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!

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!