Hello all
I'm a little behind on the old blog updates here in Ocala so I will try to update everyone.
I have been here for almost two weeks and have been having, over all, a good time with the horses.
The first weekend I ran Lewis prelim at Rocking Horse... finding that my experiment of trying to skip a prelim at the beginning of the season last year did NOT work for the spooky monkey. "WHAT is XC?! eek!" We had a positive xc school with Kyle the wedesday before the event and he seemed pleased that Lewis was "better than the last time I saw him". Go me, I did my homework!
ROCKING HORSE
We were blessed with good weather, not too warm and a little breezy. Lewis put in a decent test but I will admit I had never ridden Prelim A before and I probably gave away some points on accuracy. He was a good boy and scored a 35. I'm looking forward to getting him back in the standard dressage arena at Intermediate (with the double bridle) where he can have a better test. The herky jerky way you have to shove the required movements into the small arena doesn't usually allow for a good flow.
I ran out and walked the xc between dressage and show jumping and found the course to have some nice forward gallop space in between fences and some decent questions. I wish that there had been a narrow or corner combination for us to practice. The water was a pretty serious prelim question.
I jumped on Lew for our Show Jump round and headed to warm up. I love Rocking Horse but I find the show jumping to be my least favorite part of the event. The course tends to feel tight in the narrow arena and the fences are pretty airy. The warm up can be over used and there are several deep spots in the sandy grass that you have to mind out for. I hit one of those spots right in front of the oxer in warm up and he had no choice but to slide into the fence. NOT exactly what you want to happen right before you go in the arena. We did get it together over another warm up fence and went into the arena to produce a clean round.
XC I walked the course once more before i ran xc and felt pretty confident with my plan. He WALKED into the start box and STOOD. For those who have experienced "crazy start box Lewis" this was a welcome surprise. By the time we got to fence 5 he was the confident horse I felt I had lost last season. So delighted to ride him like that again. I over shot my turn on the related distance to the water and had to take back on the reins more than i would have liked. And in the new pelham bit I am using he actually listened to me! Oh no! So i ended up having to give him a love tap before the 2 stride into the water which he jumped very boldly and pulled the rein out of my hand. Good think Lew was on his game and held his line to the narrow out of the water with little direction from the monkey on his back. He rocketed out of the water and jumped the rest of the course like a champ (obviously he didnt need any help from me!) Our clean run with a few time penalties had us finish a very respectable 5th in a tough division.
LEWIS, VIVA, AND TIGER GO TO OCALA
Other than Rocking Horse Lewis has been happily working on the flat at the farm in Micanopy. Kyle had a student who is trying to make the Olympics for Venezuela whom was competing in Argentina at the 3 star this weekend. So I missed lessons with him this week (seriously I'm just trying to survive at Intermediate and she is trying to compete at the Olympics go Kyle go!). Luckily his wife, Jenn (also a Midway College grad haha) was available to help me with Lewis. Mary Hollis and I rode in an xc school with Jenn on Thursday and worked on dropping and picking up our reins while jumping an exercise through the Hollow (since Mary Hollis and I BOTH lost our reins in the water at Rocking horse haha!) Anyway the hollow at their farm has a log on the lip of the hollow then about 4 strides straight down an incline and then 4 strides straight back up. Lewis has done with WITH my reins several times before. This time, no reins = very very excited Lewis! He was jumping some sort of imaginary 4 foot fence at the top of the hollow then celebrating his brilliance with leaping and bucking. He is such a cat, when we added the very narrow narrow out at the top of the hollow he jerked his legs out of the way to jump it well every time no matter what else (leaping bucking running away) he was doing. Silly.
I took a Show Jump lesson with Jenn yesterday and we worked on turning to a long approach with out PANICKING! Lewis and I LOVE the long one, LOVE IT. We worked on compressing exercises to get him deeper to the base of some bigger oxers and verticles. I made a mistake having my canter too big to the oxer exercise a few times but Lewis, as always, can compress himself into a little ball so fast and FIRE out over it to fix my bad ride in. He left a ton of room to spare. Jenn was impressed with his athletic ability to ping over a fence.
Viva has settled into work with me again. She is such a one person ride, and I hadn't ridden her much myself before we left KY. She got a complete make over down here and looks like a real show horse now. She has taken some field trips around town and schooled xc 3 times. She gets better and better each time out and has become a lot more ride able.
Tiger, who belongs to my student, Jill Hummel, also made the trip down with me. Poor Jill has hit a few walls on her travel getting bumped from several flights the first weekend. She did make it the night before I started competing at rocking horse (she is only running the next rocking horse) I was happy to have her help at the event. We took Tiger and Viva to Kyles to school ourselves Sat of Rocking horse after Lewis was done competing. Tiger was happy to get out and did a lot of exercises on compressing his stride and getting him to listen to half halts. We did learn that Jill needed some better reins after he pulled them out of her hands more than once! (I am a rein snob!!! everyone better have good reins!) Unfortunately, it appears that Tiger stepped on something and ended up with an abscess starting on Sunday. Luckily we caught it early and got Vet treatment quick, the shoe went back on yesterday and we have our fingers crossed that he will stay sound through next weekend!
Fair well to THE GRASSHOPPER
I have been having a great time down in FL with my horses. I am so lucky to have such a great horse to see every morning and know that Lewis is my horse of a lifetime. It is easy to take them for granted, but in reality everyday with them is a gift, especially when you find that one really special one. I can't imagine what my life would be like if something happened to Lewis. I was shocked and devastated to hear of Megan Moore's loss of The Grasshopper aka Hopper on Advanced xc at Pine Top. Megan has become a good friend of mine as she Suzie Harrison and I formed the "I event at the upper levels on a shoe string budget on a horse that cost less than the saddle I am riding in club". We had formed a support system for each other and had planned to hit some of the same events this season to help each other out and be a cheering section for each other. I know how much Hopper meant to Megan and how responsible she was with his training and selecting events for him to run. She had saved him from a terrible situation and I know she was his best friend. My heart breaks for her. Last night i gave Lewis and extra carrot and buried my face in in neck and wept for Hopper and Megan. Rest in Peace Hop you will never be forgotten.
Give you horse a hug and an extra carrot they deserve it for all they do for us.
Jenn
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Monday, January 16, 2012
Things always look better in the morning
For some reason I'm feeling nostalgic tonight. I'm not sure if its the wind whipping at the house (empty except for me and the dogs) or if I just starred at the home screen of my computer for too long. But I found myself thinking of my Grandmother Perkins (mom's mom), my favorite picture of her is my background on my computer.
Gram died about 1 1/2yrs ago of what should be best described as "old age"... heck she was 101! So you all should watch out I come from some tough stock!
Not having her around has been really tough on me, she had been an integral part of my life from the beginning. I spent much of my very early childhood at her home which was a house (built in the late 1600's) nestled on several acres of land in the North Shore part of Massachusetts. Gram always had us outside never tied down to the TV or games. I loved exploring the outdoors and woods that went through the back part of the land. Event though she didn't have horses I'm sure my career path was because of all the time I spent outside getting dirty at her home.
My family moved to Indiana in 1993 leaving Gram and her house back in MA. We went back to visit regularly and even as I grew older I still enjoyed trompsing through the woods. She came to live with my Parents in Indy when she was well into her 90's and was no longer able to drive. She still lived an independent life with them and was found of walking around the block even into her 99th and 100th birthdays.
She was an outstanding woman and was my biggest fan, as I was hers. The fact that she made it here for my first one star in 2006 at the age of 97 and again to watch a show jump lesson with Craig in 2010 (and to give Lewis a carrot) meant the world to me. For everyone of you that got to meet her, you were blessed she was truly amazing.
One of the things she most often said to me when I was fretting about something was "Things will always look better in the morning". I think that this is a really important notion to remember when dealing with horses. I know I get caught up in a bad school or a bad go at a show then the next morning think "well... if I just changed the way I rode this a little or made a different decision here everything would have worked out" again... not the end of the world. A fresh look at mistakes we have made in the morning can always give us a different perspective.
The Following is my memory of this great woman that I gave at her memorial service...the goat story still makes me cry:
"Your life is shaped by those who are in it. I am so fortunate that my Grandmother was so instrumental in mine. Much of my childhood was spent at her house, and vast acreage surrounded by wooded land and nature. In those countless hours spent in her care she taught me to love nature and animals. She had a great compassion for all living things great and small.
My Grandmother had a particular bond with dogs. When she was a young girl and was asked what she thought of having a baby sister my grandmothers comment was “i would have rather had a puppy”. The dog I remember most came to live with my grand parents when I was a toddler and lived a good 16 years in the Perkins house. Lucy was a Irish Setter - Grey Hound cross, the kind of dog you would imagine if you asked for the ugliest one at the pound. But Gram loved that dog. Lucy would accompany us on long walks in the woods and was a good companion for my grandmother after my grandfather passed on. I remember Lucy often doing things that were naughty. She took a feather pillow into the kitchen and shook all the feathers out, and many times stole Joey's teddy bear and pulled the stuffing out. Once I decided to flea powder Lucy.... with and entire bottle of talcum powder and made quite a mess. I remember these times, but I don't ever remember Gram getting mad.... maybe a muffled laugh and a “for heavens sake”. That was just the kind of woman she was.
As I got older she encouraged my riding and showing. I'm sure she would have loved if I had grown to be ½ the cook or seem stress she was. It became quite apparent that this wouldn't occur when she had to repair 80% of my home economics projects to passing grades.
I bought my first horse 10 years ago when I was a College student. I “smartly” purchased said horse during my summer job in Colorado and shipped it back to KY, needless to say I was strapped for cash after all those expenses. Gram knew how badly I wanted a horse of my own and never once scolded me for such a ridiculous decision. Instead she sent me a note, with a fairly sizable check. The note went on something like this: “When I was a young girl I teased and teased my parents for a goat. They never saw a reason for me to have one, so I went with out. Now that I am old enough and have enough money for a goat, I've decided I don't want one any more. So here is the money from my goat fund so you can buy the things your horse needs.”
Gram always taught me to follow my heart and to be happy. I've been fortunate to turn my love for animals that she started into a career riding and training horses. I know she was happy that I chose this career path, and she would always ask “how are the horses?” and would always make sure I was treating my horse, Lewis, right.
On top of being such an influence in my life and many others there were somethings that she did just right. Things that I think led her to lead such a long, happy, healthy life.
Here are some of her secrets to living to 101
Smile always
Skip Fast Food
Eat your melon
Love much
be positive
Walk
never admit that you are old
Pet a dog
enjoy food
Love life
Have Faith
Take naps
Be Generous
Love animals
feed the birds
enjoy each day
travel
cook with love
see beauty in everything
stop to smell the roses
And always leave room for dessert"
Always leave room for dessert,
Jenn
Gram died about 1 1/2yrs ago of what should be best described as "old age"... heck she was 101! So you all should watch out I come from some tough stock!Not having her around has been really tough on me, she had been an integral part of my life from the beginning. I spent much of my very early childhood at her home which was a house (built in the late 1600's) nestled on several acres of land in the North Shore part of Massachusetts. Gram always had us outside never tied down to the TV or games. I loved exploring the outdoors and woods that went through the back part of the land. Event though she didn't have horses I'm sure my career path was because of all the time I spent outside getting dirty at her home.
My family moved to Indiana in 1993 leaving Gram and her house back in MA. We went back to visit regularly and even as I grew older I still enjoyed trompsing through the woods. She came to live with my Parents in Indy when she was well into her 90's and was no longer able to drive. She still lived an independent life with them and was found of walking around the block even into her 99th and 100th birthdays.
She was an outstanding woman and was my biggest fan, as I was hers. The fact that she made it here for my first one star in 2006 at the age of 97 and again to watch a show jump lesson with Craig in 2010 (and to give Lewis a carrot) meant the world to me. For everyone of you that got to meet her, you were blessed she was truly amazing.
One of the things she most often said to me when I was fretting about something was "Things will always look better in the morning". I think that this is a really important notion to remember when dealing with horses. I know I get caught up in a bad school or a bad go at a show then the next morning think "well... if I just changed the way I rode this a little or made a different decision here everything would have worked out" again... not the end of the world. A fresh look at mistakes we have made in the morning can always give us a different perspective.
The Following is my memory of this great woman that I gave at her memorial service...the goat story still makes me cry:
"Your life is shaped by those who are in it. I am so fortunate that my Grandmother was so instrumental in mine. Much of my childhood was spent at her house, and vast acreage surrounded by wooded land and nature. In those countless hours spent in her care she taught me to love nature and animals. She had a great compassion for all living things great and small.
My Grandmother had a particular bond with dogs. When she was a young girl and was asked what she thought of having a baby sister my grandmothers comment was “i would have rather had a puppy”. The dog I remember most came to live with my grand parents when I was a toddler and lived a good 16 years in the Perkins house. Lucy was a Irish Setter - Grey Hound cross, the kind of dog you would imagine if you asked for the ugliest one at the pound. But Gram loved that dog. Lucy would accompany us on long walks in the woods and was a good companion for my grandmother after my grandfather passed on. I remember Lucy often doing things that were naughty. She took a feather pillow into the kitchen and shook all the feathers out, and many times stole Joey's teddy bear and pulled the stuffing out. Once I decided to flea powder Lucy.... with and entire bottle of talcum powder and made quite a mess. I remember these times, but I don't ever remember Gram getting mad.... maybe a muffled laugh and a “for heavens sake”. That was just the kind of woman she was.
As I got older she encouraged my riding and showing. I'm sure she would have loved if I had grown to be ½ the cook or seem stress she was. It became quite apparent that this wouldn't occur when she had to repair 80% of my home economics projects to passing grades.
I bought my first horse 10 years ago when I was a College student. I “smartly” purchased said horse during my summer job in Colorado and shipped it back to KY, needless to say I was strapped for cash after all those expenses. Gram knew how badly I wanted a horse of my own and never once scolded me for such a ridiculous decision. Instead she sent me a note, with a fairly sizable check. The note went on something like this: “When I was a young girl I teased and teased my parents for a goat. They never saw a reason for me to have one, so I went with out. Now that I am old enough and have enough money for a goat, I've decided I don't want one any more. So here is the money from my goat fund so you can buy the things your horse needs.”
Gram always taught me to follow my heart and to be happy. I've been fortunate to turn my love for animals that she started into a career riding and training horses. I know she was happy that I chose this career path, and she would always ask “how are the horses?” and would always make sure I was treating my horse, Lewis, right.
On top of being such an influence in my life and many others there were somethings that she did just right. Things that I think led her to lead such a long, happy, healthy life.
Here are some of her secrets to living to 101
Smile always
Skip Fast Food
Eat your melon
Love much
be positive
Walk
never admit that you are old
Pet a dog
enjoy food
Love life
Have Faith
Take naps
Be Generous
Love animals
feed the birds
enjoy each day
travel
cook with love
see beauty in everything
stop to smell the roses
And always leave room for dessert"
Always leave room for dessert,
Jenn
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
The ART of failing, falling, and picking yourself back up
Happy New Year!!!
I hope everyone had a happy and safe bash on New Years Eve.
My New Years Eve Plans involved me heading to Perfect North Slopes to ski with some of my close friends from here in Lexington and my brother, sister in-law and her nephew. We had a mixed bag of skill levels in our group of 10 from beginners to pros. My skill level falls somewhere in the middle of that bag.
I grew up in Northern Massachusetts and was lucky to be close to some decent skiing in New Hampshire. Most of my skiing was self taught. Then also tried to teach several of my friends in grade school through when we moved to Indiana into high school. My Kamikaze style of "point your skis to the bottom and go as fast as you can" accompanied by apparent superior balance and fearlessness served me well down slopes of high difficultly (that I'm sure I had no business attempting!). I'm sure I fell, and I'm sure I fell hard several times. Though somehow, with my Kamikaze style I got better and never thought about of remembered the falls, or failing to complete a run well. I was fearless, invincible, and.... young.
Fast forward ohhhh 12 or 15yrs. In 2008 Irish Alice and I made our infamous trip to Vail, CO to ski. I had plenty of experience.... she had skied the bump at Perfect North ONCE. Smart. (love you Alice!). Alice fell a lot. I stayed upright the whole week (minus one silly fall while standing still trying to avoid snowboarders). I never ventured off the Green Slopes (easy level) except for one Blue one (intermediate level). Now granted the runs are forever long there and it is tiring.
And even the "easy" slopes are not that easy! The pic to the left IS an easy run at Vail! But seriously, I was so proud that I didn't fall that week. But I also didn't take any risks. I skied under my level and on runs where I had COMPLETE control. I will also guarantee that I didn't improve my skills.
My New Years eve trip the other week proved that my skills had not improved. My brother and I had skied together as kids. I had the advantage as I lived more of my life in a land of snow and hills and he lived more of his life in a land of corn and soybean fields (Indiana). He and I skied together for most of New Years Eve. I hadn't skied with him much in the past several years but I expected to still be better than him (or at least at the same skill level). Wouldn't you know that little punk could have skied circles around me! (Ok he is not little nor is he a punk at the age of 27). He also went down the "black diamond" runs that were all ice that I would not attempt... especially after I wiped out on a blue one! I never used to back down from a challenge like that. Where was the Kamikaze skier with the fearlessness and invincibility? Long gone. I have never been hurt seriously doing anything (touch wood) but I decided I wasn't going to push my luck on New Years.
YES there is a point to my very long drawn out ski story that relates to horses, eventing, riding and improving.
I realized that I will sometimes (probably too often) ride under my skill level to stay safe (and not safe necessarily in the way of getting hurt but in the way of not making a mistake)... to not push the envelope. It isn't something I do intentionally but I know I do it. Last winter when I was down in Ocala having a lesson with Kyle he told me "just go out and jump 5 logs in the middle of the field to warm up". So I cantered out and jumped five logs... trotted back over to him wondering why he was rubbing his forehead (typical Kyle frustration move). "What the h*ll was that?!" He asked me. my confused answer was "I jumped 5 logs... did I do something wrong?"
"Go back out there and jump the same 5 logs like someone who is moving up to Advanced instead of someone barely going Novice. You have the ability to ride so well, I just don't understand why you choose to ride so badly so often!"
Ouch. But he was right. No reason to do the bare minimum when we have the ability to do so much more. And its not that I wouldn't have been safe if I had balanced more or ridden for a deep distance at the small logs for warm up. It wasn't that I was trying to avoid being daring... I was just doing the minimum to get over them... which was pointing my horse at them and jumping with no skill.
I also avoid working on things I am not good at. On the flat Lewis and I struggle with turn on the haunch. So... I avoid it. I avoid riding dressage tests where that is a required movement. Silly... well guess what I got dinged for not having that mastered when I was in Florida in Dec. Guess what we have been practicing everyday... turn on the haunch... and low and behold. Its better :)
I avoid corners, or angling fences. I'm not talking "easy" intermediate angels. But those serious get the horse almost parallel with the jump angles. I am terrible at finding a line to things like that. I worry about making a mistake, so I just turn him a little square it up just a tad bit more. Who do you think that is hurting in the end? Lewis and I. At home... "this is training"...I need to allow myself (and my students) to be challenged to the point of making a mistake. Then you fix it. Work toward increasing your skills by pushing the envelope a little bit more. How in the world will you ever get better if you never make a mistake. You will never know where the holes are unless you find them. Then you work your butt off to fill them in. And trust me you WANT to find those holes at home not at a $500 event 500 miles away.
This past season I almost throw in my upper level towel. I had such heart break with Lewis for silly things at event after event. Neither of us had gotten hurt but something was just not falling into place. I was ok with telling myself "I'll just run Prelim with him for the rest of his life and win a bunch of them. He's so easy at Prelim". Well I'm glad I have dusted myself off, and picked myself up, and now remember the drive that got me this far. There is an ART to failing, and falling... it is not a science. Riding is not a science. There are some many things on the back of a horse that you have to learn to feel. Every horse is different. You have to let yourself fail a time or two to GET IT. To get it right and to understand why you were wrong... AND to understand why what you are now doing is right!
I am not going to just snow plow Lewis down those green slopes. I know we have the ability to do the double black diamond runs! He is my horse of a lifetime... and I'm going to push that envelope.
Push yourself,
Jenn
I hope everyone had a happy and safe bash on New Years Eve.
My New Years Eve Plans involved me heading to Perfect North Slopes to ski with some of my close friends from here in Lexington and my brother, sister in-law and her nephew. We had a mixed bag of skill levels in our group of 10 from beginners to pros. My skill level falls somewhere in the middle of that bag.
I grew up in Northern Massachusetts and was lucky to be close to some decent skiing in New Hampshire. Most of my skiing was self taught. Then also tried to teach several of my friends in grade school through when we moved to Indiana into high school. My Kamikaze style of "point your skis to the bottom and go as fast as you can" accompanied by apparent superior balance and fearlessness served me well down slopes of high difficultly (that I'm sure I had no business attempting!). I'm sure I fell, and I'm sure I fell hard several times. Though somehow, with my Kamikaze style I got better and never thought about of remembered the falls, or failing to complete a run well. I was fearless, invincible, and.... young.
And even the "easy" slopes are not that easy! The pic to the left IS an easy run at Vail! But seriously, I was so proud that I didn't fall that week. But I also didn't take any risks. I skied under my level and on runs where I had COMPLETE control. I will also guarantee that I didn't improve my skills.
My New Years eve trip the other week proved that my skills had not improved. My brother and I had skied together as kids. I had the advantage as I lived more of my life in a land of snow and hills and he lived more of his life in a land of corn and soybean fields (Indiana). He and I skied together for most of New Years Eve. I hadn't skied with him much in the past several years but I expected to still be better than him (or at least at the same skill level). Wouldn't you know that little punk could have skied circles around me! (Ok he is not little nor is he a punk at the age of 27). He also went down the "black diamond" runs that were all ice that I would not attempt... especially after I wiped out on a blue one! I never used to back down from a challenge like that. Where was the Kamikaze skier with the fearlessness and invincibility? Long gone. I have never been hurt seriously doing anything (touch wood) but I decided I wasn't going to push my luck on New Years.
YES there is a point to my very long drawn out ski story that relates to horses, eventing, riding and improving.
I realized that I will sometimes (probably too often) ride under my skill level to stay safe (and not safe necessarily in the way of getting hurt but in the way of not making a mistake)... to not push the envelope. It isn't something I do intentionally but I know I do it. Last winter when I was down in Ocala having a lesson with Kyle he told me "just go out and jump 5 logs in the middle of the field to warm up". So I cantered out and jumped five logs... trotted back over to him wondering why he was rubbing his forehead (typical Kyle frustration move). "What the h*ll was that?!" He asked me. my confused answer was "I jumped 5 logs... did I do something wrong?"
"Go back out there and jump the same 5 logs like someone who is moving up to Advanced instead of someone barely going Novice. You have the ability to ride so well, I just don't understand why you choose to ride so badly so often!"
Ouch. But he was right. No reason to do the bare minimum when we have the ability to do so much more. And its not that I wouldn't have been safe if I had balanced more or ridden for a deep distance at the small logs for warm up. It wasn't that I was trying to avoid being daring... I was just doing the minimum to get over them... which was pointing my horse at them and jumping with no skill.
I also avoid working on things I am not good at. On the flat Lewis and I struggle with turn on the haunch. So... I avoid it. I avoid riding dressage tests where that is a required movement. Silly... well guess what I got dinged for not having that mastered when I was in Florida in Dec. Guess what we have been practicing everyday... turn on the haunch... and low and behold. Its better :)
I avoid corners, or angling fences. I'm not talking "easy" intermediate angels. But those serious get the horse almost parallel with the jump angles. I am terrible at finding a line to things like that. I worry about making a mistake, so I just turn him a little square it up just a tad bit more. Who do you think that is hurting in the end? Lewis and I. At home... "this is training"...I need to allow myself (and my students) to be challenged to the point of making a mistake. Then you fix it. Work toward increasing your skills by pushing the envelope a little bit more. How in the world will you ever get better if you never make a mistake. You will never know where the holes are unless you find them. Then you work your butt off to fill them in. And trust me you WANT to find those holes at home not at a $500 event 500 miles away.
This past season I almost throw in my upper level towel. I had such heart break with Lewis for silly things at event after event. Neither of us had gotten hurt but something was just not falling into place. I was ok with telling myself "I'll just run Prelim with him for the rest of his life and win a bunch of them. He's so easy at Prelim". Well I'm glad I have dusted myself off, and picked myself up, and now remember the drive that got me this far. There is an ART to failing, and falling... it is not a science. Riding is not a science. There are some many things on the back of a horse that you have to learn to feel. Every horse is different. You have to let yourself fail a time or two to GET IT. To get it right and to understand why you were wrong... AND to understand why what you are now doing is right!
I am not going to just snow plow Lewis down those green slopes. I know we have the ability to do the double black diamond runs! He is my horse of a lifetime... and I'm going to push that envelope.
Push yourself,
Jenn
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
The 4 highly ineffective habits of upper level event riders
I'm sure this is not the habits of all event riders, but they are bad habits of mine that I feel most of my friends trying to compete at this level (especially those of us on a shoe string budget with one or two horses)
1. The tiny basket full of eggs. First off, those of us that have one or two horses basically has all of our eggs in one tiny basket. I found this past season that my poor basket had some seriously BIG holes. I've been riding at home with Reese and Craig for dressage and SJ and made some HUGE improvements over the past several years on those two phases. BUT I was hoping that have influence from those two sides of the spectrum would just magically keep my cross country on the straight and narrow. Though i dont think that riding at this level is easily achieved with just the help of one eventing coach. It is important to get the help in all 3 phases from an eventing coaches perspective even if it is just time to time. The show jump trainer and dressage trainer (unless they once had a background in eventing) do not have the perspective to get their teachings flow into another phase. But from the eventing coaches/trainers perspective he understands how all 3 disciplines have to communicate with each other. This, I believe, is very difficult for trainers specializing in one phase/discipline.
I also will add that I do think that the outstanding training that I have received from my dressage and show jumping trainers has made me incredibly competitive in those areas!
2. We tend to tell our horses what not to do instead of WHAT to do. I am so guilty of this with Lewis. Mainly "stop spooking at that stuff near the fence!". It would be a better use of my focus and his, to tell him "jump this" or instead of "stop spooking at 'M'".... "sit on your hocks now or shoulder in now".
3. Looking at the stuff you are trying to avoid instead of looking at what you are trying to accomplish. Lewis being a very spooky monkey, has trained me to look for the stuff he will spook at. So i find myself on xc or in sj starring at the pile of brush or banner on the rail that I KNOW he will spook at. I then will miss my line to the next fence because I wasn't focused on where we were putting our feet in the turn. Or I could be on xc and have a group of people get in my way, that is always unnerving. They will move, you just focus on your line to the fence.
4. Taking it personally. I think the biggest problem I had last season was that I took every stop, run out, spook, dropped rail, bad fence, tense dressage test, lackluster preformace PERSONALLY. Like someone was physically ripping my heart out of my chest. To me this ONE horse is EVERYTHING. (Again all eggs one basket). I felt like every problem was jerking that dream of ROLEX further and further away.... taunting me!
I was so deflated every time I had a problem it was chipping away at my confidence. And in the mean time, I think it was making my horse really dislike me! Somewhere between Ocala and Lexington after Christmas my sweet Lew was asking me to scratch is spot and picking my pockets for treats. After our disaster at Poplar in Nov Lewis has stayed in the back of his stall, avoiding me like the plague, no interested in being touched or given any treats. Apparently it took a 12 hr drive to FL, about 30 run outs, then some rebuilding confidence, and a 12 hr drive home for my horse to like me again. (and before people blame gastric ulcers he was scoped and we found none, and just to be safe I had also put him on gastro gaurd! none of it helped, he really was avoiding me) Today was the first day I have been on him in my dressage saddle in over 2 weeks and I had the best ride I have had on the flat in months! Flying changes every 3 strides with no kicking out!!!! And his ears were up. Oh joy!
I guess to sum up my ineffective habits of upper level event riders: fight like you train, train like you fight
Keep your ears up
Jenn
1. The tiny basket full of eggs. First off, those of us that have one or two horses basically has all of our eggs in one tiny basket. I found this past season that my poor basket had some seriously BIG holes. I've been riding at home with Reese and Craig for dressage and SJ and made some HUGE improvements over the past several years on those two phases. BUT I was hoping that have influence from those two sides of the spectrum would just magically keep my cross country on the straight and narrow. Though i dont think that riding at this level is easily achieved with just the help of one eventing coach. It is important to get the help in all 3 phases from an eventing coaches perspective even if it is just time to time. The show jump trainer and dressage trainer (unless they once had a background in eventing) do not have the perspective to get their teachings flow into another phase. But from the eventing coaches/trainers perspective he understands how all 3 disciplines have to communicate with each other. This, I believe, is very difficult for trainers specializing in one phase/discipline.
I also will add that I do think that the outstanding training that I have received from my dressage and show jumping trainers has made me incredibly competitive in those areas!
2. We tend to tell our horses what not to do instead of WHAT to do. I am so guilty of this with Lewis. Mainly "stop spooking at that stuff near the fence!". It would be a better use of my focus and his, to tell him "jump this" or instead of "stop spooking at 'M'".... "sit on your hocks now or shoulder in now".
3. Looking at the stuff you are trying to avoid instead of looking at what you are trying to accomplish. Lewis being a very spooky monkey, has trained me to look for the stuff he will spook at. So i find myself on xc or in sj starring at the pile of brush or banner on the rail that I KNOW he will spook at. I then will miss my line to the next fence because I wasn't focused on where we were putting our feet in the turn. Or I could be on xc and have a group of people get in my way, that is always unnerving. They will move, you just focus on your line to the fence.
4. Taking it personally. I think the biggest problem I had last season was that I took every stop, run out, spook, dropped rail, bad fence, tense dressage test, lackluster preformace PERSONALLY. Like someone was physically ripping my heart out of my chest. To me this ONE horse is EVERYTHING. (Again all eggs one basket). I felt like every problem was jerking that dream of ROLEX further and further away.... taunting me!
I was so deflated every time I had a problem it was chipping away at my confidence. And in the mean time, I think it was making my horse really dislike me! Somewhere between Ocala and Lexington after Christmas my sweet Lew was asking me to scratch is spot and picking my pockets for treats. After our disaster at Poplar in Nov Lewis has stayed in the back of his stall, avoiding me like the plague, no interested in being touched or given any treats. Apparently it took a 12 hr drive to FL, about 30 run outs, then some rebuilding confidence, and a 12 hr drive home for my horse to like me again. (and before people blame gastric ulcers he was scoped and we found none, and just to be safe I had also put him on gastro gaurd! none of it helped, he really was avoiding me) Today was the first day I have been on him in my dressage saddle in over 2 weeks and I had the best ride I have had on the flat in months! Flying changes every 3 strides with no kicking out!!!! And his ears were up. Oh joy!
I guess to sum up my ineffective habits of upper level event riders: fight like you train, train like you fight
Keep your ears up
Jenn
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Merry Christmas! I hope that everyone had a great day and had time to visit with family and friends. I know too well that having horses makes getting to family tough! I have had to slug through the barn chores more than one holiday in my life. Horses don't take holiday. I was lucky to find two local girls to take care of the barn while I drove to Indy to see my family. I just got back from FL on the 23rd drove to Indy the 24th then back here to Lexington today. Shew... in the past 10 days I have logged nearly 2500 miles.
Katie dog (my faithful companion of over 10yrs) was with me every mile. She did start to complain this afternoons as we drove back to Lexington (she is also a terrible navigator as she rides 99% on the passenger floor).
When you choose a career path of a professional horse person you had better be prepared to work holidays, spend more time with the trailer in the rear view mirror than you do with out, and you better love it! I stopped down at the barn on my way home to slip Lewis his holiday treat and scratch his "spot'.
He is so more than "just a horse"
Here is a peom by Jess Schwarcz that most horsey people have read, but it never gets old!
Hope everyone had a great Christmas!
Peace
Jenn
Katie dog (my faithful companion of over 10yrs) was with me every mile. She did start to complain this afternoons as we drove back to Lexington (she is also a terrible navigator as she rides 99% on the passenger floor).
When you choose a career path of a professional horse person you had better be prepared to work holidays, spend more time with the trailer in the rear view mirror than you do with out, and you better love it! I stopped down at the barn on my way home to slip Lewis his holiday treat and scratch his "spot'.
He is so more than "just a horse"
Here is a peom by Jess Schwarcz that most horsey people have read, but it never gets old!
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Hope everyone had a great Christmas!
Peace
Jenn
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Trainer Head Tilt
After yesterdays grueling school on Lewis (Kyle did get on him at the end of my ride to work on some stuff I was still missing... Lewis looked like a 13hh pony) I decided to give him today off. I hopped on him bareback to go on a hack around the farm. Most of the farm where we are staying is reserved for cattle, mainly longhorns. Lewis isn't scared of these guys, ambles right by them when they are on the fence, but a leaf by the gate almost sent me flying. When in doubt hold the mane. Lewis' next career move maybe reining, I have never ridden a horse that can spin as fast as him.
Anyway, I ventured over to Five Ring Stable (Kyle's aptly named farm) with Hannah Williams and Liam (whom she purchased from us at Antebellum) to watch her dressage lesson. Kyle, as always, was full of insight on how to correct some issues that seem to be reoccurring not just on the flat but when jumping as well. Being a trainer and teaching lessons myself I always find it amusing to watch other people teach. Where does the "trainer head tilt" start, and what in the world does it help us see? We ALL do it, I, like most others I have noticed tip my head to the right... has anyone else paid attention to this? Is this some way to access the right brained part of our thinking? Are we trying to make the horses look more "uphill"? I wonder if I should conduct a study on this. Do people that coach other sports also have this mysterious head tilt?
It is amazing how crooked we can make our selves while yelling at the riders to keep their horses straight. Is this some sort of butterfly effect where we take all the crookedness away from our riders and horses and put it into ourselves? After a long day teaching my neck gets sore.
Final FL lesson on Lew tomorrow before the long drive home. It is really difficult for me to remember that it is December only days before Christmas in the warm upper 70 degree weather down here. I can't seem to rationalize the decorations and Christmas music on the radio. I dread going back north, I know its been warm there the past few days, I'm sure I will be punished by mother nature as soon as I get back to work!
Hoping for a mild winter,
Jenn
Anyway, I ventured over to Five Ring Stable (Kyle's aptly named farm) with Hannah Williams and Liam (whom she purchased from us at Antebellum) to watch her dressage lesson. Kyle, as always, was full of insight on how to correct some issues that seem to be reoccurring not just on the flat but when jumping as well. Being a trainer and teaching lessons myself I always find it amusing to watch other people teach. Where does the "trainer head tilt" start, and what in the world does it help us see? We ALL do it, I, like most others I have noticed tip my head to the right... has anyone else paid attention to this? Is this some way to access the right brained part of our thinking? Are we trying to make the horses look more "uphill"? I wonder if I should conduct a study on this. Do people that coach other sports also have this mysterious head tilt?
It is amazing how crooked we can make our selves while yelling at the riders to keep their horses straight. Is this some sort of butterfly effect where we take all the crookedness away from our riders and horses and put it into ourselves? After a long day teaching my neck gets sore.
Final FL lesson on Lew tomorrow before the long drive home. It is really difficult for me to remember that it is December only days before Christmas in the warm upper 70 degree weather down here. I can't seem to rationalize the decorations and Christmas music on the radio. I dread going back north, I know its been warm there the past few days, I'm sure I will be punished by mother nature as soon as I get back to work!
Hoping for a mild winter,
Jenn
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Fight Like you Train, Train like you Fight
Greetings from WARM sunny Ocala (ish), FL!
(Ocala (ish) was the panicked location I gave the officer at the Agriculture Station when he asked where we were headed... I am in Micanopy which is just north of Ocala)
I'm going to give this Blog thing a try, though I am pretty sure I told a few people that I would start it when I began this trip to FL. As this trip is VERY short (1 week) you have to give me some what of a break, starting the blog before today would have conflicted with my very much needed nap time!
As most of you know I try to make the crazy 12hr trip down to Ocala (ish) a few times a year to meet up with Kyle Carter to polish my cross country skills with Lewis. This past season of 2010 seemed to have put some serious tarnish on those skills. Today was my 3rd jump school with Kyle. Today was a continuation of the severe angle lesson we had on Sunday. Today we built the questions around xc fences instead of show jumps (which I was pretty good at running into the early part of Sundays lesson). After having several run outs at a very angled log to a table I was at the verge of tears with frustration. I can answer the question by putting a slight turn in the line... "dumbing it down" as Kyle said. I just couldn't figure out how to ride through straight (man that SOUNDS so easy). Then we had a talk about me giving in, I wouldn't give in so easy to allow the run out to happen if I was in competition would I? Well, that was Kyle's question to me... quite frankly YES I had been giving in that easy. Hell, I had trained me to train the horse to train me to give in. (does that make sense? Lewis if a human would have an IQ of 220... thus most of my problem the horse is lazy and smarter than me, great!) "fight like you train, train like you fight" Kyle told me... (apparently this is from some military handbook). SO now I need to train myself to fight to train the horse to fight.
If I put a jump in front of him, no matter how difficult, I must expect him to find a way over it. He has plenty of scope, power, ability, (and... sigh... brains) to figure out how to accomplish what I have presented to him. Now to BELIEVE it can happen.
This, ironically, ties in with some of what I have learned from taking meditation classes the few times I have gotten to go. Riding IS so much a mind game. Obviously, you need to have the skill and horse to accomplish the questions presented to you at whatever level you are riding. No matter if you are a Beginner Novice rider coming to a down hill fence or a 4 star rider turning to a line of offset corners. The belief must be there. So FIGHT LIKE YOU TRAIN, TRAIN LIKE YOU FIGHT
Take the leap,
Jenn
(Ocala (ish) was the panicked location I gave the officer at the Agriculture Station when he asked where we were headed... I am in Micanopy which is just north of Ocala)
I'm going to give this Blog thing a try, though I am pretty sure I told a few people that I would start it when I began this trip to FL. As this trip is VERY short (1 week) you have to give me some what of a break, starting the blog before today would have conflicted with my very much needed nap time!
As most of you know I try to make the crazy 12hr trip down to Ocala (ish) a few times a year to meet up with Kyle Carter to polish my cross country skills with Lewis. This past season of 2010 seemed to have put some serious tarnish on those skills. Today was my 3rd jump school with Kyle. Today was a continuation of the severe angle lesson we had on Sunday. Today we built the questions around xc fences instead of show jumps (which I was pretty good at running into the early part of Sundays lesson). After having several run outs at a very angled log to a table I was at the verge of tears with frustration. I can answer the question by putting a slight turn in the line... "dumbing it down" as Kyle said. I just couldn't figure out how to ride through straight (man that SOUNDS so easy). Then we had a talk about me giving in, I wouldn't give in so easy to allow the run out to happen if I was in competition would I? Well, that was Kyle's question to me... quite frankly YES I had been giving in that easy. Hell, I had trained me to train the horse to train me to give in. (does that make sense? Lewis if a human would have an IQ of 220... thus most of my problem the horse is lazy and smarter than me, great!) "fight like you train, train like you fight" Kyle told me... (apparently this is from some military handbook). SO now I need to train myself to fight to train the horse to fight.
If I put a jump in front of him, no matter how difficult, I must expect him to find a way over it. He has plenty of scope, power, ability, (and... sigh... brains) to figure out how to accomplish what I have presented to him. Now to BELIEVE it can happen.
This, ironically, ties in with some of what I have learned from taking meditation classes the few times I have gotten to go. Riding IS so much a mind game. Obviously, you need to have the skill and horse to accomplish the questions presented to you at whatever level you are riding. No matter if you are a Beginner Novice rider coming to a down hill fence or a 4 star rider turning to a line of offset corners. The belief must be there. So FIGHT LIKE YOU TRAIN, TRAIN LIKE YOU FIGHT
Take the leap,
Jenn
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