Happy 2023, everyone. I really wanted to do a 2022 wrap-up post before the end of the year because there was so very much to relate, but obviously that didn't happen. I still want to write that post for my own records at least, but it will take a lot of time to wrangle the words and photos into shape, so don't hold your breath.
It takes far less time to tell you that 2023 has begun in proper fashion – on the back of a horse. Long-time readers will know that this is my one firm annual tradition, and today dawned bright and beautiful and dry, enabling not only being astride, but really riding. Stella and I had a lovely schooling session (with two red-tailed hawks soaring overhead) followed by a ride down the gravel lane and back, stopping to wish neighbors a happy new year along the way.
All may not well in the world nor in my smaller sphere of life, but it is well with my soul. 😊
Last week a friend mentioned that a former student of mine who bought my Swedish Warmblood mare many years ago would be riding in a show at DevonWood last weekend. I looked up her ride times online, and decided to run up Friday to watch her ride her current warmblood mare.
It felt good to be at DevonWood again; it is such a beautiful facility. My header photo was taken there; I've danced with three horses in all four of their 'ballrooms' (competition arenas). The first horse I showed there was my Morgan gelding; I can hardly wait to compete there again someday with my little Morgan mare!
But back to my former student. It took me awhile to figure out which one was her in the busy warm-up arena; I knew I was looking for a mare being ridden by a petite female, but it has probably been a decade since I'd last seen B. As her ride time approached and she headed up the hill to the Sylvan Arena, I followed her train of family and friend to watch.
Their Third Level test was lovely. The mare is built uphill with expressive gaits, and B rode her very well. I walked over to where she came out of the ring to say hi and be the first to congratulate her; she seemed surprised and pleased that I'd come.
Before I left the grounds I looked up her score; wow – 72.5%!
Sunday morning B texted me the following photo – they won their USDF Region 6 Third Level Championship class Saturday. Woot!
B has come a long way from when I first met her, a teenager riding a half-Arab pony....
And that burgundy jacket (and, I suspect, the gray one in the photo she sent me)? It is MESH. How perfect is that for the summer show season??? I didn't know such things existed; obviously I've been out of the loop awhile riding compromised horses, training for others, and 'bringing up baby Black Beauty.' But someday, when Stella and I are dancing in the big leagues, I plan on getting one. And since the attire rules for dressage are loosening up significantly this December, maybe I'll be able to find one in Stella's color – "first place blue"!!!
I was curious about just how many years it's been since I have had a dressage lesson, so I searched through my blog. (Excellent source of reference, a blog, which is why I'm going to post my lesson notes here – so I can review what we did.) I had my last lesson with Julie in the spring of 2017, just before Lance's health took a sharp dive. My last riding lesson with Suzan was in 2014 on Lance, which was more of a consolation on saddle fit and discomfort. (Poor Lance; our journey together has not been what I hoped for or expected....)
So I was both excited and a little trepidatious about Stella's and my lesson Wednesday. Have I gotten into all kinds of bad habits working by myself for so long? Have I given Stella have a decent foundation to build upon? Could we progress from where we are, or would Suzan need to tear things down to build them back correctly?
When we arrived, the rider before me had cancelled, so Suzan asked if I wanted to start right away. Oh, o-kaaay; I could hustle and get Stella tacked up and ready. Then she asked if we were doing a long-lining lesson (remember, she gave Stella and I two long-lining lessons last fall) or a riding lesson. When I responded, "Riding," she asked, "Are you going to lunge her first?" Well, no, I never do. "You're just going to climb on?!?" Well, yes, that's what I always do. Now Suzan was trepidatious; she was remembering my skittish, reactive girlie of last fall and clearly thought I was crazy. 😉
But after a few minutes of worrying about Stella freaking out (she didn't), Suzan settled in to doing what she does best: observe with the keenest eye I know, identify precisely what needs to happen, and expertly instruct the rider on how to achieve it. Before our seven-year hiatus, I took many years of clinics and lessons from Suzan (although I could only afford to see her once a month at most); my first Morgan and I never could have reached the FEI levels without her. So just like riding a bike (riding a horse?), I started following her familiar instructions and felt my little mare transform beneath me. Oh, Stella still had lots of 'moments,' but Suzan attributed those to her teething process. (Since Rick checked her teeth, one canine tooth has erupted and two others can be felt beneath the surface of her gums. We shortened Stella's headstall by a hole to better accommodate them.) Towards the end, Suzan grabbed some cell phone shots. I'm pretty pleased with what I see; look at my dressage Morgan!
Now for my CliffsNotes:
(Edited after riding; remembered more things!)
Shorten reins! (Old refrain. I ended up with REALLY short reins at the trot. I must keep the slack out of the reins to keep the bit from bouncing/bumping her and aggravating those emerging canines.) Keep thumbs up, knuckles in, fingers closed, elbows soft, hands apart. Keep lower back relaxed. Follow her head with my hands to keep the connection straight, not broken; if she raises her head, raise hands. (That can feel REALLY high.) She'll bring it back down and connect (sometimes only briefly, but we'll string moments together).
Look at her ears, not the ground; ride her straight with nose between ears so she can use her hocks. Turn her whole body, not her nose. (The first clinician I ever rode with said it should feel like turning a bus, which is a good mental image for me.)
If quick at the walk, half-halt with legs and body only, not hands, for 4-5 strides, then release. (Later in the lesson, Suzan said to take her to the trot when she got quick.) At the trot, slow her by slowing posting rhythm. When giving her a walk break, let her stretch halfway, not clear to the buckle. To encourage her to soften over the topline and stretch, use slow (over several strides) flexes with my wrist; nothing quick.
This was the first time I've ridden using bluetooth earpieces. Suzan called me on my iPhone from her cell phone so she didn't wear herself out trying to project her voice, and it worked well. Next time I'm going to see if I can get video footage of our lesson using my Pivo at the same time; we may also try some lessons via Pivo in the future. Times, they are a-changin'!
And now that I've refreshed my memory after giving Stella her usual Thursday off, I'm going out to see how well I can repeat the lesson's progress.
Compared to a lot of people, I came to showing horses relatively late. It was not part of my childhood or teens; I had barely dipped my toe into any kind of equine competition before I turned 30. But after I became a student of dressage, I figured out that showing could be an effective evaluation tool. So I would set goals for training and showing, then work to achieve them, rather than using competitions as a showcase for what my horse and I had already mastered. And that approach mostly worked for me, as I forged ahead through the levels year after year, earning a fair number of ribbons and USDF All-Breed awards along the way.
So once I got the idea of showing Stella next month at the Oregon Morgan Classic, I turned my attention to what would need to happen for that to be possible. I'm not interested in getting hurt, making Stella look bad by overfacing her, or embarrassing myself, so mucho progress would have to be make in the next four weeks. And I'd have to be confident enough in our progress by June 1 to enter.
Step 1: Much more exposure to life outside our arena. I started by riding Stella out of our arena and up and down the driveway, and texted Lisa about meeting up at the county fairgrounds. That meet-up happened this morning. I got there first, so tacked up Stella and led her around the grounds, the warm-up arena, and the big indoor arena.
By the time Lisa arrived with three horses and two friends, we were ready to mount up and give it a whirl. Fortunately, there wasn't much whirling! Stella was very nervous and tense about the new environment and the other horses' activities, but didn't lose her mind. Lisa snapped one photo and got a couple of short video clips, one of just Stella and the other showing two of the other three horses.
The buckskin in the foreground is Lance's half-sister; the bay loping around the perimeter is Lance's sire. The third horse was a young, green mustang prone to bolting; fortunately, he didn't do that today. The photo isn't great, but I do like my good leg position. I am very conscious of the need to have a secure seat on my little firecracker! (You might also notice that I'm riding her in a bit for a 'bit' more security.) Oh, and Stella was actually ridden enough to sweat a little!
Step 2? First I think there needs to be a whole lot more of Step 1. Lisa offered to meet us at the fairgrounds once a week leading up to the show, so we'll take her up on that. She's also going to the beach to ride tomorrow, but it doesn't sound like the right group for us to join. (Refer to above regarding lack of desire to get hurt or overface Stella.) In spite of Lisa's enthusiasm about my idea of showing Stella next month, today made me think it'll be too much, too soon. But I'll give us the two weeks until entries are due to decide.
I know; it's been a month and a half! It's not for lack of blog fodder that I've been silent here; more that I'm doing a lot with my horses (Stella, mostly) to help keep me sane and centered but not finding time for some other things, like blogging. There has been lots of family drama and resulting stress, but when I am working horses (or in agility class with my pup) I can put that out of mind completely and focus on something else.
Not that life with horses is stress-free. It has been a rough spring for Lance. I mentioned his breathing problems in my last post, and that has continued to various degrees. His weight is good but his energy is low, and he's rubbing out his mane, tail, and hair on various parts of his itchy hide. The other day when I was riding my poor, mangy-looking mustang, The Velveteen Rabbit came to mind; Lance is as much loved, and threadbare, as that character. In complete contrast, Stella is my lovely black swan, even though I never can quite capture her elegance, IMO. I keep trying, though!
Then there's Oliver, the kinda crazy quarter horse Rick and Brian have shared since the loss of Rick's cutting horse and Brian's pony. His front legs are shot, and it has been plain to Brian and me for months that he is miserable. Rick finally came to the same conclusion after taking the time to examine him more closely, but is still procrastinating on putting him down. It is sad, but Ollie's had 20 more years of life than he would have had with his breeder, and 21 more years than it appeared he'd have when he almost died of sepsis as a foal.
Back to happier things. Awhile back I wrote on my farm blog, "I feel like I'm now reaping the results of the long, slow work of relationship-building with my beautiful Morgan mare Stella. I am now riding her regularly at walk and trot, which just thrills me, and there is much promise of greatness to come." That's right; we've added a gait to our under-saddle repertoire! After my last post, Lisa came out to assist us in taking the next step by ponying us at the walk and trot. Stella did pretty well (I've ponied her at the trot lots of times), but she was just squirrelly enough that I didn't feel comfortable proceeding at home alone. Lisa and I had talked about hauling our young horses to a facility with a round pen, where we could both work our skittish mounts in a more controlled environment, so on March 30 we did just that. And with one excellent session under her girth, it's been onward and forward at home!
First solo trot work; what a good girl!
As I was untacking her in mid-April, I noticed something on the mouthpiece of Stella's Nathe bit. On closer examination, it is clear she had caused significant damage:
Alarmed, especially since we hadn't had this bit all that long, I texted Suzan. She told me to switch to a bitless bridle immediately, because Stella was teething and working her in a bit while teething can cause all kinds of problems. Okay then. At some point Rick is going to do a dental on her, but in the meantime I cobbled together this so we could keep working:
I purchased the 'hackamore' part (noseband/chin strap/metal wheel) on eBay from Germany years ago for Lance, to use when he got little pinpoint sores in his mouth. I had it on the bridle I bought for my Swedish Warmblood mare La Prix, but that was way too big on Stella. So I took the headstall and reins off the cob bridle we got with Brian's pony Breezy. The browband is too tight and the reins are a bit short, so I should do some more cobbling and trade out La Prix's headband and reins for those parts of the cob bridle, but it's working for now.
Oh, another interesting tidbit in the tack department. I've been riding Stella in an ancient Wintec saddle but eventually plan to switch to the newer Wintec saddle I use on Lance, with the appropriate gullet. To that end I bought a Wintec gullet gauge. Incredibly, my little black swan of a Morgan and my big red goober of a mustang both require an XL gullet! That seemed so unlikely that I had a friend come over and help me measure again; she got the same results. So strange, because there is no question that Lance is far broader than Stella, but hey, I don't have to buy a different gullet!
Stella is still a reactive girl, but when she spooks at something under saddle, she doesn't lose her mind. She may jump once, but then goes right back to what we were doing; what a blessing. So far we're staying in the arena, but on a warm day when she's really mellow (that's happened once, okay?), I plan to stretch her horizons. I've been sitting (carefully) the trot because she got anxious the first time I tried posting, but last night I tried again and she was fine with it. I'm really impressed with how she's responding to my leg, seat, and voice, too. I've been wanting video to document where we are now; on Mothers Day my son gave me the gift of some time to do that (this is pre-posting):
I think we've come a long way, baby. 😊
P.S. Ugh; you can clearly see the Lance-hoof-shaped scar tissue on the back of my right thigh in the video. Oh well, no 'body' is perfect....
My only tradition for New Year's Day – really, my only firm holiday tradition, period – is starting the new year on the back of a horse. Preferably not just sitting on a horse but going for a ride on my horse, but there have been years that all I could do was sit on my horse in the barn due to weather, or ride someone else's horse. Still, that's better than those few times in the last 40+ years when circumstances preventing me from being astride at all.
Today's weather forecast indicated a dry window in the morning, followed by a sustained soggy spell – as in days of rain. How fortuitous! I saddled up the reliably rideable one first. While Lance and I warmed up in the arena, I shot a little video to share on Instagram/FB,
then we walked down the lane and back.
Next I turned Stella out to stretch her legs, followed by some in-hand work. Since I am ever working on her reactivity, I did half-circles and circles with her while holding the flag, touching her with the flag, and then adding in a new and alarming piece. slipping the flag up under her tail. Down clamped the tail and forward scooted the mare – at first. But slowly and cautiously she accepted this invasion to the point that she kept walking, for which she was praised and rewarded. Then I climbed the arena fence to do half-circles, pet her, and sit on her. It would have been nice to actually ride her around the arena a bit, but she was quite lively when doing the half-circles so that would have been asking for a confidence-ruining wreck.
So I had a ride and a sit. Carry on, 2021; I've started you out right!
When I made arrangements to look at Stella, I had no idea what she looked like, just that the breeder thought she was likely to get taller than his other available young stock. And I wasn't that keen on getting a mare (I'm a self-described 'gelding person'), but it was hard to stifle the flame of hope that had been ignited about the possibility of getting another Morgan. You see, the best dancing partner I've ever had was a Morgan....
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I got Rogue Hills Galaxy (Axel) as a long yearling and we danced clear up through Prix St. George together before he moved to Texas to make another dressage rider's dreams come true (and help pay for our house). He was like a border collie in trying to figure out what I wanted and offering what he thought it was before I asked, and totally trustworthy.
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When I arrived to see Stella we were met by a group of three Morgan ponies at the gate in the run-in shed. Then the breeder motioned beyond them, and there at the back was a taller, more reserved, younger-looking horse – a black horse! You see, the first horse I ever had was a black mare....
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Johnnie Tonto was a Quarter Horse, solid black with no white markings. She was my pick from a group of horses my step-grandfather had for my step-brother and me to choose from when we moved from CA to Texas the summer after our sixth grade year. My brother chose a pinto that he named Little Joe after one of the mounts on Bonanza; I couldn't resist a "black beauty" after a childhood immersed in every horse book I could get my hands on and every pony and horse I was allowed to get my legs around. She loved to run and had one foal for me; she died from colic just before the start of my sophomore year of college.
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My mental math said Stella could very well be my last horse; a matching 'black mare' bookend to my first horse. The fact that she was the same breed as my best horse made her even more compelling. Then, when her breeder told me she was named Andromeda after the Galaxy, not the constellation as I was thinking, I had to fight the urge to think Stella just might be my destiny!
Meet Umpqua Andromeda, my girl Stella, a 2016 Morgan. Rick did a basic pre-purchase exam on her for me last Friday (no x-rays, because she hasn't been handled enough to attempt those). She is a clean slate, basically halter-trained and able to have her feet trimmed and that's about it. My husband and son both seem to think I'm half crazy for taking on a project that may or may not turn out to be suitable for dressage; they don't realize how much I look forward to such a project! I picked her up on Sunday and we are starting to get to know one another and build a partnership. Lance is already being a great 'big brother'....
As I mentioned in my last post, I've done some tentative horse-shopping – mostly 'window-shopping' online. In early November I pulled up the Morgan sales flyer I got last spring, poring over it once again to see if there was anything of interest. In it was an ad I hadn't noticed before with some very reasonable young horses; I figured they were probably sold but I texted the breeder anyway. He still had young stock available, so I roped in a friend for a road trip and we headed down towards Roseburg. The location was beautiful but the situation was surreal; a vast hillside pasture with two mature stallions each running with their own mares (plus a yearling stud colt – and some cattle), and an adjoining pasture with two younger stallions. (It's a good thing the Morgan registry requires DNA testing!)
There were some very typey Morgans but none that suited me, so we thanked the breeder for his time and headed home. He did mention that he had a filly that might interest me at a place closer to home, so 11 days later I took a shorter drive to see her.
Now this one did interest me. I had two big obstacles, though – hay and husband. We didn't have enough hay just for the horses and sheep that we have, not to mention what we’d need if we added a third horse, and hay has been really hard to find around here. And my husband was predictably poo-poo on getting another horse, even though he had said he was keeping his eyes open for me. I wasn't asking Rick to buy me a horse (I had some money set aside), but I did want him to do the pre-purchase exam and I wanted his consent. (Many moons ago he bought a horse without consulting me 😡 and I was determined not to do the same to him.) I figured I'd better tackle first things first, so I started looking for hay in earnest. No luck. A week after looking at the filly her owner followed up with a text, and I told him I needed hay and a husband's okay. He texted me the name and number of someone with hay for sale and all the stars aligned one afternoon to give me dry weather and an available son. I picked Brian up from school and drove on to the hay place, loaded up, drove home with 68 100# bales which we then stacked in the barn. (Rick was out of town at a veterinarian convention.)
The husband's consent didn't fall into place so quickly. In fact, Rick waited until Christmas Eve to tell me I could schedule a pre-purchase exam. (There may have been squealing – and tears.) As I said at the beginning, we did the pre-purchase the Friday morning after Christmas; here are a few more photos from that day.
I brought her home on Sunday and already have so much more to share. We've got a busy year ahead – hopefully many busy years ahead! Happy New Year, everyone. 😊
Hey there; it's been awhile. Christmas has come and gone; we've had good weather and not-so-good weather, but no BAD weather. I've been taking photos to share and exercising Lance regularly, but his lack of energy affects my motivation to post. And then New Year's Day happened....
If you've followed my blogs over the years, you know I have one cherished New Year's Day tradition. If I'm not out of town, I've got to spend some time on horseback. You know: "Begin as you mean to go on." Well, on New Year's Eve I got a text from a my best riding buddy asking if I was going to ride as is my custom, and before you could recite "Paul Revere's Ride," I had agreed to haul over to her place the next day so we could ride in the New Year together.
She has an arena with some obstacles, a long sloping gravel access drive up to the neighbor's, and some paths mowed into an adjacent empty lot. We tootled around utilizing all of the above, enjoying the beautiful day, good conversation, and our equine partners.
We came off the empty lot (shown in the last photo) and turned to head up the access drive one last time. Lance and I were in the lead – and then Kate's riderless horse passed us. I whipped my head around to see Kate lying on the gravel. By the time I jumped off Lance and hurried to her, she was sitting up but obviously in discomfort, slowly rubbing her left leg. I asked her if that was what hurt, and she whispered, "No, I think I broke my clavicle and a rib. I'm going to need the electric cart." So I ran down the driveway with Lance in tow to retrieve Kate's husband and the cart, threw Lance in my trailer, and Tim and I gingerly transported Kate down to the house and their car. Off they went to the local hospital, while I caught and cooled off Kate's mare, untacked both horses, and headed home. As the evening unfolded I learned, from a series of texts from Tim, that Kate had broken her clavicle and all 12 ribs on her right side, had two compression fractures in her spine, and punctured a lung. She was transferred to OHSU, the regional teaching hospital, because of pulmonary risk . . . and was finally released on January 9.
To add insult injury to injury, on the 11th I learned that my long-time clinician/instructor and superb horsewoman Suzan Davis Atkinson had been bucked off the Monday before and has a broken humerus! 😳
It's a good thing I'm not superstitious. Maybe more careful than ever now, but not superstitious. Off to ride my big red goober on this beautiful, sunny day; more later.
I'm a homeschooling, horse training, animal loving, garden growing, part-time business running, spinning and knitting shepherd who loves the Great Shepherd.
