Happiness is a tall mounting block

Okay, so I am a simple person and I get pleasure out of simple things. Today... it is having a tall mounting block. Silly you might say. And if someone told me that is what makes them happy I would roll my eyes and chuckle. But folks, I have to say that it is what has made me the happiest on this day.

I have a 17.2 hand horse and I am 5'8". This means I should be able to get on my horse from the ground. But I can't, probably has something to do with this flat tire around my waist. Anyway, since I moved out to my current barn I have been using upside down water trough, turned over manure buckets, fences, and small unstable step ladders. All of which I am SURE I am going to flip over and end up under my horse. By the way I have done this on a poorly build mounting block before and got my butt wedged in between the steps. Luckily Dublin just step sideways and came back to look at me in my unusual position. And I used the stirrup to un-wedge myself. Good boy!!!

So I was in Pinehurst for a conference. It ended in the afternoon and all the guys were running to the golf course (Pinehurst is where the US Open golf championships were and are going to be held). But right next door to Pinehurst (about 4 miles) is Southern Pines, or better known to us North Carolinians as "horse heaven"! So I drove over and went shopping at the local tack store Cabin Branch.

I really like this store, because you are always welcomed at the door by a big lab. Who then walks around with you as to say "did you see the new show shirts, oh here is my favorite horse treats..." After playing with the dog and being escorted around to her ultimate place in the store... dog treats display, I saw it a three step mounting block!!! Made of hard and heavy duty plastic with a little door on the top step that reveals a storage place for brushes or whatever. I was in love. It was large and sturdy enough to comfortably step up and not worry about it tipping over, but it was also small enough to carry around. And the best of all things... it was not overly priced. I recently saw one marked for $150. This was about half! I was in love.

I quickly grabbed it up and shuffled to the cash register (with the lab showing me the way, gee that dog is well trained) and gladly whipped out my credit card. After the purchase was complete, I was led to the door by the lab again, and walked my new mounting block out to my truck. It was a glorious site to see it in my back seat where it road around for two days.

Today, in the rain and all, I pulled up to the barn and pulled out the new mounting block. Both my riding buddy, barn manager and I stood and stared at it. We were all very happy with my new purchase. Then we ran in and tacked up Dublin and Orion. Both are 17.2 hands and this was going to be an easy day to mount up. I rushed out with my horse and got lined up to get on, walked up the THREE steps and discovered I only had to lift my left foot up about 12 inches to reach the stirrup. There would be no stretching for me today and I would not worry about the graceful flip under the belly of the horse. No folks it was solid and a lovely height. All was grand.

Then I swung my leg over picked up my other stirrup and walked off in the rain with a huge smile on my face. Then Dublin informed me he had another idea. He produced the largest hump in his back which only means I am about to go sailing through the air. I got to dismount right beside the new mounting block, go in search of my lunge line, and then go to the covered arena and lunge him for a good 20 minutes to get all the bucks out. And THEN, I got to remount using the two step, way too short mounting block. But at least I had my happiness given to me early in the morning with my new TALL mounting block! Life is good!

World Cup Dressage 2005 - my point of view

Having never been to Las Vegas or a World Cup event I had a truly new experience. First Vegas, well there is nothing like it. Where else in the world do you go that all you do is tour and sightsee in hotels? My husband treated me to the Vegas trip as a part of our 1st anniversary celebration. (We tend to drag out celebrations and so far this one is lasting around a week and a half)

We stayed in the Bellagio hotel and I was blown away. Our room had to be near 1000sq/ft and had everything we possibly would want in a master bedroom not to mention a hotel room. Two favorites, the bed and the soaking tub!!! And if it wasn't for the horseshow I probably would not have left the hotel. We ate in the wonderful restaurants (Noodle being my favorite) and sat by the pool (it rained on me when I got to sit out there) and shopped in the finest high in stores. I went to Hermes and actually bought something.... saddle soap for $20. My guess it was the cheapest thing in the store. We did go see other hotels and if you are in for luxury then the Bellagio is it!

Now on to what this Blog is all about... dressage and horses. It took my breath away watching this level of riding and horses. To make it to this show has got to be a great achievement and honor. Just watching it was an honor! I felt like I should go down to each rider and thank them for letting me be in the same arena as them.

I arrived in Vegas on Wednesday but did not make it for the warm up. So my first experience was on Thursday. Team Encore (this is what my horse trainers calls her students and clients) arranged a limo to the arena. Not a bad way to travel the full 5 miles! Once inside the arena the vendors were all set up around the breezeway. Some where good and most were pretty disappointing. Der Dau did set up and had on display their pink jods and half chaps. Now had they been in purple I would have had to buy them. However my riding buddy warned me that if I came home with them she would no longer ride with me. I say... what a piss poor attitude!!! (Just kidding).

I did get suckered into purchasing the reversible logo vest. One side says 2005 World Cup Jumping and the other 2005 World Cup Dressage. Unfortunately the side that says Dressage is the yellow side, which against my skin makes me look like I might throw up. But hey you gotta do it and buy the merchandise.

We all finished up our shopping at the vendors and grabbed a hot dog and a beer and found our seats. I noticed as soon as I walked in how small the arena was and how they had to work at getting the dressage ring in there. Imagine a basketball stadium. There are always a section of seats around the court that fold up and go under the Permanente seats to give the players more room to practice and for other events to be held in the arena. The dressage ring was set up and there couldn't have been 20 feet on the outside of the long side and only 5 feet on the short sides. So the riders had to "warm up" inside the dressage ring. I was disappointed in that there was no car set up inside the arena as they do at most European shows. But again it was just too small.

The best thing was the overhead big screens. They used them through out the show, they videoed the rides as they were happening and showed the scores as they got them and even instant replays. That was pretty cool.

Okay, by now you have read all about the results and most opinions of those there. So I will not go into all that. However if you want I will post all the scores if you add a comment.

Here is who I liked and why... because after all it is my blog and I can do that. My favorite horse of the show was one that ended up 9th after the Grand Prix (note: I am doing this from memory so I may be wrong about the placement) his name was Hardthof's Ludewig. He is a large leggy bey gelding and can move. When I say "move" I don't mean his knees come way up and very animated, but he does spring off the floor and move forward. His collected trot is the speed of most horses working or medium trot. He just floats. And yes the main reason I like him is that he reminds me of my horse. The coloring, legs and presence. Dublin probably will never really look like that but it is fun to dream!

Also another favorite is Aramis. This horse is an elegant horse. I don't know how to describe him, but he just moves with very little effort and with such a "flow".

For me the best part of World Cup was just seeing riders of that level and quality. These riders made hardly any mistakes and each horse was "shown" not just ridden. What an experience for me. I of course am all fired up to ride harder, better and more often. Dublin has no idea what he is in for once I get back in the saddle.

Southern Pines Walthour-Moss Foundation

Yesterday I participated in a "Poker Ride" organized by the Moore County Hounds in Southern Pines, NC. This ride is basically a glorified and organized trail ride. The general gist is this, you ride in teams of two or three. You are given five cards in which you try to get a great poker hand. You ride out on a marked trail and you have three checkpoints. At those checkpoints you may discard and pick cards to better your hand. Then at the end of the ride you turn in your cards and the top 6 hands get a prize.

To be honest it was not about the poker or the prizes. It was all about the trail riding and the lunch after. It couldn't have been a more beautiful day, somewhere in the mid seventies and sunny. The foundation consist of 3000 acres in which are dedicated to horse activities and land conservation. One can go trail ride, driving or fox hunt through the foundation. No vehicles, walking or bikes are allowed. It is hard to describe how wonderful it is to have access to something like this. The trails are very wide and very well kept, the vegetation is burned off from time to time and there are plenty of jumps set up along the way.

I believe I heard that on this particular path we were sent, there were something like 22 jumps. Of course being the dressage princess that I am, I chose to go around the jumps, not over. I don't like it when my horse leaves the ground. That is why I chose dressage.

There were a lot of humors moments when you get this kind of crowd together and out trail riding. Especially with young horses, hot horses and "hydrophobic" horses. Yes, my trainer took out a client's horse that is completely afraid of water. The only water we had to cross was a small creek about 3 feet wide and 6 inches deep. The water was moving, but there were nice banks on either side so most horses just hopped over. Not this guy, it took 30 minutes, and three different riders and countless suggestions to finally get him over. I still am not sure how they are not still out on the trail and how they finally got him over. But he is safely back home and no where near water other than that in his bucket in the stall.

World Cup Dressage 2005

It is less then a week away. And I can't wait. I am being taken to Las Vegas to see the World Cup Dressage Show next week by my wonderful husband. And this is how we are going to celebrate our First Anniversary. What a guy, not a horse person, but willing to celebrate his first anniversary at a horse show!

I can NOT wait to get there. I am so excited about seeing all the world class riders and horses. Especially now that they have all decided to come. It seems that the Dutch team had been promised some specific travel arrangements for grooms and horses and somewhere along the way World Cup Organizers decided to switch. The Dutch team threatened not to come, and note this is Anky the Olympic Gold Medalist and defending World Cup Champion. But the organizers have made everything right and all are coming!

This will also be my first trip to Vegas. I have done a lot of traveling in my life for work and fun, but never to Vegas. I am so excited about it all. Not to mention getting to see and meet all the other dressage enthusiasts descending in on Vegas for a week!

I will try to take good notes at the show and report what I see.

Could Sunday go any worse?!??!

Sunday morning was perfect! I slept in and got up when I was good and ready. And for me that was 9 am. I quickly dressed and headed to the barn. The sun was out, the temperature was going to be in the high 60's low 70's by the time I got to the barn. My riding buddy wasn't going to be there that day and I was disappointed. But not to worry, I was planning on heading to the large outdoor arena and going to use the entire ring and work on some of those before mentioned exercises.

I really like riding with my morning partner. She is so supported and has been riding dressage for a long time. So while I am no longer with my trainer, due to long distances, I have her and she really helps me. But I hadn't ridden by myself and I needed to work out some new exercises all on my own.

Now the bad news. The outdoor arena is on the other side of the farm. It has excellent footing and the horses naturally relax there as opposed to the indoor arena where a lot of bogymen hang out in the shadows. The other thing is I have to hack to the arena, again it is a hike and there is not mounting block out there. Dublin is 17.2 hands and even though I am 5'8" I am not able to get on from the ground. I just can't get my leg that high and then proceed to swing up.

We got tacked up and headed out, the gates that run between the pastures were all closed. No problem, go open the gates, go back to the barn and get on. Tea Cup, very cute yearling filly in one pasture came over to visit while I struggled to get this gate open. It was love at first site, she did her "chatting" thing with her mouth and Dublin was hooked. He could NOT leave Tea Cup alone. He also sort of forgot he is missing the parts, therefore he is NOT supposed to care. Ummm, wrong. Anyway, I pulled the two lovebirds apart and dragged the now pouting gelding back to the barn to get on. At this point there are no problems.

We head back out to Tea Cup's pasture, there is a lot of nickering going on and Dublin has now decided he is the stud he always wanted to be. Great, I am now getting some of the greatest Passage out of my 2nd level horse. Tail up, snorting and we are showing off for the girls. Hey, whatever makes you happy Dublin.

We get through the pastures and have to walk around the old owner house (the house being old, not the owner). No one actually lives in this house at the moment. But it is scary enough. Dublin doesn't want to leave his new girlfriend. So we start the spins. Walk two or three steps forward, spin to see Tea Cup. Walk two steps in a half pass - - spin to see Tea Cup. This goes on until we get around the house.

Next one has to go in front of the house down a short drive way towards the road then down another shoot (fence alongside the road and a gap of 15 to 20 feet and then the fence for the first pasture). However, the owner of the farm seems to keep driving over the main house and opening the gates that lead to the road. Normally when I am following Orion out (riding buddy's horse) this isn't an issue. However today Dublin has noticed he is heading out away from all his friends, and his new found love, Tea Cup. So we don't want to go down the drive, across the front yard and into the shoot which will open up to the outdoor arena. No, we want to back down the drive, through the front gates and stop inches from the road, where all the Durham County rednecks want to be cute and honk as they go by. At this point I am sure I am going to die.

So how, by the grace of God, we get through to the shoot. Mind you I am not a religious person, but I did become one that day! The shoot proved to be its own challenge. Normally once arriving there Orion and Dublin relax and walk on the buckle to the arena. Not today. The last gate has swung shut, but not locked. And Dublin took this as a sign that he should run back to the barn for safety. Great, I am within 5 feet from the road smiling and waving at all the rednecks going by. They get to see this very impressive "Dressage Show" of hops, spins, and whirls. I finally gave up, the horse is not going forward, so... do the next logical thing, go backwards. The shoot has got to be a football length and we did about 80 yards backing. It worked well until I turned him around (now extremely collected and sitting on his haunches very lovely) and he viewed the swung shut gates again. His mind reminded him of the opportunity to sit, launch and run back to the barn. Oh gee, here we go again.

I gave up, got off walked him to the arena, found a fence that didn't look like it was going to fall over and climbed back up. Great, now we can get to work. What I hadn't noticed through all this was that in the pasture beside the arena where the grey mares hang out, there was now a stallion in there with them. And he saw Dublin (remember Dublin is a gelding) as a threat to his "herd". Oh dear God, will I ever just get to ride my horse. The stallion had been turned out on the other side of the farm (a very long distance away), jumped out of his pasture with 5 foot fencing (oh yeah, and he is an Arabian and stands maybe 15 hands high), ran unnoticed across the farm and jumped in with the in-season mares. So there was a lot of excitement going on. He challenged Dublin and I a few times. So we took up a position at the opposite side of the arena. This seemed to work, but Dublin got very nervous when we would turn away from the mares and stallion, needless to say we were VERY collected at this point.

Okay, the stallion goes to his corner and we are in ours. Life seems to be getting back to normal... But wait, there is more. The deer in the area decide that they too want to join in the fun. They all come crashing out of the woods of the mares pasture, run directly from the woods to the arena, hop over run along side Dublin and I for a very frightening moment and then over to the next pasture. Great, the ride is all but ruined at this point. Now we are just talking survival!

As soon as I put the deer out of my mind, a car goes by and reminds me of them. Oh yes, the deer decided that the lushes pastures and left over grain was not nearly good enough. No they MUST cross the road. Here I am doing small canter circles that are just lovely and very expressive (due to all the extra excitement and stimulation) and again, as we turn out backs to it all the deer go over the fence rail, car comes around the corner, and breaks are applied at a rapped rate with extreme pressure. Again, we scoot/bolt forward in the "flee" defense the horse is so good at.

I QUIT I yelled. I accomplished something. I got a canter to walk transition and I felt that was good enough. Just because I said I quit the stimulation didn't. Before I could even get off, a jogger (oh the road is above the arena at this point so to see a person running down the road above the horse's head is freighting apparently), a dog attacking the jogger, and at least 10 bikes go by. I decided hacking back to the barn was not the best idea. I walked Dublin home, and I thought the horse was going to sit on my shoulders the whole way back.

So as a reward, Dublin received a spa day. Again, sometimes you need to just accomplish something small, like living.

Lisa Wilcox Dressage Clinic

I have been on one of my favorite BB, Chronicle of the Horse http://chronicleforums.com/eve/ubb.x. And there is a topinc about the Lisa Wilcox, dressage rider/traininer/Olymipian, clinic that was held in New England. The clinic organizer wrote about what Lisa worked on with each student. I found it a simple exercise and immediately incorporated it into my training.

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The clinic organizer wrote the follow:

Lisa starts each horse working on circles and serpentines getting them honestly through to that outside rein. She works on going from hand to hand by changing out of the circle. She decreases the size of the circle to a volte, and works volte to volte and then back to a larger circle. She does serpentines through the school to see if they accept the new bend. She is always trying to increase the bend by adding shoulder-in on the circle and long sides and going back to voltes. This bending work gets them swinging in the middle (mittlehand) so that the spine moves both up and down AND side to side. This stretches the muscles in preparation for the next movements. This is especially important for that area just behind the saddle which tends to get tight and block. If that area is blocked, you will not have a swinging back and no horse stepping under. It is many minutes just stretching and preparation work, almost all done in shoulder fore or shoulder in, with the GOAL to get the inside hind leg stepping under the middle of the horse to carry the weight. She likened these exercises to a gymnast...they cannot just go out and do their tumbling routine without stretching. It was not to perfect the shape of the circle, it was to stretch the horse, get them stepping under, which gets them off the forehand and lighter in the shoulder. When through, carrying, and engaged, the gaits go from ordinary to extraordinary, with a lot of freedom of the shoulder and hock articulation. Anyone could see this, especially when she was riding--also on Sunday.

Once correctly carrying, doing a half pass is like butter. Once you lose the bend, you turn that half pass back into shoulder in and go straight. She would not attempt to do changes, or any of the p's without the horse through, carrying, light on the forehand and carrying on the hind end. Without these requirements, you can force them out behind, get them to block, and many other things that would lead to muscle stiffnesses. Once you start to develop a stiffness, you have to stretch those muscles...just like we do. She said we must be physical therapists up there for our horses.

She gets to half pass with all of her horses, even the 4 year olds, but it is not steep and only for a few strides and only when they are correctly through. In half pass, it is too easy for them to learn to step away from the body because they lose the bend rather than under the body and carrying. Shoulder in always fixes this.

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I of course went right out the barn and incorportated some of this in my exercises. While I always to circles, changes of directions and such, I am not sure I was understanding why and what it would do for my horse. So yesterday, Dublin was in a good mood and we worked on 20 meter circles and really making him bend around my inside leg and making his inside leg really step under him. He could supple left or right on the circle (note: I didn't crank his head around, just enough so I could see his eye)

I then happened to be going down the long side and noticed a little more "bounce to the ounce" in Dublin's trot that I hadn't experienced earlier. It was wonderful to feel a result so quickly.

Shoulder-in to straighten the canter

In my first horseshow this season I competed in Second level, whether I was ready or not. I was so pleased with Dublin and that he really went out and gave it his all. But the comment that was in all four tests was that his haunches come in when he is on the right lead canter. Yick! So they noticed, huh?

My trainer was at the show, while we both warmed up for our next classes I asked her advice on how to help this. She showed me a cool clover pattern to do in the walk, trot, and canter. The bad news is I always get lost half way through it and can't remember where I am supposed to go. The other piece of advice was to do a lot of counter canter on the right lead.

My next time I rode, I counter cantered like a fool. Dublin again tried his best, but it was obvious that we would have to work really hard at it. I also didn't want him to get too sour with this new exercise (let me say, we work at the counter canter before the show, just not as much as we do now).

So I went out to the bulletin boards of The Chronicle of the Horse and Ultimate Dressage. What great people there are to help. Someone had already posted a question about the "training pyrmid -- straightness" on one board so I asked if anyone had some good exercises to help fix this problem. I then posted a thread on the other BB as well. On both boards it was said that Dublin was likely weak/weaker in his right hind, therefore he brings his haunches in when tracking right. I then got wonderful suggestions as to some exercises to try and I have started incorporating them into my ride each day.

Here are some that I have been trying and a few that I am going to try, aside from fixing the way I am riding:

1. Shoulder-fore/Shoulder-in - As mentioned by a fellow BB person, I should ride/live in Shoulder-fore and shoulder-in. I should do this on the long side, in a circle, during transitions up and down.

I find the shoulder-in exercise GREAT. However I tend to be uncoordinated in the shoulder-in on a circle. So therefore I need to do this more and getting it right. But I am feeling Dublin really stepping under himself with his right hind.

2. Changes of direction - Again very similar to the above exercise. This one also helps get him stepping up under himself with both hinds and with the frequent change in direction, he doesn't have time to get "crooked".

- - - Exercises I am going to try - - - -

3. Ride the counter bend - this is to be done in the walk, trot and canter. When tracking left this will help remind the horse to keep using that right hind.

4. Transitions within the gait - Ask the horse to really push forward in the canter, asking him to reach forward in to the contact and come well over the back. If done correctly, the hind legs will reach further underneath and help get him straighter.

5. Transitions between the gaits - Trot, four or five steps of straight canter being ridden from a strong inside leg on the girth to the steady, receiving outside rein, then make the transition back to trot for four or five strides, back to canter.

6. 10 meter circles - keep the horse on the outside rein and soft on the inside.

7. Begin on the long side start at K. Shoulder-in from K to H. At H halt, still in the shoulder-in. Do a half-turn on the haunches to the right so that you end up facing the way you came. Keep the horse bent to the right. Go in to a renvers in a bright trot until E, then lengthen stride to K. Halt. Half turn on the haunches to the left. Once the horse is standing, bend to the right again, move from the halt in to a bright shoulder-in, rinse, repeat.

To do this in the canter, pick up the right lead canter on a 15 meter circle at A, as you come out of the corner, ask for the shoulder-fore. Shoulder-fore until S, where you take the shoulder-fore in to a 10 or 12 meter circle, depending on the ability of your horse. As you begin to come out of the circle, sit deep and soft, drop the weight in to your heels and halt at H. Do a half-turn on the forehand pushing the haunches left so that the right hind leg is being activated. When you are facing the new direction, maintain the outside bend and pick up right lead canter again, this time doing a broken diagonal from H to quarterline to K. Stay in counter canter through the corners and short side. Once out of the corner, at F ask for a bit of a lengthening in CC. At R, collect, at M transition to halt. Do the same exercise in the other direction.

8. Leg yield in the trot, from center line to long side - even better, from long side to centerline ESPECIALLY when the right hind is on the outside is an immeasurably useful tool. Not only will it help strengthen the hind end, but it also proves whether or not you are riding with the outside aids properly all the time.

Thank you to all those that posted responses to my questions and I am really enjoying learning these exercises.

Technology and Dressage

My parents have recently purchased this very cool Apple computer. With it came all this move editing software and DVD software. Very simple. So I was their house for the weekend participating in the family thing (mainly sitting around drinking and telling all the same stories we always do and laughing our heads off, oh yeah and watching UNC make it to the final game, go Heels!). I took my digital video camera with all my videos of my dressage rides, lessons, and shows.

I sat down on Friday and moved most of the video on to the computer. Then Saturday and Sunday I did a lot of editing and made a little video. My wonderful husband has trudged around many a horseshow and willingly videoing all my rides. As wonderful as that is, he tends to get a lot of shots of the ground or a trash can or his foot. So with this fabulous software (iMove) I pulled all the video clips into the software package and could edit out all those lovely "artistic" shots of the ground. Instead of 60 minutes of video where there is at least 5 minutes of foot shots, or something like it, I now have 45 minutes of wonderful video of just Dublin. And I worked really hard not to remove the bad parts of my ride. I have to watch those and learn from it, right?

A Dressage Queen's 10 Commandments

1. Thou shalt not associate with commoners who do not ride $1,000,000 Warmbloods.

2. Thou shalt blame everyone and everything when the rare occasion arises that thouest do not win.

3. Thou shalt cultivate a high pitched whining screech, that allows spectators and husband alike to know that nothing is up to thy standards.

4. Thou shall own fullseats of each colour, Eurostars, Pikeurs, and every other unpronounceable name out there.

5. Thou shalt wear full carrot diamond studs in which to impress judges and lowly commoners alike.

6. Thou shall have the vet, farrier, committee of trainers, out every week to test footing, hocks, stifles, air quality, sidereins, spurs, hotwalker, etc.......

7. Thou shalt have background checks done on each lowly barnhelp, as they might ruin thy horse by the unnatural ct of petting thy $1,000,000 push-button training machine.

8. Thou shalt not let thy roots grow out, nor nails be chipped, nor ever appear in public without thy full mask of makeup, nor be caught without thy Gucci purse full of custom made products.

9. Thou shall own every gadget known to horsedom, as to impress all and sundry with thy prowess in the saddle.

10. Thou shalt name drop, and schmooch with the wives of thy judges and cultivate a charming smile and attitude in which to win friends and show off thy lovely new dental work.



You might be a Dressage Queen if...

-Your hairdo has ever been ruined by a ceiling fan.

-You’ve ever been involved in a custody fight over your GP mounts.

-You can’t school your horse without coordinating leg wraps, saddle pad, browband, polo shirt, gloves, socks, hair bow, baseball cap and eyeshadow.

-All your pre-nuptial agreements mention the horses first.

-The judge has to don sunglasses to cut the glare from your diamond stud earrings.

-Your artificial fingernails keep wearing out the fingers of your gloves.

-Your trainer sends his psychiatrist bills to you, and you pay them.

-Every piece of tack you own has a breed logo on it including the Mercedes.

-You paid more for your horse trailer than your education.

-The cost of the brushes in your grooming box is more than your groom earns a year.

-You think multi-cultural means owning more than one type of warmblood.