It was great to finally be back in the show ring after spending most of 2014 on the sidelines due to a riding accident. As always, my students never cease to make me proud.
Sarah Borns earned her
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Long Lining with Richard Malmgren
Early this month we were lucky to have a very talented friend of mine, Richard Malmgren, come to the farm to do a long lining clinic. Richard has studied with Bo Jena, of Flyinge Stud in Sweden, and in addition to being very talented in address straightness and connection issues, he is also very kind and patient with the horses. His goal is a positive experience for every horse.
We had an interesting group of horses, from a very green three year old to a PSG/I-1 horse. As most of these were horses I either rode or gave their riders lessons on, it was interesting to see the same evasions present in the long lines.
My own mare, Samsara, had a very productive session. “Bee” is pretty tricky in the connection. She likes to avoid the right rein, and avoid using her right hind leg correctly. She also carries a lot of tension in her lower back. Richard skillfully worked her through these issues through work on a diamond shape and lateral exercises, and it was very cool to watch her get straighter, more even, and taking longer relaxed strides. While I am certainly no where near Richard’s skill level, I have committed to long lining her myself once every 7-10 days, and it has definitely been a very positive addition to her training program.
Huge thank you to Richard for coming out to work with us. We plan to have him back regularly—if you are interested in participating or auditing, please contact me.
Welcome Home, Mouse
Last week, a wish came true for me: I was able to bring my old horse, Mouse, back to me to spend the rest of his days.
Mouse came into my life when he was 6, he is 22 now. But make no mistake, he is still sassy as ever. Mouse saw me through many hard times in my life, and I am so glad to have him with me again. Every time I see his little face peering at me over the window, it makes me smile.
Mouse is still sound and quite the fancy mover, and will be available for lessons and half lease (with option to show) once he gets a bit fitter. He is trained through Prix St. Georges and is a wonderful confidence builder with his small size (15.2) and kind disposition.
Taking Responsibility for Your Own Education
I recently had a discussion with a fellow rider and trainer about teaching. We both recognized that our most successful students (“success” defined as progress in their ability/education, NOT strictly show ring success) have one thing in common: they take responsibility for their own education.
Before I start, let me first say that yes, of course there are also responsibilities that trainers have to students. Trainers need to be invested in educating themselves, so that they can become better teachers. Trainers need to make sure that they are giving their students their full attention during lessons, and they need to be willing to work to help a student understand a concept, if their usual ways aren’t getting the job done. They also need to teach students the theory of dressage, and how various exercises help shape the horse as an athlete. But even the best trainer can’t be there when you’re riding on your own—and that’s when taking responsibility for your own education becomes important.
Discipline is crucial. After a lesson, do you take the concepts and exercises you have worked on that day and do your best to apply them in your future schooling sessions, experimenting with your aids and noting your horse’s reactions? Or do you simply ride around by route, with no plan? If you ride a bad transition, do you analyze what went wrong and ride it again, and try to fix it? Or do you just ignore it? By choosing the latter in each example, progress will be slow to nonexistent. It is incredibly important to take the time to school on your own, to put into daily practice the things you have learned. I know that at the end of a long day at work, finding motivation can be hard (especially if you live in an area with real winter weather)—but that is where discipline comes into play. It is better to ride for 25-30 minutes with discipline and focus, than to ride sloppily for 45 minutes to an hour. And for those who may think, “Easy for her to say! She rides horses all day long!”, I will let you know that I have a day job that helps pay the bills, so I have been there and done that.
I see a lot of riders who have no idea how to ride without their trainer present and directing their every move. What happens if you go to a show and you and your trainer have conflicting ride times, and now you must warm up on your own? If you do not understand the theory behind the exercises you are doing, and you haven’t spent time putting theory into practice on your own, you will probably find the prospect of warming up on your own daunting. From my prospective, I have succeeded when my students can confidently warm themselves up when I’m not there—I know I have been successful in giving them the tools to be able to judge what exercises will best help their horse in that moment. To be fair, many instructors tend to be light on theory, for a variety of reasons. If you don’t understand why you’re doing an exercise, ASK!
Some riders mention a fear of “doing the wrong thing” while schooling. This is nonsense. As long as you are treating your horse fairly, the best way to learn is by experimenting and, yes, making mistakes. I made a ton of mistakes with the first horse I trained to FEI—and learned a tremendous amount in the process. And I still make mistakes to this day! Rather than getting worried or upset, learn from your mistakes and move on. Horses are incredibly forgiving.
Your trainer can give you a roadmap and guide you along the way, but ultimately YOU are responsible for working on improving your skills through dedicated practice and experimentation. Not even a world-renowned Olympian can put in the blood, sweat and tears for you.
In Pursuit of Mastery
Recently, I watched a TED talk by a woman named Sarah Lewis that I found to be particularly relevant to dressage. The talk is called “Embracing the Near Win”, and it discusses the differences between success and mastery. As all of us who participate in this discipline know, in dressage we are always striving towards an ideal, always trying to make the gap a little bit smaller. As Lewis states, the pursuit of mastery is “an ever-onward almost.”
To strive for mastery means accepting that we don’t know it all, no matter what we have accomplished. Fortunately, horses are great at reminding us of this and keeping us humble. The longer you give yourself over to the pursuit of perfection in dressage, you realize that as your abilities increase, you become painfully aware of just how far you have to go. To ride dressage requires “giving [your]self over to a voracious, unfinished path that always require[s] more.” Like many riders, I think back to horses of my past and think of what it would be like to have that horse now, and how I would do things differently. I suppose that will probably happen for the rest of my riding career, no matter how good I get. Even with my own current horse, I think back to how I handled certain things then, and how I wish I could go back and have a do-over, knowing what I know now. But as any good dressage rider knows, the only way is forward.
Many are probably familiar with this scenario—when you mention to a non-equestrian friend or acquaintance that you still take lessons, you receive a quizzical look. “You still take lessons? But you’ve been riding forever. Don’t you know how to ride yet?” This is what I find so enticing about dressage—the constant quest for refinement. And so I continue along my path, trying to be the rider my horses deserve, and to be the best teacher I can be to help my students achieve their goals.
PVDA Sugarloaf Show Recap
Students Allison Stork and Shera Solomon were awesome at the PVDA Sugarloaf Show yesterday.
Allison rode Im a Driftin Dude at Intro A and B. She has been diligently working on retraining “Niko” all winter (he was originally a western horse) and her hard work is paying off. They were third in Intro B with a 65%+, and they won Intro A with a 68%+! Great job, Allison.
Shera and her OTTB mare Kerrigan In Command have been working hard on straightness and suppleness, and it showed with scores of 66 and 67%, two blue ribbons, and First Level High Point! “Kerry” has also made big changes in a small amount of time. I’m excited to see where both these horses finish off by the end of the year!
VADA/NoVA Summer Show Recap
Katie King and Shine had another great show this past weekend. With solid mid-60s scores at First 2 and First 3, Katie earned her second USDF/GAIG qualifying score at First Level. She is now completely qualified for both finals shows. And last but not least, they won their First 1 class on Sunday with a 70%, including a score of “8” on harmony. Very exciting, but this team is definitely not resting on their laurels. They are hard at work to be able to try dipping their toes into the water at Second Level later this year.
I brought along my mare Samsara (“Bee”), as a non-compete. Bee can be emotional, so she is going to shows this year just to hang out and school. She was a really good girl, and we had two super lessons with JJ Tate which lead to real breakthroughs. She’ll be coming along to Dressage at Lexington for more exposure. This mare is really talented, and I think she’s worth taking the slow approach.
VADA/NoVA Spring Show Recap
Katie King and her mare Shine kicked off show season in style. They qualified for the CBLM Finals at First Level, received their first GAIG/USDF qualifying score at First Level, and earned the required First Level scores towards Katie’s long term goal of earning the USDF Bronze medal. Additionally, they placed in all of their classes, and even won the AA division of First 1 with nearly a 69%. Super proud of this pair!
Dressage at Lexington
I took Amy Stika’s Routinier (“Roo”) to Lexington again this year. This is one of my absolute favorite shows: wonderful staff, professionally run, and a great time!
Roo and I did the I-1 on Saturday, and we had our best ride ever to score a 69% and change. So tantalizingly close to breaking 70! One day. On Sunday I did a little too much warmup, so he was a bit tired, but we still managed a solid 65% for 6th place in a huge class.
Photo by Shari Glickman.
Congratulations are in order!
My wonderful student, Rebekah McCormick, earned her final score for her USDF Bronze Medal at the VADA/NoVA June show this past weekend. She and her lovely mare Lisianthus scored a 65.789% in Third Level Test 1, placing second in a competitive class.
Rebekah is a delight to teach, and a very hard worker. She has two small children, takes care of a farm, and rides outside all year long! It has been a lot of fun helping her up the levels.
Photo of Rebekah and Lisianthus is courtesy Pics of You.
