Winter: finding motivation and structure amidst the snow

While the sane contingent of the eventing community has spent the holidays giving their horses time off and enjoying the warmth and the family offered by such breaks, I have been knee deep in mud (literally) and horses (metaphorically).  I have my first show in three and a half weeks in Georgia, and I leave for Aiken with both horses February 1.

I am about to make my second bid at Advanced with Trance...(Click on Blog Title above (in blue) to read full blog entry)

I always dreamed of shopping internationally for horses. Of someone giving me a blank check and saying, “Go find the horse of your dreams!” I envisioned barns that were equine palaces, trots that spent more time in the air than on the ground, champagne like at the Dubarry tents, robust stallions being paraded before that year’s offspring, etc. I literally could go on about my vision of this experience for hours, because I think after my weekly “If I won the lottery I would….” visions I just built this dream piece by piece... (Click on Blog Title above (in blue) to read full entry)

I don’t know that I ever understood the importance of a great connection until I felt it for the first time. I had spent years (over a decade….) with my horses waffling between my legs and hands. (Click on Blog Title above (in blue) to read full entry)

                           Building a Partnership

June 15^th will forever be recorded as a milestone in my personal history as a re-rider – after 22 months we finally did it!  The creeks did rise – we were rained out for 2 days!  But in the end the good Lord was willing!  Yay!

If I had known from the beginning that canter transitions would deliver the fatal blow to Cotton’s uncontrollability would we have reached our goal long before now?  No…  I have had to undergo a complete transformation in my riding. (Click on Blog Title above (in blue) to read full entry)

I wanted to wait until it actually happened but after today’s ride I am just too pumped – I have to tell somebody!  June is turning out to be Jump a Course Month!!  And I’m NOT just being optimistic.

FIVE straight weeks of nothing but canter transitions… was so worth it. (Click on Blog Title above (in blue) to read full entry)

Remember Forest Gump and Bubba?  “Anyway, like I was sayin', shrimp is the fruit of the sea. You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, saute it. Dey's uh, shrimp-kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried…”

Cotton and I are having the same exact conversation – about canter transitions! (Click on Blog Title above (in blue) to read full entry)

As you may have heard,  Jump a Course Month is not going well.  Therefore, Canter Month has been extended indefinitely.  Cotton and I need more time… he is still just extremely unbalanced at the canter.

I have spent some significant amount of time researching crookedness on the internet so I could get a better understanding of what is going on.  Why does he completely fall apart at the canter even though he can stay engaged and balanced in the trot?  My inquiring mind had to know!  What a paradigm shift…(Click on Blog Title above (in blue) to read full entry)

Fourth and Third out of six riders each test… In the eventing world my scores translated to a 42.5 and a 36.8.   We were blessed with a sparkling, crisp day and particularly encouraging and gracious people at Gone to Ground Farm!

The first test was a complete bust.  Cotton acted like a red-neck visiting The Big City!  (Click on Blog Title above (in blue) to read full entry)

At least we ended on a good note!

Because last month’s canter sessions over little fences had gone so well I thought we’d be able to pick up where we left off…(Click on Blog Title above (in blue) to read full entry)

Lesley schooled Cotton for me yesterday.  I felt like I was sitting in the principal’s office with my child who had just been caught misbehaving..... (Click on Blog Title above (in blue) to read full entry)

I’ve ridden with a few different people lately who have offered complementary encouragement about how great Cotton and I look. They are intelligent, advanced riders so who am I to disagree?  But, even if they are right and we do look good, in reality I’m like a duck on a river trying to swim to shore! At least it’s not obvious to the casual observer that I’m working so hard but it is a true mental and physical taxation just to keep him together for a 20 meter canter circle.  Someone please find that EASY button! (Click on Blog Title above (in blue) to read full entry)

This week marks the year anniversary of High Cotton’s move to Oak Hill and my discovery of the true nature of the beast I had fallen in love with just a couple of years before.

What a journey!  Lesley has taught me so much about how to ride Cotton and Cotton has taught me so much about Life. (Click on Blog Title above (in blue) to read full entry)

We are right on the verge of a major break through – I can just taste it!  Since my lesson with Lesley about 3 weeks ago where I finally got the “round and connected” thing down, I have been working on jumping again. (Click on Blog Title above (in blue) to read full entry)

Did you know that history repeats itself?  Sometimes it takes decades or centuries – for me it took a week and a half.  “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it".  If I had paid attention the first time around my ride today would have ended a lot better than it did. (Click on Blog Title above (in blue) to read full entry)

Twenty-twelve!  That’s fun to say, isn’t it?  God willing, twenty-twelve is going to be the year of my and High Cotton’s big eventing debut! (Click on Blog Title above (in blue) to read full entry)

During the Thanksgiving break my thoughts turned to how I was going to make the most of the 5 months remaining in Cotton’s conditioning program.   Lesley’s little 2 sentence lesson the day before about getting him connected is what started it…(Click on Blog Title above (in blue) to read full entry)

Lesley proved to me that when Cotton is ridden correctly, he goes correctly – I’ve seen it with my own eyes when she's schooled him for me!  So, my new philosophy is.....(Click on Blog Title above (in blue) to read full entry)

During my talk with Lesley she had suggested that I canter some figure eights with a simple change of lead in preparation for approaches to jumps off of turns in the canter.  So, not being one to ever disobey my riding instructor, that’s what we did on Thursday.  After a brief warm-up we walked to the far end of the XC field and did canter/halt serpentines all the way back to the barn.  I concentrated on what she had taught me during our last “jumping” lesson (which had been over a month ago!) – to keep my weight, shoulders and hips shifted correctly to help balance him so he wouldn’t swap leads and throw his shoulder.  I concentrated on my “tunnel” steering.   I concentrated on holding my canter aids all the way through the halt.  By the time we got back to the barn I had my old Cotton back – woo-hoo! for canter transitions! and for Lesley!

Tomorrow’s jumping lesson wasn’t looking quite as dicey! (Click on Blog Title above (in blue) to read full entry)