A Fond Farewell

It has come sooner than I thought it would. Spirit is leaving tomorrow, headed to a trainer about 30 minutes away for a month-long trial to see if she will work in her program. 

I envision Spirit getting loved on by lots of horse-crazy girls, popping over little crossrails, doing ETI shows, and heading out on trail rides. I sincerely hope that it works out. 

My emotions have been up and down and all around today. Right now I'm very sad. I miss her. She is a really wonderful horse. 

Here she is in her fancy new leather halter with custom nameplate from one of our GLAPHC championships.  She'll be getting off the trailer tomorrow in style! 

Our final ride today was "long and low."  Lots of stretching downward, lots of stretchy trot, and we worked on our walk-to-canter upward transitions, since I remember that being required in ETI shows. I know we've done it (we've got a bucket of ribbons to prove it!), but it's been a while. 

Spirit's sideways ears, surveying the ring.

We popped over a few little jumps, and called it a day. She was calm and relaxed, happy to be out.

Spirit was pretty darn clean, but I gave her a full-on bath anyway. I even did the super-duper tail treatment (purple-for-blondes shammpoo, then conditioner, then Cowboy Magic gloss).

She was perfectly behaved in the wash rack. Even when a horse next door tried to kill us. Repeatedly.

Her birthday is on May 15th (turning 7!!), so I decided to make her an early birthday/going away celebration treat!

$10 of horsey joy.

Happy early 7th birthday and going away celebration, Spirit!

She enjoyed every bite!

She's looking at me from the back of her stall. 

I don't know why but this last picture is making me tear up. Okay, okay, I'm completely balling right now. She's just looking out at me as I'm over by the barn, and I know that she loves me just as I love her. I've been her human for over 2 years. Wow this is so hard.

Deep breath.

Okay.

Farewell, beautiful Spirit! I wish you every happiness.

Today was also Day #2 with my new horse. I realize that in my crazy day yesterday and extremely late post I forgot to include some pretty basic details.

Bay gelding, ~16-2 hands, Jockey Club registered name: Bohemian Spirit. Barn name (for now): Bohemian. Born: May 20, 2005. Raced 12 times, but never broke his maiden (never won a race).

We interpreted his name as a very good omen. My first horse and absolute love of my life was named Bo, and of course there's fabulous Spirit. A good omen indeed.

Today hubby got to meet our new baby. We have a farrier appointment Tuesday morning so we can't do much until Tuesday night. Some pictures for your viewing pleasure:

He was introduced to cross ties for possibly the first time, and was a total rockstar for getting hosed down. We also gave him some medicine for an inflamed cut on his forward left armpit, and a huge bucket of a tasty smelling feed concoction of beet pulp, rice bran, senior feed, SafeChoice Perform, canola oil, carrots, apples, and mints. And a cookie. He figured out what to do with the bucket right away.  

I gave him a salt block yesterday evening and this morning there was a lovely little indent horse-tongue sized. He knows what to do with that too. Good boy. 

Tomorrow he gets another turnout in the sandy round pen, then Tuesday the real fun begins. 

A New Adventure. A Lucky Gamble.

Today was an amazing adventure. 

But first, let me tell you how this all started. As I mentioned a little while back, my trainer Laurie went to check out some of the Luck horses (ex-racehorses from the cancelled HBO series "Luck" starring Dustin Hoffman) from her long-time contact, Leigh, with Thoroughbred Rehab Center Inc affiliated with Winners Circle Ranch. When she came back, she looked me straight in the eye and told me that I needed to get one. After lots of thought and reflection, and hours of discussion with my friends and hubby, I came to the conclusion that this was a golden opportunity I needed to take and it was time to part ways with Spirit. 

Laurie had picked out a few horses she thought would be good for eventing. Ultimately, she and Leigh hand-selected the horse they thought would be best for me.

Today was the day to meet him for the first time, and bring him home. 

A photo essay. =]

I arrive at the barn and the trailer is hooked to the truck. This is really happening. 

On the road. A gorgeous day.

Made it to the state-of-the-art rehab, layup, and boarding facility. 

The moment of truth. What's the horse like? Will I like him? Will he like me?
YES.
He sees us coming and perks up. He's friendly. He's handsome. We are all giggling like little girls. My trainer's smile here says it all.

The facility is beautiful.

Well, he looks good. Time to get on the trailer and go. That's right, no test ride. No trot-out. First time I see him out of his stall is as he's being led to the trailer to go home with me.

Racehorses are used to large vans. Will he load on a bumper-pull 2 horse?

Yep. No problem.

Back at home, he is calm and alert. Inquisitive but relaxed. We turn him out in the round pen.

He rolls. We decide to ride him.

Trainer, then me, then BFF all get to hop on.
His front shoes came off a week or so ago, and it's clear he is sore.

All tucked into his new home. He likes having a window.

More to come tomorrow. =]  It's been a long day and its late. Technically its tomorrow already. ;]

A very hard post.

Sometimes the universe whispers to you. If you don't listen, it will start telling you. If you still don't listen, it will yell at you. At some point, it will slap you across the face.

The time has come to part ways with the beautiful and wonderful Spirit. I've spent over 2 years with her, and I think she and I have both learned from and taught one another. I love her; I think I always will.

I've been presented with an incredible opportunity to adopt one of the Luck horses - a horse that I (and hubby) will own ourselves, a horse pre-approved and hand-picked by my trainer. As an added bonus: purchase price is $0, horse has been x-rayed, is completely sound, and needs a home and a job.

This past Monday I had the hard conversation with K.M., Spirit's owner and my "horsey-mommy" and dear friend.  I told her that I had decided to take advantage of this opportunity. Realistically, this means that in terms of helping cover Spirit's expenses and in terms of my time and energy, May is going to be my last month with Spirit. She was very gracious and understanding, though also sad and surprised.

My emotions have been a roller coaster, zig-zagging around but mostly bottoming out on anxiety, trepidation, guilt, sadness, confusion, fear.  Am I abandoning ship? Am I giving up on Spirit?

No.    

My BFF, my trainer, even my non-horsey husband and non-horsey other BFFs all agree: stepping onto a new path for a new adventure is not the same thing as giving up on Spirit. We had a good run together. And in a way it's good that I'm sad, because it underscores my love for Spirit and wanting the best for her.

We had our hurdles and our plateau; I think that, in time, we could have pushed through and been able to do a full BN horse trial without getting eliminated (my unattained goal for so long now). But I don't think that Novice was in our future, not without some serious effort and struggle, more hurdles and plateaus.

But it wasn't meant to be. I don't know what the future holds for Spirit, but I hope its a future that she will enjoy: living with other horses, not being overly challenged by a rider or trainer, just being allowed to be her beautiful, expressive self and be asked to do things she is confident doing.

Of course I hope I'm wrong about her. I hope maybe a different rider, a different trainer, a different regimen, a different anything/everything will enable her to be a perfectly willing and safe eventing mount. But more likely she just needs a new job. She is so beautiful and so athletic - she could do so much.

Per my last several posts I've been taking lessons other horses lately. I've also been riding Spirit, but just working on what we already know and on my position and stamina. Maybe a part of me knew it was time to stop asking as much of her.

For the number of weeks I have left with her, I'm going to make sure Spirit is enjoying herself. I'll keep her clean and trimmed up and in shape, but with more trail rides, more relaxation, less work. My #1 goal with her will be her happiness, and not progressing in eventing.

The new adventure starts tomorrow morning.

Dressage on Brodie

Last night I had a FABULOUS dressage lesson. I had a goofy smile on my face the whole time, and even erupted in giggle fits periodically.

I was aboard the fabulous Brodie:

He's the smallest horse in our training stables, and he jumps the largest jumps. And he makes it look easy. Not to mention he has perfect ground manners, is super snuggly, and is just as cute as a button! His owner, Ashley S., and he are an absolute inspiration to me.

I've been wanting to take a dressage lesson on Mr. Brodles for a while - ask and you shall receive! I'm so glad I did - it was fun and I learned a lot. Here are the highlights:

• He made me work to get impulsion, but was very willing to get on the bit and stay connected. And it just. felt. right. OOOOooooh - THIS is dressage.
• When I asked him to leg yield, he practically jumped sideways! So Laurie shouted "You're driving a Maserati tonight!" Apparently he doesn't need half as much leg as Spirit does. =P
• My first time doing an actual, real, dressage extended trot. OMG fun fun fun!!!
• I had to be demanding with asking for impulsion, but subtle for most everything else (transitions, shifting body parts, etc). 
• Canter was like floating on a cloud.

After I got home later and was telling my husband all about the fabulous ride, I realized what the real special spark of the lesson was. It was the first time in months that I felt 100% SAFE on a horse. Even when he clearly told me that I was doing something wrong, I never once felt that things could go sideways. He had not one ounce of naughtiness, not one bit of green-ness, not one iota of "loose-cannon" ness. Wow. Although I did my best to fix my problems as quickly as possible, I knew in my gut that if I were to sit there all day long and ask incorrectly, he'd patiently wait for me to do it correctly, and in the meantime would not even think about getting light up front or rearing, stopping or getting stuck, run off, or wig out in any way. An amazing feeling to have after riding greenies for so long. 

Jumping Elton - Take 2

I've (mostly) snapped out of the "bleh"-ness from last week, due in large part to some fabulous rides all weekend. Saturday I took two back-to-back jumping lessons; first on Elton, then on Spirit. I showed up early to watch a few other lessons and help out setting jumps. Probably not my smartest move, given the sunburns on my arms and being fairly tired before even mounting up, but it was nice to catch up with other gals at the barn, and very good for me to watch others' lessons and learn from them.

So, on to lesson #1 - Elton. It went WAY better than Wednesday's lesson. The warm up/flat part of our lesson still needs improvement - I'm still learning how to feel what a good pace is for us and how to get engagement from the hind while connecting to the bit. But I think I have the jumping  part more in line; I was able to stay off of his face as use my body positioning more to clue him in on steering and speed. He was a very willing mount, and I think he had fun too. Thanks to J.D. for taking pics and video!

Lesson #2 was on Spirit and we had a pretty good lesson for most of the time. I felt more secure in my positioning and I think I'm finally catching on to being more subtle with my riding style - using more seat and keeping a more constant contact so I'm squeezing my hand rather than yanking my elbows. Laurie was pretty positive about our flat work. Jumping started off pretty good too.

But, we had refusals. Laurie saw the first one coming but I was caught off guard by it. Losing impulsion throughout the gymnastics apparently. Spirit stopped square which was good, so we circled and approached more aggressively (so I thought). Nope. Refusal again. And this time not so square - more dodgy. I scooted her (side pass) back into square position, then Laurie took the whip from me and gave Spirit a good spanking for being naughty. The jump was lowered and we got over it. Then it went back up and we got over it again, but with the help of me using the whip right before the jump, to backup up my role of alpha mare in the relationship.

Grrr. Sometimes I'm fine with disciplining Spirit but other times it bothers me more. I know its necessary (and it works!) but I just wish I didn't have to. I wish she *wanted* to jump, even when conditions aren't 100% perfect. She simply doesn't like challenges - she wants to jump low jumps, but she's not interested in having to really use her body and she really doesn't save me if I get out of position, or take off my leg, or make any mistake at all. Of course, its not fair to expect the horse to do her job and mine all the time, BUT a safe mount for eventing wants to jump and will save the rider on the occasional times when the rider screws up.

Anyway, the lesson ended on a very positive note, and all in all I do think that my riding position is improving and that I am making progress in understanding Elton. I am really enjoying being at Windwalker and part of the barn group - all of Laurie's clients are just sweet, kind people who are intelligent horsewomen and very welcoming and encouraging.  An exciting opportunity has come up which I am exploring - it if pans out, I'll be posting on it sometime in the next few weeks, but I'm trying to not get ahead of myself. =)

Bleh

So I found out yesterday that the Meadows derby was cancelled. Not enough entries, I guess. Word isn't "official" yet but I heard it from my trainer who heard it from the organizers. I'm bummed. And now feeling a bit aimless. Every single show/clinic/schooling I've tried to do this year has been cancelled, with the exception of one XC schooling which went pretty badly. 2012 is almost 1/3 over, and all I've accomplished with horses is zip. The whole wedding and honeymoon thing gives me a free pass for some of it...but still.

Overall I'm feeling kinda "bleh" right now. Unmotivated, unfocused, unenergized. I'm normally an upbeat, optimistic person, *especially* when it comes to matters of the horse, but I've just been in a funk since Wednesday's awkward lesson.

I just poured a cup of coffee for myself at work. And its cold. Sigh.

I'm getting 2 lessons tomorrow - first on Elton, then Spirit. Hopefully I'll get back into a more positive and hopeful state of mind. I've offered to organize a barn meeting for my trainer - basically a time for us all to get together with our calendars and list of shows we each want to do, and all get on the same page about the rest of the competition season. Trying to make Laurie's life easier since she does so much for me. Maybe that will help my attitude too.

On a different note, GOOD LUCK to everyone at Twin Rivers this weekend! Sure to be a gorgeous weekend - I just love that facility. Special happy vibes to Ashley S. (who I think is manning some cameras - have fun girl!), and to Tylia S. who is competing on Arame (currently 1st place as of this posting - hooray!).
Twin Rivers' Website.
Check scores here.

Jumping Elton - Take 1

So I had my first jumping lesson on Elton last night. It was a bit rough. As my friend pointed out later, the problem with riding the trainer's horse is that it's the trainers horse. Meaning:

1. Horse is used to a professional who is crystal clear with the aids.
2. Trainer doesn't want the horse to get screwed up - its *her* horse. 

Of course, the trainer doesn't want any horse to get screwed up by bad/novice riding. However, that is perhaps most especially true when it's her baby getting ridden around. She's put a lot of hard work into that horse.

Elton started off a bit saucy. He made it clear that he didn't like how I was riding him. I'm sure due to point #1.

Laurie was not as clear with her instructions as normal. I was confused by what felt like conflicting instructions and new command words - I presume due to emotions following point #2.

This made for a challenging lesson.

After a few jump rounds, Laurie got on Elton, and confirmed that he was being a pill, and it wasn't just my riding. Whew. He even had a refusal with her on, which was a bit freaky for me to watch, but at least it wasn't a dangerous stop, and of course she fixed it right away.

My lesson then got better. Here are my main takeaways:

• "Set it and forget it." - Quickly get him organized, then just sit chilly and let him be. He doesn't like fussing, and I have to just give the aid then give it a rest. Then give the aid again if needed.
• I need to figure out speed. Elton is so rhythmical that it is very hard for me to know if we are going fast or slow. What felt fine to me was way too fast according to Laurie during the warmup. Likewise I apparently had him going alternately too fast and too slow during the jumping. Hopefully I can find the correct speed and learn to *feel* it on him. And quick! 
• Mane is your friend. Grab it. Or get left behind. 
• Release the reins 3 to 4 strides before the jump. If he speeds up, sit up with my body to slow him - do not mess with his mouth!
• Straightness is key. Keep his neck straight. Use counter-bending when needed.
• He is already long. Keep him in a package. His nose should not be in Timbuktu.
• Be more dramatic with the aids. Strong clear aid. Then "shut up" completely. No nagging.

So there it is. My next lesson on him is Saturday - hopefully combo jump and dressage. I will definitely be referring back to this list Friday night and Saturday morning.

After riding Elton I gave Spirit a nice longe the the lovely large round pen as twilight was settling in. She was a good girl, responsive to vocal commands and stretching down with her nose a lot and stretching her back upwards. It smelled like oranges and rich earth - totally relaxing. I read an article on Horse Nation about whether or not horses respond to aromatherapy. To be honest the article was inconclusive on that point, but I think that surely they do - all creatures respond to pleasant surroundings including smell.