OMG Kentucky is this week! - See what I did to get ready

Oh my gosh I go to Kentucky on Thursday! I can’t believe it’s here. I am so excited and yet so nervous – will all my preparation be enough? Are my horses ready? What will it be like when we get down there?

The journey to Kentucky has been a long one with a lot of preparation, training and offsite experiences to help set my two horses up for success.

Here's a look at my journey leading up to Kentucky –

• February 1^st – bought Kahleesi (Soar) and drove home through a snow storm
• February 8^th – bought Cupid (Lion of Wallstreet) and drove home from Ohio through a snow storm
• March 2^nd – both horses had their teeth done and were dewormed
• March 18^th – Cupid started antibiotics because of an injury to his leg
• April 18^th – Cupid & Kahleesi’s first offsite experience at the Natural Horsemanship Trade Show 2015. Cupid did a ground work demo with Lindsey, and Kahleesi was used by Tom Shields in a ground work demo. Cupid was pretty nervous an upset, couldn't stand still and it took the entire demo to get him to relax.
• April 29^th – Cupid started a new treatment to get rid of his mud fever and other sores on his legs
• May 9^th – Cupid and Kahleesi took part in a clinic with Cindy from Brookston Horse Park at Partridge Horse Hill, our first glimpse at showing in Mountain Trail.
• May 17-18^th – Cupid and Kahleesi went to the Horseman’s Word Ranch for Don Halladay’s Cowboy dressage clinic. Kahleesi was just starting to do canter under saddle and was still struggling with her right canter leads at this clinic. Cupid was new to canter under saddle too and was struggling picking up canter. Kahleesi found the sound speaker very scary.
• May 24^th – Kahleesi’s first show at Oak Ridges Equestrian Centre where she competed in hunter cross rails and still struggled with her right canter leads, but did get it a few times, she placed well.
• May 30^th – Kahleesi and Cupid did their first obstacle show at the Natural Horsemanship Association’s Horse Agility & Obstacle Show. This was their first time doing liberty and it actually worked out pretty well but I left the halters on just in case. My horses were the only ones to do the most advanced classes and I was proud of them for completed the obstacles. 
• June – started regular lessons with Centered Riding Coach Esther Johnson to get the horses ready for Kentucky and get me looking the part too.
• June 14^th – Kahleesi’s first Jumper show at the Pickering Horse Centre riding in 0.6m. We ended up trotting the courses with little bits of canter because she was nervous. We had clear rides except time faults so I was proud. 
• June 24^th – went to an obstacle play night at the Bonehill’s and exposed both Cupid and Kahleesi to more obstacles. I started to think I might want to show trail instead of jumping because of my horse’s natural talents. 
• June 27^th/28^th – Took Kahleesi and Cupid to the Parelli 7 Games in the Saddle with Parelli Professional Todd Owens. Both horses made great progress and Kahleesi started to get used to the speaker system.
• July 11^th – Natural Horsemanship Association Horse Agility & Obstacle Show where Kahleesi & Cupid competed in the hardest classes and still placed on top. I was super proud.
• July 18^th – Clinic in Mt. Albert with Susan Caldwell on Extreme Cowboy racing, my first taste of this extreme sport. Cupid & Kahleesi were super awesome and great at the obstacles.
• August 1^st- The only ACTHA Trail show I completed this year because they are only in the states. I did one in New York and had so much fun. This was the trip that made me decide that 100% for sure I am competing in Trail at the Makeover. Cupid and Kahleesi were awesome and placed very well, including our first blue ribbon 1^st.
• August 9^th: Cupid and Kahleesi’s first Extreme Cowboy race. We discovered that Cupid is terrified of horses pulling carriages (that was happening in the ring beside us) and that Kahleesi has huge potential for this sport. Cupid was eliminated because I didn’t realize that during a ground tie you have 60 seconds to get back on your horse so we took too long. Kahleesi was great and got 4^th though.
• August 13-16: Parelli Super Camp at the Horseman’s Word Ranch with Kathy & John Baar, Maureen & Todd Owens, and Randee & Don Halladay – wow what a week of intense learning and progress for both Cupid & Kahleesi. It was a great relaxed atmosphere to work on finessing some skills.
• August 22: Lessons from Margreet Boumeester from the Netherlands at Partridge Horse Hill to work on collection and relaxation. She also performed Cranial Sacral work on both horses.
• August 29^th – Natural Horsemanship Association Horse Agility & Obstacle Show at Partridge Horse Hill, the biggest show of the season and Kahleesi & Cupid still placed in the top ribbons of the hardest classes including liberty.They finished champion and reserve champion of the year and 1st overall in Liberty and Advanced Horse Agility. 
• September 5^th – Cupid provided an obstacle demonstration at the Partridge Horse Hill show.
• September 6^th – Cupid & Kahleesi competed at Marmora Extreme Cowboy Race. Cupid improved so much and did great with the obstacles but was still very slow and placed 11^thwhile Kahleesi was doing great and placed 6^th.
• September 12^th: Obstacle show at Glenuara where Cupid & Kahleesi placed in the top marks for liberty, riding, and online. We discovered Cupid doesn’t like ditches and that Kahleesi had an abscess brewing.
• September 13^th – Cupid competes in the Uxbridge Fall Fair in the Obstacle challenge and gets a very respectable 5^th place finish against some awesome horses and riders. Kahleesi stayed at home with her abscess.
• September 19^th – Obstacle Challenge at Turkey Run Ranch where Cupid was super steller and placed 5^th out of a large group with challenging obstacles. Here he really showed the progress he has made as he went through the baby pools, puddle, jumps and bridges with confidence. Kahleesi stayed home with her abscess.
• Week of Sept 19th - I worked closely with the vet & farrier to get Kahleesi's abscess to get the heck out of there.
• September 26^th – Extreme Cowboy Race at the Ancaster Fair, Cupid improved and placed 10^th! Kahleesi came for the trailer ride and played on the obstacles after the show because she was mildly ouchy still from the abscess.
• October 4^th – Cupid competed at Markham Fair and placed 15^th – he was super awesome with the obstacles, just really slow and not with the western head carriage. I am still very proud of him. Kahleesi came for the trailer ride but was still a bit ouchy from the abscess.
• October 8^th – Kahleesi had an obstacle lesson with David Cowley and was finally starting to look 100%, but then she decided to stay a little ouchy so she could skip the Norwood Provincial Extreme Cowboy finals - although its super awesome she qualified.
• October 13^th – Kevin Alcock came out to get rid of Kahleesi’s abscess for good and she went on stall rest for 3 days to make sure the infection was killed and gone. She was not a happy camper.
• October 16^th – Obstacle clinic with David Cowley aboard Cupid while Kahleesi stayed on stall rest.
• October 17^th – Kevin Alcock put acrylic shoes on Kahleesi to keep her hoof safe for the trip to Kentucky
• October 18^th – Kahleesi is finally back to normal and we had 2 hrs of lessons with Todd Owens and practicing for Kentucky
• October 19^th – I did some shopping for Kentucky and got some jeans, boots, etc to be all snazzy. 
• October 20th - my last full day at work before Kentucky... tomorrow I leave early so I can pack and prepare.... my mind is racing with all the things I want to remember. 

What the future holds - 

• October 22^nd- we leave at 4am and then we’ll see you in Kentucky!!
• October 23^rd – all my training gets tested on the Trail course
• October 24^th – we get to see if my freestyle routines are as amazing as I think they are – make sure you watch to see what cool obstacles we’re bringing!!
• October 25^th- The final ceremony
• October 26^th – We drive home from Kentucky
• October 27^th – I turn 30! Then I can take a deep breath and realize that this has been one hell of a year and I left my twenties with a bang.

So as you can see there were a lot of activities that I planned into the progress of my horses – there were also numerous training sessions, riding my horses as demos in lessons I was teaching, or weekend trail rides. I also had to change my schedule because originally I had a lot of hunter/jumper shows planned but then switched gears and made it all about the obstacles.

I was committed to the task and the goal, driven to succeed, but put my horse’s success and happiness first – I let them choose their journey, and let them show me what they excel at.
 

For anyone that wants to do something like this in future, here are my tips:

• Know yourself (what are your strengths, and what are you capable of – emotionally, physically, financially, and what is your skill level)
• Set a goal
• Make a plan
• Write it down and follow it
• Get your horses healthy first – their minds and their bodies
• Be ready for plan B (you might have to create plan B with short notice, so be solution focused)
• Get support from people you trust
• Seek out opportunities that will be supportive
• Take criticism and feedback, and use it to make positive change
• Ask for help
• Try hard – make it a priority
• Use shows as training opportunities and don’t feel the pressure to win. Make it about setting the horse up better for tomorrow. If you win in the process, then awesome.
• Let go of any fears of what others think or how you will do.
• Give it your best shot – winning isn’t the end game… its just the icing on the cake… but the most delicious part is the journey to get there, knowing you gave it all you’ve got, and that you truly have improved and created a special relationship with your horse. 

Please remember to vote Lindsey Partridge for the Trainer Award  at 

https://www.retiredracehorseproject.org/2015-ambassador-award

It's easy - click the link, click my name, and click vote - its that quick

Remember you can watch Cupid's Story at https://youtu.be/WjsohpR-YnQ

Dreamer & Cupid - My Super Boys!

Last weekend I went to my first Obstacle Challenge at Turkey Run Ranch – what a blast!

We strolled in a bit late at 10:30am which only left us 30 minutes to get saddled up and practice the obstacles. The warm up actually started at 9am but because it was raining and a 3hr drive we were a little sluggish getting there.

Cupid and Dreamer came for the show – Kahleesi is still taking time off hoping she’ll be sound for Kentucky after getting a mysterious hoof bruise while out in the paddock.

I was so incredibly proud of my horses as they approached all of the unique obstacles.

Obstacles included:

• ·         Kiddie pool with water and floating wood
• ·         Raised bridges
• ·         Sand filled tires
• ·         Piles of pine cones
• ·         Straw jumps
• ·         Tarps and sand hills
• ·         A sprinkler car wash
• ·         Water crossing
• ·         Narrow back through

There were really a lot of choices and I loved how they have the are set into 3 different parts. The sand ring was all Halloween/fall themed. One grass field area was set up Indian themed with a teepee and other decorations. The third area was set up as the cowboy field.

The only things my boys were weary of were the rope gate – because there was scary cornstalks on either end, yikes they might bite!

I planned out a good route to try and get as many of the 60 obstacles that I could. I rode first on Cupid and got a lot done. Cupid was so confident and really focused on the task. It was definitely his best show so far and I was such a proud mama.

Next up was Dreamer – I rode a very similar pattern with him and just had to change things a bit because he knocked down 2 of the jumps which makes it a ‘dead’ obstacle meaning you can’t do it again (otherwise you can do them twice). Dreamer did everything with confidence and speed making him a super star.

Results - Way to go Boys! 

At the end of the day we shared an amazing potluck and got to find out our scores. It was great to see the score sheets to see what exactly we did. There were 19 competitors and 10 of them (majority) scored between 67 – 106 points, with only the top 5 placings finishing above 106 points.

I was extremely thrilled when Cupid was announced as 5^th place with 121 points – wow has this boy improved! 2^nd, 3^rd, and 4^th went to very good rides finishing with 131-127 points which were extremely close scores!

Dreamer and I were flying like the wind and smoked up 148 points for first place. Crikey I knew he was a dreamer, but buddy you’re seriously an over achiever! Not too surprising that Dreamer had an admirer at the show wanting to buy him… but not to worry big guy, you aren’t going anywhere :)

I am super in love with Obstacle challenges and if you want to give it a go I super recommend Turkey Run Ranch – what a lovely set up and amazing people that are so kind and supportive… plus they know how to serve up one delicious potluck!

Tips from this show:

• ·         Put the focus on your foundation. Get your horse to trust you and build his confidence in you. Then when you start to see new obstacles it doesn’t matter that they are new because your horse knows you can keep them safe and they can do what you ask.
• ·         Get out there and try something new, take a chance and leave yourself open to find new passions, dreams, challenges, and fun.
• ·         Really make sure you have a plan heading into the obstacle challenge and know where you are going .
• ·         Ride the little obstacles on your way to the bigger point obstacles.
• ·         Do the obstacles that you can complete quickly – just because you can move the cows from one pen to another (which is a hard obstacle that scores high at 5  points) doesn’t mean it’s the best use of your short 5 minutes in the ring.
• ·         If you aren’t sure how to do something make sure you ask. One of the reasons I scored so high was because I clarified that one combination obstacle could actually be done 3 different ways and each was considered a different obstacle at 3 points– this meant 3 obstacles right beside each other could be done back to back for 18 points. Some other competitors only rode 1 or 2 variations of this obstacle and didn’t get the extra points.
• ·         Put the focus on fun – I project a confident smile to my horses and they know we are there for a  good time. Then they were able to have fun too.

On Sunday we started rehearsing for my freestyle patterns for the Kentucky TB Makeover. Stay tuned for more updates in the coming weeks. Thank you so much for the team that is coming to support me and be ring crew!

Extreme Cowboy at Ancaster Fair tomorrow followed some more TB Makeover practice. See you at the fair!

PHH Horse Show, Extreme Cowboy Race & a Wedding, could it get any better?

Last weekend was pretty intense, but I suppose that's the norm for this summer! On Saturday we had our second Partridge Horse Hill show and we had a fantastic turnout. Thank you to everyone who came out and we hope to see you on Saturday October 3rd for our final one.

Our horse shows includes walk/trot classes for novice riders or horses, hunter over fences, jumper classes, obstacle classes, and speed events to round out the day. Every first place got a bag of homemade molasses cookies to go along with their ribbon - thank you the Canadian Horse Defense Coalition! Thank you Alexandra for judging!

Champion and Reserve champions had a selection of prizes to choose from include a snazzy silver Western show halter, a bridle bag (thank you Greenhawk!), free saddle fitting (thank you Canterbury Outpost Saddlery!), earrings, polos, fly masks, leather halter, and more.

Showing Tips:

• Arrive early and take advantage of the fact that we let riders warm up in the show ring for the hour before the classes start
• Practice being calm and precise while in the warm up ring
• Focus on slow and right instead of fast and wrong
• Smile, breathe, and have fun!

Extreme Cowboy Racing on Sunday

On Sunday I went to the Marmora Extreme Cowboy Race. It was Cupid & Kahleesi's 2nd race and it was way different than our first one at Campbellford fair. There were a lot more people, so in my Pro division we had 14 very good riders and horses. Maya also came with Nillina to ride in the Youth division, she was 3rd in her first cowboy race, and then 5th in the finals.

It was really nice to see all of the excellent riders showing off their skills. This judge really valued correct bend and flexion. He was marking in a way that rewarded precision more than speed. 

Cupid was up first and he was so much more relaxed this race than last time. In Campbellford he was so panicked by the horses pulling carts in the show ring beside us that he couldn't concentrate at all. This race he actually did a lot of things really well and managed 11th in the tough competition. We still need to work on some things and find more relaxation in the ring, but he is definitely coming along. 

Kahleesi was her usual super awesome self and did most things really well, but overall we still need to work on better bend and flexion. She managed to get 8th in the first round so we just barely made it to finals (they take the top 8 to do a 2nd course). We improved in our 2nd round except for a big spook at the tractor, and managed a 6th place. 

I was very happy with both my horse's progress. 

Tips for Extreme Cowboy that I picked up this past Sunday:

• Practice riding with one hand
• Practice with odd decorations such as a rope gate with scarecrows on either end
• Practice stopping on bridges and picking up things (don't be in a hurry to get across)
• Practice strange obstacles like putting your hooves into a kiddie pool filled with little balls, or a mattress wrapped in a tarp
• Make sure your horse stands still while getting on after a ground tie for the best marks
• Double check your tack before you ride - the hackamore or bit might not be allowed
• Find a nice cowgirl/cowboy to show you how to rope!

Watch our video of our races!

After the show I got cleaned up and enjoyed my friend's wedding - congratulations Allison and Keith! It was an amazingly beautiful wedding. 

Monday was an exciting day because Esther Johnson and I figured out a routine for Kahleesi for when we show in Kentucky (We are also luckily sponsored by Equine Choice products and Cavallo hoof boots!). I am looking forward to Kentucky, it's going to be here before I know it!

Key Learnings from a day with Linda & Pat Parelli, Then My first Extreme Cowboy Race

A day in London with Linda and Pat Parelli

On Saturday I went to the one day event with Linda and Pat Parelli event to watch and learn. It was a great day of learning. 

My key learnings to share with you from these lessons with the masters were:

• Be the ambassador of yes not the administer of no: instead of always telling your no, stop that, later, think about saying ‘yes’ but with boundaries. For example if the horse is bucking around on the circle (not riding), think about saying yes you can do that – but you need to stay out there until your circles get nice.
• Have your horse do more and you do less: think about keeping your feet still more, and getting your horse to do the moving around. Try to let go of the desire to micro manage and instead let your horse try.
• Ride with your elbows: To get softer with your horse’s mouth, ride from your elbows not your hands. 
• Aim for connection not just obedience: Obedience is a great first step in liberty but really we need a connection – so instead of always saying ‘no’ to the horse when they go to leave, think about saying ‘yes’ but then help them find you again making it their idea.
• Master sideways to master flying changes: flying lead changes is a sideways game. Start on the wall with sideways, then going across the open arena. Start with walk, then trot, and then in canter it leads to flying changes!

My First Extreme Cowboy Race 

On Sunday I went to the Campbellford Fair for my first Extreme Cowboy Race with Cupid (Lion of Wallstreet) and Kahleesi (Kahleesi Soar). It was a ridiculous amount of fun and totally blew my mind for obstacles and ideas!

My first ride was on Kahleesi. I entered the ring and she spooked at the start line which was passing between two umbrellas. I took a deep breath and she cross through. Then she was very unsettled riding around the ring so I let her walk and trot taking her time to build confidence. Every obstacle I took a deep breath and although we had the slowest time (except for Cupid)  she completed everything calmly. 

I wasn’t focused on speed – I was focusing on giving my horse a good opportunity. I was so happy with her. Compared to New York she had gained confidence and was more relaxed on the tarp and took less time to complete the obstacles (because I point her at the obstacle and ask her to try, but don’t rush her through it).

My second ride was Cupid. He had been really calm all morning, but then the horses with carriages started performing in the ring beside the show ring. That scared the heck out of Cupid. I have never seen or felt Cupid so nervous before. He was completely unsettled.

I tried some ground work and lateral movements to settle him before our turn in the ring but it wasn’t enough to completely calm him before our ride. He passed through the umbrellas no problem because he really is a brave horse with obstacles, but he couldn’t get over the carriage horses. We navigated the obstacles extremely tense and nervous. I did a lot of deep breathing and at one point had to do some circles to settle him more.

On the last obstacle we needed to dismount and ground tie. I took longer than one minute to get back on him because I was going slow and being patient with him, but there is a rule you need to mount within a minute so we were disqualified - ouch.

After our first rounds a few people came over to me and said what an amazing display of horsemanship they witnessed by me with Cupid. They were impressed that he was fresh from the track this year and that I didn’t push him, that I focused on relaxing and calming him. They said it was very good to see.

Then I found out the top 8 riders from each division ride again after lunch for the finals. That was exciting because in the Pro division there were only 7 of us so Kahleesi would get another chance in the ring. It’s a good thing there were only 7 of us because it was extremely tough competition with top extreme cowboy racers in the Pro division – including Susan Caldwell, the fantastic clinician that taught me at the Extreme Cowboy Clinic at Pine Forest Stables a few weeks ago. 

I had to show Pro because I am a coach myself…even though I’m new to this discipline.

Our second ride was amazing. Kahleesi was a lot more confident and we rode through the obstacles much better. We did everything very well except the splash box at the end when I got a bit too excited and forgot to take my deep breath of relaxation before asking her to try so she jumped it instead of walking through it. 

We scored first with our obstacle score of 74 points (nobody else got over 70 in our division) but our time wasn’t as fast as other riders so we got bumped down to 4^th place. I was still ecstatic because my goal was to develop confidence over the obstacles in my horse and do the obstacles well… so getting the best score was definitely success!

After the show they let us go back into the ring and ride the obstacles. The carriage horses were gone now so Cupid was a lot more relaxed and calmly completed the whole course. Kahleesi got to walk through the splash box again, which she did perfectly on the first try. It ended up being a good experience for both horses – full of progress and confidence boosters.

Some of the super interesting obstacles:

• A mattress wrapped in a tarp
• A very narrow splash box
• A very narrow long bridge of only 18” wide! I was super surprised both my horses aced this
• A bridge over tires so it wobbled
• Using a broom to push a ball through a zig zag of poles
• Putting clothes up on a clothes line
• Picking up large stuffed animals and having to ride around with them

I loved the competition because it really is an ultimate test of skill and confidence. The only thing I would change is a little less bonus points for speed so that completing the obstacles accurately counts a bit more towards the final score. Easy for more to say, I know, because I scored the best on this…. But I do feel it’s better to encourage accuracy over speed to some degree.

My proudest moment for Kahleesi was completing the narrow back up with raised poles and we didn’t hit a single one! My proudest moment for Cupid was how he walked over the mattress and bridge like it was nothing. 

I can't wait to do it again - the next one for me will be Marmora Fair on September 6th :)