Saturday, March 21, 2009

You want a piece of me? YOU GOT IT!

I try to get my monies worth when training my two youngsters, which is why I usually bring them both. I can tie one & work the other. OHHHHH but my darling Charlie had something else in mind when we had taken his "girls" to the beach for a ride, making sure to solidify his chances of being the next to be ridden. I had left him with Angel only to come back to find Angel with injury. Charlie of course with the "I didnt do it" look and "But I'm your Angel momma" ~

OH really... well seems like you want my undivided attention hugh? You got it big boy.

But not before he gave me the RANKEST protest by rearing, striking, bucking, pawing & trying to lay down and roll after saddled! I am so onto his ways... and so we just lounged until lathered, then I mounted up the head hanging sod and we worked some more on BENDING -

"oh Charlie did you say you wanted my undivided attention? Oh ok... well then this is what we do ... we entertain momma by bending and bending and more bending... head set... NOPE ... sorry no play time... disengage the hind... NOPE ... some more... awwwwwwwwwww lookie that head come around... tired ???? So sorry Charlie.. that is what you get when your a dinkISSSS.... WORK... work work work... "

Usually I am tired after riding ... but I have been gym-in' it... so my legs are strong... "hey Charlie how are those ribs doing? GOOOOD!" I finally felt confident in my horsemanship EVEN AFTER all his antics which constantly questions my authority. I am tired of it... and its time to LET'ER RIP - LET'ER FLY! He is going to be 3 at the end of this month and I cannot wait until my arena is thawed.

WEEEEZ GONNA HAVE SUM FUN aint we Charlie!!!!!

I hope by then we will work out the "antics" prior to our sessions as they just BORE me now :) & get onto progress in the saddle!

I feel he gave me as much as he could being that its really the first time I have ASKED for inside rein inside leg and trying to maintain that inside eye and headset. I came away with a smile after today. I appreciated Mindy taking vids to allow me to show others! Believe me ... next time we ride... he will have digested all of that so I BETTER have a whole new bag of tricks for him or he will find ME to be a BORE and will liken to make up his own agenda!

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Another Day At The Beach


Well today was a beautiful day to ride at the beach and we enjoyed the weather and the sounds of the seagulls and smells of the ocean surf. A birds eye view to see all the sand dollars, 3 total but only two survived the trek back to the trailer - a HUGE snail shell... I guess you would call it... VERY unusual for the Maine coast - the size is more likely for Florida but hey 6" snail shell is awesome!

Monday, March 16, 2009

The Tom Davis Clinic at Linden Woods Farm

What a beautiful day on Sunday. Sunny, melting temperatures. A short 45 minute drive, with Mindy and the girls. Notice I didnt say snot pickers? Well that is because they were such a big help to me. They got us all situated with tack and the chairs and were always there waiting for anything. I appreciated it. I also didnt realize the farm was that close! Monthly clinics to get Angel out and about would be a good thing. Angel was good ONCE he got warmed up. I was trying not to wake the giant upon mounting, but Angel was gettin' jiggy wit it, and that is all Tom focused on... getting his attention and keeping him quiet. As with all riders that Tom works with during a clinic, there was a major change in horse and rider before exiting the arena, INCLUDING myself. I was appreciative to his insight but dissappointed in my first session ride time because Tom had to spend the whole time instructing me on how to divert Angels attention. IF my first ride was AFTER lunch, that would have given me an opportunity to ride it out before the start of our session.... giving me an advantage to gain more knowledge... NOTE TAKEN! NOT saying I didnt get anything out of what he instructed me to do with him. I gained a new understanding of inside rein, inside leg to push into outside rein that maintains bend and outside leg to push him through. Finding rythm and cadence giving lift to his rib cage and maintaining this structure during our ride. It was hard! That is FOUR seperate instructions at the same time with 4 different limbs. Can YOU rub your belly and pat your head? I CAnT! I was tired after that! I wish I was able to go to the back of the arena and work on it while he worked with another student, then come back to fine tune, but our time was up. I think he knew the other students and therefore was able to do more, than with us, and played it safe not asking too much of us before understanding our riding capabilities. Notice how he breaks down the instruction, but giving tons of detail, and rewarding alot. This video shows what we worked on on the flat in the morning.



By the beginning of next video you can see the end of morning session accomplishments... then the jumping instruction. The jumping session brought more bending and aids but adding a few jumps in between, and maintaining rythm. The first thing he did was stop me after my first jump as I had it all wrong. NO excuse except nerves...I dumped on Angel over the first cross rail and Tom let me know it... he stopped me abrutptly and explained what I had done. One must be ON-time or a little behind the motion over the jump. I KNEW THAT! Why then did I do it? My mind and body are not ONE yet... but I am working on it! 3/4 of the way through that he stopped me again and fixed my frame over the jump. Again... I KNEW THAT! But... nobody is beating me up every day to tell me so I THINK I know but I DONT. DONT I hate that! So he gave me insight of the many things that need fixing from years of bad habits and I sure hope they are fixable! I wonder how much that will cost me? Time and consistancy I hope is the answer. He told me riding an experienced & consistant horse over rails would benefit me in learning the jumping frame and being strong in my jumping frame while getting a good feel. Then I would know what I had to do on a horse that is in training. That makes sense too... I may have to do some research on where and when to try that. I did mention that I would like to attend the Tammarack Farm Eventing Camp and he said that would be a perfect start for us. I was happy to hear that I was qualified enough to go for it... because at this point I feel I KNOW NOTHING! Listen to his instruction as he tries to ride with me every moment before and after the jump.



Great advise over and over again. I hope to sign up for April clinc with him too. What patience he has to work with us all! Thank YOU TOM! Thank you Mom and Vi for supporting me, and feeding me. Thank you Mindy and the girls for coming with me and helping with Angel.

REIGNITING THE PASSION FOR EVENTING

 My blog name has changed over the years, but my goal always remained the same, to be in eventing! I had goals, but never knowing how to att...