2021 Adult Camp Lesson Three

 Sunday brought an 830 am lesson with my trainer. I told her I took a hit to the confidence the day before and that Roscoe might be sore. The plan was to work on canter. Roscoe was a bit put out with my spur choice and decided to protest by not transitioning.

 We worked through that by moving him and suppling before tackling the tougher stuff…canter serpentine. He is getting smarter about the difficult stuff and will just change leads or break, so it has been a process. We started with shallow short curves which were improved since the last time she saw them. It took a bit of timing since a really nice Morgan gelding was having a lesson at the other end. We moved onto two curves. Right was okay, left is much harder.

Roscoe says this is hard

 She then added some trot lengthening where Roscoe thought he knew better. A discussion turned him into an inverted teenager before he finally attempted to do the exercise. His final one was probably the best of the weekend. I would not say he was a 100% at the lesson, but it was good for him to realize he can still work. At least I felt somewhat better going home.

 

Roscoe was thrilled that we were taking him home to a stall bedded deeply with sawdust. He has very specific standards. Once we unloaded the car, cleaned the trailer and put him out with the boys, we had a little time to chill out. Our Magna Wave friend was coming to treat Griffyn, who my sister was bringing, on her day off. It seriously pays to have her down the road. Since she was coming I asked if she could treat Roscoe again and hopefully help him recover better. She did and both red boys enjoyed the treatment.

 

Sadly the cavaletti lesson and other factors continued to cause issues in the weeks that followed. We had to call in the big guns. More on that later.

2021 Adult Camp Lesson Two

 

Waiting... and admiring the muscle he has now

After the first lesson I was feeling good, riding the positive wave of my trainer seeing growth even after a month of riding only 5 times. My mom and I settled him into the stall, which Roscoe said did not have enough sawdust for a good roll, and then headed to the arena to watch the cavaletti lessons. This camp divided people into groups of three or four for four sessions. I though the lessons were ½ hour to 45 minutes, but they ended up being an hour… ish. Not going to lie there were a lot of poles and it was interesting. As we watched it got intimidating. The instructor was an event rider who demanded perfection but did not give much direction. I could see areas that would be hard for Roscoe and I due to our weaknesses and the fact that we had not cantered poles a bunch. But he and I normally enjoy cavaletti and there was a chance for jumps.

Sadly this lesson fell into the category of a bad choice.

 

The instructor could not stay within the scheduled times and went over a half hour the session before mine. So my 4:30  lesson did not start until nearly 5:00. And yes we stood around with tacked ponies for that half hour. The lesson started well with working trot over the poles and finding our spots. Then she had us work one at a time doing canter circles over the single poles. That was not bad, though we missed some of our spots. What was tough was her directions were hard to follow. I remember dressage tests and jump courses, but could not get her directions.

The next step added a curved bounce line of poles. At the trot Roscoe wanted to cheat and we worked to get it right. At the canter to the left we did better than I expected. 

The bad choice really became apparent when we switched directions after 15 minutes of standing. I should have insisted we start with the lowest setting, but she had it rolled to the middle height. Going right is when I lose his shoulder when we are stressed. Needless to say we jumped over the end of the cavaletti and had major misses. I tried counting which the instructor was big on, we missed. She said he was going too fast and I was messing him up. Confidence direct hit. I approached a couple more times and passed the poles not comfortable with the probable outcome. She said if you pass again you will never get him through. I got him through, but without watching the video I can’t even remember how it went. I was beaten and done. I kept apologizing to Roscoe for choosing to continue this lesson and put him in a bad spot.

I was the happiest when it all ended, sad to say.

 

The next time I have a bad feeling about something I am going to refuse to do the exercise. It was overly ambitious to do for a second lesson with horses that may not have ever done such specific work. Unfortunately, Roscoe felt the effects of the lesson the next day and is even still be dealing with something now. Roscoe got a ton of treats and his dinner. Mom and I still had to get to the barn and feed the rest of the herd.

  I don't shy away from sharing the good, the bad or the ugly and all of these apply so I included all the videos except the early flat minutes. 

The next morning I was so glad not to be riding with the cavaletti instructor which was the normal camp setup. My trainer changed it around so that her students rode with her. My mom and I did mention that we did not think the cavaletti lesson was suitable for the situation and the lack of punctuality was a problem. Turns out we were not the only ones to say something. I am the kind of rider that puts a fair amount of trust in the clinician to guide me to have the best ride I can in that moment. That does not mean it has to be perfect, but if I or Roscoe do something wrong, I would hope for direction on how to fix it. I am still kicking myself over this lesson.

2021 Adult Camp Lesson One

 February turned out to be a total bummer of a month for riding and a bit for life in general too. So I looked forward to a weekend of riding at Sprieser’s camp to close out the month. Roscoe and I both had our Magna Wave PEMF therapy on the Tuesday before and we were supposed to have a saddle fitting on Thursday . Well the saddle fitting got put off to March, very sad, so I was going to work that day. That plan changed though.

On Wednesday my Mom messaged saying she had to bring Griffyn to the emergency vet. For the sake of friendship I can’t go into details about what happened, but he suffered a severe injury. My poor mother was traumatized and our small animal vet was not able to take him, nor any close by. My parents had to take him over an hour away to receive treatment. I went to the barn to take care of the horses and pick up Deliah. When I made it home, Griffyn was there pumped full of pain meds and looking like Winnie the Pooh in his red vet wrap shirt.

Poor puffy puppy

 We were in a wait and see mode as to whether he needed surgery to remove necrotic tissue. I immediately contacted my PEMF friend and asked to schedule a time for him the next day. She was great and even came to the house. Griffyn received 20 minutes and looked less inflamed and my sister said he did not whine as much at night.

Inflamation way reduced

My what big feet you have

Needless to say the stress level was a bit high in our family. That made the weekend a little iffy for me tummy wise, but fortunately did not result in a full flare up. 

One day his name will be spelled right

Roscoe’s first lesson was with my normal trainer and had quite the audience. My trainer watched as we warmed up with leg yields on the rail and shoulder in. She could see improvement which is always good to hear.  She had us work on our lengthenings. He is getting better even though he tries to canter sometimes. In a few months hopefully he will resolve the urge. 

Then she threw something new into the mix, renvers. I have heard of them in a vague way and knew only they were a four track movement. Beyond that I was clueless. We worked it at the walk first. Beginning in shoulder in and then changing the bend and aids to ask for the renver. This was definitely easier to accomplish with the mirrors. 

When I went away from the mirrors it was a difficult to keep him together. We did have our moments of correct movement that felt amazing. Most of the time I felt like I was rubbing my head and patting my belly. Especially when we tried it at the trot. Going right we had to play with small bits at a time because he would get stuck. She was okay with 30 seconds of stuck, but no more than that.

To end the lesson we let him stretch at the trot.  This was a mental and physical work session. One lesson done, two more to go.

He just barely can look out the window

Dealing with the digs

End of an Era

 Last years foal pool was great since the grand prize winner was a surprise and a repeat winner. My sister and I had to up our game to come up with a picture to beat her previous one. If you know Teresa, you know she has a really pretty mare. Carmen became the focus of this project. This was bigger than we have done before and my sister had to help in order to finish before the next foal pool.

Then the wait began as it was shipped to Canada. I mailed it on January 13th and it finally arrived February 9th. It looks better in person. My sister added sparkle to the browband gem and the border has a shimmer to it.

This year Roscoe has one foal expected, so get your guesses ready. A new mare means new possibilities.

This was bittersweet since Tawe passed away in January. She was the first mare outside Roscoe's breeders herd to have his foal. And she had three more over the next years. Tawe and Roscoe produced top quality and consistent cobs. It is truly the end of an era. She had a number of foals during her 20+ years and will live on in them all. Such a wonderful mare.

Tawe and Carousel

Tawe and Draco, together again RIP

Tawe and Turbo

Tawe and her last foal Flyboy

Snow Day

 We had our first snow of the year and luckily it was just enough to cover the ground but not be too overwhelming. The drive was a bit hairy on one road that was not plowed. The ponies acted like they were starving, but we knew that Larry had given then breakfast. 

The weather was going to rain and cause ice in the afternoon so we had to leave early. I was determined to ride. Snow rides are the best. I even convinced Mom to bring Comrade for a ride too. 

Roscoe and Karrigan at our Jan. lesson

Roscoe is a serious footing snob. It takes a bit to get him to figure out he can actually work no matter the footing. He really feels insulted he has to make the effort. Today we were able to W/T/C. At the canter I dropped the contact and made him carry himself. Mom said she could see him step better behind. He is starting to figure out how to be a mature dressage pony. This was inventory month, but Roscoe and I had 14 work sessions. That would be .... 13 more than last year. 

Comrade was a willing participant, but kept it very conservative. I was just glad my Mom chose to ride.

Ember and I had a ride yesterday when I used a couple hours of leave. Mom lunged him for me since I have not riden him in over a week. He was tentative due the arena beginning to become crunchy. When I got on he was much improved right from the first step. As in he walked forward from the mounting block. Ember has been a bit of a teenager and gets stuck, so forward has been a work in progress. We have been doing lots of transitions and teaching him how to be a riding pony. Today he just did some lunging in the snow. We worked on traveling straighter. He is so smart and did it well after me showing him on one side.

Just a little round when he lifts

And finally the corgis had a blast in the snow. Deliah wore herself out chasing Griffyn. Four inches of snow was just enough for short corgi legs.

Roscoe and I are Inadvertant Liars

 Sadly we lost our trainer again to a move to Texas. But she helped Roscoe and I figure out leg yields and get us into First level. So I had to pick another trainer from those at Sprieser. I chose the newest trainer which turned out to be a good choice since the other trainer left soon after. 

I braced myself to see if this trainer could handle my low budget needs, recovering muscles and lack of skills. With all the shows a lot of the lessons focused on prepping for the tests. She was interested in how we did. Plus I texted to say he felt tired at the show after a lesson the same week and she immediately said she would think of how to up his fitness. It really felt great to have someone invested in our training.

In November we started digging into his movement and teaching him to half halt and sit. It was seriously rough going. I was getting to the point of wondering, Is it me or is it him? I finally asked Karrigan if she would get on him and see where he is at. If we are going to move up, we need the insight. She said yes and we planned it for the next lesson. 

I rode for the first 10min and then she got on. Roscoe is always a bit up when we first get into the indoor.

Me and Roscoe part 1

Me and Roscoe part 2

 We had to stop at put a half pad on him, since his saddle had gone too low. As she rode she was like "Wow he has no outside rein," " Wow you two are good liars," "He is really fun to ride." Roscoe and I certainly did not try to hide anything, but I guess we were indavertant liars. 

Karrigan riding Click the left arrow to go through the videos of her riding. I had to chop them up to send them from mom's phone.

The take aways:

He needs to be lower in the base of his neck. I have to work on lowering the 6in in front of the withers.

He needs to be truer in the contact. He will put on a pretty frame, but he avoids the bit.

I have to sit into him at the canter and he has to learn to keep moving.

She can get him to do lateral work no problem. Definitely me holding that up.

She gets along with Roscoe, so I don't have to cringe when she rides.

Roscoe and I worked our butts off on the canter and the truer contact in the time since that ride. I feel like I am learning to canter all over again.

Luckily at our lesson this month Karrigan saw a difference. Good thing too since Comrade decided the friesan having a lesson prior to ours was going to eat him and proceeded to spook, blow air and prance around making everyone tense. Ah well hopefully we can keep the progress going during the winter.

Redemption

 October brought the last two shows for our local series. For these I added First 2, with the hope that the first test would get him settled. 

As with previous shows Roscoe got a bath the night before. An though he normally gets over it, I put the hated fly boots on his hind legs to protect his white. Well this time he decided to be a total tool about those boots. Long story short we prevailed in removing them, but there were injuries on all parties. NEVER AGAIN!

Needless to say I worried how the show would go. Super it turns out. I think Roscoe was really ashamed of his morning antics and wanted to be good. We still have plenty to improve. This was our best First 1.

The second test was nerve-wracking for me because of the leg yields. First time they were judged and my pony did well. We lost some angle going right because I felt like I would hit the rail too soon. To the left we had the angle but lost some forward.  After those I could breathe and deal with the canter. We had a great final halt and I gave Roscoe a big hug. The judge said he earned it.

I don't want to have stressful, injury filled show mornings to get scores in the seventies but redemption felt good.

The second show was less successful in scores but he listened to half halts. That was something we worked on the lesson prior to the show. Roscoe was a bit tired too, both caused a break in the canter. I gave points away to keep him moving.  This was a tough judge so our two 65 were okay with me. Now Roscoe and I are trying to better our fitness and improve our canter. It feels like we are learning to canter all over again. 

Well even with a short season and a new level to challenge him, Roscoe pulled off earning the First Level champion. Our journey is slowly progressing, the pony is happy and I'm healthier. What more can you ask of a year like 2020.

Roscoe says "take this 2020!"