On the line

After several days of hectic preparation and nine days away, I'm home and exercising Russell again. I've just been lunging him for short periods since our return; I hope to get back in the saddle this week.

While we were at my sister's house in Texas, we watched the documentary Buck, on the life and work of Buck Brannaman, a real-life "horse whisperer." It's a compelling story and well-done film; I recommend watching it.

Tomorrow night we are going to see Cavalia in Portland with Rick's office manager and her husband; it is our Christmas gift to them and to ourselves. It should be a real treat!

Recalibrated and recharged

This weekend the Oregon Dressage Society celebrated its 40th anniversary at its annual Fall Festival. I don't often go to the Fall Festival because of time, cost and/or distance, combined with the fact that it isn't Rick's "thing" and we try to do things together. But this year, when Rick heard from someone else that Olympian Steffen Peters was going to the featured speaker at the Saturday night banquet and the featured instructor at the Sunday educational event, he asked me if I was going - and urged me to do so!

I needed no further encouragement. Saturday night was spent enjoying the company of my fellow Chehalem Mt. Chapter members, eating good food, shopping the benefit silent auction, applauding award winners, and listening to a charming and engaging Mr. Peters:

On Sunday, the time change assisted me in getting up early to do chores so I could head out to DevonWood for a day of education and inspiration. Steffen worked with seven rider/horse pairs ranging from Training Level to Grand Prix, and his message was consistent with each one. The basics must always be correct; if they are, the movements will be easy. We must train our horses to be honest - teaching them to respond promptly to subtle aids, keeping them in front of the leg and in a soft connection with the bit. These things can - and should! - be executed every single time we ride, from warm up to cool down, no matter what level a horse is at. In fact, it can all be done at the walk! He demonstrated this while working with every single pair, and in riding himself the first horse of the day, a Training Level warmblood mare:

and the last horse of the day, a Grand Prix level Welsh Cob stallion:
(Sorry the last two photos are so dark - but you can still see Steffen's beaming smile in that last one; love it!)

As I listened and watched, my understanding of proper riding and properly ridden horses was confirmed. And I realized in the process that even though Russell is still in rehab mode, and may never be able to return to dressage competition except at the very lowest levels, I can still ride him properly and keep both our basics correct. Eager to solidify in my mind and muscles what I'd seen and heard, I drove home, changed clothes and tacked up my horse (all the while very thankful for cooperative weather). Surprise, surprise (not :-) - we had the best ride we've had in recent memory!

"Out, damned spot!"

(I'm not using bad language, just quoting Shakespeare.)

Since his crash at the beginning of May, Russell has had a spot around his left stifle that sometimes gets sweaty. It comes and goes like a mirage, with no rhyme or reason; it doesn't correspond with weather, work or time of day. Rick thinks Russell might have some nerve damage from the wreck, although we have seen no other signs of such - besides this strange, sometimes-sweaty spot:

Not that I'll be noticing it as often; it is jacket season!

Actually, this is just a sheet; I've never blanketed Russell for warmth. I think keeping a sheet on him may reduce the amount of winter hair he grows, but my main objective is keeping him cleaner for faster grooming. Homeschooling Brian dominates my waking hours, so everything else has to be shoe-horned in here and there, and every way of economizing my time helps.

Sometimes when my time is especially limited, I lunge Russell with just a halter and lunge line; saves the time it takes to thoroughly groom, tack up, untack and groom again. It is reassuring to see him walking and trotting around with regular cadence and relaxed tail. This week I've even asked him for a round of canter here and there, which he readily picks up. Last night he was feeling downright frisky and took off leaping and plunging when I first asked him to canter, and moved out in a beautiful forward trot much of the time. He really looked good - more like my dressage partner of the past than he has for a long time!

Scenes from the saddle

Since the beginning of October, my saddle time has been curtailed by the weather, our homeschool schedule, and a house guest. But I keep plugging away, squeezing in rides whenever possible for both Russell's and my sakes. Since we still aren't cleared for anything other than walking and jogging, I don't need the singular focus used when schooling dressage. So I look around, and sometimes stop and try to capture what I see from the saddle. Here are a couple recent images. Looking west toward the house:

Looking east at the Hunter Moon:

Underneath it all, my horse and I, going round and round in the sand....

Wet and worth it

A couple hours ago it looked like it had stopped raining, so I grabbed a jacket and headed to the barn. Before I could get Russell saddled up it started raining again, but after seeing that his rear fetlocks were slightly stocked up and determining that it was really only sprinkling, I decided a short ride was in order. I whisked off his head and saddle area, threw on my old Wintec all-purpose sport saddle, and off we went to get the mail. It was only a 15-minute walk, but it got rid of the swelling in his hind legs and seemed to perk him up. And we didn't get that wet. Yep, totally worth it. (-: