10 years of Grace, Oh the places we've been!

10 years ago today I wrote the check that would changed my world. I had just sold my Warmblood gelding Bailey and I turned right around and spent every last dime on a 3 year old Quarterhorse mare. She was in the early stages of training, I had already been the first person on her back. She was most likely priced higher than she should have been, I could have bought a been there, done that horse for less. But I didn't want another horse, I wanted Grace. She had chosen me the first time I met her and the dollar amount was just a number. 10 years later I would do it all over again.

When I bought Grace my intentions were to show her Western Pleasure, to eventually show her at the breed show level. Little did I know how many adventures we would have along the way. What I ended up with was one very versatile little mare, who is always up for trying something new. She constantly surprises me with how well she takes to something new. It's been an amazing 10 years, in which time I've learned what it really means to be a horsewoman, many times putting my agenda aside for the well being of my best friend, so that we can continue to have many adventures for the next 10 - 20 years.



Showmanship - always a good class for me to get though my show ring jitters without being in the saddle. Grace was very patient with me!

Western Pleasure - neither one of us really enjoyed it. I believe we are both a little too ADD to go around in slow circles all day.

Look at that short mane! I will be dedicating an entire blog post to her mane and tail!

Now Trail on the other hand, is a class that we both enjoy! Grace gets to walk on stuff, look pretty, and be the center of attention. I don't have time in between the obstacles to let my mind wander. It's a technical class which keeps my brain busy. A win - win. Most of our blue ribbons were won in Trail.

Hunt seat! Wow! Look at that pretty mare!

We did a reining clinic with John Slack! Grace loved it, by the end of the weekend she had a sliding stop and a spin. Not the best thing for her left hock, but she still loves to do loping patterns at home, we just leave out the stops and spins.

Grace stole my heart the first time I took her to Corey's day on the Farm for Special Needs Kids. She was so good with all the kids! I told her that day that she never had to win another blue ribbon or trophy as she had just proven to me that she was worth her weight in gold. It wasn't long after that we started to have more fun:

This was our first year at the Thunderbird Rodeo. This was a life changing event. I wasn't on the team, but one of my closest friends was and I went to her first practice. I wanted to be a part of it and I went out of my comfort zone and asked if there was any way that I could help out. I was invited to ride at the next practice and was later told that I had made the team. It was a big step up for Grace and I, we never looked back!

Last year we had the honor of carrying the American Flag. I can't think of a time where I have been more proud of my little bay mare!

We tried our hand at Cowboy Mounted Shooting

Grace didn't like it so much! It was the first time she really said "NO!" about something. I'm really glad I listened to her, as it gave us more time for barrel racing:

The first time I ran Grace on a pattern, I had to wonder who taught her this. She ran to the first barrel like she was going to inhale it. I am still working to catch up with her around the barrels. We are still very much growing in this area, and I'm really looking forward to seeing where we go with it.

Grace and I have been in many parades. The first one was on a dare. Somewhere in the middle of the parade route she looked around and seemed to say "Well it's about damn time they threw me a parade!" She was absolutely in her element!

And now on to our latest adventure! Grace has show me that it is ok to walk right into a herd of cattle and tell them where to go. Even if they have horns on their head. Any fear or reluctance I might have had was washed away when I saw how enthusiastic she was about it. Grace has made it very clear to me that when it comes to cows my job is to sit down, shut up and stay out of her way. I used to think she could be kind of irritable at times. Now I've learned that she's just cowy!!

At the end of the day it doesn't really matter what activity we partake in. I'm just happy that whatever adventure we are on, we are there together. As long as this is my view, it's never a bad day!

I love you Gracie Lou! Thank you being my inspiration each and every day.

One Cowy Mare!

See that smile on my face?? It's because I'm sitting on my cowy little mare. We went to our first cow sorting last night.

It was a wonderful low key event with plenty of opportunities for training. While the runs were timed, we were allowed to go as many times as we wanted. Everyone encouraged each other and there was lots of cheering!

Grace LOVED it! Before our first run, she sat outside the pen and watched attentively. The cows were fresh and bucked a little on their first run. Grace got really animated when she saw that. We were the third group in and Grace got right to work.

There really wasn't much for me to do, except point her towards which cow we were sorting. From there she would take over, pin her ears back and push them out of her way.

When one didn't move fast enough, she stepped on it! I felt really bad for this cow, but it was fine. It never let her get close enough to be stepped on after that.

Kristen and I put together a 40 second run! Not bad for our first time out!!

I had so much fun! It's such an amazing feeling to do something that Grace loves. She would get really excited every time we would step into the pen. I had to hold her back several times and make her wait for her turn. She would have gone all night if I would have let her.

Look at those ears,that face, that tail, oh and the movement! I would not want to be on the cow end of that mare!

See this other horse getting really excited? This would have set Grace off in the past, she usually bolts away from other horses when they act up. This was a great experience for her. She didn't want to break from the cows, so she didn't let the other horse's energy bother her.

The next sorting is September 18th. Right now that feels like forever and a day away.

Grace and I plan to be there with bells on. I bet Nina and Milo will be there too!

COWS!

Grace and I had the opportunity to work cows this past weekend!

While I may not have any experience working cows, Grace seems to have it all figured out.
Check out that cowy face and those laid back ears!

At first we just followed the herd around, Grace was interested in them, but not overly enthused. But then we started to cut them out:

As soon as I figured out how to stay out of her way, it got really smooth. At the end we cut out one cow and she stayed on it, loping with her ears pinned back.

We have our first sorting next weekend!

Looks like I found something for Grace to do.

Who is this horse?

I almost don't want to share this with you. Part of me is afraid that it's not real, that maybe I imagined it or it was a dream. But there was a witness so I'm pretty sure it's for real. Grace is sound! I know I've said that before, but this is freakishly sound if there is such a thing.

We've just come off 2 weeks of really great rides. I pushed her a bit one week ago to see how she would handle it. I worked her 7 days in a row, with some longer rides in there including a night of breezing out on the trails. She came through it with flying colors. After her day off she was full of herself and ready to go.

Yesterday there was a hunter/jumper schooling show at the saddle club next door. They hold them once a month through out the show season. Grace is used to all the activity, its usually not a big deal. Our weather changed overnight by dropping twenty degrees. I knew rain was on the way, so I planned to wash Grace's mane and tail in the morning giving me enough time to rebraid her mane. She was WILD! I kept wondering if someone had switched out my quiet Quarterhorse with an Arabian in the middle of the night. Grace would not stand still while I was washing her mane, I don't think she was that bad when she had her first bath at 2 years old. She seemed really distracted by all the going ons next door, so I walked her over there while I waited for her to dry.

As soon as we stepped out of my driveway and she could see the other horses she stood up on her hind legs and leapt forward. I finally asked her " Who are you and what have you done to my Quarterhorse???" This is when I started to wonder if I was dreaming all this, I had watched the Black Stallion before going to bed the night before and now it seemed I had him at the end of my lead rope. I should admit to you here right now that I secretly enjoy it when Grace behaves like that. It is so rare that in 10 years this is probably the fifth time I've seen this side of her. Its almost like she remembers that she is indeed a horse and she starts to act like one. As much as I enjoy watching her connect to her inner wild horse, I don't want to ride it! I took her for a hand walk on the trails and she settled right down, to the point that she got bored and kept trying to snatch handfuls of grass.

We stopped by the show and visited with a friend and her horses. Grace was back to normal, standing quietly, not really impressed by anything going on around her. I took her back home with the intention of riding her later in the afternoon when the show was over. As soon as I took the halter off in the pasture Grace blew up! Running, bucking and snorting, my wild horse was back. She started to run the fence line (who is this horse?), fearing that she my injure herself, I pulled her right back out of the pasture and tacked her up for a ride.

It must have looked like one of those wild horse competitions at the rodeo when I tacked her up. She was spinning at the trailer as I put her saddle on. Since this behavior is rare for her, I didn't get after her for it. Maybe I should have, but it has been my experience that it only makes her worse and that once I get on she settles right down. This is where I get to be the amature owner and not the trainer (cause she's just so darn pretty, I don't want to get mad at her!)
I decided to ride her in a snaffle, since I knew I would have plenty of forward and wouldn't have to work as hard to get her to come to my hand.

Grace got right to work when we got into the warm up arena. She was incredibly focused, similar to how she is when I haul her to a show or barrel race. As soon as we started to trot, I was again convinced that someone had switched out my horse in the middle of the night. This horse was driving up from behind and lifting her back. She was incredibly soft in the bridle. After a few minutes I was able to let out more rein and she just floated above the ground. Who is this horse? I don't think I've ever felt her drive up from behind like that, ever! The friend that I had been visiting with earlier commented on how well Grace was moving. She felt incredible! I finished up with some lope circles, turning her off the outside rein. She felt like she would have done a canter pirouette if I had asked for one.

After we watched a few jumping rounds, I took her back home. This time when I put her in the pasture, she went to what was left of her breakfast. My quiet Grace was back. For the last two weeks I've felt like she was telling me that she's ready to get out and do something. I believe that yesterday she stopped telling me and started screaming it at me. Now it's time to find something for her to do.

Coming home to Grace

I am incredibly grateful for Grace today, maybe a little more so than every other day. I had a rough day yesterday and it meant the world for me to come home to her last night. I am a big believer in positive thinking, Law of Attraction and lots of other feel good stuff. I’m finding my rainbows and unicorns approach to life to be much more enjoyable than always looking on what is lacking or always assuming the worst cast scenario is fast approaching. Still I get stuck over not having control over inanimate objects. Somewhere in my mind I am pretty darn sure that I am Wonder Woman. Then this week my truck breaks down and I am rendered useless. To add to the stress, each day that the truck is not running my husband becomes increasingly cranky. He told me last night that he just doesn’t see me using the truck as a daily driver. Not sure what is wrong with his eyes, because I love that truck and it is my daily driver!

My truck is more than just a vehicle; it is a symbol of my freedom. The idea that at any given moment I can hook up the trailer, load up Grace put Belle in the front seat and just go. It’s also my dream car, while others might want a BMW, Corvette or Mercedes; I’ve always wanted a 2000 F250 with a 7.3 liter diesel. It was with my husbands help that I was able to purchase the truck last year when a co-worker replaced it with an F150 King Ranch (which I still refer to as his girly truck!).

My frustration comes from not being able to fix it myself and having to rely on others. This means I have to admit that I am not Wonder Woman and I cannot do it myself. There is also the stress of the potential repair bill depending on what is wrong with the truck. Right now we are guessing that there is some water or air in the fuel line, but it’s been 2 days of continually recharging the battery and still no start. But I don’t want to stress out over the money thing right now (rainbows and unicorns) I’d rather tell you how great Grace is.

Last Thursday night I hauled Grace up to Diamond Hill Ranch for free jumping. Sarah set up a chute and we ran several of the horses through it. We kept the fences low for Grace as the goal was just for her to get the rhythm of going through the poles and over the small cross bar. At first she thought it was free lunging trail course. She stopped in between the poles, and then did a 360 before proceeding to step over the cross rail. With a little encouraging she figured out how to go though the chute and over the cross rail. On Saturday I set up lope over poles at home with one elevated pole to lunge her over. Every time she came out of the poles her lope was better. It’s been fun to watch her figure it out. She rocks back on her hock and lifts her back in order to make the distance between the poles. Her lope even sounds better; there is a clear one, two, three rhythm to it. The best part is how good she feels under saddle.

So last night after my stressful day and driving home with cranky husband who was less than thrilled that he had to drive back the way he came from work to pick me up, I got my Grace fix.

There is a spot along the driveway as I walk up to the pasture where I habitually take a deep breath. As soon as I let it out all the worries from the day disappear and I see Grace. She stands at the bottom of her pasture and waits for me, always greeting me with the same low nicker. It always makes my day. I didn’t brush her off or tack her up right away last night; instead I spent time rebraiding her mane. There is something so therapeutic about playing with my horse’s mane. It seems to bring me into the moment, which is were Grace lives. I went ahead with the bareback pad last night and headed to the arena. We had a great warm up, Grace was soft and supple and I was able to stay with her keeping my low back soft and my ab muscles engaged. I then loped her in a circle over a single raised pole. It’s only 4 inches off the ground, but she has to get there in a rhythm in order to make the distance. It works best when she keeps the same rhythm on the entire circle instead of adjusting her stride at the last second. We worked on this over the weekend in the saddle and on the lunge line. Grace nailed it last night. The raised pole became less and less of a jump and more of the lope over it was intended to be. Her lope improved with each circle. It wasn’t until we were finished that it dawned on me that I was riding bareback. I had loped my horse over a raised pole (small jump) bareback. I hadn’t done that since I was 11 years old and injured my back in a fall while jumping picnic benches bareback in the pasture. That fall was the first big blow to my confidence and I think I’ve always unconsciously carried it with me when I rode. So here I was last night, loping over a small jump without a saddle and staying with my horse stride for stride. As we walked another cool out lap around the arena I reached down and patted Grace on the neck. I then reached back and patted my own back. Breakthrough!

Getting Fit to Ride

Last Friday I went back to the gym. I hadn’t been there in over 3 months. I had convinced myself that getting out of bed at 4:30am was for the birds. Last week when I went back, I was smart enough to time my return to the gym to coincide with my Birthday Spa Day, which was the next day. I’ve been on again off again member of a Body Pump Class for the last two years. I believe I am now ready to be consistent with my exercise program.

My pattern has been to go consistently for a few months and then drop off the planet for another few months. I can tell myself that I am too busy, too burned out, or too tired, but the truth is I get lazy. When I was in my early 20’s I didn’t need to think about being fit, I just was. I worked outside all day cleaning stalls and riding horses. I lived on Top Ramen because that was all I could afford to eat. When I got married, I got a real job, but was on my feet all day and still stayed fit, even though I could now afford more than Top Ramen.

Then in the last few years, something happened to the food I ate. It was more processed and had more additives, almost all of the processed food I put in my body had High Fructose Corn Syrup added to it. My body quickly turned the processed food into fat and I was no longer fit. I was no longer comfortable in the clothes I wore, I hated shopping for jeans!

The final straw was a month ago when I asked my husband to take some pictures of me while I was riding Grace. When I looked at the pictures on the digital camera, all I could think of was “who is that fat lady riding my horse?”

I love food! I love good food with lots of fat, cream and starches. I married a gourmet chef who loves to cook for me! I love sugar, and candy, and ice cream. I remember when I was taking a Boot Camp class when I first started going to the gym, the instructor said I would never loose weight if I didn’t change my eating habits. That I could work out all I wanted, but if I continued to feed my body with garbage, that it would not change. Well, that was the last time I took her class!

When I get consistent with my workouts I feel amazing. I attend a Body Pump class three days a week before going to the office. When I get to the office I am energized and ready to take on the world. Little things my boss does no longer drive me crazy, and I am still awake and have plenty of energy at 2:30 in the afternoon. So I have to ask myself, why is it that I continually quit. Again, I am forced to look at my diet. When I work out, I naturally start to eat better. When I feel good, I no longer want to put food additives in my body. I ask my husband for more vegetables at dinner, and he no longer has to sneak them into my spaghetti sauce (yes, he did that!) Somewhere while feeling good, I get tired, overwhelmed and I start eating junk. High Fructose Corn Syrup to be specific. The latest culprit was soda. We keep a fridge full of it at my office. What started out at one a day became two, one with lunch and another at 2:30 because I was getting tired and I had a head ache. When my husband and I would go out to dinner, it was a Cherry Coke, with a refill. Next thing I knew getting out of bed at 4:30am wasn’t a high priority. As of today I have not had a soda in 10 days. I have again cut High Fructose Corn Syrup out of my diet. Grocery shopping takes forever, but I feel so much better! I’ve been making better food choices, instead of a handful of Doritos, I eat organic carrots. Instead of chocolate or something sweet, I eat organic soy yogurt. I’ve been doing this for 10 days now and after day 2, I no longer craved soda or sweets. I feel good in my body again and I swear my clothes fit better.


So how does this relate to Grace? She is my continued inspiration for taking care of myself. I’ve always considered Grace to be an athlete. I ride her 6 days a week in the spring, summer and fall and at least 4 days a week in the winter.I feed her the best hay and vitamins The grain I buy for her is not covered in molasses. The woman I bought Grace from had a barn full of beautiful, healthy, shiny horses. I asked her one day what she fed them to get them to look that good. She explained that it has as much to do with what she didn’t feed them. She would not feed them anything that she would not eat herself. No, she didn’t eat hay on a daily basis, but the idea behind it was she didn’t feed her horses feed that was full of additives and sugar.

I consider Grace to be more that just my horse, she is my partner. I always ask her to give me her best and she delivers. I know that she has pushed through pain for me on many occasions. The least I can do is the same for her. I know that when I am fit, I am a better rider. When my core muscles are strong, I am able to engage them and allow my back to stay soft. I can carry more of my own weight, which is less work for my horse. I think for me the most important point that I need to remember is that when I’m fit I feel better, not only physically, but mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Wasn’t it once said that the body is a temple?

Back to Basics

Grace and I are about to make a big breakthrough. I can feel it!

2 weeks ago I had a lesson with Sarah. We did some exercises to get Grace to engage her hind end. It was amazing to see and feel the difference. Grace was sound behind, and happy in her work. I continued to practice through out the next week with some level of success. I felt that Grace was improving, but I was struggling to ride the new movement, especially at the lope. In our next lesson a week later, it was very apparent that I was the problem. No matter how hard I tried, my lower back would get tight and my legs would shoot out in front of me at the lope. I became very frustrated, which is how I know that I am about to make a break though. I have been riding like this for years. It’s only now that I can feel how absolutely awful it is. How is my horse supposed to lift and soften her back when mine is tight and ridged? How is she supposed to move forward off my leg, when it isn’t even making contact with her sides? So now that my brain is acutely aware of what needs to be fixed, how to I get my body to listen?

This week I have been riding Grace in a bareback pad. Nothing connects me to my body faster than getting rid of the saddle that sits between me and my horse. I also put Grace in her Little S hackamore. It has a fleece covered adjustable leather nose band. I like the Little S because it offers a lot of flexion and lift, and with the soft nose band I am not going to hurt my horse. This way if while trying to find my seat, I commit the cardinal sin and hang on my reins, I am not going to abuse my horses mouth.

First off, I think I need to give myself a break. I am being hard on myself because I want so desperately to improve. I have to remember that for the last 20 years I hardly ever rode bareback. It was only a year ago that I loped Grace bareback for the first time. I did get a lot of practice in this winter though, Sarah took away several of her students saddles and had them ride bareback to improve their seats. I am grateful to have been one of the chosen. I will say that after the last 3 days of bareback, I am incredibly confident without my saddle. The lope is by far my favorite gait right now. In the last three days I have been able to feel how out of whack my body was. I started to remember tidbits of clinics I’ve done in the past with Peggy Cummings. I found my connected seat again.

Today I went to Peggy Cummings website to order one of her books. There is a before and after picture of a dressage rider. He asked his horse to come though in his natural way, while the rider was bracing his body. There is a quote from the rider where he says “This horse is lazy” then there is the after picture where they got the rider to change his body and quit bracing. His quote now is “I have never felt my horse this free ever, he doesn’t feel lazy” This really caught my attention because on our first bareback ride this week Grace felt lazy. She would not respond to my leg. I finally used a dressage whip to get her to move off it. I had to spend the next 5 minutes getting her to settle down. What didn’t change in that ride was me; I was still tight and bracing in my back. How could she move freely under me?

Last night I caught Emile Faurie Master Class on RFD-TV. It was an episode of Horse and County TV. I had a big light bulb moment.

Emile Faurie Masterclass - Episode 1

I really encourage you to watch the entire episode. There are some amazing gems in there, it's like getting a clinic with a Master for free!

Here are the paraphrased quotes from Emile that hit me up the side of the head:

Most important thing – horse wants to go on the bridle from their back end

When people learn to ride on horses that are not naturally built to be on the bit, what happens is that they bring them onto the bit from the front end from the reins.

What we’ve got to do is to encourage everybody to bring them from behind onto the bit

The worst thing you can do is to try to bring them onto the bit from the hand and as such pull them onto the bit.

It is from the walk trot walk, trot canter trot, walk halt walk, so that they get used to the half halt.
The Trot Canter transition is the most beneficial thing to do with a young horse to teach them to swing through their back

Ok, So I know this, I've heard all of it all of my riding life. Yet still I lost it. Somewhere along the way, I got out of balance. I then started to rely on my hands. I quit using my leg. When I tried to use it, it didn't work because I was still out of balance. Even when my trainer tells me to use more leg and less hand, my body does not follow.

Somewhere along the way I quit doing transitions while schooling my horse. I added a bunch of cool bells and whistles, but stopped doing tons of transition work in my daily rides. So tonight in the bareback pad and hackamore I did transitions. Lots of nice, quiet, balanced transitions. Do you know what happened? My horse relaxed, she stared to come though from behind, off my leg. She went onto the bit, in a hackmore. Her lope work was really great, but even better was the trot after the lope when I added my leg though the downward transition.

See, I told you, a breakthrough is coming!