Weekend Rides (long overdue post)

I contracted something that felt like the plague and coughing sneezing death on Monday this week. So writing this has taken a while, and it's very out of date. I'm sorry. I'm on a 4 drug cocktail with no diagnosis. I'm finally feeling better, so I'm of course going to attempt to see Penn tonight (I haven't seen him since Sunday).


This is my 200th post! Wahoo! I'm sure others out there have a bunch more though!


These rides go from Thursday 1/7 to Sunday 1/10.

I had an exceptionally frustrating ride on Thursday. I rode without my tall boots, so just in paddock boots. I hate doing that, but I don't have half chaps and I didn't have my tall boots.

Things started out ok- Penn was a bit speedy (that would be the theme of our ride). I asked for shoulder in, which he did exceptionally well for his skill level. I moved on to haunches in and approached it the same way Trainer had me. He was so fabulous, I was very pleased. I paid extra attention to where my legs went since I was extra aware of them without boots. He didn't relax as much into it as he did in lesson, but he was on the right path and I didn't cross my inside rein.

That's where it all went to hell. I asked for trot, off we went and he was such a speed demon. I was making an effort to post the trot too since I sit it too much. It was just awful. I worked my corners, then asked for a circle at E/B, work the next set of corners. He wanted to jump into canter as soon as I asked for the circle. He ended up doing a bit of a running walk when he'd want to speed off and I'd force him to stay slower. Canter was like a bomb went off under his tail.

Just awful and frustrating. I went to walk and let him walk on a long rein. He just about walked off his own feet. By this point, Penn was nervous and anxious.

I took a good hard look at what I was doing. It dawned on me that my lower leg isn't as steady as it is with boots. My paddock boots offer no ankle support or resistance, and I have very flexible ankles, so they tend to fold and float with pressure (hang out with me long enough and you'll be around when one of them folds in half and I biff it onto the floor). Penn is sensitive. I think the extra motion in my lower leg was goosing him forward. Classic case of leg says one thing, hands and seat say another. No wonder Penn was upset and confused.

I made an extra effort to fix me and stop trying to fix him - and he quieted down and became agreeable. I worked on canter a little, and by this point, adding any leg to cue for it was way too much cue. The best transition we had? When I adding a tiny about of inside seatbone scoop. He hopped off into canter and it was wonderful. Pat, end ride.

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A very good long line day!

I decided to long line Penn Friday night instead of ride. I need to get my skills going again, and after a disastrous ride, I didn't really want to sit on him again. I wasn't happy about the limited hind end engagement that Penn offered on the lines, but every now and then I could half halt properly and he'd step under.

Poll: When you long line (I know I have several readers who want to learn, but I don't know how many have actually done it), do you have the outside line go around the horse's hind quarters and then to you on the circle, or do you pull the line over the spine and then to you? Why?

I was taught to have it go around the hindquarters and above the hocks, and that worked mostly well for Mikey. Every now and then it would sneak up and get snagged under his tail, I'd pull up and jiggle it back down. I cannot seem to make the line stay in place when long lining Penn. At all. I ended up pulling it over his back on Friday and I felt I had much better effect on him.

I was happiest with his canter work. I found a rhythm of half halt and forward in the trot that made him stand up and bend his body instead of rushing and leaning in, so I applied the same idea to canter. He automatically leans in horribly and disconnects on the long lines in canter. Apply half halts and keep the canter time to a lap or two at most and keep doing trot/canter/trot transitions and he eventually stood up and connected both directions. And quietly!

I let him quit after some good right lead canter work. As I was unhooking him, I thought about Megan's pi/pa post. I decided to start working on cueing him to lift individual legs on command. I'd watched a few of Alfredo Hernandez's videos on YouTube- the way he teaches horses to pi/pa just makes sense to me. (Incidentally, I mentioned what I was doing to another dressage rider who just rides and does a lot of auditing, no showing, and she mentioned a trainer near me who uses the same techniques. I don't have access to Alfredo, so this was great news for later on when Penn's actually ready to ride the movements).

I long lined him with a dressage whip (I'm not coordinated enough for a lunge whip and I think that much whip would send him into the next county), so I already had that in hand. I took off his front boots and started tapping on his left front leg.

He gave me a look like, "What the heck? I don't get it." As soon as I added a cluck to it, he lifted the leg I was tapping. Excessive praise, and then I'd tap the leg again. Eventually I could do it without the cluck. He caught on so quickly, within five minutes I could ask him to lift up any leg I wanted (front or back). When he lifts the fronts, he'd bring his knee way up and get his forearm parallel to the ground. Every now and then he'd let it have some hang time. When he'd lift the hinds, he'd bring the leg up high and under, and when he'd set it back down, he kept the leg under himself.

I was so thrilled with him. I know this is just a little thing in the grand scheme of training, but it was an excellent first step, and he seemed to just work in the right direction. I really want a bamboo pole now (or similar)! I tried to get Mikey to lift his feet using this method, and time after time, he just ignored me, so I gave up.

I hooked up the trailer in the rain and darkness (boo) for the last time (yay!) and brought it home. Of course, it stopped raining for me to drive home, then started pouring when husband backed it in and I was outside directing him. Hopefully the neighbors won't be too upset to see all of our cars, plus horse trailer, parked out front.

A little large to be in our driveway.

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Saturday was BEAUTIFUL. And I spent the morning emptying the above trailer into the garage. It only has a 4x6 tack room, but I've become quite the pack rat.

The muck bucket and shavings, plus a hidden Stanley trunk live in the horse part of my trailer. The black and gray buckets aren't horsey either. But I seem to be a good packer because even when everything is in there, there's still room to stand and move around.

Some stuff won't go back in (my xc vest, Mikey's double bridle, a second pair of boots that I haven't worn for several years, helmet bag I don't use, etc), but most of it will.

Our house is a parking lot. Good thing we have a long driveway.

Driving to the barn ended up over exciting. A heat shield detached itself from under my car and made horrible grinding noises as I dragged it for a short distance until I could get pulled over. Mom always had me keep cardboard in my trunk to protect my back seats from anything horsey I might have to stuff back there, so I pulled that out to lay on while I tried to get the shield out from under my car. An older gentleman pulled over and asked what was wrong, and was able to pull the heat shield out for me...

One heat shield in my backseat.

I had an awesome ride in the outdoor. Posting the trot and all. Penn was relaxed and bright and springy and happy. He was happy to let me work out how to keep the tempo in posting trot without looking like a fool. I think he was just happy to work outside in the sunshine.

He had his first naughty baby horse moment! I asked him for right lead canter and went, but then he took a single bounding step with his head down and gave it a small shake. The horror! Haha. Knock on wood, he's a complete angel under saddle and hasn't ever put a foot wrong. Even the trainer who broke him to ride said he never crow hopped or bucked or anything in all the time she had him. I decided since Penn had enough energy to bound in canter, he had to canter laps around the outdoor. And do it properly. It was lovely!

The barn was pretty busy since the day was so nice- one of his buddies in the field by the outdoor ended up alone in the field and was not happy about it. Penn wanted to play with him from the outdoor, so I had to shut down that nonsense. I ended up making him do like 10 seconds more work before calling it quits- I'd gotten lovely walk, trot, canter work out of his both directions. Quiet, stretching, agreeable work. It could only go downhill from there, so I thought it best to quit while I was ahead instead of forcing Penn to work through his friend calling and running. Pick your battles right?

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Sunday was dreadful- the wind was whipping, it was raining, then it was snowing. I went out to ride anyway, and fetching Penn from the field SUCKED.

I had a good ride again- the wind against the indoor's doors made him look a little, but he kept his head nicely and got to work. Walk and trot went well again, canter left a little to be desired, but I worked on his simple changes and I wasn't riding him as through as I needed to (gee, why did Mikey's flying changes fail? I'm setting Penn up for the same failure!!!). All I was looking for was a prompt come down to trot, and a prompt back up to canter. He does it much better from left to right (the bad direction to the good direction). Overall, I was still happy with him.

I worked a little more on tapping his legs. He remembered his first lesson very well!

He got a mane pull because he was looking unruly and it was still dreadful outside and I didn't want to put him back in the wind and rain... he has the clothes to keep him warm, so no problems there!

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My trailer is almost done, however, the big truck batteries in the tack room are shot- they won't charge past 20%. It's around $200 to replace them, so they're not getting replaced for a while. They're about 20 years old, so they're long past their life expectancy. Husband is going to try "charging the shit out of them" to see if that helps break up the sulfates (or whatever he called them) that built up. He has a charger that measures the battery charge and tempers the power down as appropriate (he's been using those to charge them) and then he has another that just plows away full power at them until you unplug them (this will be the new method).

An item that popped up that needs to be fixed is my tack room door. The door frame was bent at some point in my trailer's previous life, and it makes the door hard to shut. The cold snap we got this past week and the amount of open/close the door was getting from Husband's work was enough to make it break. So husband forced it back on so he could lock it for the night, but that's on his list of things to fix tonight.

I'm going to try working Penn tonight- I got a report from Hawk that he's taking out his excess energy on Fiction's blankets! Bad Penn! We like Hawk and Fiction!!! :-(

Husband is at it Again

Husband decided to give me an early birthday present last night (my birthday isn't for several months). Since the trailer is coming home this weekend for a couple upgrades and checks, he decided to go all out and give the truck some upgrades so the trailer can have even better upgrades!

On the list:

• New radio for the truck. "Radio" doesn't even begin to cover the all-encompassing magic box that will be going into the cab. It's one of those new fancy things with a screen and GPS and it's basically an Android tablet. I can download my Audible app right to it, connect to Wifi (or add it to my phone bill so it gets it's own service), and download all of my books to an SD card (it takes up to a 32GB SD card), and have all my books ready to go! If I buy it a data plan (I'm not), it can be a mobile hotspot and project Wifi to everyone in the truck. It also will serve as the screen for my trailer cams and new back up cams! Another perk: it has a working CD/DVD player. The CD player in Atticus (the truck's name, see Iron Druid Chronicles, pretty much my favorite book series) has never worked and I have a ton of CDs that need playing! DVDs not so much, but that could be fun if we ever just want to sit in the truck at a horse show and watch a movie out of boredom.

Just finishing buying Atticus, December 4, 2014!

• Back up cameras! Ok, so these are more of a luxury than anything. One will go in the back of the truck so I can see my hitch to hook up (I'm not terrible at hooking up, it only takes a few minutes but the last few inches always annoy me and are the worst), and then another will go on the back of my trailer. The trailer back up camera is more important- we spend a lot of time backing up in the pitch black darkness (the new cameras have night vision). He's also going to change the wiring a bit so we can flip flop between all four cameras (truck, trailer, horse 1, horse 2) while the truck is in forward motion. Back up cameras only work while the truck is in reverse, so this way I can see just how close that guy behind me is tailgating my trailer. We had joked before that he should put a marquee thing back there and in the cab we'll have a control box with pre-programmed messages that say flash things like "Thank you for keeping back." and "No tailgating." and some that are just middle fingers and other crude sayings that encourage a car to stop tailgating. Maybe he should tack one of those on too, hehe!

• New cable for horse cams. Since there's going to be a back up cam on the trailer, Husband is redoing all of the wiring for the horse camera's too since he has to run cable for the new camera. Right now, there's an Ethernet cable in the cab that plugs into the screen, runs between the seats, goes out the back passenger door, jumps into the bed, and pops out under the tailgate to plug into another Ethernet cable that feeds through the trailer. Basically, it's a phone jack on the bumper. Now it's going to be a properly-bolted-to-the-frame 6 pin trailer plug with a properly run cable under the truck into the back of the new radio in the cab. With the new radio, I'll be able to watch both horse cams at the same time.

The old screen. I love my trailer cams.

• Wheel well lights. Trailer will get one orange tag light on each wheel well so we can see it a bit better in the dark when parking.

• Flood lights. Each side of the trailer will get a backwards facing light to help us see when backing up in the darkness. I have a flood light already that points at the ramp for loading in the dark, and that one is going to be replaced with a better quality (and matching) light.

• Hook up light. Are you seeing a pattern? We do A LOT of hooking up, unhooking, and backing up in the dark, and I've done a fair bit of it by myself without any help. Side effect of doing winter hauling, evening hauling to clinics, and long distance hauling. Husband is going to put another flood light pointed down at the ball and hitch. We've tried turning on Atticus's cargo light, but the tailgate stops that light from working well. And putting the tailgate down is not an option otherwise we can't crank the trailer jack!

This is the only picture I could find on my blog the included the trailer.
Facebook mobile isn't helping me find the picture I posted on purchase day, November 5, 2011.

• Charge the big batteries. My trailer has a custom oak box in the tack room that holds two regular truck batteries. They create an electric current like what's in your house. Husband set that up so the trailer would have proper lighting- he bought steel cages for the curly cue energy saver light bulbs and then popped one in the tack room and two in the horse area. These make it like daytime in the trailer! Anyway, the batteries need to be charged a couple times per year, and with winter hitting, they're low and the cold could permanently damage the batteries (they were free to us from his parents, but it's over $200 to replace them).

• Charge the trailer battery. The battery on the tongue of the trailer that controls the wee lights and brake box has never charged well- it always seems low. It always passes its yearly inspection, but the mechanic suggested we take it home and charge it to see if it holds the charge. I don't run my truck and trailer often enough for long enough to keep it charged. If it doesn't hold the charge, I'll go out and get a new one because the brake box emergency battery needs to work well!

• Check the spare tire. This is a winter job because the spare tire has a cover and I was afraid bees were living in it (no proof of this) and I would get stung if I did this in summer.

• Add air to all five tires. Because this is something that should always be done!

I think that's the whole list. He kept rattling things off of how things work and I'm like, whoa, so much stuff! I really don't know what I would do without him. He can fix anything mechanical- cars, trucks, tractors. He's done a ton of work with house and vehicle electric (he did all of the wiring for a friend's barn, rewired a ton of stuff in our house, rewired my entire trailer, and wrote/created the program and parts for a custom tail light display for his Camaro so the tail lights blink like a Mustang's). Working for a family hardware store taught him how to haul anything big or small since they also did construction equipment rentals. He can do any kind of home repair/building except putting in a foundation and advanced masonry (he knew enough to do a short term fix to our chimney bricks). He can weld, fold a fitted sheet, and cook. I'm very lucky to have him!

I'll be bringing the trailer home tonight (hooking up in the dark for the last time!), and it will hopefully go back to the barn by 1/17. I think our neighbors will be very unhappy if it lingers for longer. When it's all done, I'll make sure to take a picture of it lite up like a Christmas tree!

Schooling Show 1/3/2016

I went by myself (with Husband) to the same schooling show series that I've been going to all winter. We left a good bit earlier than we had to because I wanted to make sure Penn didn't end up sitting in his stall while the other horses went out. It was actually a good plan because it let us take our time and try a new route to get to the show that doesn't involve over $25 in tolls. Doing that was a good thing because we found out part of the alternate route would not be a good route in the snow and we were able to avoid it later (when it was snowing).

Husband got the trailer cameras working for a short time.

My trailer cams haven't been working the last couple times I took the trailer out, but husband got them working and said it was a simple input fix ("Duh wifey! You had it set wrong!").

GPS and Trailer Cam!

But it was not to be. Shortly after I took those pictures, something in it crapped out and the picture went out. Over the years, I've gotten used to being able to watch Mikey and I find it unnerving when the camera isn't on. It was super nice to have it to watch Penn when we brought him home since he wasn't secure in my trailer. I'm going to bring the trailer back to our house (much to our neighbor's dismay I think) next weekend and he's going to isolate the problem- whether it's in the trailer, cable, or screen. We're both pretty sure it's in the cable because we're using a temporary Ethernet cable and it's been pinched in the door a couple times (Husband hasn't gotten to running it properly from the bumper, under the truck, and into the cab).

He's also going to charge the trailer batteries (they power a circuit of regular house bulbs in the trailer), trailer tongue battery, check out all the tires and spare for soundness and air, add 6 lights to the trailer to make backing up in the dark easier, 1 light that will make hooking up and unhooking in the dark easier, and possibly add a mirror to the front that reflects the hitch to the driver so it's even easier to hook up. I'm super spoiled to have a husband like him- he has made my old steel trailer bright inside with regular house lights and made it more horse friendly (removing rust, painting the inside gray/white since it was black, changing the head divider from a sheet of metal to bars, replacing the floor, replacing the old worn stall padding, and more). I am very grateful to have him!

Crossing a huge reservoir on the way out. Dreary weather all day long.

One thing we talked about on the ride over is the horse show season, and more specifically, Championships. It's over 8 hours away and I'm concerned I won't be able to make the drive as the only driver, especially tired on the way home after the show finishes up. He's going to use some of his very limited vacation time to go with me! He even said, "It can be like our vacation!" What a good husband :-)

Settling in like a champ!

This was Penn's first time traveling a distance by himself where he was expected to perform at the end of it. He settled into his stall like he's been doing this his whole life and happily munched his hay. He didn't scream, he didn't stall walk like he does at home, and he was in general a very good boy!

Sleezy + blanket hoods = Smushed (yet not frizzy) braids

We got to the show in plenty of time to relax and get warmed up. They were running a little behind, and our wait continued as I ended our warm up early. I warmed him up and kept in mind some of our bend and connection problems that Trainer pointed out in my lesson the previous day. Penn felt great- connected evenly, quiet, relaxed, and attentive. He had a couple lead issues for some reason. I don't think I was properly prepping him for the canter and with the bend and connection issues, he was picking leads up willy nilly. I made sure we got each lead, and then went to the show ring to walk laps in the warm up area. As soon as I got there, I lost some of my relaxed horse. I'm glad I took him in sooner rather than later, he had plenty of time to get his eyefuls and relax again.

So Husband forgot the tripod for the camera and had to hold it up for the length of the tests, hence the wobble this time around with the video.

67.609% for 2nd place out of 15.

For some reason, once we hit the show ring, he was jumping off the aids/bridle and being over-reactive to my leg and seat. In some of the unclear-behind-trot-work the judge mentioned, I was fighting to keep Penn forward and on the aids and prevent him from cantering, all while not shortening his neck. I was happy with this first test attempt- he was less spooky than he was in our first tests in the last two shows. I was able to find spots to release and soften my hands, so I was pleased about that too. The early transition to walk was my bad- I panicked and couldn't remember if the transition was supposed to be between M&C or at C, so instead of doing the logical thing and doing the transition at C, I hurried and did it early.

64.808% for 4th place out of 12. 1st was 73.1%!

He had a bit of a coughing fit in the first canter and into the stretchy trot. I've had this exact scenario happen at home and it is a complete disaster. He coughs, rushes, flies onto his forehand and there is absolutely nothing I can do about it except break to walk, sort him out, and pick it back up. This is obviously not an option at a show. I never got the stretch lifted back up and in the whole debacle I got my hands and reins and whip and bight all screwy so I went into salvage mode and tried to get to walk as fast as possible. At one point I managed to hold my reins properly, but too long, and ended up reaching my index and middle fingers forward, wrapping the rein up into my hands in a driving hold too. WTF was I doing?! So many issues with that one movement. I let him be overly quiet in this test and in trying to follow Trainer's instructions to let him stretch his neck, I forgot to continue encouraging him to keep his poll as the highest point.

The judge commented after this test that he got a bit low in the poll and tired looking.

65.000% for 2nd place out of 12.

I had more of the mistakes I had last time out in the canter work (continuing the left lead canter after the circle and past the judge and then onto the diagonal). I work hard to keep him cantering, then on the rail past the judge and not gawking, and then I almost lose him getting onto the diagonal, then I'm not properly prepping for the transition at X and it's just bad. We touched on that movement in lesson, and I'm going to continue working it on my own on both sides (like how it's presented in 1-1). The same thing happens to the right as we pass the judge- I'm working so hard to make sure the transition isn't early that I blow past C and then fall or hurry into the trot.

Things to work on:
I need to work on my corners with Penn. We're not balanced in them and I pay the price for it in the tests in lack of prep for what comes next. Trainer also pointed this out in lesson. I need to work on taking up my reins from the stretchy trot. No more fumble hands! I think I let Penn be a bit too quiet at this show- he felt so wonderful and relaxed that I just went with it and just didn't ride. He's also getting a little bridle lame at the canter- as soon as he's stronger in a month, I need to push him up and forward to make it go away.

Overall, I am still very pleased with Penn. I can tell he's steadier with his lower leg than he was at the last show (he'll always wing, but he's less of a wet noodle as Trainer pointed out). His trot has improved- it's a bit longer of a step and as soon as he's strong enough, it will find it's float. The judge (r judge) nailed me for everything Trainer told me to work on in lesson the day before. A very fair day I think. Trainer knows this judge very well- she owns a farm that runs recognized and unrecognized events all summer.

Large amounts of satin.

I picked up our two missing first place ribbons from the 11/29 show and did the "look at me!" thing and hung them with my ribbons from this show on my stall front, haha!

I found out that this show series will have a champion and reserve champion for each test, which will be declared at the 4/3 show. Champion and Reserve are determined by adding up each of your percents and the highest total wins (so the more shows you go to, the better your chances of winning). So umm, yea, we're going to the rest of these shows and repeating T1, T2, and T3. Maybe in the last show I'll ride 1-1, depending on how the standings are (if one of the awards will be mine, no matter how anyone else does, I'll probably dump that class and ride 1-1). I know this is just a schooling series, but keep in mind that the whole series is split by test only- the amateurs and juniors ride against the professionals in one big class every time. These aren't just "champion of the amateurs" for me, these are champion of everybody ribbons. Plus, MOAR SATIN!!!!

Being the stalker that I am, here's a list of the current standings.
In the lead, in all three classes. SUCK ON THAT!
Nah, I'm not competitive or anything... I just like winning. #bigfishsmallpond

Please note, I am NOT this competitive-spirited at recognized shows. That is a whole 'nother ballgame. I didn't bother showing any horse/rider combo with only one ride in a test. They are pretty much out of the running- the rest of us would have to stop showing up for them to have a shot. I think it's neat I'm leading by 10.5% in test 1 (I wouldn't be leading this one if Horse/Rider 2 had ridden it a 3rd time, just based on averages). I'm the only one who has ridden test 2 three times, so naturally I'm leading. However, I'd still be leading if you added the other rider's averages to their scores. I have a solid lead of 7.5% in test 3.

Driving the trailer home. A large portion of the end of our trip was spent at 25-45 mph as the road allowed because of sleet/snow on freezing roads (temps were 31-33 degrees so we weren't taking chances with black ice).

It was a long drive home. Kind of draining after a day in the cold, but whatever. Husband did a great job taking care of us. I know that's a minimal amount of snow, but the conditions were great for black ice, and I treasure my Husband, Penn, the truck, the trailer, and myself too much to hurry home just because it's late.

A back road from the barn to the main road. This road was mostly clear when we came through a half hour before with the trailer. The snow really started to come down and lay on the road while Penn and the trailer got put away.

The truck was nearly empty when we got back, so we hit up the gas station on the way to the house so the truck wouldn't sit in sub freezing temps on near-empty.

I worked out the gas fill ups well enough that when we got back home, I was able to use my fuel perks to fill up almost the whole tank (26 gal) for hella-cheap at $0.159/gallon! I wish I had some 5 gallon gas cans with us at the time so I could get my full 30 gallon limit!

I ended up paying no tolls (save $25+) and with my fuel perks, the gas for the show only cost ~$35 total (I filled up at $1.999 on the way to the show). Gas and show fees for only $110 or so. Score!

Penn's dressage ribbons. Lots of top placings already.

Penn has only been out of the dressage ribbons once- a 9th at the same show we got the brown 8th place ribbon. This is temporary ribbon hanging situation in the laundry room. Penn will get a section of wall for his ribbons!

Lesson 1/2

This was a busy weekend- I had a lesson on 1/2 and we went to a schooling show on 1/3. I also got a little backwards and wrote my horse show recap first, but I'm going to make sure lesson gets posted first. Call it OCD for chronological order!

I have no media from my lesson, so enjoy pictures from Penn's first show.

Lesson 1/2
This was my last lesson before Trainer went south for the rest of the winter. I didn't have a specific list of things I wanted to tackle, but we touched on everything so I know where to go while she's away (I have a plan for all of January, and a start for February).

The first thing I pointed out was the rushy and inconsistent quality of the trot. We started having tempo problems again. This all stems back to a lack of connection to the right rein when tracking left, and bulging in barrel when tracking right.

She did like the direction the trot is going, except then it falls apart quickly because he's lacking strength. She basically said he looks like two different horses right now- his front end is more developed than his hind end, so spend a full month being steady in our work (no pushing for anything new or pushing him up for extended periods of time), and at the end of the month, push him up into the bridle and it'll be like a whole new horse. She stressed to let him stretch his neck while we do our "steady" work, but make sure the poll still stays as the highest point. No curling!

She suggested putting up a 20m square in the indoor using poles, and to half halt and slow him down to almost half steps in the corners while insisting he bend his spine and put his barrel more out. Basically, we let him get strong and forward, but I just need to bring it back a bit so he can build the strength that will let that forward be used for the greater good. This will help bring my right bend back.

She checked my straightness- fairly good each direction, however Penn tends to travel with his haunches in when tracking right. When I correct him for wiggling or wobbling, I need to be careful I don't over correct him and send him off the other direction. She was happy with the steadiness in his lower legs, meaning, his legs looked significantly less like wet noodles than when she saw him last.

Centerlines should be straight.

I told her I wanted to make haunches in better as a prelude to half pass (she thought that was a good idea) and absolutely blew Penn's brain when I tried it last week. He got very nervous and I abandoned the attempt and worked on relaxing him again. I told her I start it in walk because I'm looking for the quality and the effort (and it's slow enough for me to teach Penn while minding my own issues). So she asked to see it, and immediately was like, WRONG! Haha.

We started to the right. She took over working my inside rein for me, and took my whip. She reminded me to keep my right leg forward. We started with establishing bend on a 10m circle, then haunches in on that 10m circle, then sending it down the wall. The biggest thing I have to do is DO NOT SMOTHER WITH THE OUTSIDE REIN. He has to be allowed to find the door out, or else he's going to stop and be confused. Focus on keeping the inside seatbone on, the inside leg forward and on, the outside leg back and on, relaxing the outside rein, holding the pace with my core. No collapsing my right ribcage.

I made a mental note of what she was doing with the inside rein, it was straight back, like a side rein. Not trying to be an indirect rein or trying to cross over the neck (for some reason when I have haunches in or half pass failure, this is the first thing I go to).

I got my rein back, made my adjustments, and it was like Penn suddenly went, "OMG MOM, I GET IT NOW!" and he flung himself into haunches in with way too much bend and angle, all while softening and connecting evenly to the bridle. All I had to do was support it. We went to trot, and followed the same thing- 10m into the movement- except I post on the wrong diagonal as we do it (it helps with my timing). He caught on right away, so we swapped to tracking left and he caught on immediately there too. The left is definitely easier than the right. We left it there, with a caveat that for now, I only work haunches in in the indoor since it has a wall. This is more for me so I'm willing to relax my outside rein. Also, set my whip down while we work haunches in.

Just 4.5 months ago, he looked like such a baby!

We went on to the canter. Trainer asked to see some canter work similar to what was in our tests, so I opted for canter between A and F, circle at B, come all the way around and across the HXF diagonal, trot at X, then repeat to the right. She watched him go, agreed that the left lead was very improved from two weeks ago, however, there was something off that she couldn't put her finger on how to fix. At that point, I offered to let her sit on him, because as she's said before, sometimes you just need to feel what you're seeing.

Something that immediately stood out to her was a complete lack of connection to the right rein when tracking left. I know, it's weird, how can we miss that from the ground? Maybe I'm good at covering it up? Either way, she suggested when I canter left, instead of sending my left seatbone directly out, send it forward towards Penn's right nostril. She also pointed out that no amount of left leg fixes the problem. It has to come from the seat. The right hand canter went like this, "Ohh yea, this is like butter." So approval! However, I still need to allow him to fill the left rein when cantering right.

She tried a lengthening for me, but it fell apart because there's a hole in the connection to the right rein. Gotta get a shovel and fill that sucker in!

Extended trot was not Mikey's forte (I wasn't a big help either).
Once Penn has a better connection, he'll quickly surpass Mikey.

I told her about the long line work, and she said to use it to improve the connection in canter. He wants me to babysit him and hold him together. She asked how long he was able to hold canter on a circle on the lines. I said: to the right, barely a half circle, to the left, maybe a circle. It was like an aha thing- I am responsible for way too much of the balance in the canter. She wants me to use the lines to transfer the responsibility to him. Don't go crazy, but do more canter work on the lines.

Something else: no holding him up in downward transitions. Let him hold himself up. Ask for the transition and give a little. Don't drop him, but don't offer to hold him up. Same thing in upward transitions to canter- relax and give and hold my balance up instead of a perchy bobble swing into the movement because that disturbs Penn, and then he gives a shuffle step into the canter. He immediately carries himself a bit more and stays softer in the bridle.

I really liked seeing her ride him- I get to see me ride him in video, but she put him together in a way that I can't yet, and he looked wonderful.

I got strict directions to take everything quietly and easy, and keep the work steady for the next month. No pushing him up for a longer time periods. He had a building month, so let him have a steady month so his body can catch up muscle-wise.

"Hear that mom? She said quiet!"

2016 Goals and Hopes and Dreams

 

Alright, I've jumped on board with "goals". I don't like judging the year against something I decided back at the start of the year because things will happen that will derail you over the year. I think horsey goals have to be ever evolving based on current information (meaning injuries, not bad lessons!). 2015 was supposed to be my Bronze Medal year. Instead it became 'save my horse's soundness' year, then 'start over' year. If I looked at the goals I set for myself at the start of 2015, I would have failed miserably at completing them (which I did considering they were 3rd level recognized show oriented). But I don't feel that way because of the progress Mikey made, and now the progress Penn made.

I am very competition oriented. End of story. Maybe I should be doing dressage for the sheer joy of training my horse to carry himself properly. That doesn't do it for me, sorry. I like to know what other people think and how I'm doing against everyone else (aka horse shows). So all of my goals are competition oriented.

I'll reevaluate my goals mid year to see if I should change them. I'm not opposed to that.

I think I should have broken my 2016 goals down into smaller, more measurable goals or something that's more than pass/fail. But when it comes down to it, there's 4 main things I want to accomplish this year and I'll work everything around making them happen!

2016 Main Goals

• First Level Rider Award - I need two more scores.
• First Level Horse Performance Certificate - No reason Penn shouldn't be able to get this based on the show schedule I devised.
• Region 1 Championships at First Level - Go there and compete, and do it well (top 6 or 65%+)

2016 Stretch Goals

• *whispers* US Dressage Finals at First Level - Ok so change Championships to scoring 68%+

Looking at those goals, I think maybe I should have non-horsey goals. Nah. I think my three "Main" goals are perfectly acceptable and shouldn't be an issue.

• Rider Award: 4 scores at 60%+ from 4 different judges from at least 2 different shows. I have 2 scores from 2 different judges at 1 show already (I only rode 3 First Level tests with Mikey before moving on to Second Level).
• Horse Performance Certificate: 10 scores at 60%+ from at least 4 different shows and 4 different judges, where at least 4 scores need to be from the 1-3 test. Several of my weekends are differently registered shows each day of the weekend, so in two weekends I can hit 4 shows with 4 different judges (and ride 2 tests per day). Toss in Championships, and as long as I don't screw Penn up, this should be easy enough even if I only go away for two weekends and Championships.
• Qualify for Championships: 2 scores at 62%+ in 1-3, from 2 different shows. This falls in line with my other goals. They're all related to each other. This is the only one with a higher percent requirement, but to be honest, I'd rather my scores be above 62% anyway.

Hoping my stretch goal isn't a mistake.

I'm embarrassed to even announce my Stretch goal out loud. Of course everyone wants to go to Finals! Who wouldn't? And I'm sure everyone is all, "Oh we're doing so well right now, it shouldn't be a problem, blah blah blah" and I feel like that's me! Then of course it doesn't work out for most people or else Finals would have a huge list of riders. I haven't even ridden Penn in a First Level test yet! However, we have touched on every movement from 1-3.

Remember, in order to be guaranteed to go, I either need to be first or second at championships, or score above a 68% to get a wildcard invitation. I checked last year's Championships scores- none of the Amateur riders scored 68%+, so the only riders who went were places 1 and 2. I guess there's some other rules that go in effect if a rider from placing 1 or 2 can't/doesn't go, then they'll go down the placings for the next eligible rider. Not hoping for that.

I NEVER make a placing my goal because I feel like that's a less valuable achievement (in most cases) and it can be unobtainable because other riders could ride better than you, even if you've done an incredible job. A percent is more valuable to me since it can be compared against other scores. Yes, I was 1st in most of my 3rd level tests with Mikey, but I was against myself! That's not meeting any goal except to get out there and ride it! Not saying I'd pass on a neck ribbon or more ribbons, because those are cool and Mikey's only neck ribbon is lonely. To place near the top at Championships, I will have to have a top score. To get a wildcard invite, I'll need a top score again. So basically, placing became an unintentional goal because top scores get top placings. I'll only be upset if I place last, which would mean I screwed up royally I think.

I do know two riders who have gone to Finals (one as a second placing and one as a wildcard) and another who had been invited as a wildcard but opted not to make the 12+ hr drive. Both who went were at training level (which I think it would be hardest to qualify for since there are so many training level riders), and the one that didn't go was for 2nd Level Freestyle. I don't know how this is relevant to my thinking. Maybe to show it can be done by horses who are not imported fancy pants warmbloods?

"Small" and "Training" Goals are my actions to achieving my "Main" and "Stretch" Goals.

2016 Small Goals

Ok, this section got created as a plan for meeting my "Main" and "Stretch" goals. I've made a list of the shows near me (HOC hasn't released their dates yet but they hold a schooling show every month in the summer) and then reiterated my recognized show list from before because as of now, there aren't any new additions. The tests I plan on riding (and the number of times they'll be ridden) are listed in the 3rd column of the recognized table.

Schooling Shows
1/3	Chagrin	T-1, T-2, T-3
1/31	Chagrin	T-2, T-3, 1-1
2/28	Chagrin	T-2, T-3, 1-1
4/3	Chagrin	1-1, 1-2
5/xx	HOC	1-2, 1-3
6/xx	HOC	1-2, 1-3
7/xx	HOC	1-2, 1-3
8/xx	HOC	1-2, 1-3
9/xx	HOC	1-2, 1-3

Recognized Shows
5/21-22	PVDA @ Morven Park	1-2 (x2), 1-3 (x2)
6/4, 6/5	WPDA*	1-2 (x2), 1-3 (x2)
6/10, 6/11-12	VADA/NOVA @ Morven Park	1-2 (x3), 1-3 (x3)
6/26	Dressage at Center Hall	1-2 (x1), 1-3 (x1)
7/30, 7/31	WPDA	1-2 (x2), 1-3 (x2)
9/15-18	Region 1 Championships	1-2 (x1?), 1-3 (x2)
11/3-6	US Dressage Finals*	1-2 (x1?), 1-3 (x2)
*dates haven't been officially announced yet Multiple shows in one weekend have the dates separated by commas.

These will serve as testing for my training. I've crossed out a couple based on how I'm currently feeling about the year, and how I think my wallet is going to feel about the year.

I don't feel the urge to go to every schooling show and every recognized show. I'd like to cut out the July recognized show (for monetary reasons) and the middle schooling shows. Penn will need plenty of experience in our quest for Finals, but he'll need a rest too. Basically, I'd like to qualify for Championships as fast as possible, and then focus on getting Penn out and about as much as possible to help make him a seasoned competitor (to schooling or recognized). I think going to Morven Park will really help that- it's a very large show (8 rings usually I believe?), so it should have a bit more atmosphere.

By the 3rd weekend on my list, I will have ridden in 5 different shows, had 5 opportunities to qualify for Championships, and 14 rides at First Level (with 7 being test 1-3), so I should have the Rider and Horse awards checked off, as well as qualifying for Championships (if not, we'll need to reevaluate the goals). I would bail on the 4th weekend, however the show is 2.5 hours away (aka close), my in-laws live nearby, and it's a show that costs less than $100 to go to. It is a small show and I want to make sure I support it so it's around for years to come. If everything is accomplished, I think I'll bail on weekend #5 and put the money toward Championships.

I debated adding 2-1 to one of the schooling shows at the end of the year, or to Championships (since you can ride extra tests since there is a regular show going on as well), but I think I've put enough pressure on me and Penn for one year. 2017 long term goals is to do second level and third level, get a Dover medal, and get my Bronze medal. At that point Penn and I will probably move a bit slower, hopefully a level every year to year and a half.

2016 Training Goals:

The "Small" Goals will test my "Training" Goals. As they should- horse shows are a test of your training. You get feedback, bring it home, then make changes according to your feedback. Below are all of the movements from Training Level Test 1 to First Level Test 3. I've labeled which tests the movements are introduced.

Training Level Movements/Skills:

• Medium walk
• Free walk
• Working trot
• Working canter
• 20m circles in trot and canter
• Stretchy trot (T2)
• Shallow loop in trot (T3)

First Level Movements/Skills:

• 10m half circle in trot
• 15m circle in canter
• Lengthening trot
• Lengthening canter
• Leg yield (1-2)
• 10m circle in trot (1-3)
• Change of lead through trot (1-3)
• One loop in canter (1-3)

I figure at the end of the year, I can look back at all of these (probably just First Level) and evaluate how well each one went for us on a 1-10 scale instead of the Main/Stretch Goal's pass/fail method. Oh, I should go through my tests and find the average score for each movement, as well as Max/Min! That'll be a fun math post! I'll have to get a spreadsheet ready! #nerdy

Long Lining Penn... a Non-Event

"Are we done yet?"

When I bought Penn, I was told he had a year of dressage training (I love the lady that sold him to me- she was an agent for Penn's breeder and only knew what the breeder told her, let me be clear here). I sat on him and in my head, I thought, "If this horse has a year of dressage training, his breeder needs to get her money back." He knew how to w/t/c, but he fell on his forehand all the time and curled.

I finally know what the heck they were doing all that time- long lining. If they didn't long line him extensively, then I have an amazing unflappable horse with a million dollar price tag!

A lady I used to board with met me out at the barn because she wanted to see long lining taught and give it a try. I had pestered her about it during the day yesterday because I wanted someone to lead Penn to get him started.

I tacked him up in the crossties, then rubbed the lines all over him and tested to see how he would react to the lines running the length of his body. Mikey had a huge issue with this- twine, tape, anything long and skinny- it would cause him to scoot and he'd try to get away. Penn? Not a care in the world. He mostly looked at me like, "What are you doing?"

I took a picture of him at this point, all ready to go, and my phone apparently didn't save it, boo.

We took him to the indoor, I hooked up the lines, and she led him forward as I cued him to walk on. He settled immediately and wasn't confused in the slightest. The issues we had stemmed from my own rusty skills!

We both agreed that this was not his first time long lining. He could be just that easy, but it really came to him too easily. I worked behind him in walk and trot, steered on circles and diagonals, then stuck him on a circle with me in the middle to see how he handled from the side.

I found I'm able to regulate his tempo very nicely and I can half halt quite effectively and make him carry himself more uphill, however what became abundantly clear is his tendency to travel on the forehand with head between his knees. I don't know if this is from his first education or how he naturally carried himself originally (when he's free in the field, he's uphill so I'm going to guess he was taught this), but it was his go-to position when I wasn't keeping after him.

He's a disaster in the canter to the right on the lines. I'm weaker lunging that direction- I don't carry myself the same way as I do to the left. He was able to canter several circles left, but I really need a whip to help make my point. To the right, he couldn't hold the canter more than a half circle and it was horrible and leaning in badly.

I long lined him through 4 trot poles both directions, which I think was super good for him. It made him think about where his feet need to go.

I let him quit after 15-20 min of play time, he was working hard and we wanted to try it with my friend's elderly morgan mare. The mare was completely unimpressed and responded in a more confused fashion that I expected from Penn. We only worked her for about 5 minutes. I got her started then handed her over to her owner to try driving (her owner thought it was hilarious and very difficult).

I think we'll add long lining to our weekly work- I'll use poles and cavalettis with it too. He really needs more strength in his right hind and all over.

Over all, a non-event for baby horse!

Christmas Weekend

I hope everyone had a good holiday! I enjoyed staying home (for once) and over indulging in tasty holiday food (a holiday requirement).

We have a ton of stockings, and none of them match. A couple weeks ago, Husband and I bought new stockings at Walmart, along with a way to label them all. Husband's sister has stockings with everyone's first letter (2 humans, 3 cats) and they looked so nice that we wanted to do something similar.

Here's what I opted to make: different color stockings with charms and bells and wood beads with the animal's name (the humans got big stockings with the first letter of our name)

Matching stockings!

And then I stuck them up on the fireplace with the other holiday decorations. We can't wait to redo our fireplace- change the painted white brick and hearth to stone and then since we don't have an actual mantle, put up a distressed wood mantle. And get a more modern/rustic looking screen that doesn't need Plexiglas behind it in order to keep the cats out.

Our mixed religion fireplace. Menorah and stockings!
I was a bad Jew- I totally missed the last night of Hanukkah lights so I opted to light the last set after we fully decorated for Christmas so that I would have an extra pretty picture.

Penn is settling well into his new herd. Fiction is his new BFF and security blanket (sorry Hawk!). Whenever I've come out during the day, they're usually next to or near each other.

Must sniff noses and stand next to each other.

My rides on Saturday and Sunday mostly revolved around me trying to fix my position (what we worked on in last lesson- tuck butt, pelvis tilts up, shoulders up and back). When I ride properly like that, Penn gets instantly lighter, frees up his shoulder, and his steps get big and suspended feeling in trot, and he's able to get more jump in the canter. I found that feeling last week and I asked for some trot lengthenings down the long sides and holy crap, the extended gaits are going to be big gaits to sit!

Hi Mom! I'm feeling better today!

Anyway, Saturday we rode outside and I decided to mess with haunches in a bit. Not my brightest idea. He's just not strong enough to work it more than a couple times, and I overdid it and made him nervous. I spent the rest of the ride working on finding quiet forward (he kept getting jumpy in the contact and irregular in rhythm). Once I found our happy place again, I stuck to things we can do: 15-20m circles.

In canter, a large factor in how good your canter ends up is based on how good the trot was before the canter. To the right, he was fairly good, not spectacular, so the right lead was quiet and flat. We were having bend right issues that day. To the left, I made the trot super and then asked for canter and I ended up with several very strong left lead canters. They were quiet and purposeful, on the hairy edge of flat so that's no good, but I liked quiet and purposeful. Penn has a tendency to go into turbo mode to the left, so I'll take quiet first and then add the jump back.

At the end of our canter work, I brought him back to trot and let him stretch. He's quite an impressive stretcher- he put his nose on the ground without pulling the reins out of my hand and without losing any contact. It was incredible! On the forehand a little, but I like the stretch anyway.

Displeased to have been put back outside in the rain on Sunday.

Sunday it was pouring down rain, so we rode in the indoor (indoor arenas, for the win!).

Penn finally didn't have diarrhea in the crossties when I was tacking him up to ride! So of course I panicked that he was going to colic. Nah, he's fine. Barn Owner had said the day before that the poop in his stall was looking pretty normal again. She also mentioned that he might be a good candidate for field board (based on how much he churns and stall walks). I have a feeling that he's never really been stabled- his breeder sent him for training then he lived in a field for 6 weeks after he came home. I bet he's always lived outside. Doesn't mean I want him living outside 24/7 though. It's an option at winter barn, but not at Trainer's. I know some horses do super well on it, but with how cold, wet, and windy our winters get and how the summer is hot and buggy, I don't want him out at night in the winter and during the day in the summer. I just don't. I know he'd be fine because I have all the clothes for him to be out in extreme weather. I'm not sold that he'd be happy outside in his small herd when every other horse on the farm goes in for stretches of the day. He wants to be where the other horses are.

Anyway, Fiction had already come in, and it was raining, so I think Penn was good with leaving the other horses in the field and his routine. Between how clingy he got with the other horses I rode with on Saturday and this chill day in the cross ties, I think he's just insecure about the world around him. When he came home in August, he didn't have as extreme reactions to things. He pooped a lot in crossties out of nerves, but I never had him in the barn alone or riding alone (I always made arrangements to ride with his turnout buddy or another person because I was afraid of getting dumped by my new green baby horse and being alone when it happened). I don't like that he's clingy now, but I'm willing to let him be clingy because he is a baby and he doesn't understand yet that everything is going to be OK. That and his clingy doesn't come with any really bad behavior (he just gets worried when he gets left behind).

The horses congregating at the shelter. You can kind of see Penn's white star.

Sunday we did more of the same work, but I started my trot work in posting trot with 2 trot poles to keep it interesting (I forced myself to post since I normally sit so I can better regulate our tempo). The trot poles are coming along, but he doesn't quite get how to adjust his stride before the poles so he doesn't hit a long spot. He tends to just keep trotting on the same stride without making an adjustment for the pole. He started to get better about that, so he just needs more practice!

The biggest improvement was the left lead canter- it felt very much like the right lead and I was able to pick at it a little bit for some more jump!

I also tried a simple change through trot. I've tried them before where I let him trot 5-6 steps in between and it all just goes to hell when I ask for the new lead. This time, I found my jumpy canter to the left, went across the diagonal, half halted and asked for trot, then swapped my leg (I need to work on swapping my seat!) and asked for the new lead after a step of trot (before he could fall on his face). At first, I felt him go to pick up the left lead again, but then he made a huge effort to change his mind when he realized what I wanted and he really came up with his shoulders and jumped into the right lead. He got lots of praise and was done for the day. I know it's not much, but it was complicated work for him! I was very pleased. I think the flying changes will come easier to him than they did to Mikey, and I think they're going to be nice and expressive!

*facepalm* Apparently even though Penn is fitting in well now, he's still not allowed under the shelter. At least he's got a hood and blanket on, and his head was under the overhang, and the way the wind was blowing the rain meant it was blowing against the back of the shelter.

I'll be going back out tonight to ride. Or maybe I'll teach him to long line. Trainer taught Mikey, then me, but after teaching demon mare (who was ready to flip over or break her neck instead of go forward or turn right) back in August to long line, I think I can teach Penn. He's very willing. I think he'll catch on quickly, but hopefully there's someone out there tonight so I can have a helper stand up by his head to get him moving forward and then I can take over. I want to make sure it's a quiet, positive experience.

I am terrified to long line him, but I really need to for myself. I have a complex about it since Mikey died while working on the lines. I know it was a freak thing, but I'm still uncomfortable. I long lined demon mare after Mikey's death, so it won't be the first time, but I'm terrified something bad will happen again, especially since Penn had a rearing problem and the lines can sometimes make green horses feel trapped and then they rear and flip over. Long lining is a useful skill that I really want Penn to learn so we can work on finding more jump in the canter and eventually do cavaletti exercises so he has to work his footwork out for himself without me in the way.

We will see what I do... I have my car packed with my long lining stuff (I never brought it back to the barn after taking it home to wash) and my riding stuff (tall boots) so I can do either.