Spring Cleaning

I am woefully behind in my horsie chores. I have loads of saddlepad and barn towels to wash. Every piece of tack I own needs a thorough cleaning. Spirit's waterer has more moss than water in it. And with all the rains going on right now, I'm sure to have a muddy horse too!

So, to try and get motivated, I've compiled a list of tips, tricks, and guiding principles for keeping things clean and tidy. Please share if you have others!!!

Guiding Principles

• A place for everything and everything in its place.  
• A little cleaning everyday goes a long way. 
• Make it easy to do regular cleaning. Put supplies in a handy place, in easy-to-use containers. Buy cleaning products you like to use.

Tips & Tricks

• Assign a "home" to each item you have. 
• Keep a small cloth and spray bottle near your tack so you can do a quick wipe down after rides.
• Put all your bathing supplies in one area.
• Label your stuff. Use special colored electrical tape on everything. Makes it harder to forget things around the barn. Or for things to walk away.
• Dust from top to bottom. 
• Remember, vinegar and baking soda and dish sponges and steel wool work at the barn too.
• Have lists for shows/events/going off property. 
• Have a centralized binder or folder for horse info and papers. 
• Keep a calendar for wormer/farrier/trainer/show schedules. 
• Get rid of stuff you don't like or don't use. Its not worth hanging on to - its just clutter.
• Oftentimes selling stuff is more hassle than its worth - give it away instead. 

Well, this weekend I plan to do some cleaning and organizing of my garage and closet (horse stuff central). Maybe some tack cleaning and trailer and tack cubby area organizing too.

PS - To follow up from yesterday's post about shorter leg issues, I've been stretching 3 times a day for the last 2 days. I'm taking this a lot more serious after seeing those photos of the horse's back after unbalanced riders (post was edited in the afternoon). I owe it to Spirit and myself to be as balanced as I can be.

Short Leg Syndrome

Short Leg Syndrome a.k.a Limb Length Discrepancy a.k.a. Unequal Leg Length a.k.a. Leg Length Inequality (LLI) a.k.a. Leg Length Alignment Asymmetry (LIAA). These are actual medical terms for basically the same situation. And I think I have it.

Since the beginning of jump lessons, my trainers and friend have remarked that I don't have my legs even in the stirrups - one is longer than the other, but it keeps switching off. At the end of lessons my saddle will be off to one side, again switching off. And over time I have been getting more and more paranoid about it, constantly shifting my weight around, trying to see if my feet and knees are even when I look down, trying to gauge how even my hips feel in the saddle. Its compounded by Spirit's round back, and my recent acquisition of a non-slip pad has been helping to some degree. It's been easy to ignore. Must be Spirit's back, must be my developing balance, must be that borrowed saddle, must be XYZ. Plus I only notice it when riding - its not like I walk off-kilter or anything. And who knows how long I've been uneven? Before jumping I did bareback riding for years - no stirrups to worry about.

Some weeks back I went to see a physical therapist/body worker for my TMJ, and on a whim I mentioned my leg unevenness issues when riding. I was lying face up, and she took my legs and stretched then out and did an alignment. Then she picked up one ankle and banged it against my other ankle. Yep. My right leg is like an inch shorter than my left one. YIKES! She took a look at my body, and apparently the issue is in my hip - the muscles are very tight on my right side for some reason. She prescribed stretching my psoas muscle (part of hip flexor group) regularly. I'll be honest, I need to do it a lot more than I have been.

I've also started paying attention to how I have my hips and legs while seated at my desk at work and at home. I realize that I almost never sit regularly - I'd always have one leg under my bum, or a leg crossed, or ankles crossed and out to an angle. Never just even with both hips on the chair. My gut tells me that this may be the cause, or at least its prolonging the issue. So I've been trying to be more mindful of my position and posture when sitting down.

What I need to do is go back to my therapist for a check in. I already know that I need to stretch more regularly, and for sure stretch before and after riding. -_- Blah. I'm gonna feel like a big weirdo. I know Daniel Stewart recommends it though. Does anyone actually do this?

AFTERNOON EDIT
Just this afternoon, my trainer shared the below photo on Facebook, credited to Craig T. Roberts, DVM Inc.:

How could I be so naive as to have such a cavalier attitude towards my leg/seat/balance issues? Constant readjustment of the saddle, shifting weight, etc, really cannot be healthy for Spirit's back. Time to get serious about stretching. Who cares if I'm embarrassed? Whats really embarrassing is a lame horse because the rider can't suck it up and do a few stretches. Attitude corrected.

Fitness

This is a hot topic right now in the blogosphere - I feel like we're all collectively getting kicked in the butts by our trainers with things like stirrup-less riding, holding two-point, etc. I've been including stirrup-less riding in my warm ups or cool downs, but I have never done any actual 2-point work, beyond the occasional few moments in lessons. Out of curiosity, I wanted to see how long I could do it for. So last night I did it, and whoa - I am out. of. shape.

I made it once around the arena at a trot. And once around the arena at the canter. And the whole time I was wondering if I was doing it right - if I was too far forward, if I was too heavy in my heels (I had the specific thought that there was NO WAY I could hold 2-point without stirrups). Ouch.

Well, I guess its good to know what to work on, eh?

For my readers who don't really know what I'm talking about, here is a picture of a normal seat:

Silva Martin on Rosa Cha, 2010
http://boydandsilvamartin.blogspot.com   

Compare to two-point position, aka galloping position:

Phillip Dutton on Woodburn, 2010
http://sidelinesnews.com/blogs/laurengallops/in-memory-of-woodburn.html

Notice the tush up out of the saddle and the rider at a forward angle, closer to the horse's neck. It takes A LOT of legs and abs and back to do that. Trust me.

I've also noticed that horse fitness is getting some attention in the equine online media world, presumably since the show season has officially started and we're all making sure our horses are ready to hit the horse trials. I especially liked this article from Horse Nation about conditioning work for the lower level horse. Interesting tid-bits there that apply to lots of competition horses, not just eventers. The main points that spoke to me are:

• Develop enough fitness to make sure your practice rides at home last twice as long as your rides at horse shows. This makes sure you/your horse has enough stamina to get through the show when adding in the jitters/away-from-home stress. 
• "I firmly believe that 15 to 20 minutes of trot work should be able to happen without you or your horse getting out of breath and without taking any breaks. If you can't trot for fifteen minutes without stopping to take a break, that is your first fitness goal."
• "If you event...you should make a day every week where you ride your horse twice. Flat him for 30 minutes, then a few hours later pull him out of his stall and jump a few jumps and go for a trail ride. not only will this help his fitness, but it will help him mentally prepare."
• The rider needs to do plenty of stirrup-less riding, and galloping in two-point. "The basic time frame of a BN or N XC run is 5 minutes give or take, so that has been our base line goal, to gallop for 5 minutes with me in two-point." 
• Also, the horse should be able to gallop for for this length (and hold a nice canter for some time in Dressage), so add in "canter" sets to your workout: don't worry about quality at first, just maintain the canter for 5 minutes each direction. Then add in quality.

I plan on working on myself a bit more before I focus on Spirit's fitness. Right now she definitely outranks me.

BY THE WAY, if you are looking for a talented and gorgeous horse, please allow me to introduce you to a lovely mare for sale: Isadora, or "Izzy". Here is her DreamHorse ad, and here is her For Sale page on her Trainer's Website. She is very affordably priced and is one of the most photogenic horses I've ever seen.

Eventers are Crazy

Okay, okay, so I've only been jumping for ~2 years. But still, part of my brain thinks that people who willingly do upper level cross country have got a death wish. Even when the pros do it (and now I know enough to see how well they are riding - way beyond my skill level), it still freaks me out.

I don't know if I'm the only one who thinks this way. But since I write this blog to chronicle my ever evolving perspective on the sport, I felt compelled to share that as of right now, I still think people who do Rolex are nutso. I thought this before I did eventing, I thought it when I competed at intro levels, and I think it now. We'll see how this changes. I used to think Novice looked like the jaws of hell, and now I think its "doable, but challenging."  In fact, Prelim is my current "scary as hell" lower limit.

Sinead Halpin & Manoir de Carneville - Rolex 2011 XC

Sharon White and Rafferty's Rules: XC The Fork, Advanced B, April 2012

Amy Ruth Borun and Santa's Playboy CIC*** Jersey Fresh 2011

She is an amateur who started riding in her 20s (she's in her 40s now).

Settling In

I'm in a good place, emotionally and geographically, at Windwalker Ranch. I really love that Spirit is at Laurie's barn, benefiting from daily turnouts and extra training. I love being part of the barn group - all of Laurie's clients are fantastic, down-to-earth people who care about the horses' health above all else. No prissy madona types. And so far it feels that Spirit loves it too.  She's been calm and relaxed and happy every time I've visited her.

On Friday evening I went out to see her. It was my first practice ride at Windwalker. We worked for a good 15 minutes, practicing what I learned at the belt lesson. Spirit was great, and I felt that I was doing pretty well with my new found supportive body positioning, and *demanding* Spirit be balanced and uphill. There's a few low spots in the arena where I am being a particular stickler on this point, and it is really helping. Keeping Spirit uphill while going downhill (even slightly) has always been a challenge for me. Afterward we went on a nice trail ride. Spirit still had plenty of go, so we cantered up the hill, did some exploring, got completely lost, then turned around and came back. I will need an escort for my next few trail rides. =P

On trail, halfway up the hill, overlooking the dressage court.

Saturday we had a fabulous lesson. I got there 40 minutes early (instead of 25 to 30) and had plenty of time to get ready and tack up and warm up. It was so wonderful not to feel like I was rushing - I'm going to try and do that more often. Laurie had back-to-back lessons, so I was able to go warm up in the dressage court while Laurie finished up the lesson ahead of me. It was really nice - I felt like I had a great connection with Spirit by the time we went in for our lesson. Our first jump lesson in 3 weeks.

Laurie set up an fun gymnastic for us. I only took pictures after the lesson, after it was all built up, but of course it started out as just ground poles and then slowly but surely everything increased. Here's how it ended up:

Jump-Bounce-Bounce-OneStride-OneStride-Bounce.

Laurie didn't actually tell me this, but I presume that we did gymnastics in part because it reduces rider-error. All I really had to do was set up Spirit properly then get out of her way. And in fact I was a little rusty on both counts, but soon got it figured out. Meanwhile Spirit was a good sport and didn't get too offended at my mistakes. We both had fun, which is the whole point.

We did have one refusal, at the red and white oxer, when we added some flower boxes to the jumps beyond it. I schooled it carefully, thoughtfully, then we we approached (the whole thing) and had no problem. In some sense I'm actually pleased that I got the opportunity to handle a refusal. After the lesson we did another trail ride, this time with Jess and Storm. It was a lovely Saturday afternoon.

Time for a few more ranch photos:

12x24 half-covered pipe corrals overlooking arena. Spirit on the right.

Lower turnouts (behind pipe corrals). Spacious with plenty of shade and water.

Quasi artistic photo of lemon groves near the washracks.

The facility itself is definitely growing on me. The pipe corral stalls are not kept in great condition as compared to Rancho Linda Mio, and they are more expensive, but overall they are comparable. The jump arena is much larger with tons of jumps, the round pen is much larger and has better footing, and they have an official dressage arena and actual trails! And there isn't a road running through it - a plus.  The smell of the orchards is a great bonus. But who's kidding who? What really makes this ranch great is increased access to my trainer, Laurie Canty, and knowing she is looking out for Spirit daily.


In other news, I'm finally cashing in on our prizes from GLAPHC 2010 (yes, 2 years ago).  Padded black leather halter with engraved name plate, and I also picked up a new cotton lead (she ate hers upon move-in) and a lovely aqua flysheet (on sale for $40 at Calabasas saddlery! Score!).

A Fresh Start

New relationship status (married) and fresh off a wonderfully relaxing honeymoon vacation.  New barn with new level of horse care (daily turnouts for Spirit). Horse that has been getting training rides. This is the recipe for a fresh start in mine and Spirit's journey in eventing.

Our lesson last night was intense. And not just because I hadn't ridden in 3 weeks. I've been riding for 20 years - my muscles are already developed.

Or so I thought.

Only a few minutes into our lesson (I was still getting myself warmed up, to tell you the truth) Laurie was on me about releasing with my arms during the down transition from trot to walk. Apparently I do that without even realizing it. But she had a solution. It involved a belt.

Stick figure = me. Horse = "letmecolor.com"

Yep, she belted my arms to my torso, above the elbow. I could not release with my arms even if I wanted to. And boy, did it work! I had to use my torso (the "core") and legs, and I sure was feeling it last night.

But it was worth it. We stayed uphill and balanced and all transitions up and down were much improved, and pretty soon my entire position was more secure. Belting = Balancing. This will stick with me, I'm sure of it.

Also, at my lesson on Elton back in March, Laurie corrected how I hold the reigns - in the palm, not along the fingers before the first knuckle. I worked on that a lot last night and I think it really helped with preventing reign sliding and having a more secure contact.

Spirit was a very willing partner for the entire ride. She was still very snuggly and lovey, which was nice. She got lots of carrots and an apple.

Meanwhile, here's a few more photos of our new digs, Windwalker Ranch:

View from main barn out at pipe corrals. Shaving storage on left, wash racks on right.

Jumping arena.

Wedding & Windwalker Ranch

Wow. Life has been quite amazing and full.

I got married on March 17 to the most amazing man I've ever known. I am now Mrs. Rune. =) It was truly a magical day.

We immediately took an amazing honeymoon vacation - a Regent cruise to the Caribbean and Central America. It was awesome.

I'm so blessed to have Rick in my life, as well as an incredibly supportive group of family and friends (including my cyber blog friends) - thank you to everyone for the well wishes.

Meanwhile, back in California, Spirit was moved to Windwalker Ranch in Somis.

A nice stall with a view of the orchards.

With boyfriend Storm right next door.

 A small ranch tour from North to South:

Main drive way and parking area. Dressage court on the far right.

Front of the main barn.

View of the hot walker (on right), and longe pen (on left).

Jumping arena.

Spirit in the nice large longe pen.

The facility is awash with orange groves!

Well, my first lesson is tomorrow night and I'm definitely excited. Spirit has been getting lots of love and attention (and training rides! woo hoo!) while I've been away, so I can't wait to get on her and see how she feels.

Off to catch up on 3 weeks of blog reading!