It is now officially the rainy season in the Pacific Northwest; the monsoon moved in 2 days ago and has been nonstop. We expect a break by June or maybe July. Add the rain to the shorter daylight hours and this becomes the time of year when I wonder why I live here. I don't stop riding in the winter; neither Grace nor I do well with time off. In the past I've toughed it out in the rain or hauled out to an indoor arena. Last year my neighbor rebuilt their entire barn. It was a major undertaking and the finished product is to die for! It is a very private facility and I am incredibly fortunate to be able to ride there.
I met the owner on the weekend to sign the usual waiver, write the check for the ring fees and get the ground rules. The place is absolutely breathtaking, almost too beautiful to have a horse in. The new footing is a dust free synthetic mix of fancy stuff. It cannot handle any organic material or water. Hooves must be picked out before entering, as for horse poop - I'm just really glad that Grace rarely poops under saddle.
I've ridden in the arena for the last two nights. Grace was silly last night as I completely changed her routine by bringing her up there. I went the extra step with her hooves and wiped them dry with a towel before entering the arena. The first night I even took her tail bag out so as to not drip any water into the footing. We had a great ride tonight, Grace was much more focused and centered. I am in love with the mirrors in the arena, what a wonderful tool! I have a much better idea what what Sarah means by straight now. I plan to ride there two nights a week, outside on the weekends and if I get in some groundwork two other nights we are still at 6 days a week. Not bad for Winter.
At least twice a week I pull up Craigslist for our local area and search for "Horse". I have no idea why I torture myself by browsing the ads. I'm not looking to buy another horse and by the time I've clicked on a few of the "must sale now" type ads I've lost all faith in humanity. I get rather tired of looking at skinny 20-something horses looking for their next home or the countless bottom of the gene pool at stud ads. Today I stumbled across something I just had to have. A limited edition Hobby Horse show shirt in a beautiful shade of green. The colors on this shirt are so me! I wear a lot of greens, browns and other earth tones outside of the showring. It looks like I could pair it with either brown or black chaps. Can't wait to try it out next Spring.
Since there are only 5 of you reading this blog I thought I would share a piece that I am working on. Hopefully by putting it out there I will get to courage to just write the damn book already! Be gentle.
The small sedan passed through the gated entrance where the pavement came to an end. As the rental car’s suspension creaked and whined on the bumpy gravel road, it occurred to her that if she had been thinking clearly when the plane landed she would have gone with a Jeep. Thinking clearly was something she hadn’t done in weeks. A vast fence line sprawled out on either side of the long driveway holding behind it rolling hills of lush green grass. She began to breath deeper as she took in the countryside, a new long lost peacefulness washed over her. Separate pastures lined by white rail fences started to emerge as the long driveway continued to unfold. A small twinge of anticipation started in her stomach, “he” was here. In the distance stood a small herd of horses, their coats all the same bright red color, similar to that of the first changing leaves of fall. This was the spot on the property where most visitors would stop and stare. The horses red coats stood out against the green grass, each one groomed to perfection prior to being turned out. Long flowing manes and tails, gleaming copper dapples, each of them exceptionally conformed. To any horse person this would be a sight to see. She hardly noticed them; she took a deep breath to settle the butterflies that had begun to rise up. The dirt driveway started to smooth out as it climbed higher, she was getting closer.
The fence line started to change, painted wood post and rails were replace by more expensive white vinyl boards. Behind them was a vast single pasture, as least one acre in size. Another agonizing wave of anticipation washed over her, this had to be it, this was where he would live, separate from everyone else. The car skidded to a haul, the loose gravel giving way as she slammed on the brakes. He was there; she almost burst into tears at the sight of him. He had his back to her, but she knew it was him, she would recognize that hind end anywhere. Even after so many years she knew his body better than the back of her own hand. She remembered the rope scar on his left gaskin which he received when he was only 2, an injury she didn’t like to think about. There was the small indent on his neck under his long black hair often referred to as a prophet’s thumb. She began to recall every bump and mark as she drove further up the road, closer to him. She imagined the feel of his warm muscles under her hands, her fingers longed for the feel for the feel of his coat. Too long had her fingernails been clean, she was dying to destroy her manicure and any other part of her that remained in the corporate world. This was where she belonged, dirty in a field, under the vast blue sky with him.
I really had hoped to have helmet cam footage to show you of today's cow sorting, but when I downloaded the 4 runs I filmed it was all of the arena ceiling. Looks like I forgot to tilt the camera down towards the cows. It's ok, this gives me an excuse to go back sooner than later it had been way too long since the last time Grace and I worked cows. I'm sure Grace thought we were off to another show today, since I did spend time washing her mane and tail yesterday. I believe she was pleasantly surprised today when I took her to an unfamiliar arena with a pen of cows in it waiting for her.
After a text conversation with Sarah this morning I had a plan for my warm up. She had seen my recently shot video and pointed out to me that my horse was not straight, not tracking up to her front end with her hind end. She recommended more leg when Grace evades my hand by speeding up, to push Grace into the contact and getting her to place her hind footfall closer to her front footfall. The more I thought about it the more sense it made. Once I was on my horse it was interesting to see that my first reaction to her evasion has been to completely take my leg off. Today I added more leg when Grace tried to blow through my outside rein and low and behold the mare stepped up underneath her and went straight!
We were one of the first in the pen when it came time to sort. There were corriente cows that were new additions to the herd this year. They were numbered 2,3,5,6 and 7 and they liked to hang out together. My first draw was number 6. Every time Grace and I got close to it the little bugger would dive in under a bigger cow. I tried to push it down the panels but it would turn back and circle the herd. I felt bad for my partner who didn't even get to leave the gate. I intently watched as other teams worked the herd. The corriente's had a big space bubble and those that took their time with them had the most success. Our numbers improved with each run, but we kept getting dq'd by either cow number 2 or 3 slipping through the gate. On our best run we ha 6 cows in before number 3 slipped past. I was thrilled with Grace, she was a little hot on our first run, but still under control. She settled with each run, got more focused and best of all was moving up beautifully from behind. It always amazes me how much cleaner her movement is when I put a cow in front of her. I lost count of how many times I petted her neck and told her how good she was. I am going to make it a point to get back on cows once a month and next time I will remember to tilt the helmet cam down.
Grace has been on her best behavior since the horse show. I'm over being mad about it but the first few days after the show of having one better ride after another really got me frustrated. Why can't we pull it together in the show ring? I had a group lesson at Sarah's last Saturday to work on Horsemanship patterns. Grace gave me one of the best warm ups ever. Her lope was outstanding and then it was time to work on the cones. As soon as we began our pattern Grace tensed up and took over. Sarah said it was because I was thinking about the pattern and not Grace. Grace feels the change - the shift in my energy and somehow takes that as a cue to do her own thing. We spent a good part of the lesson schooling her on the pattern working on getting it perfect because "perfect practice makes perfect". At the end of the lesson I was able to ride the pattern one handed - it was a pattern ride that I would be thrilled with at a horse show.
Sarah suggested that I set cones at home in no particular order and school Grace on them with no patten in mind. The goal is to keep Grace guessing and waiting on me. This is one of those times that I wonder what it would be like to own a less intelligent horse. I swear when I stop at a cone to begin a pattern Grace has every pattern she's ever been on going through her head. When we start the pattern she then recalls the closest pattern in her memory to the gait we are on and the direction we are going. She is convinced that she knows best and when I tense against her decision that is when it starts to fall apart.
Now, when I can get her to work with me and wait on me it is a wonderful ride. Grace is so sensitive to my cues I have to be mindful of how I breath. I've been so afraid of getting on her case, concerned that I will break her "spirit" and end up with one of those dead to the world show horses, that I let her tense up and take over. The result was a ride that neither one of us enjoyed. I've now been able to correct her without being hard on her, knowing when to apply pressure and when to release. The result is a horse that still wants to know the pattern, but is willing to wait for me to show it to her.
In the first video we are working around and through the cones in no particular direction. If I felt her anticipate going to the right, I made her go to the left. There are a few times that she tenses and lifts her head so I had to push her up into the bridle and correct her. The second video - and I wish it were better quality was the end of our ride. The lead change is from the right - which is her easy lead, to the left which is her more difficult lead. Her changes this direction haven't been this clean. You can see my reaction to the lead change - "good girl Grace, your done for the day!"
A big thank you to Nina for the One Lovely Blog Award. So here goes - 7 random things you may not know about me:
1. I have a fear of drowning and avoid bodies of water because of it. Somewhat ironic considering that I've been living on an Island for the last 30 years. I am also very susceptible to motion sickness so I avoid boats that are smaller than a jumbo ferry. 2. I do not define myself with any religion. I don't believe in Heaven or Hell - there was a time that I attended church every Sunday and considered myself to be a conservative republican. My political views are now a complete 180 from that stance. 3. I have been married for 15 years. I met my husband right after high school while working in a restaurant. Next summer will be 20 years since our first date.
4. I have an older brother – I am always surprised by how many of my friends that I grew up with don’t know about him. He is 10 years older than me and went to live with my biological father when I was 3 and he was 13. We moved 3,000 miles away when I was 7. My brother moved to Washington as an adult and now lives in San Diego. I will always view him as a giant who can do no wrong in my eyes. He will eternally be the hero I saw him to be when I was 3 years old. 5. I have not consumed alcohol since May 29th 1989. Yes I quit drinking when I was 14 years old. I still consider myself to be an alcoholic even though I will go the rest of my life without drinking. It makes me crazy to see social drinkers leave half a class of wine or not finish a beer. Don’t they know that’s wasting? I have absolutely no desire to drink – not even to try it socially. 6. I love public speaking but rarely get the chance to work a crowd. Nothing like attending AA meetings at the age of 14 to get you over any fear of public speaking
7. I could eat pasta 3 times a day 7 days a week. I love it and it is one of the things I can actually cook. Luckily my husband does most of the cooking in our house and he makes sure that I get plenty of protein and veggies in my diet. He’s even been known to sneak asparagus into spaghetti sauce when I’m not looking.
Most of the blogs that I would nominate have already been given this award. If you read my blog and you want the award just let me know - it's yours! The blogs I have listed list on the sidebar are my favorite they are the ones I read almost every day. I can't think of any better way to promote them than that.
