (flying change) and if my horse gets a little quick I am ok with that. If using a pole I WANT the long if there is an option as they are more likely to stretch into the change this way.

Now...the test...can anyone tell me why using a pole is unlikely to get you a "true" lead change?

Answer: If you watch the videos, you can see that for other that Coregel's last try, both horses are getting the change in the front first, and then catching up with the hind end. The pole encourages this as the suspension created is first created in the front as the horse goes over the pole, then the hind end. (Coregel is doing this despite the pole as it is easier and requires less hind end strength) This would be completely acceptable in the hunters, but a low score for dressage. Still, it gives the horse an idea of what is expected and useful for teaching either discipline.


Now for simple changes through trot:

When trying for a simple change through trot, make sure your horse comes back to a clear two beat trot, rebalance, change the bend, and ask for the new lead. Do not let the horse rush or anticipate, and if they start to, then just keep trotting. Simple changes through trot are acceptable in low level hunter competitions, although the equal round with flying changes or landed leads will usually win. What you want to avoid though, is the horse that is thinking simple change in every corner, as if the horse is thinking "Trot" it would be creating the suspension and forward needed for a flying change (think of Rocket or Spencer)

For the new challenge this week we will be doing a "make your own course challenge". This will be timed using poles and jumps, with rider's needing to come up with the best/quickest way for their horse to complete the horse. Trying to help rider's think logically and assess their horse's weaknesses and strengths as well as their own.

(last week's challenge was only achieved by two horse/rider combinations; Laureen with Percy and Amber with Kokanee!)

Karen

For the dressage riders...

Dressage judges are encouraged to always put something positive in their comments at the end of the test. While scribing last year I realized that this is usually not hard as there is usually some redeaming qualities, but for certain tests it can be quite a stretch to come out  with something nice to say, so I found this article very funny and apt!

http://www.chronofhorse.com/article/nice-braids

This week in lessons & new challenge!

This week in lessons we are continuing to work on perfecting the leg yield with the horse facing away from the wall (as per previous youtube videos!). This is going to flow into next week's lesson which will use these skills to work on flying lead changes.

For jumping, we are going to work on jumping a skinny with no standards. This will use similar skills that riding the horses at the ball used: keeping the horse between hand and leg and controlling their body and in particular, their shoulders.

We also have a new challenge this week: it will be an obstacle course. This won't be timed, but rather scored based on success negotiating the horse with minimal pylon tragedies and hooves outside the course. This course will include:
 - The above mentioned skinny jump
 - bending line with set number of strides
 - trot after a jump (before pylon markers)
 - Turn on the forehand inside a pole "box"
 - Horse and rider touching the ball.
 - precise corner through pylon markers.

Also planning a barn party for Saturday the 3rd of March at 12:30. A simple get together so riders/boarders can meet each other, and also so we can discuss what shows we want to go to and such. Details to be determined but thinking potluck lunch type food? Would a March gift exchange be weird? Oh, and an awards ceremony for the winners of the lesson challenges! Let me know if you can attend asap so I know if I need to switch days.

The leg yield exercise

Last week we worked on leg yield with the horse angled away from the wall. A few of you progressed from that to asking for shoulder in. Alternatively a few of you found this mind boggling requiring me to demonstrate by getting down on all fours...

It occurred to me that a video demonstration might assist as we are going to try this again next week.

Why the focus on leg yield? Leg yielding is required in first level dressage as it shows the horse's ability and willingness to move laterally off of leg, and maintain a semblance of straightness and forwardness. For jumping, have a horse that moves laterally off of leg can help with issues of straightness, to push a horse into the corners better, and will also progress to flying lead changes.

By doing the leg yield at an angle away from the wall, the rider must focus on fine control of how much sideways, and how much forward the horse is able to do. The achievement is measurable as you can see the angle achieved, and measure how far off the wall you ended up coming!

For Izzy, this exercise will help her shoulder in; she tends to want to pop her shoulder to the wall rather than maintain a true bend; by going from this leg yield to the shoulder in, and back to this leg yield, I am forced to maintain control of the shoulder.

Here is the video of Izzy

Try to see where I switch from leg yield to shoulder in and back again. In Leg Yield, front and back legs cross, and the horse should be straight in the body, with just a slight flex in at the jaw. In Shoulder in, her hind legs should not cross as her hind quarters should be parallel to the wall, and she should have bend through her body. Note how she resists by bringing her head up, and how I respond by kicking, and asking her to give with her jaw by give and take with that inside rein.

I am trying to get a clear four track leg yield from her (inside legs travel on a track inside the hinds) but she is not wanting to do this, and I can only get a few good steps as she really wants to pop out with her shoulder!

Now here is Coregel
Note how I am able to get Coregel on four clear tracks. This is easier on her vs. Izzy because she is a stiffer horse front to back, and popping her shoulder out isn't something she wants to do! I have done a slow motion take and hopefully you can see where I go from leg yield to a step or two of shoulder in, and back to leg yield a couple times. I only do a step or two of shoulder in on Coregel as she is just getting back into work, and more than a couple steps of shoulder in would be unfair to an unfit and slightly fat equine, and would only encourage her to evade.

What I am not sure you can see with either horse, is that although the inside leg is the one asking for the leg yield, the outside leg is also back and ready to tap tap tap to regain the forward. Note too, that I am restricting with my hands so that the energy I am creating goes up and across, and not scrambling and forward.

Hopefully this increases some understanding of the exercise so we have more success next week!

Karen

Not at all horse related

Somehow I am on the Conservative Party emailing list. I am fine with that, because I think for democracy to work, we actually do have to participate and get our opinions to the decision makes, and what easier way than through surveys?

If you want to participate in the govermental surveys, this is the link:
http://www.conservative.ca/yourvoice

(they wanted me to email 5 friends, but I thought this might be a better format)

Yes, I wish the questions could be worded less leadingly, but democracy isn't perfect.

My last survey ended in a rant about the education system.

Karen

This week's Challenge!

I have a challenge for all lesson students and boarders who wish to participate. There may be a prize for the top three challengers!

Time to beat is Izzy at 11 seconds.

The challenge? Push the soccer ball through the "goal". The horse will start from three meters away, and have to push the ball three meters through the pylons that will be set three meters apart.

Video of Izzy's attempt

Of course it won't always go that relatively smoothly, so to show the other extreme:

Video of Coregel's attempt

Now Coregel was nervous from the get go today, so had I wanted this to go easier I should have let her trot/canter around a bit to get some of her energy out, but I wanted to show how it COULD go, and how to recover.

Ideally I wouldn't have let her go past the ball, and had her stand in front of it until she relaxed (like when a horse tries to run out at a jump), but she was too agitated so instead I allowed the small circles, but did not let her leave the general area.

Her little rears are the same avoidance behaviours she exhibited when I tried to show her at an arena with cows way off in the distance, so it is good to be able to work her through the same type of pressure situation. Rearing happens when a horse feels trapped...in this case she feels like I am sending her into an immovable object (in the video the ball, at the show it was being within half a km of a cow...)...so we need to work on trust. As you can see once she figures out the ball moves, she relaxes considerably.

Aside from building trust and being entertaining, this exercise, and the follow up exercises will help riders think about how to control the horse's body, hopefully without over thinking it!

Some hints:
- Try to keep the horse's nose pointed at the ball, but hold the opposite rein enough that you don't loose the other shoulder.
- To be able to aim the ball, the horse's hips have to be lined up behind the shoulders and pointed at the ball...it isn't enough just to aim the nose. Use the same skills you would to do a turn on the forehand (leg back) to control the angle/aim.
- If you feel the horse getting agitated, either allow them to stop, or allow them to do a smaller circle. Do not praise them to try to relax, but just sit passively to give them time to relax. Only praise when you make gains...which may be just halted facing the ball, or (hopefully) when the horse pushes the ball.

And no cheating...the horse has to push the ball!

Karen

Conan's Alternate Endings for the Budweiser Superbowl commercial

This week

This week is going to be nice weather wise, so hopefully the roads stay clear and we can have a good week of lessons!

Although yesterday afternoon was filled with the whining drone of snowmobiles, and had me wishing for 20 below again....

Dressage lessons will work on Shoulder fore and lengthenings (shoulder for for a few strides, then lengthening to ensure the horse is still active in the trot!)

Dressage and jumping will work on true bend and counter bend exercises.

Jumping will be doing a course again, and really focusing on using the ends of the arena to hit the "reset" button to rebalance the horse and get back the needed course pace (either increase or decrease).

We will also be trying to get the horse's to push the soccer ball while riding...just make sure you don't push it at another horse until they get used to seeing it move!

Karen

Today

Today's 630 lesson is cancelled. Just too freaking cold for most sane people to want to drive out, and for the horses to get warm. I am willing to teach at 730 if anyone does want a lesson.

I have also definately added a 530 lesson on Thursday for make up lesson purposes, so if anyone wants to move their time up from 630 to 530 to allow others to ride later, that would be great.

I just came back in from giving them some extra hay, and the horses are all fine; the geldings were mostly in the shelters, but the mares were mostly out and about. Not sure if the barn and hill protects the mares better from the wind, or if they are just tougher/better dressed!

This morning and last night were a little bit of a shock to the system. I figured the worst part for me would be driving the Mule out back to dump the manure...I was right, but mostly because I was so bundled up I couldn't see very well and ran aground on a ridge of ice buried under the drifting snow! The back tires weren't even weight bearing.

Not to sound wimpy, but it IS a pretty long walk back to the barn to get a shovel for ice breaking purposes, so first I tried to lift the Mule off the ice (that was stupid), then I tried to chisel the ice with a screwdriver (less stupid, but not getting me very far very quickly either), before opting to walk back. The geldings watched my approach like I was a monster from the dugout, but once I retrieved the shovel, chipping the Mule free only took 15 minutes or so.

The entire time I am thinking...I wonder which horse I could harness up, slap on the ass, and haul this bloody thing free? (Wiley or Wolfgang were my top two picks)

Anyway, stay warm, keep safe, and know your horses are fine (albeit likely now moving on to fence destruction as is their favourite cold weather past time)

Karen

Sucky Weather week forcast

Sounds like we are in for some nasty weather this week. The tri-fecta of cold, wind AND snow.

It looks likely that lessons will be cancelled on Wednesday, and possibly on Tuesday. Thursday sounds like an odd weather day, with it going from ridiculously cold, to oddly warm, so I am willing/able to add a 5:30 lesson, and take some extra students in the 7:30 lesson if people want to move their lesson to Thursday (assuming your horse is available to be ridden that day of course!)

Really tired of this up and down weather pattern, although I guess it is better than just staying cold. If you plan to ride your horse or do a lease ride on the really cold days, make SURE you are able to cool and dry the horse completely before turning it out. If I do teach lessons on the coldish days they will be such that they are easy on the horse...which usually means things that are harder on the rider....no stirrups perhaps?

I have the vet(s) booked for a few Fridays in Feb to do dental work and anything else that is needed. Please let me know asap if you want your horse looked at/worked on. If you have a Friday off in Feb, I could likely also use some help!

Vaccinations will be done in March.

Karen

This week in lessons

I was thinking the other day of major hurdles when it comes to riding.

An early hurdle is learning to post the trot...once you learn though, it seems simple and odd that you ever couldn't post the trot.

A more advanced hurdle, one that many pleasure type riders never try to accomplish is what we will be working on this week. This is the hurdle of connection.

Connection can mean many things, but lets take it to mean at the most basic level; that the horse is ready to listen and obey reins and legs without more than a moments hesitation.

The problem is, keeping the horse in a connected state takes work and attention to the horse, although just like posting, once you GET IT, you can't figure out why it was so hard before!

To help with the connection issue, we have two things planned;

1) If you did not take part in the Centered riding clinic, I will want to spend 5 minutes with you either before or after your lesson to do a little exercise to develop a following and compassionate hand. If you did take the clinic, but want to do this again, by all means!

2) We are going to work on the lengthened trot. Not a faster trot. Not a rushed trot. A LENGTHENED trot. This means the horse stretches its poll forward, stretches its back longer, and reaches in longer steps. The rhythm should stay the same.

How do we get a lengthened trot? It is easy. You soften your hands down towards the horse's mouth, and soften your leg aids, and ALLOW IT.

Of course first you have to prepare for it...and this means a horse that is wanting to go slightly faster than you are asking, but not in a rushy way, but in a "at the ready" way. The horse has to already be flexed at the pole, straight through the body, and have a good rhythm. The horse has to be in a calm way, but not super relaxed as you need some tension to get a lengthen. A good lengthened trot is a moderate change...nothing exciting like you see at the Olympics, but you should feel the horse float a bit...kind of like when going over slightly long trot poles.

For the Saturday lessons I did a demo to show what I wanted and meant. I am willing to do this in lessons this week as well if requested.

For jumping we are going to ride lines of different lengths to work on adjustability in the jumping horses.

Karen

A project for winter

So not sure why the picture is sideways, but this is the project for winter! A big red ball, courtesy of Margie as a Christmas present. Margie and Roberta put the effort into inflating it (which was quite a task in itself), after which we rolled it outside along the gelding paddocks. This was cause for a great deal of excitement! It may not have helped that there was a very frustrated little dog pushing the ball around in the snow barking in frustration as she couldn't pick it up...but the geldings all swarmed like fish as Margie commented, in unified fear of the big red ball. Well, all except for Wolfgang who used the distraction to get a prime spot at the round bale feeder. Even cookies could not entice the horses to come closer!

As you can see, Wiley seems to have made peace with the ball, as has Shawn, but Magnus almost sits down if I roll it by his stall!

I figure step one is to get the horses comfortable having the ball around, and then we will worry about teaching them to push it, then to push it through an obstacle course, with the ultimate goal of teaching them horse soccer. My hope is that this will help certain unbrave equines to learn to face their fears, and also to work on precise steering and body control. Plus, it will be fun I think!

Karen

This week in lessons

This week in lessons I am teaching Monday afternoon, Tuesday afternoon, and Wed/Thurs evening, as well as regular lessons on Sat. I am willing to teach during the day on Wednesday as well if anyone is interested.

More work compiling video of position over fences; once I have it all together I will make sure everyone gets a copy for their own use/viewing. This week I will try to set fences that will set you up to take long and short distances, so we can analyse the adaptability of your positions in the air.

I hope everyone is enjoying the warmer weather! The cats were happy to be able to wander about outside yesterday...although Charlie wandered all the way back to the house last night, meaning I had to lug him all the way back to the barn for the night...our black and white house cat really does not like him!

Also wanted to announce the official new addition of Wiley! Margie's new and obnoxious riding partner. He is out with Shawn and Rocket. He is a but of a shark when it comes to cookies, so beware! Magnus was fascinated with him for the first few days, but seems to have relaxed about his presence.

Karen

This week in lessons

By the looks of the weather forecast, this is going to be one nasty week of weather! Hopefully the roads improve so everyone can visit friends and family safely over the Holidays.

For lessons, I will be teaching Monday and Wednesday morning only, and then back to evening lessons on Thursday, although I am open to teaching a daytime lesson on Thursday as well. Let me know if you want to switch your times! It will still be cold during the day, but the sun seems to make it more bearable.

Lessons will be kept simple this week, with a continued focus on position/equitation, and I will be doing more videoing.

I hope everyone has a good Holiday and is able to spend Christmas with people that they care about.

Karen

Big Bang Theory fans?

Apparently the actress who plays "Penny" is quite a good rider and has four of her own horses:

http://www.self.com/healthystars/2013/01/big-bang-theory-kaley-cuoco-slideshow?intcid=homepage1220_2#slide=5

Pretty impressive equitation over a good sized fence!

Lessons and Christmas Break

I have not yet decided what days I will be taking off over the Holidays, so am looking for feedback as to who is away, and who is available to ride during the daytime rather than the evenings. Thought some "horse switching" lessons might be fun over the holidays as well.

This week in lessons we will be continuing to work on position over fences, and I will bring the camera out to get still shots of riders so we can better assess areas of improvement. If you wish to bring your own camera, feel free! Lots of two point to build the base of support as well. I like two point as a riding fitness exercise vs riding without stirrups as I think the latter makes people tight/stiff, which is not what I want.

Not sure if it is sad or funny...

In the last 30 days or so, I was interested in two separate horses, but before the seller had a chance to even show me the horse, the price increased. Now sometimes prices increase because the horse goes to a show, learns a new skill, or shows an aptitude for something of value, but in both these cases the horse hadn't even been ridden between price A and price B.

The interesting thing? Both horses are still for sale.

Both sellers and a potentially interested buyer, got greedy, and now have "must sell!" ads up.

Now the one horse is at a barn with no arena and seller has NO trailer, so when the cold hit, she lost her chance to sell me her horse...and likely anyone else...as who wants to try a horse out in the snow, with the weather we have been having? The other horse is further out, no arena, but seller has a trailer...not really sure why that one hasn't sold, but I have decided to wait until I see if Margie's horse works out, and get Gody sold before I should really shop anymore, so that person lost their window of opportunity to sell to me as well.

Greed doesn't pay. And when someone tells you that your horse is priced to low, offer to let them buy the horse rather than up your price and piss of that ready buyer!

Wow I have been tired...

Not sure if it was the cold, or the clinic, but I have been absolutely exhausted lately. Hoping this week's warmer weather will re-energize me!

This week in lessons we are going to continue to explore some of the imagery that was touched on at the clinic. When I figure out what seems to help the most people I will write it all out so that everyone knows the new terms and I can add it to my teaching repertoire.

I am also going to try to adapt some of the flat work imagery to jumping, so we will be working on position over fences using a short grid and single fences to focus on details of our riding over jumps.

As you drive in, you may also notice the new horse in the wood pen! That is Margie's potential new horse (here on trial). He is a colour that is new to Hillside! I don't want to go into too much detail about him here in case we don't keep him, but so far so good...although he really doesn't like it when I walk by his pen without feeding him!

Karen

Clinic was good.

Karen is tired.

Roads are crappy.

let me know if you are still planning to ride tonight, otherwise I am fine to reschedule.

Karen

Not horse related...

Good old British humour. My mom forwarded me this link: http://www.youtube.com/embed/U430rpfjIIQ

This week in lessons

This week in lessons we will be continuing to develop the sitting trot, and will continue to use it to aid in smoother transitions. Advanced riders will also work on doing leg yielding in the sitting trot. This requires being aware of which hind leg is moving when, so you can better time your leg aids to be effective. Remember your leg can only effectively engange or move a leg when that leg is about to come off the ground.

Jumping riders will continue to work on counting to the jumps, and we will increase the difficulty by adding arcs and trickier turns.

Remember that there are no lessons this weekend as we are hosting the Team clinic. The schedule for the clinic will be posted in the barn. The arena will be open for riding after 5:30 pm on Saturday, and after 4:30 pm on Sunday.

For those attending, the clinic starts at 9:30 sharp on Saturday, and 8:30 sharp on Sunday for all participants. Please bring a towel...I assume for sitting on.

Karen

this week in lessons

This week in lessons we will be working on sitting trot and on transitions between gaits and within the gaits (longer and shorter steps).

Novice riders or less fit riders will be doing walk to sitting trot transitions, with more advanced riders working on going from sitting, to posting, to two point, to posting, to sitting and so on.

The most important things to remember when sitting are:
1) The horse has two motions you need absorb with your body; the side to side of their hind legs swinging, and the up and down of their back as they take each step of suspension.  The slower the trot, the less suspension and so the less up and down motion!
 - To absorb the side to side motion, the hips need to be able to move side to side. A good exercise for this is to pretend you have a tail, and wag the tail with each step! This is an exaggerated motion but can really loosen things up and get you ready to absorb this motion. Wider horses tend to have more of this side to side motion.
- To absorb the up and down motion you need to use your core muscles...the ones just below your ribs. Doing "Plank" exercises really helps get your ready to sit the trot! The muscles need to contract and relax with each step, not with each stride like when posting up and down. A good way to think of it is to imagine you are  trying to use your seat bones to pull the horse's back higher with each step. You do NOT want to force the sit, so if you start to loose your balance/rhythm, walk or go back to posting. The horses with less suspension (time no legs are on the ground) have the smoother trots to sit.
2) Your weight stays in your stirrups! Some people try to make themselves heavier by pulling their heels up and sitting as if in a chair to force the sit. This just makes you bounce harder! Stay as tall as you can, with the weight of your legs still down in your stirrups. If you look down at your feet, they should be hidden by your knees; if you can see toe, your lower leg has slipped ahead, and you are in a chair seat.
3) Stay centered on your seat bones; you need to feel and be on your seat bones. If you are ahead of your seat bones and so on your pubic bone, you will have three points of contact...and those three points won't allow you the motion needed to absorb the up and down motion with your core. It will also hurt! If you are behind your seatbones you will likely also have an arched back and end up supporting your upper body with your lower back. This can really do damage to your back so you want to always make sure that it is your CORE that is supporting your upper body weight!

Jump riders will be working on counting strides, and on adjusting strides before jumps (to ask for a long or a short distance)

Karen

This week in lessons

This week in lessons we will be working on two things:

1) Connecting your leg set behind the girth to your horse's corresponding hind leg. Our horses all understand the basics of leg, but to have fine control we need to make sure our horse understands the direct connection between our leg and their leg, and we also need to make sure our timing is such that we put out leg on when the horse is actually able to move/activate that leg. The horse can't move a leg if that is the leg that is bearing weight!

Step 1 is feeling what your horse's hind end is doing at the walk, trot, and canter. Your hip will drop on the side that corresponds to the hind leg being off the ground and reaching up and under.

Step 2 is timing your leg aids so that they work effectively.

In posting trot it is easy, as if you are posting on the "correct" diagonal to the left, then your outside leg will be set to cue the outside hind each time you go down in your post. This is why we swap to the other diagonal to leg yield to the wall. (When you are up, and on the way down in your post, is the same time you are best able to squeeze, and this is the time the horse's leg is leaving the ground. At the walk and sitting trot, your outside hip will drop as your horse's outside hind leg comes forward, so you should press with your leg AS you feel the hip dropping. This means when your outside hip is up, you should be ready with the leg! At the canter, the outside hind is ready to come up after the final phase of the canter (when the inside front reaches forward).

Step 3 will be using these skills for a new exercise I shall call the "Turn on the Forehand Square of Fun". This simply involves you riding a square, with the corners being something resembling a turn on the forehand (we will maintain forward momentum). You can also think of it as tell the horse to swing wide on the turns with its hind end.

Basically you will walk (or trot/canter) for a few strides to get the timing, then you will pulse with your inside leg behind the girth to push your horse's hind end around the turn until the horse has made a 90 degree turn...at which point you will again go straight until you get to the next corner. It will be important to have a balanced gait as you approach the corners as this would be very difficult if the horse is going too quickly.

The inside rein needs to be OFF the neck for this exercise as  the horse needs to be flexed into the turn even though the inside leg is back to move the hip over. If that inside leg is NOT off the neck, then the horse will think you want to counter bend the turn, and that is not what we are looking for; I want to the horse's hind end clearly moving laterally around the front end.

The purpose of this exercise is: 1) to work on controlling the horse's hind end, 2) to see how pushing the hind end around affects the front end, and 3) to develop the horse's hind end strength (as the inside hind will be asked to work harder laterally on the turns). I have also founds this very useful to get deeper corners when riding a spooky bay horse with big ears.... It should also help with horses that want to drop their shoulders in the corners as the act of pushing their hips out will have an effect on the balance of the front end, and should help get those horses off their inside shoulder.

2) In jumping we will use the above exercise with our warm up to see if we can use it to get better corners...which of course means corner jumps! Yeah! Corner jumps! Or end jumps. Maybe end jumps. I guess it will be a surprise on Tuesday! Corner jumps or end jumps also lend themselves well to lessons on using your eyes AND on using the inside rein off the horse's neck in the air (or shortly thereafter). Be able to steer n the air is the lead up to having a following release for those of you still working on one.

The tensor bandage will also be ready at ringside to help with wayward rider elbows, as will the bailing twine be ready for legs that want to come too far back.

Karen

Road Report

A few brave souls have made it to the barn this week; the highway is still not the best, so be prepared to rattle the last 10 minutes to get here...it should make those of you from Saskatchewan and Manitoba get nostalgic...  It is supposed to warm up, so hopefully we can get back to regular lessons!

Karen

Dale Irwin Anyone?

Dale Irwin has confirmed that he is available to come to Hillside in March and/or April if I can garner the interest!

I have ridden with him before, as has Lindsey. He is patient, willing/able to deal with horses of various training levels and breeds, AND he is skilled at teaching both dressage and jumping! He usually comes up in the spring to teach for the eventing club, but apparently this year they are not holding their Easter clinic.

He would likely fly up Friday, and fly home Sunday, so some lessons could be taught Friday late afternoon and early evening, all day Saturday, and Sunday morning/early afternoon. Students could take dressage lessons, jumping, or one of each! Dressage lessons can be private or semi private. Jumping lessons can be semi-private or group, with the bigger classes being longer in duration. Riders could ride all three days, two days, or just one. Rates will depend on interest...as you can imagine, getting a trainer of this caliber in, as well as paying for flights, food and lodgings, isn't cheap, but my hope is we can get enough interest to make the cost reasonable.

Possible dates: March 1-3, March 8-12, April 5-7 and/or April 12,14.

The clinic will be available to ALL Hillside clients, and also to haul ins if interested, although I cannot promise any overnight stabling.

Please check out his bio and let me know if you would be interested in attending, and which dates would/wouldn't work for you.

Karen

Well it snowed. Lots. Lots and lots of wet snow. And of course it was farrier day, so that made it extra fun out here! Horses seem happy enough, but I am still giving them an extra serving of hay during the day just in case they are having trouble adapting to the change in weather.

It is almost worse that it was so warm yesterday as the snow would melt on the horses then run under their blankets so blankets got damp around the shoulders. When I brought horses in for the evening I had to warm up more than one buckle in my hands to get it undone, and Wolfgang's front straps were frozen in position so I gave up and just pulled the thing over his head! Many puddles were created as the blankets shed their snow and icicles.

Rob did plow the driveway last night, so things are not too bad here, but the roads are still icy all around us. I have heard them out with the graders and sanders, but still not sure how the drive out will be for lessons; text me so I know if I should not expect you.

Please drive slow in the yard as it will be slippery, and we do have four legged friends we would rather not have squished.

Karen

Snow and Ice and Mud! The perfect trifecta!

It is lovely here. The paddocks are mud, the driveway by the house is ice, and the snow is sliding/melting off the roof in loud kerchunks. Make sure you leave enough time to brush your ponies for lessons!

This week in lessons we will continue with the bondage, but this time focusing on the upper body to raise awareness of how much or how little you are moving your elbows away from your side. We will be using tensor bandages and not binder twine in case you are worrying... :)

Flat work will focus on some leg yielding to direct the horse from one pole to a slightly offset pole, with the tensor there to make sure you aren't trying to use your hands to do your legs job! Some riders may also have to carry a stick between their hands to maintain proper hand spacing and stability.

For jumping, our course will again have a bending S, only in reverse from last week. Sorry Steph.

Karen

I hate "Fall Back" Daylight Savings...

Did you all remember to change your clock?

I hear so often how people love this time of year as they get an extra hour of sleep. They must not have horses...or cats.

I tried to acclimatize the horses starting yesterday as I didn't want the inside boarded horses to have  to spend an extra hour in their stalls, yet I still wanted to sleep in a little (otherwise today would have been REALLY long!). I gave them extra hay during the day, and brought them in a half hour late. I fed them 40 minutes late last night, and figured that bought me 30-40 minutes more of sleep Saturday night.

Wrong on so many levels.

First, my brain kept me up all night worrying about over sleeping (like that would be the end of the world), so I would wake up, check my clock, and then try to do the math as to what time it really was...which is complicated when you are semi-awake. Then there was the worry as to if my cell phone had changed to the new time, or was still on the old time (it has my alarm). What I forgot I could count on though...was the CAT alarm. The round and heavy, and very aloud alarm cat who sat on my chest at the "new" 5:45, as that is what time she thought I should be up.

Wacking the cat alarm on the head doesn't stop the alarm, and the only snooze button I could find involved petting.

But I managed to stay in bed until the blissful hour of 6:30...only to face the reproach of 4 mares. The geldings seemed fine with me showing up late, but the mares? Sheesh. You would think they were starved and stir crazy. Coregel and Brassy bounced all the way to their pen.

Now to try to stay awake for what will seem like an extra long day.

I much prefer the leap ahead time change...yeah, for some of you that means one hour less sleep, but to me it means a day one hour shorter with an early bed time :) Ah, yes...I am old...

Karen

Snow! White and flakey snow!

Although I am aware most of you commuters are likely cursing the stuff, I love how white and crisp this dusting of flakes has given the farm! It makes night chores much easier with it being so much brighter out! Also no mud!

Kitten is not impressed by both the cold stuff on the ground, and the fact the barn doors are kept closed. Charlie is also already going a little crazy from being confined to the barn...so be on the watch when riding!

This week in lessons, we will be continuing to work on looking and using the eyes and upper body appropriately to prepare our horse for an upcoming turn or obstacle. This time instead of pylons though, I think there will be jumps. Tricky jumps. Riders who felt benefit from having their stirrups tied can once again enjoy the assistance that bondage can bring. Limiting the range of motion available to your feet has two main benefits; it keeps your body more stable, and it forces riders to be more insistent  that their horse listens to correct and subtle aids.

I would also like to remind boarders that this Wednesday is the end of the month, so board is due! If you haven't already paid me the $20 for deworming please do. The fall is a tricky month as we tend to stock up on hay and shavings for the winter, so we would really appreciate prompt payment (as always!).

Finally, I want to remind riders of the TTeam clinic coming up on Dec 1 and 2. There are riding and non riding spots still available. If the clinic is not filled internally by November 10, I will be opening it up to outside riders/haul ins, so if you are planning to attend, please don't wait until the last minute to let me know!

Karen

Ahh classic kijiji!

"willing to lease my horse for breeding. She produces beautiful fools you do not want to miss out on her.

text or call for info"

Then there is this silly person who forgot to put the bridle on her horse for the second photo:
Jumping horse

Power was out at the farm for over 2 hours. BRRR..derailed my ambition to be productive this afternoon so took a nap with the cats.

Lessons this week;

As promised, there will be some tying of stirrups to girths to help remind riders where their leg should be, and to let you feel when it leaves that zone. This also makes riders use their leg properly, and then use a crop if needed rather than bring heels up or get kicky.

I am also working on some exercises to work on getting riders to use their eyes better. Main issue is with people wanting to look down when thinking. It really helps if you can look where you are going through a tricky transition or over a jump!

As I am going to try to work on a sales video for Gody, I will have some fancier than usual jumps set too; a line that looks like real hunter jumps with fill, some jumper stuff...it will be great!

Karen

We're back!

Not particularly thrilled about it...but Rob and I are back from vacation!

It was nice to get away for a few days. The weather could have been better, but the Island was desperate for rain, so we took some solace in that.

We stayed at the Ocean Front Suites in Cowichan Bay and I would both love to go back, and recommend it to others as a nice place to stay! The hotel was meant to be condos, but with the shut down of the lumber mills and most of the fisheries, the economy just could not support it, so they are now hotel suites...which meant we had a complete kitchen and living room which was definitely nice! The view of the marina from our the bedroom and living room didn't hurt either. It was entertaining to be woken up by the funny sounds the gulls make, and to be able to watch the boats bobbing in the ocean from bed.

The rainy weather didn't stop us from going out on a boat to tour the bays, and we had a good time with Night Hawk Tours and the sun even came out for part of the trip. The ship captain seemed surprise and a little reluctant to go out given the wind warnings and rain, and his call to his wife "yes, they still want to go out in this weather..." didn't fill me with the greatest of confidence, but the trip was nice, and the Cowichan and Maple bays are lovely, as are many of the ocean front houses!

We also were able to have dinner with my Aunt, Uncle and cousin who live in Victoria/Saanich. I last saw my Aunt/Uncle at dad's funeral, but I hadn't seen my cousin in about 30 years, so that was interesting! Had a great time, and really noticed some changes to the island; number one was the deer fence everywhere; apparently the island is over run with deer, and if you want a garden you have to have really good fencing.

Aside from that we spent much time walking through marinas, some time in the spas, and had many good meals that inspired me to do more cooking this winter (baby shrimp on an English muffin, covered in a light layer of cheese and Hollendais  sauce...YUM).

We got back around dinner time last night, and it wasn't clear if Ginger wanted to come home or stay at Rob's parents house...I am thinking she was doted on! Once home I went to visit the horses, and got a good talking to from Charlie...did nobody pet him while I was away? Seriously needy cat last night and again while trying to do stalls! Also noticed Kitten grew up over the weekend...I have to stop calling her kitten!

The barn looks great and very clean! Thanks to all who helped look after the horses and who surprise me with the extra clean tack room and entrance way....perhaps I need to go away more often!

I am trying my best to get back into work mode, but it isn't easy...hopefully I will find some inspiration by lessons tonight!

Karen

Deworming

I think the last two nights count as a hard frost, so it is time to deworm for tapeworms and bots...yeah!

I have enough Quest Plus to do the barn, with the charge to deworm your horse being $20.00. If you wish to deworm your own horse with something suitable, just let me know and I will leave them for you to do.

This winter (January likely) I would like to do fecal exams (or rather pay the vet to do them) so we can deworm horses more appropriately. Some horses tend to carry more worms than others and need to be dewormed more often, while others may be fine being done twice a year. I think the cost of the fecal is $15.00 and will be interesting (I think), and if your horse is one of the low worm load horses, it means less money spent on dewormers and less toxins being pumped into their body.

I am hoping the two big bays turn out to be low worm load horses as they are SOOO much fun to deworm!

Also, I have the vet out next Wednesday if anyone needs anything done.

Karen

Ah horse shopping...

I love the people who say they "must sell!" but can't seem to respond to an email, or only respond to one of three questions. I know, I should just call, but emailing means I have what they said in writing which I prefer.

Today I went to look at two more chestnut horses; a mare and a gelding at the same location, but different sellers. The mare was VERY cute, but sent up some red flags right away; she had nasty sores from having to have her halter left on (hard to catch), and her hoof wear was suspicious...wore more at the toe than at the heel. Add that to the very short standing and the waterford bit, and I was a little concerned...but she seemed sweet so we headed to the arena to watch her go. Wow. Sore. To be fair the seller warned me she tripped on hard ground, but I wasn't expecting a horse that minced at the walk on decent footing. She looked lame at least on both fronts...possibly behind as well.

Again, to be fair, it can be hard to tell when a horse is equally lame on both fronts, but this horse didn't even come close to tracking up (hind feet reaching where fronts left) and almost fell down a few times. And she is ridden everyday like that. No wonder she is hard to catch.

Sadly she was a gift to the person who had her...a very unsuitable gift, and the person who gave her the horse didn't do a very check. Hopefully the horse ends up at a home that will put shoes on her at least.

The other horse was a good looking gelding. Nice and big. Quiet. Stocked up legs and horrid hooves though! And not horrid as in neglected; his owner looked like they were trying with 4 shoes and he wasn't that overdue, just very shelly feet apparently, and I was told his previous owner completely neglected getting his feet done. Not sure if the swollen legs were related to the bad feet, and the swelling did go down after I rode. His training seemed maybe more western, and we didn't communicate the greatest, but I think he has potential and he was kind and really a nice looking boy...I just don't know if I want those hooves in my barn...I think my farrier would quit! If someone else wants a nice sized and kind gelding though, and is ok with big farrier bills, let me know and I will pass his info along. This horse looked like he would clean up at open shows and could likely do ok as a hunter as well.

Karen

finally!

I was finally able to go see Zander's sister today. It was going to be a rushed visit, but the owner was ok with that, and I talked to her about having her tacked up and ready for my arrival...but instead she was unbrushed in a stall and not tacked.

She is absolutely beautiful! However she was shorter than her 5'1" seller...maybe 5'2" with her boots on, so not a chance she was 15.3 hands which was disappointing. But wide enough that I thought maybe...So running out of time we put tack on her, but it was like Goldilocks and the three bears for the seller to find a girth to fit her, then they went to put the thinnest snaffle possible in her mouth...ouch!

So I lead her into the ring, and right away she notices a plastic bag in the middle of the ring and starts to set back a bit..so the seller moves the bag out of site, but mare just kept staring at the far end with a shell shocked expression. By this point I was doubting her suitability, but still decided to try riding...and then found this horse does NOT stand to be mounted. Like at all. Apparently they school it by backing her the length of the arena and jerking down on her bit. Made me sad.

Despite how lovely she was, I didn't bother even getting on. Glad I went to see her, but sad she didn't look like she would work out given her lack of height, and quirks. She would make a good horse for an agile kid who has the time to find out why she doesn't want to be mounted (thinking saddle fit?), so hopefully she finds a good home.

From there, it was a rush to get on the other side of the highway...to pick up Lindsay's new horse! The new horse is a chubby bay mare with a very good blaze. The seller had to leave about 5 minutes after we got there, so we had to load by ourselves...which took a while! I think she is just used to sitting in her field and was just fine with that lifestyle. Her donkey neighbour brayed sadly as we worked to load maresy into the trailer. Kind mare, but she acts like she is expecting to be smacked every time we moved.

Before you ask, she does not have a name. And I don't mean Lindsay just hasn't come up with a name she prefers, I mean this horse has never had a name. Not registered, and they just referred to her as the bay mare. Kind of sad, but I am sure Lindsay with her naming skills will come up with something soon!

Karen

Why the yelling?

At the show on the weekend, I ran into an old riding buddy who I hadn't seen in a while, and who had stopped riding for years, only getting back into it this year as she missed it, and makes a very good income, so can afford the types of horses and lessons she could not in her youth. She had a very lovely, but young horse at the show, and she had only owned him for a month.

I commented to her how it was too bad she went off course in her hunter class, but that her horse was lovely. She was embarrassed about going off course, and explained why; her horse had picked up the wrong lead, and the only thought that filled her head as that her trainer was going to yell at her for doing something as basic as picking up the wrong lead.

I thought she was joking/exaggerating, so I replied something to the effect "Well I am sure your trainer's reputation and income isn't riding on your hunter round, so probably not a big deal". Only she wasn't joking, she was truly worried about getting yelled at by her trainer to the point she wasn't able to think straight, and so aimed at the wrong jump.

There are lessons to take from this;
- Yelling is useful for correcting certain behaviours, but is not useful for correcting behaviours that require thinking to come up with an alternate behavior/action. So for example, yelling at someone for riding bareback, without a helmet, in a paddock of loose horses (mentioning no names...), and then more quietly explaining why the behaviour is against barn rules, works, as it is a dangerous activity, and the person being yelled at just needs to know to NOT DO IT AGAIN. They don't have to think it through.

Keep in mind that what is said does matter; raising a voice and offering constructive or encouraging advice can help boost a rider's energy level and/or confidence and help make a possitive lesson stick, so when I refer to yelling, I am talking about negative messages being yelled.

This can also apply to horses who are doing a dangerous behaviour that just needs to stop and doesn't need to be replaced with a different action such as a horse that thinks biting your hat is a good idea while putting blankets on (Magnus...), With a horse though, you have to make sure the yell/strong punishment is times so it is directly associated with the behaviour, as with a horse you cannot go back and explain what it was they did wrong and why.

A tap to wake a horse up on the other hand, can help the horse perk up and pay attention in a positive way.

- Yelling is NOT useful for correcting behaviours that require thought. So as in my initial story, the rider needed to be able to think about correcting the lead and getting to the jump. She needed to know being on the wrong lead was wrong, but needed to move beyond that and come up with a Plan B to correct the lead and still continue on the course...which she could not do as she was  so worried about the harsh consequence of her perceived failure. When a person is yelled at, it puts them in reaction/fight or flight mode, and rational thought is lost to instinct. When in a true danger situation, reacting without thinking can save your life as it increases reaction time, but I hope we can agree being on the wrong lead should not be in the category of life threatening!

This is also applicable to horses. Let me use the example of a horse stopping at a jump. Some trainers wallop horses for doing this regardless of the cause, which can help make the horse learn to jump regardless...but there are times when the horse SHOULD stop, or at least make adjustments, and when the horse is jumping out of FEAR, it is more likely to take unnecessary risk and jump from dangerous distances.

Example; rider gets in crooked with a weak canter and has lost their stirrup. At this point I WANT my horse to either stop gently, or be able to balance up and jump quietly if the jump is small enough. A horse that is afraid it is going to be walloped though, is likely to panic and rush the jump blindly, knowing that it is likely to hit the fence, and wanting to just get it over with. These are the horses that end up flipping over jumps, or learn to bolt past jumps that they feel they just cannot do. If instead the rider takes responsibility for getting the horse correctly to the jump, and uses balancing and encouraging (but NOT punishing) aids, the horse is more likely to be able to think rationally, and be adjustable right to the base to make a tricky approach possible...and sometimes the stop IS the safest option!

The other thing that happens both with people that are often yelled at and with horses that are harshly punished, is that the transition to flight or fight mode is closer to the top and that adrenal response happens with very little provocation, so a student that gets yelled at in lessons just needs a look to have the same feeling they get when actually being yelled at, or the horse just has to sense its rider's displeasure.

The sad thing is that this reaction pattern can begin to be association with the activity, so the rider gets nervous/anxious when jumping/showing with ANY coach, or the horse gets fearful/upset when ridden by any rider.

So...given that most people don't LIKE getting yelled at, and that yelling is NOT useful in a learning environment and not conducive to being able to adapt and think rationally, WHY do adults allow their riding coaches to treat them in this way? Coaches that they PAY to teach them? Makes zero sense to me, but hang around the horse shows enough, and you will see it is not that uncommon a technique. Maybe Clare or Christine should do a psychology study on that....

Karen

October 1!

So...the first of the month is upon us.

And with it the start of cold weather by the sounds of it!

Board is due today too.

Our last horse show of the year was this past weekend. It was interesting. Java was very good and was Open 2'9" champion with Lindsay. Warrior was very good on day one, but tired by day two. Justice owned the warm up ring...but had a bit of performance anxiety in the actual show ring. Mags warmed up great...but could not focus on his dressage between two jumping rings!

Also at the show was S'Argent! He looked great, and he sure went to the right home..his new owner is a very good rider. S'Argent is still a difficult horse, and in his first class he balked at the far end with a mini tantrum...but after that class his rider sent him in at a full out gallop for a lap...and then he was a very good boy who just needs to learn to at the jumps a bit more. It felt good to see him succeeding and I think he landed at the perfect home.

On a  saddish not, Spencer left yesterday :( He went back to his former home, so I am pretty confident he went to a good home which was important to all concerned as he was a good horse, just not the right horse.

I am planning to start moving the geldings around a bit into their "winter" pens. The paddock chart will be kept up to date in case you need help finding your horse ;) Lesson students also keep in mind Zander is on vacation for a while, so if you normally ride him check the board for your replacement horse!

Karen

TTeam Clinic anyone?

I am in the process of organizing a clinic with Sue Falkner-March for December 1-2, 2012.

Both Michelle and I have ridden under Sue at the Mane Event Expo in Red Deer and greatly benefited from the experience. Sue is a TTouch practitioner based out of Canmore, Alberta.

The clinic format is still under discussion, but will likely start with off horse exercises focusing on body awareness and skills that can be practiced off horse but that will translate to ridden work. We may then have some Connected or TTeam Ground work if there is interest in this, followed by ridden work in small groups (2-4 riders). Participants will ride both days. There may be some spots for non-riders to just take part in the off horse body awareness work and/or the ground work only.

Please talk to me if you have any questions or think you may be interested. I will be posting an information and sign up sheet in the barn soon.

The clinic will be limited to 10 riders, and I am not sure how many unmounted participants. Spectators will be welcome (encouraged!) Cost of spectating will be snacks, I will have other costs formulated once we have the schedule figured out.

Karen

Pictures from Heads-Up Horse show.

If you get a weird email from me...

Don't open any emails with links sent by my hotmail account unless the text sounds like me of course.

My email was hacked and a link with phishing sites sent out. Rob has resolved the issue.

I do try to only send emails with good subject lines, and post interesting links here on the blog rather than through email.

Karen

Zander's Sister!

Somebody should buy her...
Zander's Little Sister

When Autocorrect meets horse ads...

Posted on Kijiji:

"Saddle Bread"

"6 year old saddle bread , green broke . Has been to the mountains a. Purple times , ridden down hwy, easy to catch . Needs work on raining and likes to back up , no buck , no kick good boy needs someone with good training experience. Will be a really amazing guy with the right trainer . His name is zar "

Thankyou cup cake fairy...

I would like to thank the cupcake Fairy that arrived Saturday night. The cupcakes were yummy. Rob had the chocolate one and I had the cream cheese icing one.

Is it odd that I assume random food left in the barn is 1) meant  for me, and 2) safe?

I am just surprised the kitten didn't find them...

Speaking of the kitten, last week Clare and I were discussing how much she resembles the girl cat in the Pepe Le Pew cartoon...the black cat that gets a paint stripe down her back so Pepe thinks she is a girl skunk? Well, in a moment of real life imitating art, it seems that little black kitten HAS actually managed to get a stripe down her tail (albeit it is light green paint), and last night Rob found a SKUNK hanging around our deck...

This week in lessons we are working on building leg strength, and on keeping horses straight both on the flat and in between jumps.

A big area of concern for straightness is the corners; if you look at the track that gets worn into the ends, they are rounded, with very little straightness, which tells me that riders are letting the wall to the work of their legs and outside rein, and the horse is taking the easier way to corner rather than using its inside hind to create a tidy turn.

We want the horse straight, meaning its hind end follows the path of its shoulders, as this helps the horse stay evenly engaged allowing for more powerful and correct take off spots, lengthening, and transitions. As part of this we will also work on assessing rider straightness and even balance between left and right sides. Having a rider that is crooked or unbalanced will require the horse to compensate by being crooked themselves!

We are also going to do some work on lateral suppleness, as a horse cannot be straight if it has tension in its body and is not supple through its pole and back. Lateral suppleness means side to side suppleness, and should not be confused with bend; suppleness is much more simple and just means the horse gives to the side with whichever part of the body you are working to supple...bend requires the horse to be evenly supple from nose to tail.

The fall schedule is more or less final; I would like to ask that boarders/lease riders try to avoid the 6:30 on Tuesday time slot, as well as the 5:30 on Wednesday time. If you do ride during these times you MUST stay out of the way of the lessons and ride in an appropriate manner to not disrupt the lesson or intimidate the lesson students.

Please check the bulletin board for other updates and information as I will be posting a few things throughout the week. Also be sure to read the Health Warning that Laureen kindly brought to the barn!

Karen

New Lesson Schedule

The new lesson schedule is posted in the barn; hopefully boarders can try to avoid the busier times (6:30 on Tuesday and Thursday), as there are a lot of quiet/open times.

I am going to add a "Ladies" night lesson on Tuesday at 6:30. It will be open to anyone old enough to have paid rent, a mortgage or give birth. This lesson will vary; sometimes it will be a regular lesson, sometimes it will include some "theory" or ground work as well as riding.

There will be some Saturdays this month where we will be showing, so Saturday riders will have to find another day to lesson. The 8th, 22nd, and 29th are the days that will likely be cancelled...but if you think you may want to show next year, it is a great idea to try to go watch these shows so you get an idea of what they are about before you compete yourself.

Also planning on giving Zander the first two weeks of October off. If you regularly ride Zander be prepared to ride someone else...who knows, you may find a horse you prefer!

Lessons have moved to the indoor for the most part now; it gets too cold and dark later in the day and I am a wuss.

Karen

Looking towards Fall

I am working on the Fall schedule, so please let me know when you can ride as soon as you know your schedule for September to December.

I will continue to teach Monday afternoon, and in the mornings on Tuesday and Thursday if there is demand. Evening lesson times have changed slightly, so I will be teaching later on Tuesdays to accommodate people with day jobs a bit better.

I know many of you are dreading the end of summer and the return to school, but September is going to be a great month with shows every weekend, and October is always lovely and the bugs are usually gone.

Rob, Ginger and I spent Sunday at the Darwell Fair, in Darwell Alberta. What a fun show/fair!

I was judging and Rob and Ginger were there for a day away from the farm. Rob's family also came out to see some of the show as they had been camping nearby.

It was an early start to the day with us leaving at 6:30, and we didn't get home until close to 8pm, so many thanks to Christine and Jessie who looked after the farm in our absence.

The show should have been done earlier, but we had to break at 2:30 to allow the heavy horse pull to take place; that was cool to see! I think they got to 8500 lbs! Lots of teams competed; mostly Belgians and Percherons, but there was a team of HUGE Fjord/QH crosses there that did very well.

As well as the horse show, there was a cow show going on; hearing mooing all day was interesting. They also had face painting, an impromptu water park (thanks to the volunteer fire department), and some other games going on. Definitely a fun day out for a family.

The show itself was pretty good. Class sizes were decent enough, and the people running the show were a lot of fun and did a great job. The riders represented a variety of skill levels and brought an assortment of horses, which made things interesting and fun. I wish we had fairs like that locally.

This week in lessons, riders who are planning to show dressage next weekend can practice their tests. They still have stalls available, so if you are wanting to come, please let me know!

For jumping and flat work we are going to continue to work on getting the horses to listen between jumps with lots of transitions. I think I may even add some leg yielding to the course this week to keep it interesting and to make sure riders are still using their legs while negotiating the course. It sounds like rain is expected for most of the week, so likely riding inside again for lessons.

Karen

now I know what I am getting everyone for Christmas....

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=421306961249177&set=a.215993528447189.54417.210777068968835&type=1&theater

This week in lessons...

Yesterday's fun show was a lot of fun and I want to thank all those that participated as well as those that helped out! I will post results in the barn this week! I think Zander/Chelsea were the clear winner  for the gymkhana type events, and Shawn/Stephanie for the hunters.

The most interesting even was the obstacle course, where I set up 9 obstacles, assigned them points, and competitors tried to get as many points as they could in 2 minutes. The rope gate proved to be the most challenging, and showed some holes in training that we need to work on! The rope gate event may find its way into lessons....

The other thing the obstacle course and the pylon race showed, was a big tendency of riders to look down at the obstacles they are trying to avoid...this isn't a particularly effective way to avoid something as we tend to end up going to where we are looking, and looking down really shifts the rider's weight forward and tips the horse even more on the forehand. A horse on the forehand is much less mobile and able to respond than a horse that is balanced more on its haunches.

So, what will we do in lessons?

Advanced horses and riders will work on leg yielding...at the canter. This helps to balance the horse, and set up for lead changes. Leg yielding at the canter is not something you will see in a dressage test, but is a good schooling exercise. Leg yield at canter will make it even more obvious that you need the horse's body STRAIGHT for the leg yield, with only flexion in the jaw, but at canter, you may find it best to keep the jaw/neck straight.

We are also going to work on better downward transitions to make sure all horses are rider's are set up to be able to do successful half halts. For a horse to be able to half halt, it needs to be able to do a downward transition that starts with its haunches, and stays light in the bridle. Once the downward transitions are correct, then all a half halt is, is you asking for the downward transition, but as soon as you feel the horse start to rebalance and take increased weight on its hind end, you allow it to move forward again.

The aids for the half halt will vary a bit from horse to horse, and from dressage to jumping, but are basically the same aids you need to use for a correct downward transition...which HAS to include leg so the horse doesn't pitch on to its front end like a bike going downhill and the rider using the front wheel brakes...

Off now to take Oreo to be neutered...if anyone is looking for a very affectionate, and handsome kitty, we have one that will be looking for a new home shortly!

Long time no blog...

Stupid rain last night reflooded everything. It was crazy out here, with lightening surrounding us, and thunder shaking the ground. Horses didn't seem to care though.

Hoping the outdoor dries for lessons tonight as I have another grid set up, but if not, I will plan something for inside.

Reminder that this Sunday afternoon is the Hillside fun show. Let me know if you want to come out to help or to ride! Start time is 1pm. Entry fees are $1 for regular classes, or $2 for stake classes. Money raised will go to the lounge improvement fund.

The show will be weather permitting as I would like to hold it outside.

Amelia, Miranda, and Stephanie put a lot of effort into cleaning the upstairs lounge, and have made a list of items they hope we can procure to make the lounge liveable; there is a list of items we are looking for posted on the bulletin board.

Karen

This week

This week in lessons who knows what the weather will allow us to do!

In the indoor I have a grid set up, so we will work on some jumping faults (horse) and position faults (rider).

Common jumping faults that can be corrected by a grid are things like a horse that lands too close or too far away, a horse that wants to only take off long or too deep, or a horse that likes to get crooked.

Common riding faults that can be corrected in a grid are things like keeping the weight DOWN through the leg, proper releases, keeping the eye up, and having a soft hip that absorbs the jump without jumping ahead.

If some miracle of nature happens and the outdoor ring dries after last nights flood, then I will build a zig zag line of jumps through the middle to work on looking and turning, as well as landing leads.

In case your area missed it, we had some very nasty weather out here last night with large amounts of hail, and a crazy downpour of rain in a small amount of time...so things are pretty darn wet, and the mosquitoes have even more places to hatch! Yep, the mosquitoes are now out in full force. Fun.

I am still recovering from the long day on Sunday at the dressage show; the show went great, and Coregel managed to hold it together (although the look on her face when she first saw herself being ridden in the mirror was priceless!) and we scored in the 60s for both our tests. Wolfgang, Gode and Shawn were also very good and also scored in the 60s, and I believe Tamara won both her tests! Poor Shawn had the added difficulty of a stray dog causing a ruckus during her test, but Laureen was much improved from last year and was able to regain his attention quickly. Looking forward to their August show...where I WILL expect people to ride a test without me reading! I am such a pushover...maybe I should charge for reading....

Karen

Scribing

I was once again a scribe at the Amberlea Dressage Show.

Once again I was scribing for a judge that cannot write much more than her name (stroke), so lots of writing for me, and my right index finger is still complaining. Very nice lady with lots of wisdome and insight to pass on though, so very valuable for me to be able to learn from her. In fact, she is going to be the live commentator for the Olympic Dressage for CBC! The other judge who was there was off to coach the Olympic riders before the competition! You have to give Amberlea Kudos for not skimping on quality judges!

The weather played some havoc, so we had to be inside on Friday, but then outside on Saturday...the outside booths are much nicer to scribe in! Large, bright and so much quieter!

The main comments from this judge that are applicable to our level of riders:
1) Not enough "Cadence"
2) Not "through" the back
3) Stretch circles not 20 meters (must go past P-V line), and not stretching through the back.
4) Saddles too far forward
5) Riders holding too much with too long a rein
6) Post in first level if your horse isn't using its back or is getting crooked.
7) Use your corners, but don't run your horse into them. Do not go into corners on a circle though!
8) Horse's nose needs to be more forward and/or pole needs to be higher.
9) For lengthens: Rushing, neck should be longer.

Cadence is a word that comes up often in describing the ideal gaits of a horse for dressage and is the rhythm and flow of the gait. It requires some suspension (at trot and canter), regularity, and be uphill (push from behind).

Through the back means that the horse's energy is starting in the hind end, flowing forward through the back, and lifting/pushing the horse along. The withers should appear raised, and the hocks coming deep and flexing. The horse has to be supple through the pole to be "through" and cannot be resisting.

Not as many mouth open comments this time.

I also learnt what happens if your horse trips, falls, and comes up limping during a test; the judge stops you, lets you walk, and then if the horse is walking ok, can have you trot on a loose rein to assess soundness. If the horse appears sound you can continue on with your test. You are not marked down for the stoppage.

The other thing was that judges like if you listen to them about a tack change or posting instead of sitting, but they don't expect you to make major changes from one day to the next based on their comments. One poor young rider went off test 3 times day one, and was eliminated, so the judge suggested she have a reader. Next day she comes in the ring without a reader, so the judge leans out to ask the mom if she is planning to read: "No", "Are you sure", "Yes". So of course the poor kid goes off test again...just got confused about how long she should circle!

Karen