Second Level has been “put to bed”

It’s been a helluva year.

Twelve months ago, I was writing about winning the Dressage Foundation Gifted Grant and my abysmal showing at the 2010 Harvest Moon Dressage/GAIG finals. This time, my show report is thankfully quite a bit different.

Basically, I won everything. OK, that’s *not* true, but it sure feels that way. I came away with four more tests under my belt–four more opportunities to learn and practice the tests in a way that demonstrates that I really do “get” Second Level. Four more opportunities to both teach and learn from Bravo. Four more opportunities to beam with pride and fall in love with my horse again and again.

Saturday started out cold and blustery, so  I allowed myself a full hour to school for my first test. It was my largest class of the weekend–11 entries–and was a Sweepstakes (money) class. While Friday afternoon I had lunged a few minutes before my schooling session; I decided to hop right on Saturday morning. While there were a few “balky” moments, there was very little in the way of argument from Bravo–during any of my rides, actually. Patrick gave me the perfect warm up: focusing on releasing all the tension in Bravo’s neck and back; suppling him to push into the contact. I had plenty of horse in my test and the whole thing flowed easily. As if in slow motion, I felt like I could fluidly control each stride and plan each step between and within movements. That’s not to say it was perfect, but it was just so rideable. Bravo was forward without tension, supple without evasion, and completely tuned in for the entire test. We earned a 70% for first place, which was a huge reward for feeling like I really got everything “just right”.

The next test was just an hour later, and was the first leg of the NCDCTA Championships. I put Bravo in the stall to get a drink and relax a few minutes, and planned on a much shorter warm up. I was in the tack about 20 minutes ahead with a similar feeling in the practice ring. This test was in Ring 1–a ring Bravo and I have been in many times together. Unfortunately, walking over to the test ring I could feel the tension rising. Bravo is not spooky by nature, but he has a few weird “quirks”. One is that he is unnerved by horses, particularly ones being led rather than ridden, in the immediate vicinity of the ring. So I let him have a good look, talked to the folks, mounted and non, and he began to relax. Then it was our turn and we started around the apron. As soon as the whistle blew and we headed toward A, it was like he’d had a short term memory lapse–feet planted and head in the air Bravo seemed to say “What the Hell are those things next to the ring?” It’s maddening! I wish he could understand my words when I tell him he’s being ridiculous spooking at his own kind. So we started out with some tension and I had to fake it a bit through the medium trots because I never had his back. He took a deep breath and gave me a great free walk and I thought we were back in the clear. Ha! As soon as I picked up the canter, a small bucking spasm occurred, and then we regained composure. In the first medium canter, he thought it would be cute to throw in a flying change (clean!) for extra points. Regardless, I was all smiles despite the small problems and thought our 63+% for 2nd place was fair.

Sunday was sunny and beautiful–truly perfect riding weather. My first class was the second leg of the NCDCTA Championships and I went into my warm up guns blazing. Since the Championships are an average of the Saturday and Sunday tests, and since I was beaten by my worthy opponent Dana on her always-a-force-to-be-reckoned-with Watson by 5%, I had my work cut out for me. Not only did I have to WIN the class to win the Championship–I had to win by over 5%. Patrick again had us in a really good place with plenty of tension-free power when it was time to head into the ring. Of all the Second level tests, Second/3 has been my favorite and it went well–it didn’t have quite the magic of my first test of the weekend, but was clean and respectable for the win and a 67+%. However, our margin was only 3% and so we settled for Reserve Champion (and I couldn’t be happier for Dana and Watson–great job!).

Before that test, I was undecided about whether I would even ride the last one. If the test had gone very well, I would have scratched. But, I felt like it was not quite the test to end the season on, so we headed back out to the east field in the afternoon for the Dover Medal class. I figured Bravo would be pretty tuckered out by this point, so didn’t expect to need too much warming up time. Wrong! Holy Churchill Downs Batman–Bravo was hot as mustard as soon as I picked up the trot. In fact, he was the hottest and most reactive he’d been all weekend! I had plenty of time, so figured all my standard suppling exercises and lots of transitions would take the edge off. Wrong! Plan B, give with the hand, ride with the core, don’t dare touch him with the leg and he’ll settle. Wrong! He wasn’t spooky or upset, and he wasn’t locked up with tension (just KEEN), so in the ring we went. The test itself was a bit of managed chaos, but I just kept thinking about planning each step, using each corner, and riding half halt to half halt. In the end we were third in the class with a 64%, but came away winning the Dover Medal! So while I did not accomplish my goal of having another go at the test in order to try to capture that first test “magic”, I did learn something about riding “the horse you’ve got”. Since my goal is to have Bravo forward and hot to the aids, I need to learn to really deal with that when I get it in spades! He never put a foot wrong and there was nary a hint of naughtiness, so regardless of the outcome I’m glad I decided not to scratch.

And so now the Second Level chapter is closed. In the past couple of months I do feel like I have truly gained an understanding of the concepts and purpose outlined in the directives and now I can apply them as I start to fumble along understanding and implementing those of Third level. I don’t plan to show again until I’m well down the path the right way, although if tempted I’ll bring along that Second level MFS I’ve been playing with in the background. As always, this ship could not have sailed without my crew–particularly Patrick and Anne–so I hope to be back on the high seas soon.

Because no competition season ender would be complete without the stats, I’ll end with the highlight reel for this season. I have many reasons to be proud of my super Super Pony!

• Out of 15 Second level tests ridden at USDF competitions, we placed First NINE times, Second FOUR times, and Third TWICE.
• Scores this season ranged from 62.1% to 70%–median 67% (we have scored at least one 70% at Training, First, and Second levels).
• We won the Dover Medal four times out of five Dover Medal classes
• We were the Open and AA USDF All-Breeds Horse of the Year for the Hungarian Horse Association of America at Second level
• Out of five USDF shows, we were high score at Second Level four times.

 

The Pit of Despair–It’s There for a Reason

I have had a busy few weeks, unfortunately very little of which involves actually riding my horse. If you’ll recall, in my last post I explained that Bravo would be going to Patrick’s to get some education. If I do say so myself, that is going just swimmingly! It took B about a week to settle in (i.e., he took poor Patrick into the trees every day that first week), but now they are trucking right along, thick as thieves! I’ve been out there 3 or 4 times for lessons on B, which is enough to solidify that this is the right thing to do at the right time. He may stay there a bit longer than originally planned.

I have snuck in one ride on my (daughter’s) pony, Emmi. She is 13 hands of MAGICAL. Oh, how I sometimes wish that I were smaller or she were taller. I need a little bit of Alice’s “Eat Me” cake for that fabulous little mare. And of course, another 6 hours in each day.

I scribed for Lisa Hyslop at the Labor of Love show, which was interesting and educational (scribing always is). Lisa was fantastic to work for and is über knowledgeable about equine anatomy and rider biomechanics, as well as being a stickler for test accuracy (a whole point off for circles too large, transitions that failed to be at the letter, etc.–let that be a lesson to you!). While she judged Training through Fourth level rides, the majority of the day was Second and Third levels and it was like watching dozens of little 6 minute clinics narrated by her. (As a side note, if you don’t scribe regularly–YOU SHOULD!)

But moving along, part of my putting Bravo into a training situation was because I was “done” with Second level, and ready to “get on with” Third level. Watching my horse be professionally ridden, scribing, and talking with Patrick and with friends who are also working on the leap from Second to Third levels has realigned my perspective yet again. For those of you keeping count, this is the 342,109,498th time. I’m sure it’s not the last.

In these ruminations (I LOVE that word), I’ve re-discovered some very astute (and obvious) things. I’m writing them down again to re-remind myself how “wise” I am in my moments of clarity, how much I have to learn from those who are teaching me if I will “listen”, and also to re-read to myself when necessary.

• The REAL point of dressage is the journey, not the false “end points” we place on ourselves (medals, horse of the year, etc.).
• When you can fulfill the directives for each test movement (the ones listed next to the test movement on the actual test sheet that virtually no one pays any attention), you will also be getting the big scores, regardless of the type of horse/movement you are riding.
• Second level, pit of despair that it is, is not something to “finish” so that you can concentrate on the changes.
• Third level is NOT just Second level with changes added in. A whole new level of engagement, collection, and thrust is necessary over and above that needed at Second level.
• The Zen approach: You must not just “get through” Second level, you must embrace and fulfill Second level. You must become one with Second level. You must become best friends with Second level and take it to lunch. Only then, when you and Second level are that intimately involved, will you be ready for Third level.***
• Neither I, nor my horse, has a “problem” with the changes. We are green to the changes and making green mistakes. No one expects Bravo to have a finished change at this stage in the training (nor should they).
• I need to ride with a MINIMUM of 50% more engagement, thrust, power, and connection than I think I do. All the time.

What’s embarrassing is how often I have to “re-learn” these lessons. Or I guess that’s being a bit harsh, it’s not like I forget, I just need to be reminded of what I already know.

So in my “down time” (I literally laughed out loud when I typed that–like a single parent working full time has down time…), I’m catching up on things I often push to the bottom of the list–like this blog.  I’ve redoubled my efforts to find and make a decent loaf of Gluten Free bread (and think I succeeded yesterday). I’m breaking out the sewing machine to work on Ruby’s Halloween costume and spending extra quality time playing with that munchkin. I’m working on the HOY gala for the NCDCTA (oohhh, it’s gonna be good…). I’m running two 5K races in October. The bottom line is, I’m on the right track. In fact, I was never off it. And while there are many different roads to Rome, it’s important to not just focus on getting to Rome, but also enjoying the scenery along the way. Rome isn’t going anywhere, and I have no doubt we will eventually get there.

*** I am struggling with this myself now. I’ve become good friends with Second level this year after being “frienemies” for many years , and we’ve had laughs over dinner and drinks many times. But once I dipped my toes in the Third level pool, I very quickly realized where I had short-changed Second level. So I’m repairing our friendship, as it were, so that the next time I cheat on her I don’t have to come running back with my tail between my legs.

Bravo goes to summer camp

So excuse me for being just a little bit OCD (Stop laughing. Yes, I mean  you.) Please  temporarily ignore my post about not sweating the changes, and my post about not comparing/despairing because in the last couple of weeks there has been a lot of introspection (ie, ahem, sweating, comparing, and almost despairing).

I’ve accomplished a lot on this horse on my own*. I am quite proud of this fact, but I’m also not deluded that I, the consumate amateur dressage rider, can turn my experience on one Third level  horse into the ability to train a horse to Third level without significant help.

We (and when I say “we”, I mean “I”) need help with the changes. Early on, just a few short months ago, the changes were all over the place–there was bucking, there was bolting, there was 3 strides late behind, there was late to the aid, there was justatouch late behind, there was clean, and it all happened in about equal parts. And that was just fine. Unfortunately that has morphed into only three choices–quiet and justatouch late behind, bucking through late behind, and bucking through clean, with the first option increasing in propensity.

Occasional ugliness notwithstanding, Bravo does try to figure out what I want, and then try to please me by doing it. I’m afraid, however, that if I continue down the current path, that it means he will *think* I would like him to change quiet and justatouch late behind and then it will need to be untrained. After some serious discussion with myself (and some advice from Anne) I decided that it might be better to punt and send him where that foundation can be re-laid correctly.

According to Einstein, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. I may be OCD, but I am decidedly not insane. (Stop laughing. Yes, I mean  you.) So Bravo is going to spend some time in beautiful Burlington, North Carolina with accomplished trainer and friend–not to mention all-around amusing, entertaining, and possessing really good hair–Patrick Marley. I’ve got no more shows on the horizon until November (which would be Second level anyway), so it seemed like a good time to try to fix some holes, get some good training on my horse, and some more training on me to push us up to the next rung on the dressage ladder.

After all, who doesn’t love summer camp?

*Of course I’m not riding in a vacuum–I get almost monthly lessons and help from my trainer Anne Aloi. However, we’re not in any sort of consistent or full time training situation. With Anne’s help we’ve come a long way, but the downside is she isn’t around locally to help me! If only I could clone her…

Sheer grit and a sense of humor.

Keni Kerin and Idolace, Summer Dressage I & II, 2011. Photo by Valerie Durbon

I knew very early on that this was going to be a good weekend–scores and ribbons notwithstanding.

Now that I’m back to working full time, I’m even more hyper-scheduled to the minute. I left work Friday and arrived at the Raleigh show grounds around 6:15. I was privileged to have the Kerin’s bring both our horses in my rig and get Bravo all set up and settled in–I was able to be on Bravo’s back and warming up shortly after arriving. As always, I was able to walk down into the warm up on the buckle. My plan was to cut through the warm up ring and go straight to the competition area, which was laid out differently than in the past. One wounded garbage barrel lying on it’s side threatened our plans, but after a few snorts, half-spins and a side-eye we successfully thwarted an attack and made it to the rings.

In my car on the way to the show grounds, the radio announced a staggering 102 degrees remaining outside. Every year I swear the summers get worse (and I’m not sure I’m wrong). I was hoping the heat would temper any antics Bravo had planned so that we could have a quick warm up and save some energy for the show ring. As soon as I picked up the reins, Bravo swung his haunches around and began to piaffe. Sigh. Here we go. In my last lesson with Anne (and also since then on my own) I have been doing transitions within gaits, really “bouncing” Bravo back and forth. I immediately employed this to get his attention: walk–super collected–walk; big trot–small trot–half steps–big trot. As soon as I felt he was capable of listening (despite the hump in his back), I proceeded to real work in the trot and canter. In my mind I was replaying the tapes of previous lessons with Anne; “Forward is your friend”, “If he’s taking you back to the barn, then at least do it in an uphill 3-beat canter”, “Your hands belong to him”. I gave when I could, and tried to channel all that energy and nonsense into elastic and forward instead of tense and up-and-down. 

And damn if it didn’t work. I won’t take all the credit (just most of it)–if Bravo had really turned on the uglies I would have been forced to punt and get my lunging stuff. However, I have “punted” earlier rather than risk an escalation in previous situations, and for whatever reason I just got on with it this time. I still had to school a tiny bit longer than I would have ideally liked given the heat predictions for the weekend, but I didn’t have to wear him out, either.

At this point, I knew I had won regardless of what happened once the show started. Not only did I put on my big-girl panties and ride through a frisky B, I actually rode smartly and effectively rather than just water skiing around hoping to tire him out. “Epiphanies” like these make me feel like a real Rider (with a capital “R”).

Luckily for Keni and I, we had early ride times all weekend. This makes for a bit of a frantic morning, but is well worth it. I paused my brief and spicy warm up Saturday morning to watch Keni ride another “proficient” PSG test (to a 61% and a win) and then tuned up a tiny bit more before heading into the ring. This approach was a bit different from Doswell.  At Doswell, I had the “perfect” horse after lunging and riding Friday and a pretty thorough warm up on Saturday before my first test. By Sunday I had ZERO horse left. This time I erred on the side of too much energy for my first test figuring that even if the first ride was akin to managed chaos, at least I’d have something left at the end of the weekend.

And damn if that didn’t work, too. The test was certainly not mistake free, and it was Second level test 2–which I dislike only slightly less than Second level test 1–landing me a win in a small class with a small score. Basically the walk and trot were highly rewarded, and the canternotsomuch. While I would like to argue that the canter is Bravo’s best gait, this underlying sentiment has been echoed in my recent work at home–the trot work has escalated immensely, I “found” my good walk again, but the canter has sort of been sitting in the corner like a braces-clad boy at the high school dance (although the simple changes continue to get good scores). I rode my second test (Second level test 3–which I actually like for some reason) just over an hour later with an equally small score for different reasons. This time Bravo had a fly on his belly that must have landed there at our halt at X. He walked out of the halt kicking his belly, then trotted kicking at his belly every few strides up to C, around the turn, and through our entire first medium trot. While I was quite impressed with both this athletic ability and the fact that he didn’t lose his cool despite being driven crazy by that bugger of a bug, the judge was not. (Unbalanced and loss of rhythm? You try trotting on 3 legs!) The rest of the test was a good many 7′s with some 6′s and an 8, but those first low marks landed us in 2nd place in a larger Dover medal class.

Once that fly was finally dislodged, our second medium trot was the best I’ve had to date for one of our 7′s. At Doswell I could get a medium trot for about 2/3 of the diagonal line before Bravo would just fall on his face and run–this time the mediums varied a bit in quality, but lasted letter to letter! Bravo’s medium trot remains one of our accomplishments that really makes me grin ear to ear. James never could muster enough suspension to develop the medium trot, and Graham was super fancy with the front end but was never through and always quickened the tempo. Bravo has the first REAL medium of all my horses, and it tickles me to no end to feel his front end rise like a boat accelerating in the water while his tempo actually decreases a touch. It gives me chills thinking about it–and to think it was just January when we got the first few steps!

Sunday arrived bright and early, and Keni again began our day by kicking all the FEI TOC competition to the curb with a blistering 65% at PSG with her usual panache. I hurried back to the barn after her test to get ready for mine, deciding to basically do a 10 minute warm up for our first class (2nd/3 again). Unfortunately, even with this minimal warm up I had to use quite a bit of leg, spur, and even a few flicks of the whip to keep Bravo truly forward. The walk was good again (for straight 8′s), the trot felt about the same, and the canter improved in uphill feeling for me. The score reflected my feeling for the test, and we came out on top with a 67+%. The best part were the judges comments of “Overall energetic with honest basics”. Honest basics are what it’s all about so I’ll take that compliment to heart.

I stuck Bravo in front of the fan for the 50 minutes until our last test of the show–our exciting and terrifying debut at Third level. At this point I had no idea what to expect–I had very little horse left, and our changes at home are inconsistent at best and at worst involve leaving the ring with head between knees (his, not mine). In the end, I had some bad horse-show luck (one more point anywhere in the test would have put us over 60%) but LOTS TO LOVE about the well-monikered Super Pony. It started with a trip almost to the knees on our entry one stride before the halt. (5; needs balance into halt. Ha!) Then the trot work 7,6,7,7. Then our first medium (of which even the belly-kicker got a 5) and Bravo SLAMS on the brakes spooking at the photographer crouching at the sidelines. (3; breaks, very resistant at F. Double ha!). Then some halt/reinback/walk/canter work for 6,8,8,6,6,7. First change on the aid, fluid but LATE behind (4), second change ignore ignore ignore stick buck change (3) and there you go 59.7%. But the good news is that our half-passes got a 6 and 7, and our extended canter and trot (which I heretofore didn’t realize existed) got a 7 and 6.

People don’t usually dance a jig at the scoreboard over a 59.7%, but indeed there was much rejoicing.

Noteworthy other than my excellent adventures were Keni Kerin’s aforementioned double wins at PSG, Liz Bromberg who finished her Bronze medal with Magda (yippee!), and Tami Taft (aka my life-twin) with her first USDF show on her fancy mare Coatina (and at least one blue ribbon!). We stabled next to the absolutely delightful Valerie Durbon (also with her Third level debut) who was charming, takes great photos (including the one at the beginning of this post), and has a fabulous accent (oui oui!). Brendan Curtis demonstrated his ability to run the 400 in under 45 seconds while being drug by a yearling. Two words, Brendan: Flow Bee (C’mon, I’m just saying out loud what everyone is thinking ). Susie Wiedman (whose group won stuff all weekend) signed me up on a Pro Am team with Diana Hoberecht (aka sunniest person on Earth) behind my back (did we win?). Charlie Musco announced me as “Hot to trot”. Lastly, once again, Janine Malone ran a great show–on time, good footing, great prizes.

Shhheeeeiiiiittttt

Our band of North Carolina yokels invaded Doswell around 1:00 last Friday. I’m not sure how long it’s going to take them (or us) to recover.

The drive up I-95 was relatively uneventful. Yes, there was road construction and associated delays–which rank right up there with the Foxhound (official state dog), the Dogwood (official state flower), and the Oyster (official state SHELL, no I do not make this up)–as an official state tourist attraction in the Old Dominion one should not (and indeed, can not) miss. I was really excited to travel to The Meadow Event Park. After all, the grounds of The Meadow were the birthplace of Secretariat. The Disney movie version (which Ruby and I had watched again this week as preparation for the trip) had me really excited about the beauty of the original farm (proximity to King’s Dominion notwithstanding), and to my knowledge Disney has NEVER misrepresented anything!

So imagine my surprise when we arrived at what looked like a barn and a couple of rings in the middle of a huge parking lot. Esthetically, the place leaves a lot to be desired is lacking in vision. It’s also lacking in shade of any sort (natural or man-made) and grass for grazing (ironic for a place called The Meadow, no?). The footing was heavy/dead, but not deep/unsafe. On the plus side, the barn was large and airy with a nice breeze, and everything was close together and easy to get to for schooling or watching or getting lunch or whatever. Janine Malone was ever-present whenever we turned around dealing with this and that, making sure everyone was having a good show.

To be on the safe side, I took Bravo out for a quick lunge before getting on Friday afternoon. He was pretty keen, but there was minimal joie de vivre on his part. There were 3 rings going, but since one of them was breed show only on Saturday it was not set up with a dressage court yet. I focused on rings 1 and 2, where I would have 3 out of 4 of my tests anyway. There was a LOT of traffic in the rings, which Bravo dealt with surprisingly well–he can sometimes get quite addled when there are lots of horses in the warm up, particularly if any of them are acting up or if he hears a rider using the stick. Both of these scenarios happened with no reponse other than a few looks and I was able to concentrate on riding rather than damage control.

After the riding was done, and all the ponies were tucked in, we went off in search of food. A universal truth for our group is that cheap Mexican food is an easy crowd pleaser (plus this means margaritas). Luckily, Mexican restaurants are about as ubiquitous as gas stations and Walmarts. A bonus was that the restaurant was not only just a couple of blocks from the hotel, but that it was also IMMEDIATELY adjacent to Starbucks. Yippee–no settling for crappy hotel coffee!

Saturday morning we all trundled over to The Meadow. I was lucky to not have an early first ride time Saturday, so I could take my time mentally (and physically) preparing–although this meant I would be riding in the hotter part of the day. My second test was after 5:00, which does not happen often, and makes for a long day. The facility set-up made it easy to walk out between braiding, cleaning, and polishing and watch some tests.

Because of the heat, I opted to go with a shorter warm up of 30 minutes for the first test (as a comparison, the first day at Pinehurst I needed a full hour before both tests the first day–and he was still edgy). Anne was there with a few salient pieces of advice.*

*Anne strives for all her students to be able to be independent functional riders. As such, she does not usually yell directives from the sidelines of the warm up ring. Mainly it’s “Come here when you get a chance.” and then she comments on what she sees–and sometimes how to fix it. If you get in trouble, she’s right there to give a “mini-lesson” (a la Pinehurst), but if things seem to be cooking along she gives you space to figure it out (after all, it’s not like she can coach us in the test). Hopefully, we already have the “big stuff” figured well before we hit the centerline, and she offers just those “tweaks” to perfect the picture. The upside of this is that we will never have to buy her one of those headset thingies.

The test went great. Bravo was rideable, in front of my leg, and I was even able to let out his neck a bit. We had no major mistakes. I was very happy with my 66.9% score–this was a “large” class by Second level standards (9 riders Open/AA/Jr)–which not only won the class but was my second qualifier for the USDF Region 1 finals this season. Better still was Anne telling me I rode the test better than I rode the warm up.

The second test did not go exactly according to plan (have I said this before???). I went with an even shorter 20 minute warm up, much of which was walking. I went into the ring feeling confident and relaxed.

Ding-a-ling-a-ling. This can be said of both the sound of the judge ringing  me mid-ride AND my apparent inability to follow directions. I messed up the test (and I knew it the first time) by halting unnecessarily before my walk work followed by starting my walk pirouette in the wrong place. After starting over I did it in the wrong place a second time. For the record another member of our crew had 2 off-course errors on one test, which we all giggled over, AND several members of my team offered to read my test, to whom I declined because I “knew” the test. Nervertheless, I scored a 67.9% (it would have been a 69.5%) for another win.

So what exactly is the protocol when one screws up? Why, more tequila, please!

Unfortunately, I did have an early ride Sunday, and I could tell that Bravo was spent. I secured a “guest” reader as a “CYA”. Despite only a brief warm up, I had very little gas in the tank this time. After turning onto my first diagonal and cueing for the medium trot I got…nada. So I went to the stick and got a canter. But, the rest of the test was more forward from the leg, although the gaits were pretty flat. I settled for a 63+% for third place. (This score would have hung the moon for me 3 years ago when I was struggling with Second level–ahh, perspective…) Anne and I talked and determined I should try NO warm up for the last test. I got on 15 minutes before, worked on suppling and moving him around at the walk only, and then headed to the ring. In the minute or so before my test started I schooled one trot medium and one simple change before the bell rang. While Bravo was not hot to the aids, this tactic did give me a bit more gas in the tank and the ride felt better than the previous attempt. The score reflected as much with a 66+% for another win.

My successful weekend made the 4 hour drive home a lot more bearable (and it was traffic free!!!).

I’ve had a day now to ponder the highlights and reflect on the “teachable moments”. While I did not score well on any of my medium trots, they are improving and solidifying. I am feeling a true medium with thrust and ground cover without an increase in tempo, and when it’s right it’s easy to sit. However, Bravo still lacks the strength to hold the balance for an entire diagonal, so that needs to be improved for better scores and I think that will come naturally with time. My up and down transitions into the medium canter were much improved (and reflected in my transition scores). I FINALLY got good free walks with both overtrack and good stretch in the neck (reflected in my scores). My walk pirouettes still stink but that’s a kn0wn issue that I have been addressing, although clearly with not enough effect–this may necessitate a move to the top of the list for a while. As always, I have plenty of homework to occupy me until the next show.

Finally, horse show weekends mean more for me than just my rides and scores. They’re about my extended family, with whom I celebrate our highs and commiserate our lows. Team Aloi was in full force working hard (together) and playing hard (together). In between riding, watching tests, and tending to the horses we had the opportunity to make new friends, drink some margaritas, dance to ghetto music, and roast marshmallows for s’mores. Tammy and Dancer moved up a level. Keni and Laci had clean changes. Karen and Buddy improved each test by 5%. Anne and Doc got their remaining Developing Horse score with tons of room to spare.

Sheeeiiittt. We took Virginia by storm–and it may never be the same.

A well-rounded clinic. Here we come, Doswell!

Another wild and wonderful weekend in Wilson working with Anne! The weather was pleasant (hot, but with a nice breeze) and the riding was really strong by everyone. There were a couple of new faces, and I really enjoyed meeting some “new blood”–particularly because one came with a really good bottle of tequila (does our reputation proceed us?).

I missed a few of the rides on Saturday, as I traveled to Wooten Stables after a morning at work. Lynn and Keni were gracious enough to trailer Bravo with Laci and tuck him into the barn so that I could come straight after seeing my last patient. The lessons were taking place in the covered, which did not go so well for me last attempt, and I was hoping that the heat would help convince B that normal work was easier than acrobatics so that I could have a lesson instead of just damage control.

It went quite well.

The focus this weekend was the neck. Specifically, lengthening it. There is, of course, back story. Not so long ago, I was struggling with the connection. I think that Bravo, like many horses, will always have some connection “issues”, but we are both more consistent with the concept now. While it is ideal to ride the horse OUT to the contact, Bravo seemed “lost” if he had too much freedom to seek the contact. Anne and I discussed back then that we might have to err on the side of riding his neck a bit short at first in an effort to establish some true push into the reins. Once that seemed relatively established, the goal would then be to push him out to a contact with a longer neck. Apparently that time was now.

I have been working on this on my own, and it was part of my warm-up with Anne at Pinehurst. When things were going well and he was well connected, I was to give the reins forward an inch and try to have him follow. Now in the environment of “training” vs. “showing”, we took it a step further. In addition to riding with a more giving, forward hand, we worked on shifting the balance backward using my seat alone. Manipulating him with my seat (to which he is pretty responsive naturally) allows me to not resort to the reins as much, which means I do not have the side effect of artificially shortening his neck. As we have in previous clinics, we also kept the tempo a bit under powered, so that the relaxation and elasticity could come through (it’s easy to add the power back in Bravo’s case–particularly at a show).

The short story is Sunday’s lesson was a carbon copy. Minimal evasiveness, nuthin’ fancy, just making the overall picture more correct and therefore more pretty. We can get through a test pretty well, so the goal for next weekend will be to get through the tests more correctly. If I can maintain riding stride to stride and not worrying so much about riding just the test movements, I think we’ll do just fine.

As always, there is some frivolity at the end of the day. We had a nice catered meal from Jac’s Grill in Wilson right on the farm in the gazebo, with yummy Margaritas expertly made by Paula (a little TOO expertly…I think she gets some practice) which may or may not have led to a couple of poor choices. It’s unclear to me why this happens, but somehow Anne decides she’a a yoga ninja warrior when her BAC starts to rise, and this weekend proved no different. I am not familiar with the Bikrim or “hot” yoga that she practices, preferring a more civilized temperature when I get my asanas on (although hot yoga might make the Margaritas more tasty afterwards). Regardless, there was some tree, eagle, bird of paradise, bound side angle, and this double somethingoranother Anne had us doing in the driveway. It had been a triple somethingoranother, but the usually graceful gazelle Keni Kerin fell down like a bag of bricks just before this photo was snapped.

How on Earth did we live before camera phones?

Next weekend will be here fast. It’s been a while since I’ve traveled more than 2 hours from home for a show, so I’d better start my list so I don’t forget anything! I am very much looking forward to another great weekend with great friends and great horses. And maybe some mediocre yoga.

Compare and Despair

Back in the day, when Saturday Night Live didn’t suck, there was a skit performed by former cast member and current Minnesota Senator Al Franken called “Daily Affirmation with Stuart Smalley”. The gag was that Stuart, a very fractured persona, ran a self-help program although he was “not a licensed therapist”. This on-going skit spawned many catch phrases, some of which I still tell myself today (snickering the whole time–who knew I’d actually get self-help from a joke about self-help?).

• “I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and doggone it, people like me.”
• “That’s just stinkin’ thinkin!”
• “You’re should-ing all over yourself.”
• “I’m a worthy human being.”
• “Compare and despair.”

This last one has become a mantra of mine for the past, oh, 20 years or so, but who’s counting. As people, and as riders, we are constantly comparing ourselves to others. Some of this is healthy–when doing a dressage test, for instance, we have to compare ourselves to the “ideal” or the “standard”, and indeed, this is how we are judged at competitions. It’s helpful for me to visualize a top rider’s form while I’m riding to help be aware of and correct my faults. (As an aside, I remember watching videos of some top female dressage rider and thinking–”It just looks like she’s sitting up there directing traffic”–another image I use to this day for my riding visualizations.)

.

But too often, we also “compare and despair”. I’m quite guilty of doing this, and while I now recognize it and throw it away before it has a chance to set up residence in my brain, it wasn’t always that way. It started with my first dressage partner, Kryptonite (aka James). James may have been the coolest horse of all time. A 1/4 Clydesdale-3/4 TB, I purchased him as a 15.2 hand yearling and stopped sticking him when he was a hair over 17.0 hands at age 5 because I just didn’t want to know. He had average gaits but the most pleasant and willing disposition with the heart of a giant. He packed my arse around from the age of 3–although I had a coach, she didn’t show much–so we did schooling shows all over northern Virginia and USDF shows at Morven Park usually alone. By and large, we actually were successful, too–James and I got to tour the Dixon Oval at Dressage at Devon in the Materiale for 4 year olds, where we placed 10th out of 19 entries! Also as a 4 year old he placed 5th (out of 45 entries) in Training level at the BLMs and as a 5 year old we again placed 5th in another huge class at the GAIGs at Training, and just narrowly missed placing at First level, but with a respectable 64+%. I could go on and on about James (just ask me!), but it was that near miss at First level at the GAIGs in 2005 that made me realize that by succumbing to “compare and despair” we really do ourselves, and our horses, a disservice and have vowed to not do it again.

.

For all James’ finer points (he never spooked, always tried his best, needed little pre-test schooling, was even and straight and never missed a square halt…), all I could do as I rode around the warm-up was look at all the other horses in my class. I was surrounded by one fancy horse after another–they were all beautiful with big lofty trots and likely big lofty price tags. I began to doubt myself and James and decided we were out-classed before we even got to the ring. So despite qualifying like every other person there, I could only see what we were not and I did not go in there and ride my test like I had all season. As a result, I made two huge mistakes (a jig in the walk and a break in one counter-canter loop–both coefficients and neither of which we had ever done before) in the test. Imagine my devastation when I saw my good score of 64+% just barely putting us in 9th place, landing overall in the middle of the pack. I had “compared and despaired” myself right out of the ribbons. I literally walked back to my stall and cried into James’ neck (I was also 12 weeks pregnant, so I cried a lot anyway ) apologizing profusely to him for letting us both down by doubting he was worthy.

.

No matter who you are, there will always be a “fancier” horse than yours. There will always be someone who is a better rider. There will always be someone with more money to train than you. But, “compare and despair”! If you only see what you “lack” compared to those you perceive as better, you will miss all the wonderful things you DO have. We need to ride our horses competing against the dressage standard, striving to do the best we can to match it, and not worry what the other horses are doing.

.

After all, that DQ with the fancy horse is bound to have an off day!

.

.

The meaning of success

It’s been a big week or so for Bravo. In the last 10 days we did a recognized USDF show, then a dental “power float” on Monday, and today (Sunday) we were back in the sandbox–this time at a schooling show at Susie Wiedman’s Encore Sporthorse in Sanford to benefit the Misty Creek Ranch tornado disaster.

Bravo is not a big spook-er, and for this I am grateful. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t get affected by the stuff around him–in fact he gets quite anxious and internalizes it. When I was working with local natural horsemanship guru Linda Hoover, she described Bravo as “wearing it”. The problem with this is that you can only “wear” your anxiety for so long before it gets to you, and in B’s case this usually involves wheeling and bucking back to safety. With this in mind, at the USDF shows I always take gobs of time letting him settle in (with varying success–unfortunately sometimes it’s all good until I start applying the pressure of a warm up before he decides leaving Dodge is his best option). At schooling shows, you don’t get as much time, but the experience is no less useful. We arrived today about an hour and a half before my test, which proved to be plenty! I have discovered that part of the key is letting him look about, on the buckle, for a good 10-15 minutes. It’s no pressure on my part, he can put his head up like a giraffe and gaze at everything (usually he is mesmerized by other horses in the distance, as though he’s never seen one of these fantastic 4-legged creatures before in his life!) with no agenda from me other than we keep moving.

After he had his share of being a looky-loo, we had an easy, confrontation free warm up–first in the warm up ring, then in the grass right next to the covered (competition) ring. He was not as supple as his usual, but in it’s place he was super rideable (ah, to get all the pieces at one time–it’s so elusive!). Unfortunately, the footing in the indoor is nearly polar opposite to the home turf, and while it was soft and inviting, we felt a bit like we were swimming compared to the firmness we’re used to for our daily rides (amazing how much difference various footings make–particularly when you are “used to” a particular type). Regardless, there were some highlights in our Second level Test 3 ride: the walk pirouettes were BOTH active and correct, the free walk included the heretofore missing stretching out and down with the neck, and every piece of the test was performed precisely where and when I asked.

We finished with a respectable 65.9+%, winning our class and the series championship! (OK, full disclosure–we were the only Second level test of the day AND of the whole series of 3 shows, so all I had to do was stay in the ring to triumph. )

But fancy ribbons and Encore Sporthorse swag-winnings aside, the real accomplishment was just being there–more time in the tack, more positive experiences in the “bank”, and another test at a new location under the belt with no histrionics. The bonus is getting to see all the friendly faces–mostly “old” and a few new–enjoying themselves and their horses as well!

Climbing out of the “Pit of Despair”

“the pit of despair”: idiom/USDF R judge Jan Jacobson (2007); referring to Second Level

My last USDF show didn’t go exactly according to plan. I’ve been working really hard this winter–training, schooling shows, etc.–but I was a little nervous that I could have another tragic weekend of competition. Not only did I still feel demoralized by how poorly I had ridden in Williamston last November, but my last attempts at Second Level (with James and Graham) led to the coinage of the above phrase by Jan Jacobson, which I still use to this day.

.

I am happy to report that the demons in my head did not defeat me, and the show was a HUGE success for Team Aloi.

.

Anne and Doc Holliday had great scores for super rides in the Developing Horse test Friday and Saturday, and the Chyro-saurus was brilliant.

.

Keni got her remaining Silver Medal score at PSG on Friday (with a spare on Sunday) with Princess Snarky Pants.

.

Bravo was 3 totally different horses on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday which is always a challenge for executing an effective warm-up. I can say in all seriousness that without Anne, I’m not sure my end result would have been the same (Thanks Anne!). Thursday started out with the drama of a lost shoe. Of course, I did not DISCOVER said missing shoe until I was tacking up in Pinehurst (and I always look at B’s feet when I bring him in from the field, so apparently I am partially blind). The farrier on call was unavailable until Friday morning, so luckily I had an Easy boot in the trailer and we soldiered on, largely unfettered. I lunged for a bit, then rode in the warm up ring near the barn without incident. Once I moved to the other side of the field to the competition rings, however, the story changed and there were a few tantrums. The bad news is the tantrums still exist, but the good news is they are so much reduced in intensity. We finished up and I felt really optimistic.

Armed with a newly placed shoe, I had 2 tests on Friday and Bravo was hot as mustard. Bravo is not normally a lazy horse, but I would not characterize him as “spicy” in general. Having a horse that would like to wheel and gallop back to the barn AND is twitching like a cat had me honestly a bit unnerved. Anne schooled me before the first test and had a few profound observations. My favorite new saying of her’s is: “If he’s going to run back to the barn with you, he should at least do it in a 3-beat canter instead of this fractured 5-beat thing you’re doing now.” Point taken! (Although in my defense it does take some digging deep to give the hand 2 inches and kick on when my horse is threatening to leave the county with or without me.) She offered that Bravo has plenty of “up” and so we needed to focus on the “out” to lengthen the neck along with several other “pearls” to digest. The second warm up was even more challenging because we had been caught in the rain, forced to retire to the barn for a 1.5 hour rain delay, and then return with a less-than-ideal amount of time to get ready for the second test. Anne came out and asked how it was going. My answer was “Shit.”, followed by “I’m gonna scratch.” as we skittered sideways squealing and hopping. Anne would have none of that, and put us back to work exactly as in the morning. I’m pleased to report that I won both tests, with 64+% and 68+%.  Bravo was hot in the tests too, but on the aids, and in particular the second test (Second Level test 3) felt pretty effortless.

Saturday was a different story. I did a quick lunge to let out the morning bucks, and could tell immediately upon mounting that I was in big trouble. I felt like I was riding a teenaged plow horse with legs made of lead. Seriously–from hot head to dead head in less than 24 hours? Ugh. He was perfectly behaved in the warm up, but ultimately was a fraction behind the leg for most of my test. OF COURSE this was the sweepstakes class for money, although our effort landed us in second place (with a payout coincidentally about equal to my retail therapy/new breeches!).

Today I had the best of both worlds–I skipped the lunging, and Bravo was just a teensy bit on edge out in the field. Anne headed back to Virginia first thing, so I replayed the tape of my previous 3 warm ups to the best of my ability. Bravo was right on the aids–quick to the leg, but super-responsive to the half halt. This Second Level test 3 had a few minor pilot errors, so didn’t have quite the flow of the one on Friday, but still garnered a 67+% for the AA Dover Medal to finish our weekend. Apropos, the judge was Jan Jacobson!

.

There is also just a tiny amount of fun to be had when the ponies are all tucked away for the night, and with our successes all weekend, we had a lot to celebrate. Couple that with stabling with Team Marley (Hey, gurl!) and you have the ingredients for some serious partying! Three nights, five gallons of margaritas, eight bottles of champagne, and two full moons later, a good time was had by all.

And now, a word from our sponsor…

I’m gonna get on my soap box for just a minute. I respectfully ask for all my adoring fans (all 5 of you) to please read this, educate yourself through the links I have posted or through Google searches of your own, and then share this information with everyone you know, “horsie” or not. (I’m gonna paraphrase Lloyd Dobbler here–I assume that most horse folks buy, feed, or know someone who produces, buys, or feeds alfalfa; so we may be a bit closer to the loop than the general public). This is an issue that has the potential to effect everyone. I have also included links to tell our elected governmental officials, including our president, that this is NOT OKAY and hope that you will take a few minutes to voice your opinion to them. This current issue (I have a lot of issues, ha!) was brought to my attention by my friend Janice Aquino, and I thank her for the information to get me started…

Just a couple of months ago, Monsanto, a HUGE ag-biotech company, began distribution of their GE (genetically engineered) Alfalfa seeds and is proceeding with getting this stuff planted nation-wide completely unregulated by the USDA or APHIS. This new Alfalfa has been altered to be “Roundup Ready”–resistant to the herbicide Roundup (which, not coincidentally, is a Monsanto product as well)–so that weeds can be easily controlled by dumping it on the whole crop to destroy the weeds without destroying the Alfalfa.

There are a few problems with this:

• Roundup has potential to be EXTREMELY harmful to people, most importantly the workers using it with the GE seed, if not used exactly according to label directions.
• It is EXTREMELY harmful to organic farmers (of crops and animals/milk) because cross pollination from bees will occur between organic and this GE  crop.
• It was BANNED by the Supreme Court in 2007.
• Prominent scientist Don Huber in this and related fields have SERIOUS concerns and reservations about its safety (unclear whether due to the modification itself, or the increased use of Roundup as a result of it’s planting)

The letter from Dr./Col. Don Huber really clinched it for me.  This letter (and the associated link above) was sent to me by Janice. When scientists who have spent their life studying a subject consider something in their purview an “emergency”, I tend to sit up and take notice. Even if worst case scenario never happens, we all know it’s not nice to fool Mother Nature, and there WILL BE ramifications to this altering of “God’s green Earth” whether we can quantify it in the here and now or not.

I hope you have made it this far.  If so, I hope you are at least curious enough to click through the information links below. Once you’ve formed an opinion, I hope that you will also use the other links and let that opinion be heard.

• Send an email to President Obama and Secretary of the USDA Tom Vilsack.
• Send an email or call (800) 685-8916 Senator Burr (NC). Or find your state’s senators here.
• Send an email or call (202) 224-6342 Senator Hagan (NC).
• Find your US House Representative and email them too.

Information on GE crops (a bit long, but very informative, lots of references if you need ‘em–this website is awesome for general information about food/water safety and accessibility).

Information FROM Monsanto about GE Alfalfa (I’m trying to be fair, but I can tell you that some of this information is actually misleading (aka FALSE) based on reading the EIS from the USDA).

You can read the USDA’s EIS statement on GE Alfalfa, here are a few points that make me scratch my head…

• Genetically engineered alfalfa will increase the use of herbicides containing the deadly toxin glyphosate (found in Roundup): “The net effect on alfalfa production with the increased adoption and planting of GT [glyphosate-tolerant] alfalfa will likely be some increased use of the glyphosate with an increased use of herbicides.” (p. vii) This is particulary interesting because as of right now, 90% of all alfalfa is grown/harvested WITHOUT ANY herbicide needed–why do we need it now? Could it be so Monsanto can control the RoundUp Ready seed and the RoundUp?  Or is that cynical?
• Glyphosate is highly toxic to plants and could affect plants close to the GE alfalfa:“Glyphosate exposure could occur through aerial drift, runoff of surface waters containing glyphosate, or leaching of glyphosate into drainage systems. Plants exposed to glyphosate via aerial drift might experience impaired germination or growth characteristics.” (p. vi) Mmm…RoundUp leaching into ground water–that can’t be bad!?
• As a “non-selective” herbicide, glyphosate kills almost all plant species when enough of it is applied (p. 3) and glyphosate is currently used to remove entire alfalfa fields (p. vii) So, basically, it can kill any plant–but I’m sure it’s perfectly safe!
• If the USDA confers non-regulated status, it would no longer require permits or notification of the introduction of the GE alfalfa (p. 10). Therefore there will be no oversight on the production or the long-term environmental impacts of GE alfalfa. Who needs oversight? I’m sure Monsanto is thinking of the global environment and human health and the balance of the two, and not their profits.
• If GE alfalfa is unregulated, there is the risk on contamination with non GE crops:“Although the probability is low, GT alfalfa genes could be found in non-GT alfalfa at low levels. (p. v). This is a problem for producers of organic meats and dairy, as well as organic crops.
• “unexpected and unintended compositional changes arise with all forms of genetic modification, including both conventional breeding and genetic engineering.” (p. 74) Furthermore, the report bases its safety data regarding allergenicity and toxicity on similar genetically engineered crops—but there is no evidence on the long-term allergenicity and toxicity impact of specifically GE alfalfa on humans and animals. (p. 175) So something that is not really “out yet” has not yet proved to be toxic…we’ll just have to wait and see…sound reasonable!

Just 4 weeks ago, a suit was filed over the approval of GE Alfalfa despite the Supreme Court ban. Hopefully this will bring this and other GE crops to a screeching halt. In the meantime, let your elected representatives know how you feel–they are supposed to working for US after all, not Monsanto.

I know everyone is busy. But I also know you all care about the stewardship of our horses and those who work and farm so that we can enjoy them! I have tried to make it as easy as possible to have your voice heard–I urge you all to exercise your right to have our elected officials know our opinions. And please, PLEASE, share this blog post with anyone you know so that this can reach as wide an audience as possible.