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!

Flying Lead Changes, Cranial Sacral, and Centered Riding

Last weekend was a bunch of learning at PHH. If you think about soaking up education as if collecting water from a tap, then forget the water bottle because this past weekend you needed a whole trough.

Cantering and Flying Lead Changes

On Friday the 21^st we were fortunate to have Parelli Professional Todd Owens come teach us about cantering and flying lead changes. He brought his Level 4 trained horse, Shania, to show us what the exercises were supposed to look like- what a fantastic idea. It meant the people who learned by listening could have the instructions, the people who learned by seeing could watch Todd with Shania, and we all learnt by doing because we tried the patterns.

It was a fascinating group because we all had very different horses and many of us were riding at different levels – so we got to learn how to problem solve for different horses and riders. It was like a smorgasbord of learning.

I rode Kahleesi in the workshop and had a great time practising maintaining correct bend with correct pace. I also discovered that she is a bit of a grumplepuss in large groups for canter – she made a few marish faces at the other horses just to make sure they knew she wasn’t happy they were standing in her arena.

Some tips and things to remember for cantering and flying lead changes that we learnt from Todd:

• -        Practice using the supple rein to create the correct flexion in the horse
• -        Ride walk, trot, canter with an independent seat (no contact on the reins)
• -        Practice forehand and haunch turns to isolate moving the hind end and front end of your horse
• -        Practice sideways to get your horse responsive to your leg, moving athletically sideways
• -        Practice haunches in so that you will better be able to control your horse’s hind end for a flying change
• -        Set up a pattern like a figure 8 with a pole and ride the pattern being insistent your horse gives you correct flexion and posture
• -        Then try putting the pieces together and batta bing batta boom – flying lead change!

What I like about this approach is that you set up all of the skills so that the flying change is on purpose and in balance – then it makes it easier to progress to multiple flying changes in future.

Margreet & Brian come to visit

During the workshop, Margreet and Brian arrived and were able to watch. Margreet is the master Level IV Centered riding instructor from the Netherlands – she is also certified in Reiki, T Touch, Equine Cranial Sacral, Saddle fit, Equine massage, and Equine Acupuncture - she's a jack of all trades when it comes to horses to say the least. 

Margreet instructed us Saturday and Sunday for a 2 day workshop on Equine Cranial Sacral work and centered riding. Brian is also trained in Equine Cranial Sacral and helped us learn about the horse's movement. 

It was perfect that Margreet watched Todd’s workshop because she would refer to ‘the cowboy’ throughout the clinic and reference some of the exercises he did. She thought Todd was fantastic, the steps he provided worked, and loved how he isolated the movements.

Thank you Cowboy Todd J  Make sure you're at his next workshop at PHH - https://www.facebook.com/events/398694333630496/ 

Equine Cranial Sacral

Saturday’s workshop with Margreet and Brian we practised different ‘holds’ with our horses to help them relax and release tension in their body. It was absolutely amazing – like crazy hocus pocus magic – to see how these simple holds made EVERY single horse in the workshop become so calm, relaxed, licking & chewing, yawning, and releasing tension or stress.

They helped us learn to assess a horse before doing the holds – such as watching a horse’s walk, eating grass, and breathing. During the different holds you could literally see the breathing change in the horses to be deeper and more relaxed. After the holds you could literally see the horse eating grass differently.

Some assessment questions to ask yourself about your horse:

• -        When they eat grass, do they move their legs around a lot to balance for getting grass, or do they move their neck around in a semi circle to reach more grass?
• -        When they eat grass, do they grab with their front teeth and pull up, or do they grab with their teeth and move their head sideways?
• -        When they stand at rest, is their tail to one side?
• -        When they stand at rest, does their breath fill their whole barrel?

There were more things that we looked at, but I found these ones the most interesting and different from what I'm used to.

Centered Riding

That evening I had a private lesson aboard Kahleesi and we worked on picking up contact and having energy in the hind legs.

Margreet is one of the few coaches to instruct me that doesn’t try to get me in a bit. She says “bit or bitless doesn’t matter, whatever is working for the horse.”

She explained to me that one benefit of the bit is that it can make the horse chew, which can help a horse relax at the poll. However, she said you can get the same result bitless, you just have to work a little harder.

She helped me with many things including:

• -        slowing down to focus on quality of movement from my horse’s hind end (we did some exercises over trot poles and on circles to create better impulsion from our hind end)
• -         to follow with my hands better (when Kahleesi’s head came up I still had a tendancy to drop my hands, and Margreet helped me follow Kahleesi better which made a huge improvement)
• -        be more aware of correct flexion (she explained the cowboy’s exercise with the supple rein on the serpentine is so fantastic and pointed out how the jaw, nostril, and eye should align when you have correct flexion… I’d been letting Kahleesi’s nose get out of line)

 The next day we finished up with some holds on our horses and then got into centered riding. We practiced some things without our horses and then all had semi private lessons. Margreet's level of detail to rider is incredible and she really helped to train my eye to see things about the rider.

A couple key things that many riders needed to remember:

• -        Keep your nose in line with your naval (belly button), so when you turn, only turn your head as far as your belly button goes
• -        Remember to take your shoulders with you on the turns (for example when you turn right, allow your left shoulder to come with you)

I rode my lesson on Thetis with Sabrina and her horse Zoey. I rode Thetis bitless in the side pull attachment made by Epic Equestrian (http://www.epic-equestrian.com/). Both Brian and Margreet commented that Thetis was consistently collecting from the correct place in her poll and carrying herself correctly – “there is no reason to swap this horse to a bit – she carries herself beautifully, and is relaxed through her jaw and poll.”

That was an incredibly reassuring statement because it seems everyone wants me in a bit. To be honest, the more everyone tells me I must ride in a bit to achieve the next level of Finesse, the more I become determined to prove them wrong. I’m not even against bits and occasionally I use them… but I really just hate being told I can’t do something when I think its possible. I know, I’m stubborn right? This will be my next journey after I’m finished with Kentucky – my journey to level 4 Finesse.

Anyway, back on track.

In our lesson we practiced flexion, leg yields, and some jumping.

I wanted most to learn from this lesson was strategies to get rid of my wiggle butt. I have this bad habit that when I am cantering and jumping I tend to wiggle my butt. You’ve noticed it right? If you haven’t, just take a look at some of my Youtube videos of me jumping. You’ll see it, that darn wiggle butt. It’s effective though – I feel secure, I can turn when I want to, I compete well, and ride accurate courses… but that wiggle butt!!!

I didn’t know why I was doing it, and several people have tried to help me with it - my centered riding coach, Esther Johnson came pretty close to fixing the wiggle by having me strengthen my core, and Parelli instructor Kathy Baar helped me by having me think about my knees and grounding both my feet.

What did Margreet do when presented with the wiggle challenge? She solved it!

She zoned in on the fact that when I sit my canter I let my hips move in the backwards circle motion, but when I half seat I lock my hips and they ride frozen in the air. She helped me find my backwards circle while in half seat which restored the natural motion to my body and voila, wiggle butt is gone! Okay so now I just have to remember it every time I ride.

Esther and Kathy’s awareness of my position were definitely pieces to the puzzle – and now I have a key ingredient to pull it all together.

Wrap up

I loved this past weekend because Friday was about training strategies and process, Saturday was about helping our horses feel better, and Sunday was about getting our riding in rhythm with our horses.  

I’m sensing a new type of Super camp in the future – natural horsemanship, centered riding, cranial sacral – anyone interested in that for next summer?

So much learning and growth happening at PHH!

What's next?

Remember to check out Todd’s next workshop which is Friday, 6-9pm, September 18^th at  PHH. We are learning about building finesse with collection. https://www.facebook.com/events/398694333630496/

Lots happening this weekend – centered riding lessons tonight, NHA horse agility & obstacle show tomorrow, and the NHA trail ride to the pond on Sunday. See you there! (more details at http://nhassociation.ca/)  

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 :)

A week of Hell or a week of Happiness?

This past week has definitely had its fair share of ups and downs. Typically I post highlights and the best moments from my week…. Because that is where I choose to put my focus, but there is more behind the scenes.

I’m going to share with you some of my ‘hells’ from this past week, but also some of the ‘happiness’. You decide what you would be feeling at the end of the week... and trust me there is a point to this!

This seemed to be the week that everything decided to break – the tractor tire had something wonky happen and needed a repair man to come up and fix it, our transmission blew in our TDI Jetta (ouch!) so that was another $3500, our pressure tank for our well decided to blow so that was $1500 to the plumber plus fixing up the wet damage in the basement caused by the pipes (at least it was just water- sewage back up would be worse!); My just purchased used Dodge Ram that had been etested/certified the day before had some electrical problem where all the lights wouldn’t work so there goes another $1100.

My deposit from my new trailer ($4000) still hasn’t been returned and I keep getting the run around that it’s in the mail. I had bought a brand new trailer that was supposed to arrive in May, but when the 3rd week of June came around and they told me they still had no idea of when it would arrive they offered to cancel my order which I accepted. I needed to buy a trailer asap – it is summer and prime horse season. The used trailer I bought is bigger than what I originally was looking for… our Silverado shouldn’t really tow it, so I needed a bigger truck. That led me to buy a big 3500 Dodge this past week. Having a bigger truck & trailer now means I need a CVOR to trailer so I had to do that paperwork and pay bigger bucks to register my truck – so not getting my original trailer has had a huge ripple effect. Oh ya, and I’m not used to driving such a big truck & trailer so I’ve already driven it into our driveway gate and dented the step rail – whoops.

Then the excavation site for our indoor arena is a complete mess – the original company basically dug a hole for the arena to sit in and it’s not even close to level with low spots about 1.5 feet off level. They won’t fix it, so we've hired another company for over $30,000 to fix the mess of the first people and I have to take them to court (papers already filed) to try and get money back from the original job.

A bunch of things that were supposed to be done by now – the indoor arena, fencing, and obstacles aren’t done and have been delayed due to weather or other people’s work schedule.

One of my best lesson horses, Shawna, is suffering from an unknown condition the vet thinks might be a toxin she is trying to fight off but currently is unknown with no treatment. I’ve ordered her a herbal anti inflammatory from the states she will start soon – she has a history of seasonal allergies we can never control (itchy all over – especially her belly, sometimes a runny eye) and this year she also has little swelling bumps that look like golf balls on her legs (around her joints).

My horses I bought for Kentucky are absolutely lovely, but they have ridiculously awful feet, so I needed to buy Cavallo boots (another $150 each), and they have horrible teeth… Cupid with the worst the vet has ever seen, and Kahleesi just had her teeth done last week and has 2 cracked teeth – more great news, right?

My new Genesis saddle that I just bought at the Royal Winter Fair last November already needs reflocking (saddle fitter was up Tuesday) so I have sent that away to be redone.

Plus our footing in our sand ring is now 4 years old and really needed replacing so I had that done last night/tonight while working around summer camp and a show tomorrow.

Oh and when the people came to scrape the manure/dirt from the paddock there was miscommunication so they scraped our muck pile and didn’t take much from the paddock… which was already delayed a few weeks because of rain.

Not to mention all of these things I am figuring out on very little sleep because I go to work every morning and leave by 6:40am, get home from work and then I coach/run summer camp, and get into bed by 11pm if I’m lucky and get woken around 5am by the puppies that need to be let out in the morning… so that’s about 6 hours sleep if I’m lucky.

Even if I think I am ahead of the game and getting to bed early, there is usually a problem like last night when someone decided to clog the toilet with a big poop (I understand poop happens), so I spent nearly an hour trying to plunge and scoop poopy water and I failed… I will have to try a better plunger tonight or will be calling a plumber for that too…. So I literally have poop water waiting for me to deal with when I get home – along with loads of sand for the riding ring to be redone tonight, and a show to set up for tomorrow.  

So what do you think when you read all that?  - that’s not even everything ‘negative’ that’s happened in the last week or so… there is always negative gossip, personal things, physical things, etc.

But here’s my point.

I make a decision every day to be happy.

I am in charge of my own happiness.

I don’t let other people take that from me. I don’t let things breaking or massive bills rob me of my happiness. I don’t let anyone or anything have control over my happiness. 

It is mine, I own it, I choose to be happy, I choose to see the upside, and I choose to see solutions.

If you come around the farm long enough, you’ll learn quickly that I don’t like to hear things like “that can’t be done,” “no we can’t”, “that’s impossible,” or “we can’t fix that,” or other negative phrases… I ask for solutions.

My two most powerful keys to happiness are:

1.         Choose to see the good in every situation – the bad stuff just isn’t worth your energy
2.         If something has gone to heck, focus on the things that can be done to make it better

With all the above ‘hell’ that has happened, here is what I choose to see:

I have a wicked awesome trailer that is so spacious with everything we need and want – James & I have actually slept a few nights in it and we are so excited to take it to New York next weekend with the dogs and horses. Even though I drove it into a gate, at least the gate is okay and it’s just a small dent on the step rail, barely noticeable. I also now have a truck I love – man is it comfy! It even has better fuel economy than my Ford Escape. It’s fantastic because James loves his truck and didn’t really like me driving it, so now we each have our own truck and our own commuter vehicle.

Things break on cars, it happens. Now that the Jetta has a new transmission it should be good to run for a very long time because we already did the timing belt too. Same for the tractor, stuff breaks, and I’m so happy to have the Kubota because it is so easy to drive – plus we still have our Massey as back up if we need it, so really no harm done.

For the water pump – I never liked the carpet in the basement anyway, so now I have an even better reason to rip it up this winter to replace it, and now we have an awesome and way bigger pump installed with a better ‘reserve’ so we’ll be saving in hydro. Heck it was 30 years old so we definitely got our value out of the first one.

The indoor arena situation isn’t ideal, but it’s still on plan to be done before winter – I’ve survived 4 years with no indoor ring, so what’s another few months? Now the people we’ve hired to do the arena site are the same ones who did Sweetwater Stables nearby – an indoor ring that I’ve ridden in and know they did an awesome job - so I’m feeling pretty excited about this decision.

The fencing and obstacles are slowly getting done…. I can’t control that, so I just make sure the workers have what they need to get the job done. The obstacle show is August 29^th so we still have time to get the ‘wow’ factor accomplished. On the plus side we do have a lot done - a splash box, a couple new jumps, some nicely redone poles & standards, and a few other new obstacles. I just tell myself ‘patience Lindsey, patience.’  

The paddock scraping is set for Tuesday, so that will be done soon - and James and Justin did a great job scraping in the meantime to make it better for the horses. The arena footing was due for a change and I am excited to have nice new footing for the show on Saturday.

I’ve done what I can for Shawna at this point – she is still happy to come out and play. I can just hope the new herbal anti inflammatory helps. She is her usual self, so that is good.

Cupid and Kahleesi might need a lot of dental work and new hoof boots – but they are becoming two of our best lesson horses and are doing so amazing. They are so honest, kind, and quiet. They are wonderful editions to the PHH crew. Plus the hoof boots should last a long time and in the future another horse may need them so it’s good to have extra sizes of boots on hand.

For the saddle fitting, the reflocking is only costing $100 and that’s a small price to pay for my horse’s comfort. I’m excited to have it back and ride with confidence knowing my horse is happy – plus on the bright side, two of my other horses only needed a gullet change and some shims to make their saddles right and everyone else was fitting well – so that was great news.

Clogged toilet with poopy water… well there isn’t much of an upside to that one, but at least I had just brought in an outhouse a few days earlier so we still have multiple options for where to poop.

Little sleep – sure it’s hard, but puppies are adorable and I’m energized from sharing my passion for horses with students. I wish when I was learning to ride that natural horsemanship/centered riding was more readily available, so I am so thrilled to be giving so many students this experience.

It is truly rewarding to see the progression of students, and these are the faces that bring me happiness – people like...

• Laurie who was so terrified of her horse when she came to our farm and now she is competing in barrel racing and obstacle events this year, 
• Yvonne & Kim who have only been with us a year and are already mastering canter & obstacle challenges, 
• Jill who just bought her first horse and has been riding less than a year, but is successfully retraining her off the track TB, Maya who has been teaching her horse natural collection without using a bit, 
• Pat & John who took up riding as a retired couple that were scared to be on horses at first and now can canter around the ring enjoying it, 
• Franny who has turned her pushy Fjord pony into a summer camp super star, 
• Morgan who has taught her horse how to jump, Wendy who switched lesson farms and went from cross rails to 2’3 jumpers getting champion at most shows in less than a year, 
• Sue who has a very spooky horse and mastered tarps and other obstacles, 
• Raine who is filming her Parelli level 3 this summer, 
• Christina who took a horse that would get into the ring and have a catatonic meltdown and used natural horsemanship to build her confidence to create a 2ft jumper super star in only a few months, 
• Danica who recently bought her first horse and turned her from crazy to crazy awesome, 
• Cailey who knocks our socks off with her jumping skills and mastered flying changes recently, 
• Kayla who bought her first horse and impresses me every day with her love and devotion, 
• Caileigh who has become such a valued PHH coach and went from Hunter Queen to Hunter Queen with a natural horsemanship twist, 
• Nikita & Natalia who bought their first horse and are taking the time to do things right and are creating such a loving horse, Sabrina who turned a rearing horse into a dream ride, 
• Annalise who has turned a sassy chestnut mare into a willing partner she can ride with no bridle, 
• Emma & Ashleigh who are mastering their canter skills, 
• Charleigh who is doing a fantastic job teaching Cupid to jump, 
• Heather who brought her unstarted gelding only a couple months ago and is now riding him on trails & obstacles, 
• Elana who challenges herself every lesson and is mastering ground games & progressing in the saddle, 
• Robyn who is learning to canter, 
• Anastasia who has become the best camp director and mastered riding Thetis!
• Carolyn who has become so integral PHH and has found ways to keep us organized, 
• and to all the other students & campers (I’m sorry I didn’t name everyone!) that are making such amazing progress!

Last but definitely not least, I have an amazing family & husband that support me everyday and work hard to make PHH a thriving reality. Thank you for being such amazing people – you help me find happiness every single day. I am super proud of all of you and very thankful for you.

We are all in charge of our own happiness - and we can all help someone else find happiness.

A positive attitude goes a long way, and a few kind words go even further.

Spread a little happy.

Have a happy weekend, and thank you for being awesome & reading my blog post, you rock! J

Puppies, Extreme Cowboy & Pond Splashing

On Friday the first of the puppies went to their new homes. I am happy they are going to loving homes, but they are really adorable and I will miss them. There are a few in particular that I have become very attached to. Timer was one of my favourites who is just a cuddle bug, and he left Friday – a few tears crept from my eyes as I passed him over to his new parents.

My other favourite – Gem, leaves on Saturday this weekend so I’m hoping I’ll keep it together for her. Gem comes bounding to see me and wants to shower me with kisses.

On Saturday I headed out bright and early to Mount Albert for the Extreme Cowboy Clinic hosted by Cindy at her farm, Pine Forest Stables. Susan Caldwell was teaching the clinic – ranked 3^rd overall in Ontario Extreme Cowboy she knows her stuff! Wow what a rush – if you haven’t tried Extreme Cowboy I recommend it! I practically had ants in my pants the whole clinic and couldn’t wait to try everything.

I love extreme cowboy because I think it’s the ultimate test of horse & rider – without any advantages to specific breeds… it’s pretty much a level playing field… except I discovered my 17H tall horse, Cupid, was at a bit of a disadvantage for quick mounting and to bend over and pick up things. It doesn’t matter if you have a fancy warm blood with a floaty trot, a quarter horse with a peanut roller frame, nor a mustang with a bit too much pudge in the mid section.

It all comes down to how brave are you? 

How trusting are you of each other? 

How accurate are you? 

And how good is your communication together?

During the clinic Susan had some fantastic exercises – we practised turning in the Daisy pattern without letting our horse’s shoulder bend too much (we focused on hind quarter control), we practised bridges, car wash, noodles, jumps, a rope gate, and a whole bunch of obstacles that I have no idea what they are called – but they sure are a lot of fun!

Susan impressed me -she focused on riding with your body, using your outside aids, helping us find relaxation and suppleness in our horses, and telling us that if our horse is being tense at an obstacle to walk away, find relaxation and responsiveness in our horse and then to try again. She also promoted simply dismounting and trying obstacles from the ground if the horse was unsure. These are all things I promote in my own way and mimic many other natural horsemen I admire.

I asked Susan if she uses natural horsemanship, and she said “no I just use horse psychology and what works for the horse.” I replied “that is natural horsemanship” – Susan is a great example of a person who is using natural horsemanship by a different name, but she’s definitely natural!

Tip to share: If your horse won’t stand still, try getting them to work more quickly then they want to. For example canter circles, sideways and things that are hard (i.e. not just walking). Then try offering for your horse to stand still.

This way you are trying to get standing still to become your horse’s idea to stand still because moving is too much work. You help the horse find comfort in standing still. This was something Susan asked me to do with Kahleesi because she was having a hard time standing still – and I definitely agree because this is something we commonly do at home and it works!

Kahleesi and Cupid impressed me with how willing and awesome they were with the obstacles, the only one that we had to work on for a bit was the gate – but in the end Kahleesi was able to do the backing up version (more difficult), and Cupid was being confident with the gate too… next we will need to try a real gate – we do have one at home in our obstacle challenge, and you can expect to see it in the extreme division of our obstacle show on August 29^th!

Sunday our students decided not to show at Pickering Horse Centre because of iffy weather. Instead Sabrina and I went for a trail ride – Kahleesi and Zoey’s first time going through the water. They were both awesome and walked through the creek with no issue, and then had a blast splashing and dunking themselves in the pond.

Tip to share: It’s a great thing to take time for trail riding – it helps give your horse some mental stimulation, builds their confidence to so many different things (fallen logs, birds flying, dogs barking, going through narrow spaces, etc), and it helps build their fitness.

On both Saturday and Sunday after my other activities, I helped Sabrina put some miles on her young filly, Valentina. We progressed to having Sabrina ride her first follow the rail trots around the whole arena in both directions - and her first canter transitions while online! She is progressing so nicely in the saddle without any scary behaviour - just calm, accepting, and trustful in the saddle.... and that's saying a lot coming from this playful filly that used to think it was fun to rear and buck on the line only a couple months ago! 

Tip to share: when starting a young horse, first show them you can ride with them - don't worry about steering so much, just get our their way (without being dangerously out of control). Then as you gain their confidence that they can move with you, you can start influencing where they go. Follow the rail is the easiest pattern to start with because the horse use's the rail as a guide, and you only need one rein to make any correction to keep the horse on the rail.  

Now, I have a lot more ideas for the Obstacle show we are hosting Saturday August 29^th – don’t miss it! We are building a lot of new obstacles for the show. We also have our first PHH show this Saturday. 

So what are you waiting for? Go try Extreme Cowboy and Trail Riding this summer!

  

Jumper Jackpot - a quick look at this fun day

Last Wednesday I competed in the Jumper Jackpot run by the Hamilton Hunt Club. 27 entries competing through two jumper rounds in an attempt to go double clear to proceed to the jump off.

When I got the show I went to put on my show jacket and realized I had accidentally taken my hubby’s suit jacket instead… well that wasn’t going to work. Luckily jackets were excused so I rode in my show shirt. Not a great start to the day!

The course was challenging – set on grass after a day of rain so it was a little slick. All my horses are barefoot and I have never wanted shoes before, but that grass did make me think we may do better with some corks grabbing into the ground.

I brought both Dreamer and Thetis to the show – originally I was supposed to ride Thetis & Sabio, but Sabio ended up having an abscess and was still a bit ouchy so that wouldn’t be fair to compete him. I tried Dreamer after I knew Sabio was sore – I had already paid for two entries so I wanted to see if another horse could go. In our practice session we were clearing 3ft easily – it turns out Dreamer can be quite the jumper!

When we got to the show and I saw the triple combination, a one stride combination, and a triple bar oxer, I thought Dreamer might be able to survive the course, but it wouldn’t be ideal to have that be his first jumper show. Instead I withdrew my second entry. It actually worked out really well because Thetis had a buddy on the trailer, and Dreamer had a great experience of coming to the show, riding around the warm up ring for a while and then getting to relax.

Thetis was slipping a bit on the grass, but she was showing me how she tries her heart out for me and was still managing to leave all the rails up. We rode our first round less than perfect with a few chipped strides but Thetis was good to me and left every rail up.

In the second round we had our act together a bit more and nailed our striding a lot better as we were figuring out the class. Out of the 27 entries, only 10 combinations went double clear and advanced to the jump off. My goal was to turn as tight as I could without slipping on the grass – and leave the rails up!

We rode a clear round with a nice time – only 3 seconds away from first place. We finished in third place and won $500. It was a really fun day, so I have a feeling I’ll be back there next year!

Next time I will make sure the right show clothes are in the trailer!

Check out our highlights https://youtu.be/LZ3POzevGuM

Centered Riding Certified, Parelli Learning, Adult Camp, and Wining $500 in the jumper jackpot!

I’ve been a bit busy and haven’t updated you all in a while (I’m sorry!) – I’ve been up to a few things these last couple weeks. Let me catch you up to speed with my latest learnings and happenings.

June 17^th I flew out to Maine for part two of the Centered Riding Instructor’s course. It was 4 very intense days. Every day we did some body work (exercises with no horses to practice our riding position), riding, and teaching. I met Margreet from the Netherlands, she was assisting teaching the course. She is a Level IV centered riding instructor and does Sacral Cranial work on horses – which is pretty amazing to watch. I’m planning to have her up to our farm on the August 22-23 weekend so let me know if you are interested ($200 for the weekend).

One of my biggest epiphany’s during the course was learning to sit trot. Instead of thinking rise and fall with my hips, I learnt to think and feel a diagonal motion in my hips. Try taking your right hip to your left shoulder and vice versa. When you do this in rhythm with the horse you can sit a lot better in the saddle. It makes sense… the horse moves right & left so why wouldn’t I?

At the end of the course it was really rewarding to earn my Centered Riding Level I coaching certificate along with another 4 out of the 5 other women. Now I can keep growing and learning and hope to move up through the levels over the years.

The weekend of the 27^th of June I took Cupid and Kahleesi to the Finesse clinic with Todd Owens – Parelli Professional. I had a really nice ride on Kahleesi in the morning and learnt some exercises to help supple her. In the afternoon I rode Cupid and he showed me what a calm and collected guy he naturally is.

I was lucky to have a private lesson with Kahleesi on day 2 to help our impulsiveness. To do this we really slowed it down and went back to basics of a good mount. Then I had a private lesson with Cupid and we did some neat porcupine game with the rope around his belly to ask him to yield from pressure in different ways.

I was reminded about a lot of excellent theory on natural horsemanship. One of the biggest messages I took away was

‘Never release on a brace.’ I love this because it reminds us that as natural horsemen we aren’t just trying to accomplish a movement or a task, but we are trying to get our horses emotionally and mentally connected and calm. Never releasing on a brace means always release when the horse’s mind is completing the task, not just his feet. If you release when the horse is bracing and tense, then you will teach your horse to be tense and bracing.

The July 4^th weekend we had adult camp at PHH. What a fantastic weekend with so many people! We did some centered riding body work exercises, centred riding exercises in the saddle, ground games, riding obstacles, and jumping. We had a few new people and experienced people, so it was nice to have everyone together as well as splitting into groups.

Some tips from the weekend –

• ·         Forget about your waist… it’s not a joint, instead ride from your hips and allow your hips to move, and let them fold into two point position.
• ·         Get particular in your ground work – if you want your horse to be snappy with transitions and other cues, then you need to be particular from the start… otherwise how is your horse supposed to know when to be responsive and when you don’t care?
• ·         Ride with a purpose – when you ask your horse for trot, canter, or anything, have in mind what your horse needs to do for you to reward them and move on. It’s important to have a plan and a goal, otherwise if you are simply trotting around aimlessly your horse can lose motivation and you may find it hard to progress. For example when you ask for trot, maybe you want to achieve stretchy trot, a fast trot, or get 3 laps in the ring before you move on – whatever your goal is, have it in mind so you know when to move on and can reward your horse in the right moment.

On Wednesday July 8 I went to the Hamilton Hunt’s Jumper Jackpot and placed 3^rd out of a tough 27 riders, missing first by only 3 seconds… it was a super fun and exciting experience… I’ll write more later about that one after I have the video ready to show you (but I've given you a snapshot from show day up top!)– stay tuned J 

Tonight we have Todd Owens coming to PHH for a Rein Positions clinic for Power, Control and Performance, tomorrow I’m headed to the NHA Obstacle Challenge show, and then Sunday I’m headed to Kevin Alcock’s for play day on the obstacles, followed by a jumper show at 2pm in Bethany at Sky Haven…. Crikey it’s going to be busy and a lot of fun!

My mid life crisis = more tips and learnings to share

You may have noticed that a lot has been happening in 2015 for me – two horses training for the Kentucky Thoroughbred Makeover, NHA trade show demos, flying to Maine for the Centred Riding Instructor course, participating in Cowboy Dressage with Don Halladay, riding with Beth Underhill at Can Am, etc. Well I’d like you to prepare for a whole lot more.

I guess you could call this my midlife crisis…. Well sort of. I turn 30 this year, and I’m feeling the pressure to start the next chapter of my life with kids…. I’ve heard it many times before ‘if only I had just done x before I have kids,’ or ‘once you have kids you have no time for yourself.’ I’m sure you’ve heard it all before too, so I’m making this year a big year with something happening pretty much every weekend – it’s a year about me and my learning before I embark on a different chapter of my life.

I’m trying really hard to give you a post every week to keep you in the loop and share my midlife crisis learnings with you.

So here’s what happened this past weekend.

Last Friday I finished my last FEEL session. James and I did it together and did different obstacles that represented challenges in our lives. We allowed the horses to do the obstacles and reveal insights to our challenges. It was a really neat exercise of getting in tune with the horses and recognizing our own feelings and energy. 

Saturday, Esther Johnson, my centered riding level 2 coach, came to teach me 4 hours of back to back private lessons. We started with Kahleesi and worked on building the foundation skills needed for excellence.

Esther has a lot of western and trail experience so she is helping me with my riding as well as preparing for the Trail class for in Kentucky. I was reminded of the importance of keeping centred and balance through the basic movements of forehand & haunch turns, leg yields, and shoulder in.

When we were starting the movements I was shifting my weight too much, and Esther brought awareness to my body and leaning so that I could have better balance. By the end I was being much more subtle in my cues and Kahleesi was being responsive.

We also did a fun exercise of loping a half circle, then halting and doing a 180 degree haunch turn (so that I changed direction) and then loping off while still finishing the turn. This was setting Kahleesi up for the correct canter leads and improving our up & down transitions – lots of fun!

Cupid had his first session with a bit. I had been riding him bitless to gain his confidence and self-carriage. I like to get out of the horse’s mouth and build trust, communication, and freestyle riding before adding a bit and collection. I find if the horse can ride on a loose rein and no bit first, then they are usually calmer and better prepared to start riding with a bit.

We worked on stretching circles, maintaining bend and straightness. We even dabbled in a little shoulder and haunches in. During this lesson I was reminded about how keeping soft elbows, shoulders, and wrists are so important to maintain collection. It can be hard to keep my joints elastic and flowing as I hold feel on the reins, but wow what a difference it makes when I remember to stretch and give in time with my horse’s stride.

Try feeling your horse’s rhythm next time you ride. You will feel the horse has a natural up and down movement. On the ‘down’ movement, remember to allow your joints to stretch and give with the horse so they can have their natural movement. If you are too still or static with your reins then your horse is restricted by your hand when they need to stretch down.

Watch the video of highlights and tips:

On Sunday I taught a few natural horsemanship lessons in the morning – the horses and students were fantastic. Then we rounded out the day with Summer Camp Staff Training 2015. We had a great time with a lot of the horses out practicing different exercises. We have an excellent line up of staff and horses for this year.

There are a handful of spots left, and juggled things a bit to offer two more mini camps during the last week of August. Kids can sign up for a 3 day (Mon-Wed), or a 2 day camp (Thurs-Fri). More information at: http://partridgehorsehill.com/summercamp15.html

Thank you for reading!

Check out this video of Kahleesi's progress so far: