2 Competitions with an Unexpected Twist

This past weekend I went to two different horse shows. On Saturday September 12th I went to Glenaura Horse Farm for the Obstacle show, and Sunday I went to the Uxbridge Fall Fair Gambler's Choice Horse Show.

Obstacle Show
On Saturday morning it was pouring rain, dark, and cold when we headed out with the horses at 6am so we could arrive on time to Honeywood. By the time we got there the skies had cleared, the rain had stopped, but it was still pretty crisp in temperature.

We unloaded Cupid and Khaleesi and discovered Kahleesi was ouchy on her front right. Not horrible but not perfect. I walked her around a bit, assessed her legs/hooves, and determined it is either an abscess brewing or she stepped on a stone and bruised her foot. There was no heat in her leg, but seemed to be a little heat near her coronet band.

We tried wrapping her and putting hoof boots on and that helped. She was walking nicely and willingly but occasionally would take ouchy steps. I decided to keep Kahleesi walking because walking is good if it's an abscess, as well she seemed comfortable.

The competition started with an online obstacle class. I decided to keep Kahleesi in the class because it was going to be all walk and the exposure to new obstacles would be good for her. I competed in the Intermediate (they had two levels: Beginner & Intermediate).

The obstacles were fun and included:

• Tarp
• Barrels to circle around
• Pool noodle car wash
• Tunnel made out of a tarp
• Pushing a ball off a tire
• Pool noodle standards
• A swivel obstacle where you had to get the horse to push a piece of wood (watch the video because I don't really know how to describe it)
• Narrow bridge
• Pedestal (giant one)
• Caveletti jump (on a low height that you can walk over)
• Kiddie pool with water and an inner tube around it
• Teeter tauter

Cupid and Kahleesi were awesome. They did everything pretty easy except they had a good sniff at the pool. 

Kahleesi finished 1st and Cupid was 3rd out of a lot of people (they placed ribbons to 10th and there were more people than placings). 

After that we competed in Liberty, which was the same course but no rope. The horses were awesome and Kahleesi was 1st with Cupid 4th. There was a lot of impressive liberty work from the competitors. Kahleesi got top marks because I could send her through many obstacles from a distance. 

Next we had riding obstacles. This was walking (trot was optional, but with all the obstacles there wasn't room for a lot of trotting). This time Cupid came 1st and Kahleesi was 3rd. 

After that I decided to scratch Kahleesi from the Trail challenge because that would involve some jumps, trotting, and cantering. I didn't want to push her out of her comfort, and at the trot she was more ouchy. 

Cupid competed in the trail class which was outdoors and in a big back field. 

The obstacles included:

• Logs to cross over
• Flag that you had to move from one round bale to another
• A squeeze to ride through (hay feeders lined up in parallel rows)
• Brush jump with brush on the sides (similar to pool noodle standards but with brush)
• Jump with a car wash over top
• Brush jump with brush facing up towards the horse's belly
• Pick up a water bucket and move it
• A pole drage
• Water crossing
• Ditch
• A tunnel made out of tarp for a floor, round bales for sides, and a tarp for a roof
• A gate
• Bank jump
• Giant tires filled with sand to cross over
• Gate

It was a lot of fun - Cupid wasn't super relaxed so we need to work on finding relaxation at the obstacles so he can stand still better at them. He thought the ditch was scary and took about 5-10 minutes to cross it the first time. I was just patient and insisted he look/try but wasn't forceful. Our gate wasn't super pretty either because he was a bit anxious to stand beside it calmly. 

He placed 4th in the trail class and then when it was all done I spent an hour with Cupid at the gate building his confidence to stand calmly at the gate. Eventually he relaxed and did the gate beautifully so I hopped off and loved on him. It was important to give him so much comfort in the right moment because it was such a big challenge. 

Watch our show:

Gamblers Choice on Sunday

On Sunday I went to the Uxbridge Fall Fair for the Gamblers Choice. It was a bit of a drizzly cold day but Kathy and Larry Bonehill did an awesome job setting such a fun obstacle course. 

Because Kahleesi was still looking ouchy, I made a last minute swap and brought Dreamer (one of our lesson horses) instead. This meant I had Dreamer, Cupid, and Thetis. I brought Thetis because last year I competed with her and didn't place, so I wanted to do better this year. Cupid and Kahleesi were entered because they needed more exposure to obstacles before Kentucky.... so I had 3 horses to show. 

My round one was on Thetis. I carefully planned my route and executed it pretty well except our first obstacle she didn't want to let me get off onto the mounting block, and I dropped the ball on an obstacle soon after that (literally). After that we found our groove and aced all of the obstacles we attempted. 

Cupid was ride two. He entered the ring calmly but then the Merry Go Round started going and he had a bit of a melt down. I had to change my plan and avoid that corner of the ring because it was too big of a distraction that he was actually starting to go catatonic. We continued to other parts of the ring and he did awesome, once we were out of that corner he aced all of the obstacles we attempted. 

Lastly I rode Dreamer, final horse of the day. By now I had a strategy worked out and I rode a pretty efficient pattern. Dreamer was super awesome and aced everything except one water box he jumped over instead of stepped through. 

I was super happy and very thrilled with our progress. 

I was even more delighted when Cupid was announced as 8th place, Thetis as 2nd place and Dreamer as 1st place. Dreamer did pretty awesome as a back up horse and I definitely did better than last year!

Some tips I learnt from the weekend:

• Be ready to have a plan B, and C
• When plan B and C don't work, take a deep breathe and focus on what you can do
• Practice relaxation at the obstacles so your horse can approach with confidence
• The show ring is a place to show what you excel at, not what you are working on. If you don't think you can do an obstacle, don't try it during gamblers choice - do that during warm up, or after the course, or try it at home
• Make a plan and ride your plan
• In gamblers choice think about riding the obstacles that are close together rather than wasting time going all over the ring. For example do the 1 point jump that is just slightly out of the way between two bigger point obstacles. 

Watch the gamblers choice:

I had a super amount of fun and can't wait to do it again!

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/)  

Learnings from my Super Experience at Super Camp

I had the fantastic opportunity to ride at Parelli Super Camp at the beautiful Horseman's Word Ranch from August 12-16... 5 days full of learning. Let me share with you some of the highlights and learnings that I walked away with.

We had some really interesting discussion over the 5 days about natural horsemanship, progress, and the different savvys.

About Natural Horsemanship

• Natural horsemanship is about understanding the human and horse's nature, and not making it right or wrong. 
• Problems are nothing but surprises you don't want
• Think: What's missing in the relationship if you can't do something?
• Trust is when you share mutual interests
• Respect is when somebody brings something new and unique to the relationship. 
• When in Rome do as Romans do, when in horseville do as horses do. 
• We don't hit each other in our society as humans, but horses do kick & bite each other so that means we might need to be firm with them too. 

 About Progress

• Think about having an underlying focus for you ride/play session. For example will you be always rewarding exuberance, the correct bend, stopping with no reins, etc. This way you are more aware when your horse makes the change. 
• Best way to learn something is to teach it. 
• Be open minded to learn. 
• What is the litter ingredient today that will set me up for tomorrow?

About Liberty

• Start with games that get your horse connected to you like 'stick to me'. Don't start with a lot of circles because that is sending your horse away from you. 
• Try playing different games with your horse that you have practiced really well. 
• If you aren't sure if your horse is ready for liberty, try playing the games with your rope in your belt... so you aren't using your rope but you have it ready if you need it. 

We had some chances to play at liberty using the many round pens at the ranch. I tried Cupid & Kahleesi for the first time at liberty and it went really well. I learnt how to send horses in circles of opposite direction and how to get better with two horses at liberty. 

Some fun exercises

• Dressage pattern to give ourselves a purpose and goal
• Driving our horses with 2 long lines to improve our communication from behind our horses
• Riding with a bucket on a line to help build our horse's confidence
• Riding over poles to practice counting our steps between them to see if we were keeping out same pace, and then to see if we can change our pace. 
• Riding with our bodies and using the carrot sticks instead of reins to reinforce our aids 
• Simulations (no horses) so that we can figure out our movements and positions without confusing our horse! Even better is that when you practice the exercises with people, they can speak English and tell you how they are feeling and what is confusing them. 

 There was so much to learn and so many wonderful people to meet.

I had a lot of fun, and a lot of amazing moments where things just seemed to click. One of the key things for me was reminding myself of my vision for the day so that I knew when I was making progress and when to reward my horse. 

"In every moment make clarity of communication the top priority." 

We did so much more than the things I have listed here, but this gives you a taste of the buckets full of learning we explored at Super Camp - what an amazing experience with so many masters of horsemanship in one place! I feel incredibly fortunate to have such an opportunity so close to home. 

Thank you Don & Randee Halladay, Toddy & Maureen Owens, and John & Kathy Baar!

Looking forward to it again next year!

The Path to Kentucky Starts with New York

I was super excited heading into this past weekend – my first ACTHA (American Competitive Trail Horse Association - https://www.actha.us/) competition. This is the same type of competition being offered in Kentucky when we travel down in October for the Thoroughbred Makeover Competition – which is what I am planning to show Cupid & Kahleesi in.

The Planning

This all started with a long weekend trip to our family cabin in New York – a typical venture for James & I over the Civic long weekend. It became slightly more complicated when we realized that not all our Corgi puppies would be picked up by their owners yet, so two of them would be coming with us to New York along with our 3 dogs.

Then I was doing some reading about the trail competition that will be part of the Thoroughbred Makeover Contest – I have been preparing with Extreme Cowboy and Mountain Trail Clinics because we don't have ACTHA events here. Then I realized there was one in New York the same weekend we would be down there. I googled the address and it was only about 2.5hrs away from our cabin.

I okayed the idea with James, booked the appointment with the vet for the horse’s paperwork and then signed myself up for the competition. Then we confirmed our farm sitter and helpers (thank you so much!) and made the rest of our plans.

I didn’t stop there… days before we were set to leave, I found this adorable fluffy Corgi female that was available in Illinois. We’ve been looking for a fluffy female for a very long time, so I okayed the idea with James and put a deposit. The plan included a side trip for me to drive to Illinois for the puppy.

The Trip

We packed everything up Friday – our things and the things for the 2 horses, 3 dogs, and 2 puppies. We strolled into the Cracker Box Palace at around 10pm. I put Cupid & Kahleesi into a round pen with food and water, we let the dogs have a potty break, and slept in our trailer for the night. It’s so nice to have a trailer with a bed!

The Show

The Obstacle Class

I was so excited I woke up extra early. The first part of the show was the obstacle course in the outdoor ring. It looked very similar to obstacles we’ve had at the NHA horse shows – a tarp, pool noodle standard, a low bridge, mail box, and a few very similar things to what we’ve been practicing. 

The biggest difference with this type of competition was we had to stop and wait for the judge to be ready at each obstacle – also the idea was to keep the same pace for the course/obstacle. So when I trotted the pole/barrel pivot obstacle I actually lost marks because I changed my cadence.

I loved how it was similar to the NHA shows – a focus on calm horsemanship and riding the obstacles on a loose rein. People were English or Western just like at the NHA shows and I met a couple Parelli people there who were working on their Level 3!

There were 7 competitors at different levels, and I was the only person in my level (Pleasure Competitive), so I decided to bump up to the hardest level (Open) so that we wouldn’t be competing against ourselves.

We got to do the course twice – the second time was the ‘gamblers choice’ because if you chose to do the second round it would replace your first score… so you had to decide if you would do better the first or second time.

I did the course the second time with both horses because despite the obstacles being similar to home my horses hesitated at a few of them and I thought we’d do better the second time.

  

One of the obstacles was a real chicken we had to side pass to the chicken and then away from the chicken! Good thing we have lots of them roaming free on the farm at home!

We placed 2^nd and 3^rd in this class – 1^st place went to an awesome cowboy with a beautiful relationship with his horse. He told me they’d been doing these competitions for years and they definitely looked the part!

Tip for success: before you compete remember to read all the rules and ask the judge any questions before your pattern – make sure you know what you will gain points or lose points for

The Obstacle Trail Ride

This was the most fun competition ever!! There were 13 competitors on the ride and we left in groups of 3 or 4. My group was the first to go in a group of 3. I led my group onto the trail for the first mile. There were 6 obstacles on the trail. Each obstacle was a mile apart.

The obstacles we did at each mile were:

1.      A labyrinth of poles – we have to navigate through the poles, zigzagging our way through without hitting the poles.

2.      A natural water crossing of about 60ft long with a steep bank on the opposite site.

3.      Backing through an L shape of poles.

4.      Taking a camera off of a stand and taking a selfie with a goat

5.      Riding through fake vines and halting right after them

6.      Riding around a scary pool noodle and balloon obstacle

I rode the course with Cupid and when we reached the water crossing he looked around and hesitated. I took a deep breath with him and then asked him to try - he walked right across and I was so proud.

The horse behind me was having trouble with the water so the judge told us to ride on ahead to the next obstacle without my group. This was my first solo trail ride ever with Cupid (I actually never ride solo on trail rides because its always safer in a group). I gave Cupid the cue and he marched on.

What an incredible high I was on – it was so rewarding for my horse to trust me and go. We rode walk, trot, and canter on a relaxed rein through the forest, apple orchards, peach fields (or is it a peach orchard?), open fields and across the road. It was amazing… knowing that all the time and effort I put into training my horse from the ground up… putting the right amount of love, language, and leadership in so that we could get to this moment and succeed. It felt amazing.

After I got back with Cupid I went out with Kahleesi to ride the trail course au concours. I had the same incredible experience of my trusting equine partner to carry me through the trail completely solo for the first time. It was so exciting and rewarding. She was super awesome with the obstacles and the scariest part of our ride was the mud which she figured out confidently by the end of the ride.

Cupid was super awesome and aced all the obstacles finishing with 1^st place in our level…. But it was only us in our level. I was still super proud because we did everything really well and at the more advanced level.

The Big Surprise

The best part of the competition was at the end when they were awarding the Judge’s Pick. This is where you actually get a hoof pick and it’s to represent the judge’s pick. The judge gets to pick their favourite horse & rider team that represents a great partnership. Cupid and I were chosen.

I was super thrilled that our partnership that we have been working so hard on was showing through to people who had never met us before. 

It was a fantastic experience and now I know what we have to work on for Kentucky, but also what we are doing well and that we are on the right track. 

Tip for Success: When you make a goal for yourself (and your horse), try making a plan to help you succeed. In your plan include when you are going to practice, what skills you need to accomplish and the steps needed to get there. Then you can budget your time wisely and work towards your goal. 

Whatever your goal, make a plan, write it down, and check off the steps along the way to measure your progress.

Tip for Success: Goals can be as simple as learning to master walk to halt transitions, or as complex as planning to compete at the Kentucky Makeover Competition.Pick a goal that is specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and has a time line.  

Tip for Success: Remember that horses need Love, Language and Leadership to be trusting willing partners. Too much love without leadership will lead to a fearful horse that doesn't believe in you, too little appropriate language will lead to a confused horse, and no love will create a sour horse. The perfect combination creates the perfect partner. 

At the Cabin

After the show we went to our cabin in New York and settled in for the night just at dark. The next morning we woke up and went for a quick hour trail ride before I headed off to pick up our new fluffy puppy from Illinois while James took care of all the animals. 

Picking up Puppy

What an incredible drive - just over 1100km. After I got back I realized the GPS was set to no toll roads... so I probably didn't need to drive through Kentucky lol, but one look on our new little fluffy face and I knew it was worth the drive!

I stayed the night in Indiana at a hotel with puppy (now named Eevee) and headed back the next morning. The drive seemed faster on the way home. I got back around 7pm and we headed out for another trail ride.

Check out this hilarious video of when we introduced our new puppy to the other ones: https://youtu.be/pk7469ReOkc

Finally a Day of No Long Driving

On Tuesday we decided to call our bosses to ask for one more day of vacation - luckily they were okay with that. This meant I could have one day without any long driving trips... the only driving I did was into town for food. We were able to relax and do a lot of trail riding, playing with the dogs and a swim in the pond. 

We took turns riding Cupid and Kahleesi and explored some trails - there are thousands and thousands of acres of trails in the mountains at our cabin so we had lots of fun exploring :)

Heading Home

On our last day we went for another quick trail and then packed up the gang... which took a bit longer than I thought - I guess 3 puppies, 3 dogs, and 2 horses come with a lot of things! We headed home around noonish and didn't have trouble at the border... but we did hit Toronto traffic so we decided to stop at Pet Smart and got Eevee a new dog tag. Then made it back by 9ish. It feels nice to be home but it sure was a fun long weekend!!

Some Fun for You

If you're interested in trying out obstacles for yourself, be sure to come to our Saturday August 29th NHA Horse Agility and Obstacle show - there will be A LOT of obstacles (and some new ones!) - learn more here http://nhassociation.ca/horseagility.html

We also have our PHH schooling show that has some obstacle classes as well as hunter, jumper and western speed events classes . Learn more about the PHH show here http://partridgehorsehill.com/HorseShowClinic.html 

Video

Watch some fun from the weekend

https://youtu.be/ei1pUMBWYX4

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!

  

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: