Ride for the Roses

My name is Jenna, and my dream is to have my horse be named National Champion and wear the coveted Nationals roses. This blog is going to document my journey to reaching that goal.

[ridefortheroses]

Hey folks - me again. Been a minute. Like, a LONG minute. I didn’t tell you about the Trail Challenge, or about how I moved to freakin’ Montana. I have barely seen my horses in months, so that’s in part to blame for the lack of posts. The larger part is me still getting back in the habit of blogging. It doesn’t occur to me as much, but I am finding myself these days again looking for an outlet that offers more than 280 characters and that won’t expire in 24 hours. I’ve actually really considered starting a blog outside of tumblr (since this platform is sort of a nightmare anymore), but we’ll see if I can get back in the habit first before I make that leap.

Anyway.

Yes, I moved to Montana. Temporarily. An opportunity came up at work where I could take a temporary promotion in a different office. I accepted, and so for the last few months my boyfriend and I have been long distance again and he has been doing an absolutely phenomenal job of taking care of my horses for me in my absence. I do get to go home frequently, which is great, but obviously it’s not the same.

This experience has taught me a lot both personally and professionally. It has really taught me that Idaho, and that piece of ground, and the man I love, and that view out my bedroom window... that’s home. I’m looking forward to getting back to it, for lots of reasons. If I could do it over again I would still come to Montana, but this has really taught me that sometimes there’s nothing wrong with being happy exactly where you are.

Like I said, the horses are well, and my boyfriend is doing a great job caring for them. I’ve been daydreaming of all the things that we might do in the new year. Every time I drive home I daydream of horse shows - something about a road trip, I guess. I’m used to doing that with a trailer in tow. And usually I pass a trailer or two on the highway, and that gets the dreams flowing. It’s daunting to think of everything it would take to get us back in the show ring again, but I’ve had lots of windshield time to plan. More on that later.

I’ll try to get a post up soon about the trail challenge, because that was an awesome experience. If you’re ever looking for more timely updates from me, follow me on Twitter @ ride4theroses and Instagram @ rideforthe_roses.

Talk soon - JB

[ridefortheroses]

Well... today was AWESOME! A huge milestone for me... I hauled the boys BY MYSELF for the first time! :D In my last post, I talked about how I had been practicing hauling the empty trailer and that there was an arena not far from home I could eventually haul to and practice. Well today was the day! Spent the morning down at the local saddle club’s arena and rode both boys.

They were SO good in the trailer, especially for having not been off the property since we moved them there nine months ago! They hopped right in the trailer and were very calm and relaxed for the ride. Once at the arena they were super well behaved, too. I kept them both tied to the trailer while I rode the other, and while there was some whinnying and pawing (and some dancing on the part of the small red horse) neither panicked or got themselves in trouble. Honestly it went better than I would have expected haha! They are very herd bound but every adventure like this gets them more acclimated to being apart, which I think is crucial for the horses’ wellbeing as well as they and their handlers’ safety.

The rides themselves weren’t groundbreaking, but that wasn’t so much the point of today. I rode Bob first and he had some good moments. It was nice to put him in an arena again and feel him out, except for being out of shape he was really moving quite nicely for how little I’ve ridden him in the last few years. Fizz was second and we didn’t ride long at all as it was getting pretty hot out. But his trot work was excellent and we schooled the canter briefly both directions, with pretty good success. I am always fighting the urge to get frustrated with his canter, but I have to remember how far he’s come and I REALLY try to remember how long it took for him to get comfortable at the trot, because it will take that long or longer to get the canter. He is really making awesome progress and it will only be better the more consistent i am with him.

Overall I’m over the moon happy with how today went. This was a huge first step in my confidence in being independent out here in Idaho. If (God forbid) one ever has an accident and I need to get them to a vet, or we have a wildfire and we need to evacuate, I now know I can load them up and get them somewhere safely. And, on a more positive note, this was the first big step in me someday being able to compete again - which has had my horse show bug all aflutter all afternoon :)

Banner day overall - good boys!!

[ridefortheroses]

Where We’re Going

Hi friends! Long time no post. Figured we were due for an update.

I wanted my next big post to be about where we’re going now, as compared to where we’ve been the past few years. And let me tell you, that changes day by day. But if the last month or so I’ve gotten a pretty good idea of my goals for now.

It’s no secret that I someday want to be able to compete again. It is my life’s number one passion and I find more joy and take more pride in competition that I do most anything else in my life. That being said, my opportunities for competing here in Idaho will be WAY different than my opportunities back when I lived in Washington and Oregon. My nearest rated show is no closer than 3 hours away, and I have no trainer to help me get there, no barn to stable with when I arrive. I have no arena immediately available to practice in and my parents will no longer be footing the bill for entry fees, membership feels, gas to get to the show, hotels while we’re there..... not to mention having to take off work now to attend and travel to these shows that are 3+ hours away....

There are lots of hurdles but, at the same time, lots of opportunity.

I am so blessed to have an 8 acre pasture to ride in whenever I want, and 20 acres total to go exploring in we get braver and the boys get less herd bound, lol. About half of the pasture is hills which are great for building muscle, stamina, and surefootedness - and the other half is flat and perfect for dressage schooling. Of course it is inconvenient to have to delay my rides due to weather and how wet the pasture is, but it sure beats the hell out of not having anywhere to ride. And the views aren’t too bad either ;)

I also recently practiced hauling a(n empty) horse trailer for the first time and am slowly building up to being comfortable enough to haul my horses somewhere for the first time. Once I do, there is an outdoor arena in the next town over (~15 mins) that I can haul to and practice in. That will be a huge blessing in terms of being able to train! And of course, I won’t be able to compete until I am comfortable enough to get myself and the horses there.

At first I thought I would try and make a dressage show this summer, but the more I think about it and look at my calendar I just really don’t think it’s going to work out. However, that means I can spend this year practicing hauling the trailer, taking my horses to that nearby arena, and just getting us both used to training again. God knows I am wayyy out of shape and could use some time to get back in the swing of things!! The local arena also has play days and trail challenge events so maybe we can try one of those out sometime :)

And there are plenty of opportunities next year... This year I volunteered at a rated Arabian show about 4 hours away and had a BLAST. It was an awesome, well-run show and very low key. They had a good number of horses attending but it wasn’t an overwhelming show in terms of pressure to perform - it was very much a “first show of the season” environment. I would LOVE to compete there next year and have a really good chance of earning some qualification points without the pressure of a huge show. And, I hear rumor my AHA regional dressage championship might be held concurrently with that show next year, so that would be AWESOME.

Besides that, there are a bunch of rated dressage shows at a very nice facility about 3 hours away in Washington. I imagine the competition and expectations would be much steeper at this show, but if the Arab show goes well I would love to take my boys up to one or two of those USDF shows next summer.

And of course, AHA Sport Horse Nationals is back in Idaho next year, which means it’s now in my backyard. I would HATE for the Nationals to only be a few hours away and not be able to go.... and it would be amazing to go again with Bob for the first time in 6 years, and to take Fizz for the first time EVER! But, that’s a pretty lofty goal - it will be really hard for me to get qualified in my current situation, so I’m trying not to get my hopes up.

But a girl can dream..... it’s what I do best. <3

[ridefortheroses]

Today was so, so, so good for my soul <3

First beautiful spring day of the season. Hacked Fizz around the pasture, just walking since the ground is really wet still. But we went up and down hills and through mud puddles and had a blast :) We also hacked out down my driveway which was the first time riding outside with Bob still in the pasture. I am slowly trying to train them out of being herd bound. Bob was very brave when Fizz "left" to go down the driveway :) Eventually I want to be able to road hack and do a loop around my property.

I still have a "Where Am I Going" type post in the works but for now this is a good representation of my riding life now and how goals and riding has changed. These days it's all about enjoying every little moment with my two guys <3

[ridefortheroses]

Omg I’m so excited to read to update and hopefully hear more from you!!

Aww thank you! It's good to be back :)

[ridefortheroses]

Where I’ve Been

Hey friends,

Like I said in my last post, it’s been so long since I’ve been blogging that I almost feel the need to introduce myself to everyone again, haha. So, while many of you know who I am and where I’ve been in my blogging hiatus, here’s a maybe brief (maybe not so much?) update/introduction......

(One of my 2016 graduation photos... with the boys, of course :) )

The last time most of you really heard a lot from me was back in 2016. I was just finishing up my Bachelors and getting ready to graduate from university. Bob and I had recently accomplished the unthinkable - competing in Fourth Level dressage at a rated competition, including earning a few blue ribbons. Fizz was bouncing back from an extended break from riding due to different medical issues. I was feeling great about where I was with my riding.. but I also knew real life was just around the corner.

As it turned out, “real life” meant landing my dream job (internship) directly out of college and, because I never do anything halfway, that dream job was located 4000 miles away, on the other side of the country, far from anything and everyone I knew and loved... including my horses.

I enjoyed my last few months at school and continued my riding and training as usual, knowing that when July rolled around, it would be time to send my horses home to my parents’ house to live on pasture while I chased my dreams in Washington, D.C. Since the internship was only for six months, taking them with my was definitely not an option. The plan was to go do my internship, and re-evaluate wherever my next gig landed me.

(Trail riding in Rock Creek Park, D.C.)

I had an absolutely incredible experience in D.C. I was very homesick at first and of course I missed my horses (and you know... my family...) constantly, but it wasn’t long before I realized just how lucky I was to be in this new place, meeting new people who could show me so much about the career path I was interested in. I made lifelong friends and amazing memories that I will never forget.

I also got to keep riding!! Just a little. Rock Creek Park Horse Center in D.C. proved to be my home away from home during my internship. I volunteered doing barn chores and during weekend trail ride tours through the park, eventually being able to ride back up on trails. I also met a woman with three Arabian horses who was looking for someone to help ride and exercise them. I was able to take weekly dressage lessons during the last few months of my internship on the beautiful purebred mare Piper, pictured above out on the trail. It was a really great opportunity and I felt so blessed to have something familiar in my life after packing up and moving somewhere so new and foreign. It brought me a lot of peace on the tough days.

My D.C. internship ended December 2016 and I was very fortunate to get a job directly after that was also a “dream job” of sorts for me, and is the job I have held ever since. I accepted a position working in public relations with a natural resource management agency in north-central Idaho.

(Fizz grazing at my friend’s house shortly after I moved the boys to Idaho.)

Moving to Idaho was almost as much as an adventure as moving to D.C. had been, but in almost opposite ways. In D.C., the city was terrifying to me at first, but I felt entirely in my element in my job as a wildlife policy intern. In Idaho, I felt very at home in the mountains under a wide open western sky - however, my job in public relations was a bit foreign to me, and I struggled for a while to decide if I fit in or if I was good at it.

Now in my third year at the job, I can confidently say I love my work and I LOVE the people I work with. I also love the place I live and the extraordinarily beautiful part of the world I now call home.

...so much so, that I decided to stick around a while.

Once I realized I was going to stay in Idaho, I realized I wanted to be with my horses again. However, that was going to prove challenging as the rental I was living in was a 700 square foot trailer in a mobile home park, and the nearest boarding barn was at least two hours away. Fortunately, not long after I started my job, I was introduced to a colleague who owned horse property, but no horses. He offered to let me board my horses at his house just minutes from where I lived, and of course, I excitedly accepted.

(Riding Fizz while I was boarding at my friend’s house.)

I brought my horses to Idaho about eight months ago and it was incredible having them in my life on a daily basis again. I was also so fortunate to have friends willing to house my horses for me while I didn’t have property of my own. However, despite those blessings I quickly found myself considering something I hadn’t expected..... I started thinking about getting a place of my own, of buying my first house.

I did not expect that to be something I wanted or could accomplish at this stage in my life, but the more I thought about it the more the pros outweighed the cons. A big factor was wanting some property of my own to keep the horses, where I could enjoy them without the hassles and expense of self-care board at someone else’s place. I had been told nothing compares to being able to look out your window in your own house and see your own horses grazing in your own pasture.... and man, having now lived in my new house for a few months, I can DEFINITELY say that that is true.

(Bob and Fizz in the pasture at my new house... it’s a bit of a “winter wonderland” currently.....)

And that, my friends, brings us to the present - February of 2019. I am living, working, and loving the little life I have made in Idaho, with my amazing boyfriend, a new house, a new kitty!, and of course, Bob and Fizz. The horses are enjoying life on the biggest pasture they’ve ever had and the only place either has ever lived that literally does not even have stalls. They are slowly learning how to be less like dressage divas and more like rough and tumble Idahoans :) And I am slowly but steadily getting used to life as a true-blue adult amateur... whatever that means.

My next post will talk about where I hope to go, now that I’ve settled into my life here in Idaho - what my goals and hopes are for myself and my riding career, and what y’all can expect from this blog moving forward. For now, thanks for coming along on my summary of the past three years :) !

(Fizz admiring his new home on the day I moved the boys to my new house!)

[ridefortheroses]

Hey y’all..... ya miss me?

It’s been... so long. So long that I almost feel like I need to introduce myself haha. But yes, this is Jenna, and that’s Fizz, and somewhere off in the distance, there’s Bob. This is our new home, our new life. Things have changed a LOT for us in the past few years. What hasn’t changed, though, is my love for these two guys and for our sport.

I want to tell you all about it. I don’t have a community of riding friends here like I used to back when I was blogging - and that made me realize how much I missed the little community I had on tumblr while I had it.

So, here’s to getting back into things. Check back soon for posts about where I’ve been, and where I’m going. Hopefully, you can expect to see more of me and my guys on here soon. In the meantime, if you need a refresher on who I am or who my horses are, or what this blog is all about, check out the nav links on my homepage.

Good to be back? ...we shall see.

[ridefortheroses]

I had a dream last night that I took Fizz to Sport Horse Nationals.

#SHN2020?

[ridefortheroses]

Hello friends! Long time no blog. As most of you know, Life happened and after college I moved across the country and then to a different state to pursue my career. My horses are at home fat and happy in a pasture. I want to bring them to where I’m at in my latest job but I’m not sure I’ll be able to. My heart breaks with the uncertainty. I miss riding and competing more than I can express.

So in the spirit of reminiscence... have this video of myself and Bob in our rated Fourth Level debut, almost a year ago exactly.

I love this video. Not because it is a perfect test - it’s not. There are a few obvious mistakes and a few areas that need improvement just in general. My personal favorite mistake is the end of the line of changes, where his tension causes him to miss the last change in the line - which he compensates for by giving me two flying changes in a row. Haha! Not how it works, bud, but I like your enthusiasm.

But what I do love about this video is the overall fluidity, how we stitch all the movements together in a mostly seamless flow. That can’t be said for many of our tests. I also like the energy (although there needs to be more, much more, especially in the nonexistent extensions) - having known and ridden him for ten years, I know how big an improvement this is from our past.

What I love most though is the memories. We were undebeated at Fourth Level at this show, winning the Third/Fourth Level High Point on Saturday and tying for the award on Sunday. We earned a 59% and a 58% in our Fourth Level Test 1 rides at this rated show - not a far cry from the 60% when we earned when we debuted this test at a schooling show. Having our schooling show and rated show scores be so close was really validating. I also competing at this show as part of my college dressage club and being there representing my school and competing with my teammates was really special. My best friend and my boyfriend also came to watch this test which meant the world to me.

It may not be a perfect ride but it was perfect for us. I miss you, bud. I miss you every single day.

[ridefortheroses]

Sport Horse Nationals starts in just a few days. My heart is breaking.

I’ve had the extreme good fortune to qualify for and attend this show every year it was in Idaho during my high school and college career. Three of those four times, I went with my best friend. He took me to my first Nationals only six months after he became mine, and in the years after he made dreams come true for me that I had barely dared to dream. He did everything for me, in those eight years and three trips to Idaho. I miss him so much.

We’d be showing Third and Fourth Level at Nationals this year. That blows my mind. I can’t believe we came that far. Even though we didn’t have the chance to compete this year, just knowing we qualified and were able to reach that level, to know we could have shown at the Nationals at the highest U.S. dressage levels - that’s insane. I’m so proud of him.

I miss dancing with you, boy. That second picture makes me smile to this day. In that picture, I’m laughing because I made a mistake and he totally messed up his trot lengthening. He lost his throughness and instead exploded in a flamboyant, but entirely faulty lengthen. We were competing at the Nationals and we made a mistake - and it didn’t matter, because I was just out there having fun with my boy. In the dusty indoor back home or in front of a crowd at Nationals, he makes me smile no matter what.

I miss him so, so much and I can’t wait to ride again. For now, I’ll be rooting on my friends from afar and wishing we were at Sport Horse Nationals 2016.

[ridefortheroses]

Well, not surprisingly, I have been really bad about keeping this blog updated. But yesterday was my first horse show of the season and it could not have gone any better.

At the very last minute, I decided to enter a schooling show not far away. I decided to enter because I have been seriously, painfully lacking the motivation to get my act together in terms of riding and training. School and work and getting ready for the rest of my life has just been a lot, and having both horses has been hard. I’ve been training and we’ve been doing well, but the spark just hasn’t been there this year. I needed something to light a fire under me and be like “Show season is here!! It’s happening!! Get ready!!!” And this schooling show was it.

I entered Fourth Level Test 1 in a Second Level & Above TOC class. I was the only person at the show riding above First. It was surreal. I never thought that person would be me. I expected to be nervous entering Fourth Level, let alone riding and competing it, but I really wasn’t. Partly because 4-1 isn’t a whole lot more difficult than Third Level - but partly because I’ve finally really, truly started to believe that he can and will do anything I ask of him. Including this.

And so we did.

He was an angel the entire day. Very quiet hauling up, super relaxed in his day stall, and a total gentleman warming up. And in the test, he was phenomenal. Didn’t bat a lash, acted like he was born for this - which we all know, very well, that he was not.

At the end of my test all I could do was pat my horse and grin. I heard my friends cheering in the stands and I just stood there and took it all in. I walked toward the judge’s booth and thanked him, my voice shaking a little. He just smiled for a minute and then said, “Good ride.”

I walked out of the arena to meet my friends, patting my eyes as I went. One of my friends told me she’d take my picture out in the beautiful green field inside the galloping track. When I got far enough ahead of my friends the tears finally came - I dropped my reins in one hand and put the other hand to my face and sobbed.

We were the only one in the class but took our blue ribbon, and an unbelievable 60.4%, with pride. To break 60% in our Fourth Level debut is unreal to me. I do not think we would have done that had this been a rated show - but I am very, very proud, nonetheless.

The main comment from the judge at the end was that my canter work needs more jump, and that his energy needs to come forward from behind and work in my half halts. I think he was a little less through and round yesterday than he could have been because I didn’t warm him up quite as well as I would have liked, but it is a fair comment in general. I know I need to focus on riding him more through and keeping him round, with a shorter rein and better response to my driving leg aids. He’s made a lot of progress - a LOT - but there’s still work to be done.

The judge also ended his notes with “Capable pair!” - my favorite comment to get after a debut at a new level. In what world would any judge have called Bob “capable” at FOURTH LEVEL?? Who would have thought.

I am so glad I decided to come to this schooling show. I learned a lot by being able to ride the test through once in a show setting. Fourth Level is HARD.  I was exhausted after only that one ride. I learned I need to warm up for that test longer than normal in order to really loosen him up and get him prepared for all the different things he has to do in a test like that.  I was glad I got to go through the movements and get a feel for just how fast everything happens in a test like that. I definitely had a few moments of pilot error that I am glad I got to work out in a schooling setting and not a rated show. Also, I’m glad I got the chance to get the nerves out about debuting this level. I actually handled it better than I expected, but I’m glad I won’t be going into a rated show having never ridden a Fourth Level test at a show before. And finally - I’m glad I did this schooling show because it’s given me so, so much more motivation to train than I had before.

We still have a lot of homework to do, but I honestly can’t believe this happened. And I can’t believe how mostly casual I feel about it. I think it’s still sinking in.

We rode Fourth Level. FOURTH. Not only that, but we rode a beautiful test, with only a few minor bobbles and a completely acceptable quality of work throughout. And he scored 60%+ our first time out. Wow.

We’ll ride it again at an Arabian show at the end of the month, and again at a rated dressage show the beginning of May. I am very determined to make us even better between now and then.

But for now, I am just so, so proud of my boy.

[ridefortheroses]

The Daily Grind: Where Horsemen Are Made - Horse Collaborative

People often decide to take up competitive horseback riding for one of two reasons. Either they love sports and they love animals and they want to combine the two, or they hate sports but love animals, and are looking for a hobby that doesn’t include balls, bats, racquets or nets. Even among the former group of athletically inclined riders, however, there’s a common misconception. Many people assume that riding offers a departure from the physically demanding and intensive training schedules required by other sports like soccer, basketball or tennis, or even highly disciplined art forms like ballet. But for those among us looking to compete at the highest level of equestrian sport that we can—and doing it mostly on our own—the illusion of a “less demanding” full-time sport is just that: an illusion. Contrary to your high school boyfriend’s opinion, horseback riding is not just the horse doing all the work. In fact, you’d be hard-pressed to find a professional at the top of his or her riding discipline who won’t agree with the idea that a rider’s own fitness should mirror the fitness she expects in her horses. Beezie Madden told More that in addition to hours of riding, she works out at least [...]

I’m really glad this article came into my life just now. The Daily Grind has gotten me pretty down in the last few months. Having to drive to the barn after a 10 hour day at school, to get there at 8pm only to do stalls... spending 3-4 hours a day, five days a week, to get both horses worked and fitting those hours in around my full time school, volunteering, working, homework, and other commitments (like the gym - who the hell has time for that? This article reminded me how long it’s been since I’ve worked out....). The grind has felt especially difficult lately.

But it is worth it. It always is. And my boys remind me that going the extra mile pays off. This article mentioned how our sport is unique in that it’s not often that there is someone there to motivate you to dig deep and go that extra mile, in the saddle, in your barn chores, or in your fitness. This has felt especially true for me lately, as I’m finding myself beat from an insane week of school and saying “A bareback hack is fine for today, right? Do we really need to school the Fourth Level changes? I’m sure they’re fine. It’s only been... five days...”

There’s no gold medal for winning the daily grind, the article says. Sometimes I wish there were - at 9:00pm when I’m finally leaving the barn and it’s pissing rain and I’m freezing and tired and I made time to ride after my long day only to have a mediocre school. It’s those nights that I wish the grind gave out medals.

...but the grind pays off in bigger and better ways. And I feel it coming on, slowly. But I only notice the pay off when I’m willing to put in the work. Big things are happening for me and my horses, but I won’t ever get there if I keep backing down from the hardships of the daily grind.

This term’s over - this term of terrible ten hours days is done. So I’m going to do my damnedest to get back on that grind. It should be easier now, with a lighter weekly schedule, better spring weather, and the ominous pressures of a show season edging closer. So here’s to the daily grind - I’m ready. I can do this.

[ridefortheroses]

Bob - Lesson 1/14 and Ride 1/16 ‘16

So for a first note: I apparently counted my chickens before they hatched with Fizz. He’s back to being really back sore so he’s off again. We’re going to investigate further and see what we can come up with.

In the meantime, Bob has been pretty damn spectacular. I had a riding lesson with him last Thursday for the first time since November. I told my trainer that in the last few months I’d been working really hard on riding him more shoulder fore in order to increase our straightness, as our crookedness is only going to hold us back more and more as I progress up the levels. She had been watching him for only a few minutes but told me that even at the walk he already looked straighter.

We went to work at the trot and commented on how, even though his trot lacked the cadence they’d want at 4th/PSG, it was nicely forward, relaxed, and engaged. Not quick like he can be prone to. I need to be conscious to not push TOO much in the collected trot - I was so used to him being so weak in the hind and quick that now, when he trots engaged and the tempo is slower because his trot is more lofty, I fear he isn’t forward enough and I push too much and he gets off balance. So I need to trust him and keep him in a comfortable pace.

We worked a LOT on bend in my lesson because he tends to resist taking the amount of bend necessary to complete the lateral movements and the half pass.  My trainer walked me through an exercise where we do square corners from quarterline to quarterline and focus on asking for the bend a few strides out from the corner while half-halting and keeping him engaged and quick in the hind through the corner, then pushing him forward again on the straight sides.  This was a great exercise and one I want to keep working with.

We also worked on the half pass at both the trot and canter. We did the exercise I LOVE where we take him shoulder in for a few strides straight, ask for the half pass, do a few straight strides shoulder in, then back to half pass... helps me correct him when he loses the bend or alignment and also keeps him from getting ahead of me and throwing his shoulders or haunches in and rushing. Working on improving the bend earlier helped a ton with the half pass. We did a half pass right at the canter where he as as up and soft in the bridle as I’d ever felt him, really relaxed and supple. It was lovely.

And at the end of the lesson we worked on super-collected canter anddd.... began preparing the pirouettes :) All we did on Thursday was work on the super collected canter and doing half pass in/leg yield out of a circle while super collected, to get him feeling about moving his body around while super collected. He did really super and we even got to try and take a few steps of working pirouette.  He was much more relaxed about it than I’d expected and I really look forward to working that more in the future.

At the end of my lesson my trainer mentioned how she might like to try me in a double bridle to further encourage him to lower the base of his neck. So we might play with that in my next lesson :)

In my ride the following Saturday I mostly just practiced what we’d done on Thursday. I worked more in the trot than the canter because his canter felt great and we’d worked it so hard on Thursday. The canter work we did was mostly in counter canter on the right lead, because he was very resistant to taking the bend in that counter canter and kept either anticipating a flying change left or doing an interrupted change when he got off balance. I MUST school the counter canter right more so that he can get better balanced, because it’s impacting our changes in a negative way.

I did a lot of half pass trot on Saturday because he was quite resistant and getting heavy, not wanting to bend or be supple. However I think I did a good job staying quiet with him and patient until he finally started bending and relaxing. We ended on a really good note and I was super happy with how the school went overall.

I’m going to keep schooling over the weekend and hopefully have a lesson again this week. Will keep everyone posted! :)

[ridefortheroses]

you're honestly such an inspiration to me as a rider

oh thank you so much :) it really means a lot to here that. i mean my accomplishments are all more personal than impressive on the grand scale so it means a lot to know that my own journey could inspire someone even though i’m not like, an Olympic hopeful or showing the CDIs or whatever.

if you ever want to chat feel free to come off anon :)

[ridefortheroses]

Bob (Ride) & Fizz (Long Line) - Jan. 6th ‘16

Hello again friends!  Here goes my first attempt at a training journal post.

Bob and I had a pretty good ride tonight. It started off with him being quite lazy to my leg and unwilling to supple and lower the base of his neck, which has been a struggle for the last week or so. We worked a long time in rising trot so I could encourage him to stretch down and forward, and eventually after many circles, leg yields and transitions within the gait he started to supple more. I went to sitting trot after our long rising trot warm up and was impressed that he remained forward and consistent in the tempo even after I went sitting, as he’s prone to tightening his back immediately after I sit. He could have still been more supple and round but he was forward and moving to the bit, so I was happy.

His canter work was quite balanced and collected today. We struggled with maintaining forward energy as I focused hard on keeping him straight. In both the trot and the canter lately I have been focusing really hard on his straightness - it is especially an issue in the canter, where he likes to swing his hips right while tracking both directions. He was resistant to traveling straight at first but eventually he relaxed and was had a very nicely collected canter, if wanting for a bit of energy. We practiced more transitions within the gait to keep him responsive to my leg aids. Since he was so balanced and collected, I practiced the changes some while traveling straight on the long sides. He was quite nice in the changes - the changes to the left was extra lofty and forward today which was lovely, and the changes to the right were clean if lacking in expression. We were actually able to complete FOUR single changes on the long side, which is the most we’ve ever done. They weren’t evenly spaced, but they were all quiet, clean, and mostly straight - so I was thrilled. I quit him after some more nice work in the changes.

We have a lesson tomorrow, and it’s my first lesson since November. I hope he’ll be a little more supple and lower in the base of his neck tomorrow but if not, at least my trainer will be able to help me. I’m excited to see what she has us work on.

My big victory tonight was with Fizz. A few weeks ago I started long lining him again to work on his forward contact to the bridle and to increase the work load to hep him build more muscle. It has been a long time since I’ve long lined, and Fizz is hardly the most consistent horse, so we’ve had a few awkward schools at it so far. Tonight, things finally clicked and I was able to be really consistent in the contact on each side of the bit as well as my encouraging him forward, and my increased consistency allowed him to really settle into the contact and move forward while staying round, connected and - dare I say it - uphill. His trot was big and forward without rushing, which was fantastic. His canter was incredible - his transitions to the canter were soft and he maintained the contact to the bit, and the actual canter was round, forward and true in quality. I was very, very proud of him tonight.

Still waiting on my half pad, but once that’s here I can start riding him :)

[ridefortheroses]

I’ve decided, because blogging over a horse show weekend is HARD and in an effort to make this blog more active overall, that I will start using this blog no longer as an exclusive competition blog, but as a riding/training blog. Specifically, I want to use this to catalog posts to contribute to the #DressageJournal tag. Yay!

So with that being said, I thought now, at the start of the new year, would be a good time to make a post to talk about my goals for the coming year.

My number one goal, with both horses, is simple - to find balance between my graduating college, getting a new job, probably moving, and still having these horses. It’s scary, having no idea what will happen after June. It’s scarier when I have my “horse children” to worry about - it honestly feels like I’m having to uproot my family. I want to take them with me if I can but it will entirely depend on what job I get and where I end up. If I’m able to take one or both of them with me - awesome. If not, I want to find a way for them to stay happy even in my absence - whether that’s leasing them out, putting them out to my pasture at my parents’ house, or something else. But my goal is to find a way to balance all the new changes in my life, horses included.

It was really hard to stay motivated riding and training, knowing that they may just get turned out to pasture in the summer anyway. After last show season ended I had a really hard time staying motivated to ride Bob consistently, and was further disheartened by my inability to ride Fizz. But I decided I needed to make some goals for the year, even if I don’t really get to meet them. I at least need something to work towards. So:

Goals for Bob:

Start schooling Fourth Level and PSG - because honestly, why the hell not. I am not necessarily concerned with showing either level, partly because I don’t know how he’ll take to the higher work and partly because I don’t even know how much I’ll be able to show at all this year. But there’s no reason that between now and June we can’t start to learn pirouettes and half pass zig zags. If it comes together, it comes together - maybe we can hit some schooling shows or something. But the goal right now is just to school it - we can adapt that goal as time goes along :)

Another goal... I wouldn’t mind teaching Bob half steps ;)

Goals for Fizz:

I am overjoyed to have finally found (pending the rest of my trail with it and the officially buying it) a saddle for Fizz. So, barring any continued back problems, I will be able to start riding him this month and work our way back up to training full time. That’s so exciting. So my goal for him is - Training Level!!! After five months spent lunging and long lining, his canter has gotten much more balanced and correct. He understands how to use his body now and maintain the canter, even if he isn’t always perfectly on the bit or round. But he’s consistent enough now that I firmly believe he can do at least Training 1 this year.

Not dressage related - but another goal is also to do a Sport Horse Under Saddle class at the spring Arab show(s) we go to this year. I haven’t done the rail classes in years and I would love for Fizz to get me back in that arena.

So here’s looking at you, 2016, and wherever the hell you take me, both in and out of the saddle. I’m looking forward to it.

[ridefortheroses]

I made this video for my best friend, my champion. A reflection of where we started and how far we’ve come.

This video has footage from an assortment of dressage tests we’ve completed in our seven years together.  The first video you see is from our first time competing in dressage, at an Arabian breed show, back in 2009. I was sixteen years old.  We scored a 59% at Training Level Test 1.

In the last footage you see, taken just last month, I’m twenty-two years old, and Bob and I are on our way to earning a 61% at Third Level Test 1 at a USDF rated, open dressage show. This is after having earned my USDF Bronze Medal earlier that weekend, with scores to 63% at Third Level.  Other footage throughout the middle of the video catalogs our journey to get from where we started to where we are now.

It still leaves me speechless to compare us then to how we look now. Clearly I’m a better rider now, too - but honestly, Bob doesn’t even look like the same horse, when you compare the footage. A true testament to how dressage training can completely transform a horse for the better.

I feel endlessly blessed that this horse came into my life. I never thought I wanted to ride an Arabian, never thought I wanted to do dressage... but when my family bought me a purebred as my first show horse, and after I won my first ever dressage test at a High School Equestrian meet (to a 48%, mind you), I was hooked. And after I started competing at open/all-breed dressage shows, I am so, so thankful that I never once got in my head that I needed a different horse to be successful in this sport. I owe that to the people I’ve met along our journey - the trainers who pushed us, my friends who cheered me on, and my family that supported me.  Often times, you guys believed in us more than I did. And I am so thankful for that.

I know he’s just a little red Arab from Nowhere, Oregon, USA, and to most he probably doesn’t look like anything special - I am sure there are plenty who would see the video from our Third Level test, the video where we are at the best we’ve ever been, and still consider it sub-par, or mediocre at best. But he is my champion. He is my one in a million. He is my Blueberry, my Matine. He’s just a little dish-face with a career average of about 62%, with a habit of placing me 6th when they give out awards to 5th, but he’s my everything. He’s my best friend and he’s given me the world. Not a thousand gold medals, not even a dozen red rose blankets could replace him. I owe him everything.