The Girl Who Exploded

Alternate title: A Very Expensive Weekend

So I still need to finish up my Rolex recaps but I need some blogger advice so I'm bumping those posts.

This weekend I had a XC clinic with Jessica Phoenix and it was an amazing clinic. I learned so much and had some really great rides. Unfortunately I also shit the bed pretty hard at the corner. Corners cause some serious anxiety in my world (enough that I have always taken the option).

Racing at the scary corner and not committing to both the line and canter is a recipe for disaster even when mounted on a saintly XC machine. See supporting evidence below:

The 6-year-old boy was sad to have missed seeing "the girl explode"

For those who don't watch videos

It's a bit hard to see in the video but I landed face first. The brim of my helmet went straight into the ground and my forehead took the brunt of my fall. Thankfully I am fine, minus a green tinge to my forehead today (2 days post fall).

We did manage to conquer it both directions!

So not only do I need a new canister for my vest (annoying but manageable) I also need to replace my beloved purple CO. Which completely breaks my heart because it was the 100 year anniversary version so I can't get it again. Plus it was in it's last year of service so it doesn't qualify for the replacement policy. So all of a sudden Sunday became a very expensive day.

I lovelovelove this helmet.
So much that even though it hurt my head for the first year I refused to consider something else

And then because the universe has a really sick sense of humor, my day got even more expensive. My red dog tried to eat a bloody porcupine, resulting in a Sunday evening trip to the emergency clinic.

They are in her tongue, gums, roof of her mouth and throat as well

She's fine now, feeling sorry for herself, but fine

Hopefully the vet rides because most of my budget for custom tall boots is now in her hands :(

I'm stopping by a local tack store today to try on Samshields because they are so very pretty but at this point I really need to get a new helmet before our first event on June 3. I have my every day schooling Tipperary so I can still ride but it's way too fugly to show in.

Anyone know of somewhere that has a decent sale or discount that carries Charles Owen AYR8's or the ProII Skull Cap in round sizes? Or Samshields? Or how to go about selling superfluous internal organs on the black market?

11 Weeks In One Photo Dump

Break out the champagne! I wrote my last final for my degree last night. This semester has kicked my ass, hard, so blogging (and horses) took a back seat. I've been riding, but sporadically. Thankfully my creatures are all honest souls so there has been very little antics. And they live in the backyard so I still get my pony-fix.

This is exactly how I felt last night

Little asshole is enjoying living with my mom and is the first to the gate, every time.

We hacked out in January

And in February

My previous barn once again hosted two Sandra Donnelly clinics. I rode both horses in the first one. I was super impressed with William he hadn't done a grid or a course prior to this clinic but he took both in stride.  He also had never seen an oxer before this clinic and he just couldn't brain. Even when we disassembled it it took him quite a while to figure out that he had to jump/walk over both rails. The clinic was a great success though. Sandra told me I'd be crazy to sell him, but if I did decide to sell him I should sell him to her. It's always great when someone you truly respect thinks highly of your horse, even when he's being a sassy, green 5 year-old.

Jumper or reiner, you decide

Seriously, the cutest face ever.

And sometimes he forget that he has 4 legs.

Dee was her usual rockstar self and packed me around the 3'3" group. I missed her and I"m so glad she's back to her usual self. I've seen no back soreness at all since we started back jumping.

For my birthday we tormented the dogs

My kitchen window view never gets old

William was foot perfect for his first time in water, with a rider he'd never met
Also, she tried to steal him :)

When both the dogs and the pony need some exercise and there are only so many daylight hours

 It's been pretty low-key around here and I'm quite excited to get back into a regular schedule, with both the horses and the blog.

Sandra Donnelly Clinic - Day 2

I'm a terrible blogger. I wrote this post, scheduled it and then went on my merry way. Blogger ate it and I couldn't summon the will to rewrite it. Every time a post disappears it kills my desire to blog. I may need to switch to a new platform.

Ritchie

Day 2 of the clinic started off with Ritchie. Shimmer-E was able to come and watch and get an education in jumper land (she is my favourite DQ).

Our flatwork started with going over the differences in full seat, light-seat, 2-point and driving seat. Sandra then put us through our paces, having us change our seat and demand a reaction from our horses. Turns out my light-seat has disappeared. 

Full seat? No problem. 2-point? Rock solid. Driving seat? Effective. Light-seat? Completely gone. I couldn't for the life of me allow my hips to move with him. Sandra told me that she's not surprised. Dee doesn't really let me practice light-seat without some fireworks. My homework is to keep working on it with Ritchie until I feel really solid in it. Then to work on it some more before I try and transition it to Dee.

Moving onto the over fences work, Ritchie really showcased the fact that Saturday's challenges were more of a test of my determination than fear or confusion. We jumped a skinny, brush boxes, a one-stride, a two-stride, planks and lattice. All which was new to him and he didn't say boo. We did have one drive by, the first time in the one-stride, but it was definitely a steering problem, not a jumping problem. 

It wasn't always pretty but we did everything successfully. And we did our first real courses!

My main goal for Ritchie during the clinic was just exposure. He stood quietly while others had their turn. He couldn't have cared less when the other riders forgot I was riding a young stallion and parked themselves quite close to us. I was super proud of him. For a young horse who's had very little exposure to new experiences and places he really couldn't have performed more admirably.

A somewhat accurate portrayal of our set up

Dee

For the first time ever with Dee we completely mastered the flatwork and weren't the remedial child! Sandra had us turn down the center line and leg yield back to the wall, and then do it the other way. We started out walking and she had very little to say to Dee and I that wasn't super positive. Next came the trot, still super positive. 

We then started asking for a walk transition while continuing to leg yield. This turned out to be super helpful for me because Dee and I really struggle with downward transitions (Dee is convinced we should only ever go faster). It was critical to keep her body straight while doing this, no allowing her to fall in (or out) in her right shoulder. When we were straight we had some incredible transitions.

Same exercise at a canter. Dee and I haven't schooled canter leg yields but you'd never know it. It was the most magical flatwork. If it hadn't been a clinic I probably would have called it quits there and floated around on cloud nine for the rest of the day. That's how good it was.

I normally go first because I am really good at remembering courses. Except here. This is not the course I was supposed to do. For the first time in well over a year I forgot my course.

We moved right into jumping. It wasn't long before Sandra had the fences set at 3'3" (and even one that was sneakily 3'6").  We were able to jump around and successfully nail a pace and keep my nerves from interfering. I was super good about not looking down because I picked a spot really high on the wall and did not take my eyes off it (otherwise the fences started to freak me out a little, which is silly, we are both more than capable).

We even jumped a giant (think 3'3" with a 4'3" spread) triple bar. Considering I've been scared of oxers and petrified of triple's and hog's back's I was really happy with how it went.

Ritchie is a very physically demanding ride. So by the time I rode Dee I was a little tired and my legs were very sure I shouldn't be doing anything. I ended up running out of steam near the end. It really showed up coming into the triple on one of our final go's. I had a good pace but was nervous and Dee backed off as we came to the base. I just wasn't able to add enough leg and we came to a graceful, if abrupt halt in front of it. Sandra told me she thought we had it and that Dee could have helped me out a little. We got it done in a second try but it was becoming obvious that Dee was backing off and I just didn't have the gas to really get it done.

You can see how it's starting to fall apart here, but we still get it done

Because Sandra is awesome she lowered some of the fences so we could end on a better note (the second fence in both of the related distances stayed up, but the first fence got lowered). It was completely the right thing to do. It was also really nice to know that it wasn't anxiety or panic that necessitated the drop, just a lack of fitness on my part. I can work on that. #goalbreeches 

Overall it was a great clinic. I couldn't have been happier with both horses. I can't wait until it's show season.

Sandra Donnelly Clinic - Day 1

We hosted our annual Sandra Donnelly clinic this past weekend. Apparently I'm a sucker for punishment because I signed up to ride both horses (and really who needs money?)

Dee
On Saturday I rode Dee first. Since the clinic didn't fill up there were only two of us in my lesson. It was me and Dee and barn-mates Isabel and Martini. They've been showing Training for the past couple of years and are schooling 3'6".

Dee and I had only jumped twice since the Jessica Phoenix clinic in November. Nothing like joining the big guns to up the ante.

As always, Day 1 started with flatwork and flatwork exercises. Sandra hasn't seen Dee and I since July at Herron Park and was very impressed by our improvement on the flat. All that Dressage focus is paying off!

We started with a simple 20 m circle in the center of the arena. We focused on the quality of the gaits. Sandra had me use counter-flexion to encourage Dee to stretch her neck and relax. Keeping a consistent rhythm was also a main topic, reminding me not to just coast along and let Dee pick the pace, but to insist that she keep with me.

We then moved onto the poles exercise. There were two tiny cross rails just over 90' apart. We had to canter down the line(treating the cross rails as canter poles) and count how many strides. Then we had to come from the other direction and get the same number of strides.

Turns our Dee has a bigger step going to the right. It required a much more aggressive half halt to get the 10 stride to the right. After we came through and had to add a stride. To the left it was easy to get the 11. To the right I ended up over correcting and getting a 12. So I got to do it until the 11 was easy.

Next we had to get one less than original. I was apprehensive about it, but turns out once I just softened and opened the step, the 9 was just there. I felt like the 8 was even doable. Considering Dee has really only had two speeds, turtle and zoom, this felt like a huge breakthrough.

We then moved on to jumping the diagonals (blue to brown to blue). Sandra almost always has us schooling angles. The first time through we did both lines in a 4 to a 4. I had to work at pushing Dee out around the corner and not letting her drop her shoulder and motorcycle around the corner. The 4's proved to be easy so we then did a 5 to a 4 on each line. Opening up the stride was not a challenge but it did result in some funky distances while we figured out exactly how much to open it.

Once that was smooth we moved onto doing a 4 to a 5. This is where I really struggled. The closest I ended up getting was a 4 to a 4 1/2. Sandra let us leave it there because I was able to compress her more than she initially believed I'd be able to (Dressage bootcamp for the win).

We finished up with going from the diagonal lines to turning up the center. (Let me tell you, that turn was super hard if Dee was not stood up straight). The last few times through the center the first jump was 2'9" and moved up to the oxer being 3'3".

I barely had an anxiety about the height of the jumps. I think I was too busy trying to put all the pieces together to focus on how terrifying the last oxer was.

Ritchie
Ritchie was in the last group of the day. Our group of 3 included a barrel racer who jumps a few times a year because it's fun and a barn-mate who has been jumping on a regular basis with her mare this winter (but had a wreck in the summer that shook her confidence).

The lesson started the same way. 20m circle with a focus on alignment and gait quality. Sandra had me really focus on Ritchie's uphillness. Apparently he cheats, he gives me a big moving pretty trot that is still on the forehand. He just has so much movement in his back (especially compared to Dee) that he can fake being light in the front by flinging his legs out. She had me focus on bringing the shoulder in and out in order to lift his withers. To successfully lift his withers I needed to lengthen the base of his neck. I once again used counter flexion to help with this.

When we moved onto the canter poles/cross rails Ritchie decided he didn't want to play. He stopped. Since everything was set small enough he could walk over it, I just kept closing all the other doors. Forward was the only option. He deer leaped over it. We came around and he stopped again.

Rinse and repeat. The jerk refused a ton. Now I know he's green over fences but  nothing was bigger than 12" and he's done a ton of cross rails in the lat month. Finally Sandra told me that Ritchie was bullying me. She said he knows the answer and was just testing me to see how determined I was. She told me I needed to be tougher, not meaner, just more black and white.

I don't care that it's blurry. Look at the cute, interested pony!

Two reins in one hand and a good solid crack with the whip in front of the fence resulted in Ritchie leaping over the little vertical we were at. And he didn't refuse another fence all weekend. That one piece of advice made the whole clinic worthwhile.

We proceeded to school the angle lines and then jumped his very first oxer. We never did get into a good rhythm and he spent most of the lesson deer leaping, but we did end on a very successful note.

Jessica Phoenix Day 3

Day 3:

After the disappointment of Saturday I was just hoping that things went a little better on Sunday. The XC exercises that were set up looked like a ton of fun so I had high hopes. Corners, angled lines, triple bars and skinnies are all elements that are challenging but exciting so I was pretty happy to see all of them in one arena.

Photo courtesy of Alberta Eventer

And turns out, XC is our thing, even indoors. I never felt anxious, Dee was highly rateable and aside from the occasional bobble with not committing to the big open stride it went really, really well.

There was a really large triple bar set up coming out of the corner that required a very forward ride, especially to get the 2 between the corners. (The 3 was acceptable, but I was working on being more comfortable on the bigger stride). I need to spend more time on the bigger strides because I feel like we are gunning it and in reality we've got a good rolling canter.

This was the biggest take away for me. In order to move up I need to stop choking Dee's momentum. Just because she can jump from a tiny 6' stride doesn't mean she should.

Day 3 was the best day of the clinic, it's where I really felt we got the best instruction for us. I hope Extreme Stables brings Jessica back in the spring  because I would love to ride with her on an actual XC course.

I love this photo of us, I'm not really sure why.

This is the only video I have and I grabbed it off of FB, so I hope it works :)

Renate Price and Dee being superstars at todays Jessica Pheonix clinic!!

Posted by Samantha Pritchard on Sunday, November 29, 2015

Jessica Phoenix Day 2

Day 2:

Day 2 was set up with a bunch of stadium exercises, including everyone's favourite Circle of Death.

The Circle of Death actually went astonishingly well once it went up to jumps. As poles, we struggled with rhythm (shocking, I know). But when it comes time to jump Dee becomes more rideable.

The outside line was a vertical to an oxer to a vertical. It was set so that both were either a 4 or a 5. We practiced going through in both. It may not have always been pretty but I was successful in getting the 4 to a 4 and the 5 to a 5. I was feeling really nervous, despite the fences being set fairly small. I was pretty proud of how I rode the beginning, despite my nerves.

But my pony is cute and honest!

Then one of the girls in our group starting having major problems with her horse. He would buck and kick out and just kept getting worse. Jessica talked her through almost 10 minutes of schooling and then offered to get on him herself. While it was really interesting to watch her school the sassy beast and convince him that going forward was his only option, it was also a time drain. She rode for close to 20 minutes, meaning that over 1/2 hour of our 90 minute lesson was focused solely on one horse and one rider.


I did my best to keep Dee moving so she didn't get stiff but the arena was chilly and there was only so much I could do. The extended break also did not help my nerves. The longer we sat, the more nervous I got. Unfortunately I think that Jessica was feeling pretty poorly (she had a cold) and we didn't really get much out of the last few minutes of the lesson. It felt like the issues I was having were never really addressed and I was pretty disappointed at the end.

She's so excited to be jumping

It was a little frustrating that on the day where I could have used some more help, the circumstances seemed to pile up against me. On a positive note, I may have been feeling anxious, but I didn't have a panic attack and while I wasn't super effective as a rider, I also wasn't a complete passenger.

Jessica Phoenix Clinic Day 1

I was waiting for media before I posted this but I'm beginning to think it will never happen. (Someone video'd me on their phone since mine got cold and died).

The weekend got off to a rocky start.  On Thursday evening I loaded everything into the trailer and then went to hook it up to my truck, since I was planning to leave before 6am on Friday morning. I had the driver's side window rolled down and when I got out to brush the snow out of the box so I could see the hitch, I closed the door normally. Unfortunately, for some reason my window shattered. Thankfully it was mostly contained within the door. (When The Boy replaced the window, he noticed that my after-market speakers were quite deep and a little loose, he figures the back of the speaker hit the window).

This led to some last minute panicking. The Dodge 1500 isn't big enough to pull my trailer and doesn't have a hitch. The Boy's redneck truck has a gooseneck hitch but when we plugged my trailer in the lights weren't working, so that was a no go (Yes, we have 3 trucks, 4, if you count the race truck).

I managed to get a hold of one of the other girls who was going and arranged for her to haul Dee for me. She awesomely agreed to go much earlier than planned since I rode in one of the first groups. I loaded all my crap into the little truck (since she was driving home every night, and I had made arrangements to stay close to the facility)

Day 1:

I rode at 10:30 and had originally planned to be there in time to watch part of the 9:00 group. With the new trailering arrangements I scratched that plan and just hoped to be on time. We made it by 10:00. Thankfully, Dee is a seasoned traveller and requires no time to settle in, and I'm very quick to get ready.

As soon as I started our warm up I knew it was going to be a challenging day. Dee was full of energy and seemed to have left her brakes at home.

The arena was set with 4 sets of poles. Poles are traditionally very hard for us because rhythm is very hard for us. Dee is convinced that zoom is the only acceptable pace.

Jessica had me focus on maintaining the bend and riding the entire exercise, if I defaulted to letting her figure it out, we would just gain speed. With everyone she focused on the length of the neck. Most everyone had to lengthen the neck to lengthen the stride.

Every time we came to a walk Dee tried to jig or take off so Jessica had me mover her hind legs to the inside and outside to upset her balance and then allow her to stretch her neck. This took some doing but as she started to figure it out, our walk got better and better, with less antics.

I left the day feeling like the remedial student since I was in a Pre-Training group and struggled with simple pole exercises and spent most of the 90 minutes working on walking in a steady rhythm. But I did feel that it was helpful and we managed to find success. The best moment was when after our last set of canter poles Dee came right back to a walk without a fuss.

The day ended with a potluck that featured a seemingly endless array of deliciousness and a slideshow of Jessica and Pavarotti's Pan Am experience. She also brought her Pan Am medals and passed them around, which the barn rats found to be squeal worthy.

Summer in Cliffnotes and Photos

I can't seem to keep myself on the blogging train. Which is really sad, because I love being able to go back and see what we did (and how far we've come). I'm going to make a solid effort to rejoin the blogging community. While I haven't been posting I have been following and I've loved reading about everyone's journey whether it be full of shows, achievements and lessons or some of the most eloquent, heartbreaking thought on life and marriage.

I last left you in the midst of a clinic and then Blogger ate my scheduled posts and I had no motivation to continue. It's been a hell of a summer and I wouldn't trade it for the world.

Cliffnotes version:

June:
Becky Lee clinic in June ended with us schooling a bunch of Training courses

Went to a local jumper show.  Kicked butt!

We like winning!

Cochrane HT (at Entry) Finished on our dressage score (which turned out to be our best of the whole season)

Dee felt the need to smile for the camera

July:
James Alliston clinic.  Fell off (pilot error, miscommunication), schooled almost all the Training fences, made new friends but didn't really feel like I learned anything

Zoom

Had my first therapy session with a Sports Psychologist. Fabulous idea. I haven't had a single crippling panic attack since. She reminded me that everyone has baggage, its just how we pack it away that is different. I still have fear, but I feel like I can manage it much better.

Thompson Country HT - finished on our dressage score again. Found Entry to be boring and felt completely ready to move up at Rebecca Farm

Hauled down to Kalispell early to spend a week at Herron Park with Sandra Donnelly. Had some fabulous jump schools, climbed a mountain, ate way too much pizza and enjoyed having no cell phone. Sandra told us when we get our dressage better we will be ready for Training no problem. Made a ton of new friends. Discovered my horse cannot have a day off while living in a stall, she becomes a wild beast!

I'm spoiled to be showing with Isabel

Herron Park is just gorgeous

Ditch that actually had a creek running through it

Completed Rebecca Farm Novice, on our dressage score. My FB blew up when we were featured on Eventing Nation's "Who Jumped it Best?" (It sure wasn't us, apparently I felt the need to check to make sure the ground was still underneath us). Took 14th individually but my team placed 4th. The best friend and the boy both came down to support me.  I couldn't ask for better people in my life. Dee got a boot rub from her XC boots that managed to get irritated and ended up with full blown cellulitis. (NEVER ask how you haul the lame horses home from an event a full day away)

Rebecca Farm is no slouch either

Spent 10 days being wrapped and medicated, bounced back super quick.

August:
Alhambra HT- Pre-Training, toughest PT course I've ever seen. Had a great dressage test, scores did not reflect but I was super happy. The weather was horrid and the footing was slick.  Picked up a 20 on XC when we slipped right in front of a jump and I pulled her off it (rather than risk near death). Still finished with time allowed. Pilot error in stadium gave us 4 faults but I was still really happy with my horse. (No media because everyone missed my stadium and dressage rides and the weather was too bad for XC)

Babysat a couple of baby Standardbreds in their first XC foray. Could have done without the 5 minute deluge and the flat tire but it was still fun.

The fabulous Jose Jalapeno and Shimmer-E

Had pro photos taken of the pony and dog, The Boy tagged along.  Dee thinks putting her ears forward is for fools

Favourite picture ever! Thanks to SMTT for the inspiration and how-to

I love them all. I'm glad the feeling is mutual

One of very few with pretty ears

The Boy and I look at a bunch of acreages

September:
South Peace HT-Pre-Training. Rode my dressage saddle aside (only having ridden her sidesaddle twice before). My nerves got the better of me and I kept forgetting my test, which is a first for me. But them's the breaks. Had a fabulous clear stadium round and proceeded to kick XC butt (including our first buffalo jump) to finish on our dressage score once again.

Sullivan finally got branded

Skipped Championships to attend a small local jumper show that offers prize money.  It worked for us! I could only attend on Saturday so we did the highest divisions they offered (.75m and .85m). Took one second, two firsts and pulled one rail. We came home with over $600 and 3 coolers (I won two for classes, and won one in the door prize draw). Perfect end to our season!

See, we really like winning!

And that's our summer in a nutshell.  Dee just had her shoes pulled and is enjoying a week off before we spend the rest of this year focusing on dressage.