Getting down

This week I am asking more in the walk crossovers and coming into the spin when he gives me his back. He's very different right to left so that's giving me plenty to focus on.

I've also started loping one handed on big circles, asking for collection and going onto straight lines and stops across the diagonal. These are a pressure point for him so lots of repetition there for now.

Lise told me he looked really good loping today, all round and collected and fast. Amazing feeling. I love my Toby version 3.

A different horse

I can always feel Lise's eyes on us when I ride, but more often now there's a smile too. Toby is so tuned and so responsive. Our circles are getting smaller, he's giving a lot faster and tighter when I ask for flexion. His stops are getting lower and deeper, I'll have to braid his tail next. His straight lines are getting straighter. When he ducks or wobbles I straighten him and if he resists that or collection we circle to get rid of resistance and then off we go, straight and true. His two tracking is responsive to my seat and his transitions are getting more collected. Baby rollbacks are calming down.

His main stress right now is being collected, preparing to lope off from a standstill. He fusses and moves his hindquarters - those turn on the forehands for our exams spoilt that - so I finish with lots of standing and walk/halt transitions.

Also today we started making walk spirals to the point of crossover. If he wanted to spin he could come in after 3 or 4 rounds and he did want to. He was soft and supple and just angelic. My best simile is like a knife through butter. It was that easy for him.

It's the stops that are the most exciting but each piece of his training that comes together is mega satisfying.

Going into week 6

Plates are on, we've started small stops at trot. Flexions and suppleness are coming along nicely. Tob's mindset is good and about him, I'm feeling positive. Have to wait a month to see if my next visa is granted so cautious about that but thrilled with him.

It's in the way that you use it

I rode Tob yesterday for the first time since we got back and he was lovely. Soft and relaxed and plenty of impulsion. Lise told me not to ride in spurs "if I wouldn't, you shouldn't!" Were her exact words! So I lunged first and then we walked and trotted big circles. All good.

Today I lunged 10 minutes then got on, same again. He's been lungeing in a lovely shape so I'm really happy he's maintaining that with me on him. I started some smaller circles in walk and trot, asking for more flexion which he gave. I've come to the realization that my horse is more broke than me at this point. I have to get my memory and my commands in order but he's still got everything right there. I held my inside leg a fraction too long instead of just bumping him and he popped into a lope. So responsive, I love it.

Finished up with a lope each way and just getting him used to the feel of plates on with a couple of trot to whoa.

How did I repay him for his hard work? A bath. Poor baby tob :(

Back to reality

Toby has been back in 'work' for a week now. Although we had done a fair few trail rides, that didn't mean he had any cardio fitness so he's been finding trotting for anything longer than 20 seconds at a time difficult. I started at 20 minutes lungeing, 5 minute blocks each direction, 20 seconds of trot, 40 seconds of walk. Now we're up to 30 minutes, same trot interval but more of them and more walking. Another week or so of that and I hope to be able to start gently under saddle.

After I warmed him up yesterday I turned him loose in the indoor and let's just say I felt humbled. The bucks and flings he threw out were impressive and I was reminded how privileged we are that horses let us ride them! 

I'm also very proud of how happy and confident he is. The person who transported him to my trainer's barn walked right up to him in his stall and stuck his hand out, like you would to a normal horse, and Tob just said hi, acted interested and polite and cute. He even complimented me on how friendly he was. Now I automatically hold my breath when new people approach him because for so long he would run to the back of his stall or fling his head up if he saw a hand but he really is learning that life and people can be nice and whilst firm discipline will happen, it's not a question of 'is this person going to hit me' all the time. I'm so proud of how far he has come it makes me quite emotional! I'm a sap.

Hey guys.

Being back in work is way harder than being a professional pasture object:

The triumvirate of happy or How I Got Through A Dark Winter.

Work, train, coach

Work to be able to train.

Train to improve.

Improve to share your knowledge with others through coaching.

I'm very fortunate currently to be being helped out by a wonderful family, without whom I doubt I would still be in Canada. They let me work for and live with them and in return I coach their daughter in jumping. 

This winter has been bleak in terms of weather and other personal stuff, but I've been kept going by the kindness of the people who care and look out for me. Farms can be grim in -25c, blowing snow and ice everywhere. Horses and cows still need to be taken care of, businesses still need phones answered, admin still needs istrating. Meanwhile you bundle up as best you can, slide across the icy yard to feed and clean the horses who can't go outside. You can't ride, you can't do anything outside so you go back in and work. And when work's finished?

That's what I've been meditating on this winter. A work/life balance that really a) works and b) gives some semblance of quality of life. It's no secret that although I've chosen a very country way of life for now (professional hay stacker at your service), I still love and miss plenty of aspects of city life. It's just that my goals right now are only possible right here. And those goals, the horse who is making them possible and my fantastic coach, Lise, are my happy. 

I have learnt that absorbing yourself too much in your happy place can lead to it becoming your angry/sad/sick of it place so that's where the balance comes in. I watch movies, I read ridiculous amounts. I force myself to try new TV shows (much though I'd love to just watch ER and Community over and over) and now wonder how I ever lived without SNL, 30 Rock and Parks and Rec in my life. This winter, and anyone who knows me will enjoy this, I started running. Only on a treadmill and 'only' for  20-30 minutes at a time, but I NEVER ran. NEVER. Even as a child, playing every English sport there was to play, I shirked running. I've never been 'fit'. I ride horses. They need to be super fit; I just need to be able to stick on them and get them where they're going. However, after my season finished and I'd spent a lot of time with my wonderful Triathlete friend, Medena (if you don't have a Triathlete friend already, get one) in the summer, gone to her races and workouts etc., I was finally inspired. I started swimming, although my nearest pool is a 40 mile round trip, and I dragged the (handy, I'll admit!) treadmill the family had lying in the garage into the basement and started using it. At first I could barely do the first workout Medena gave me. It took a few weeks, then there was Christmas and the inevitable gluttony. Inevitable with the way my Canadian 'mom' cooks. But I stuck it out. I had to stop swimming after a while but I kept up the running. I'm not sure I got that runner's high, but it made me feel better about myself on some down days, and with the music I listened to, Dropkick Murphys, Billy Idol, Thin Lizzy, Jimmy Fallon and JT's History of Rap, the trance I used to love as a teen. I got through it.

So now it's March. I'm back in horse training, my student is back being coached and farm work is picking up again. I got through it. I ended my 8 year relationship, I visited New York City for the first time and I learnt a lot about myself.

Nothing to complain about because now I can do this:

And when there is? I can watch these guys:

And laugh it all away.

Let your heart hold fast/ for this soon shall pass

Attempted to make myself a lungeing circle in the corral yesterday and tried to lunge Tob in there but it was just so drifty it was not worth it. We ended up lungeing on the yard instead, the ground was nice enough to start a little trot. The last trail we did on Tuesday, I started a little trot in straight lines and Tob felt great. I've missed his powerful little strides.

Anyway, this massive snow storm has gotten us all cooped up indoors today, drifts up against all the doors, falling too fast to attempt to shovel it out. We're halfway through February so I hope the snow eases off so I can get some semblance of trot work done before we go back in March.

My jumping student has been back in work for two weeks now and she is increasing trot work daily. Their first show is the end of May so I'd like them both extra ready for that. It's her last season as a junior so we're going to go all out, show on the 'gold' circuit and see what happens.

Meanwhile, here's a picture of pony boy and his favourite attack toy. A blue barrel.

is it time for a change?

I have so many figurative balls in the air right now that I have no idea what direction I will end up taking.

I'm constantly aware of the phrase (or paraphrase) "Life is what happens while you're busy making other plans." I make the most of what I have and I appreciate that what is happening to me right now is a direct cause of decisions I have made, forks in the road I've taken and (I believe) a healthy dose of luck/karma/hard work paying off.

I came to Canada in 2011, ostensibly to work for the summer. That summer ended up being two years. That two years ended up being applying for permanent residency. When I arrived, I literally had no plans for after that summer. I flew out here blind, as it were, and had decided that fate would sort me out. Well, it did. The only problem is being here, on this continent, there are endless possibilities. It's America, y'all. The land of the free and the home of the brave.

Living in Canada is a postcode for me. I reside here, sure, but my heart is over the border. Just about everything I ever thought I would want or search for, I'm almost certain I have found in the US. That seems crazy, because I'm pretty English. I used to have that sense of superiority about our food, our music, our attutude, our beer, sport and comedy. Typical of people who've never been here, or have never really engaged with the States.

But now? Now I'm hopelessly in love. I know more about American politics than I ever cared to find out about in my own country, even though I voted in the last election. I care more about the struggle for gay rights happening here and Obamacare, because the backdrop in England is now such a depressing mix of (apparent, I realise there is still plenty to struggle for) taken for granted tolerance and the government ripping apart the National Health Service. I feel like the USA has a chance to actually become its own hype. People my age are moving in the right direction.

Maybe I'm a traitor, but I've been seduced. It started in Boston 7 years ago, was fueled by the rest of New England and sealed with New York's startling charms last month.

I study baseball and football like they're school subjects. I listen to classic rock stations and they play enough Queen, Rod Stewart and Clapton to keep me happy. I've discovered many of Vermont's microbreweries and particularly Woodchuck Cider to keep my hipster drink jones satisfied. I've been to the Maine coast and eaten lobster next to the harbour it was caught from. I've lost myself in improv and sketch comedy, happily becoming aware of the links between the US and UK scenes.

Most importantly? I once dreamed of riding western, cowboy hat, chaps and spurs, demystifying those shank bits, settling in the comfort of the saddle, having that connection with a horse through the lightest of touches in its mouth. Moving cattle around, learning pivots and sliding stops from a simple 'whoa'.

Bonfires and beers, tailgates, starlit nights, crickets singing, barbecues and dances, dusty roads and sweet mown hay.

I have that and it's a good life. I'm very grateful that I can balance my training with my other interests. I'm lucky indeed.

Getting on with it

I started Toby back in work last month but after a week of walking out on the roads, the polar vortex poleaxed us and a combo of icy roads, horrifically low temps and ridiculous winds prevented going further with that.

So, once the vortex relaxed its grip, I began again. We've just finished a week of 20 minute up to 40 minute walks out on the snowy roads. Next week I will step it up.

Things we have encountered that are not scary to Tob:

An 18 wheeler tractor trailer

A skidoo on the road

Falling in a snowdrifted ditch (this scared me slightly)

Losing a rein (again, little nervy for me)

Things we have encountered that ARE scary to Tob:

The cows he lived with last spring

A boy pushing a 4 wheeler down the road but way ahead of us

Falling in a ditch the first time we did it - he bucked disgustedly.

Also I rode him bareback for the first time yesterday. The snow was deep, the sun was setting and I had just watched 'Happythankyoumoreplease' by Josh Radnor and I was feeling inspired and hopeful. He was fab. Probably done it before but for me, it was a big deal.

One month to go

4 weeks til I'm back training. We're on the trail route to fitness. Temperature, wind and ice allowing, I'm aiming to ride 5x a week, roadwork to get his legs in shape and then we can move on from there.

Eat my goal

I don't like to tempt fate by posting goals and whatnot but I can't keep my mind off thinking about the upcoming summer.

There is so much I want to do and it is literally giving me nightmares that I might not be prepared for the season. Last night I was at a show riding patterns 4 (twice) and 10 and I messed up all of them and woke up in a panic.

Not. Cool.

So my goals are not competition oriented except to darn well stop dq'ing on my spins but that will happen once my spins are good enough to stop worrying about. I will stop worrying when my spins are good enough. Catch 22.

So:

(Depending on visa and financial situation) this year I would like to:

1) have Toby established in a relaxed headset throughout a pattern. Have him relaxed yet ready to run with a loose rein, soft and supple to both neck reins

2) nail those pivots. They kill our patterns. 

3) fast/slow/fast canter speed changes without having to get in his face. Seat and or voice. Holly slowed just from my seat shifting from fast canter up the neck to back in the saddle. I want that.

4) lead changes. 

He does his changes like an angel in the pen and I trust him because he's never let me down but in training and under scrutiny they can be better, especially left to right.

5) rollbacks.

I didn't have much time to work on these last year but riding Holly showed me what is possible. Sit, inside leg and neck rein, wheel round, two legs and go, right lead without question.

6) stop anticipating lead changes.

Me riding differently on those double fast circles. Outside rein, outside leg

7) ride like a pro. 

If I've done it once, I can do it again. My horse will be fitter, I will be fitter. I will be prepared, not rushed week to week like last year.

8) rundowns

No anticipating stops, straight and true lines, consistency. Impulsion. 

9) my position

Giving with my hips in a stop, riding the fast circles, sitting straight in spins, not leaning in lead changes, hand in the proper position.

10) being quicker and more effective in my take/release and corrections. Stop wasting time.