I just want to say that I had an amazing day due to an amazing ride due to an amazing lesson from Ingrid today.

Those that read my post from February 5th may remember my disastrous attempts at flying changes when the boss was trying to help me. So today after I finished warming Dante up, she told me to walk and cross my stirrups so we could do a little lesson in the flying changes. I just thought 'I can do this.'

And I did!

Ingrid is such a great teacher and communicator, and her approach today was exactly what I needed, and I think she and Dante were both relieved! I know I was. We had some really nice, straight, clear, uphill tempi-changes. Of course I had some mistakes, and it was always about half-way across my line, just as I started to think 'right on, I'm getting thissssssssshit!' But Ingrid just kept fixing me, and I stayed focused and the quality of the changes got better and my timing stayed good, and Dante was gorgeous.

So, small victory for me today. That's all.
Cheers,

Eiren

Last night I was at the stallion showcase of a private breeding farm just outside of Münster and I left early; I was tired, I was cold, and what surprised me most is that I was a little bored.

Since the middle of January I've been able to see a few stallion shows: Aachen (amazing!), Westfalian private owners stallion collection (some great horses but the audience was in a collective coma), the German Trakehner show, and then this private show. Last night the stallions were gorgeous and talented, the farm beautiful, the presentation choreographed to keep things rolling and the over-capacity audience entertained. Ingrid was riding 3 stallions, so I was interested. However, for the first time cold, tired, and not feeling like sitting in der Toaster for 40 minutes waiting to get from the parking lot to the street,  won out over horse crazy. I packed it in after Ingrid's last go, beating the crowd out the door and early(ish) to bed.

I guess I am getting used to it all.

However, that was one night. Most of the time I wish I could see ALL the shows. I have missed quite a few big ones, but there are only so many things I can do in each day and more will come before the season is over.

So anyway, my week was interesting. Ingrid had an overflow of horses for the week so I had to take my Ike to her brother's barn till the stall was free again Friday. Here was one of my days; at 7:30 start with my 3 great new young horses, a half-hour drive from my apartment. After I'd drive to Michael Klimke's barn to ride Ike. While riding I could keep one eye on Michael as he schooled his super talented Harmony's Calinus in the Grand Prix movements. Then I went to Ingrid's to work the afternoon. Then at 6:00 pm my German class would start. At 8:00 I'd go back to the barn to finish what I didn't finish before. Usually home at 9:30 pm or so. Other days I start at Ingrid's, go to the young ones, go to school, go ride Ike, go home. Whatever the order was, I had to smile at my schedule: riding at one Klimke barn or another, sitting on awesome horses, and still enjoying Germany as I passed my official one-year anniversary here.

There was one day I rode 10 horses. Then today I rode one (and was it ever a good ride on my Ike!) and am totally happy with that too. Most of the horses had the day off today and I got to go to the show in Olfen to watch Ingrid and Dami do their first normal Grand Prix (at the K&K Cup in January it was the "Short GP"). Friday they had a bit of an unfortunate Intermediare II and barely made the top 12 (yep, they were 12^th) to qualify for the GP.  Today, despite some mistakes, they had a pretty good test and came 2^nd.

It's been an inspiring week. Maybe I should take some of that inspiration and do my German homework...

Today while riding Dante Ingrid helped me with the St. George canter movements: half-pass zig-zag, canter pirouettes and tempi changes. I haven’t been riding Dante a lot lately so there was some floundering (on my part) in the pirouette work and the zig-zags were more like zig-sideways-crooked-change-haunches-leading-not-enough-bend-not-enough-sideways-change-zag. Do it again, do it better. It got better, but one of the differences between Olympic athletes and the rest of us is the definition of “good enough”. We’ll think about that for a while but move on for now.

 

So then we started the flying changes.

 

A little background; flying changes used to be my nemesis. I was afraid of them, I couldn’t conquer them, I couldn’t teach them. But somewhere along the way of patient professor horses and forgiving young horses I got over my fear, I got the flying change. I got some good scores in my FEI tests for the tempi changes even. Just doing it again and again and again and again made it better.

 

Not to long ago we started teaching Flipper, the six year old over-achiever, how to do changes. Often Ingrid would ride another horse and help me on Flipper. He gets so unbelievably hot and anticipatory in this work that it usually ended up with me getting off and Ingrid getting on to sort things out. Strike one for my confidence.

 

Then one day not so long ago after she rode Dante Ingrid said to me, “we need to work on your aids for the flying changes. Your timing and aid are different than me and we should do them really the same if we’re riding the horses together.” Makes total sense but what I heard was not the word “different” but “wrong”. Strike two for my confidence.

 

Now we’re back at today’s ride. I started Dante with the 4’s, then the 3’s, then the 2’s. The more I did the worse they got. The more Ingrid instructed me, the worse I rode. When I was trying to do the changes every second stride I would get them on the third stride, I would get ones, occasionally I would get twos. Ingrid was telling me, “now… now… now…” with my aids. “He’s too bent… you’re too slow… flex him… start earlier… now… up in front…” and whatever she said I just couldn’t do.

 

And you know it, I ended up getting off and Ingrid got on and “one, two, three, change, one, two, three, change,…” then “one, two, change, one, two, change, one, two, change,…” and of course, “change, and, change, and, change, and, change,…” All perfect.

 

Strike three, I’m out.

 

Son of a biscuit! When did I become totally moronic in this? As I was hand-walking the other horse Ingrid had been riding I must have looked as pathetic and dejected as I felt because Ingrid soon said to me, “Don’t worry about it Eiren. You’ll get it, you just need to do it more and practice. I was lucky, I had horses like Pascal and Alherich to learn on. We just work on it and it will get better.” Oh man, did I ever need that. I was feeling like a jumper, on the abyss of a big, deep hole of self-pity, and one little bit of encouragement talked me down.

 

My day got better with every other horse I rode, and then tonight, on my second to last horse at 9:00 pm, all alone in the ring, I did it. We had a forward, swinging, fun warm up, a walk break and then started, as normal with this horse, with the canter work. I thought I would just try one change each way on the short diagonal. They were good. Then across the long diagonal I thought I would try 4 tempi changes, three of them. Then I thought I would try five of the 4-time changes. Then I thought I would try the changes every 3 strides, but after the first flying change on the line a violent attack of nose blowing discombobulated the horses and so we had to start again. So, next diagonal we did a nice line of five changes every 3^rd stride.

 

Ok, the two time changes. Five in a row, tick-tock-tick-tock. Was that just good luck? Next diagonal I think I did seven, I might have done nine. I have no idea because I was just doing them. My mind was quiet, my body was guiding the horse and the horse was listening to me and doing nice, straight, uphill flying changes every time I asked, on time. After “one-two, two-two, three-two,” I quit counting because I was just feeling and enjoying. I had the confidence that the next one would come and then it did.

 

Jazz Rubin, the seven year old stallion, is my favorite horse today. Every day I tell each horse he’s my favorite, and I mean it almost every time. But today “Ru” gave me something I really needed, such a feeling that I ended up singing along to all the trash on the radio for the rest of my rides tonight (good thing I was the only one there!). Tomorrow he goes back to his farm for breeding duties and we get a 3 year old son of his. What a way to say good-bye. I wish there was a way we could thank the horses with words so we could really know they understand. Instead, it’s some extra apples and carrots before being tucked in for the night. I hope it’s enough.

 

Cheers,

Eiren

 

PS- In my next installment I must talk about my German language classes. I had my second class tonight, before my super-ride, and it’s so much fun. There are 16 students from about 13 different countries. There are glamorous, beautiful girls from Brazil, Spain, Italy, etc., and then me in my dirty, stinky riding britches. How could this not be the beginning of a great story!

 

 

If I posted as often as I thought about it this would be a daily column. Alas, I'm trying to learn time management, but at least I have the internet hooked up at home again and now have one less excuse...

So many new starts to report:

Since my last post Ingrid and Damon Hill made their Grand Prix debut and they were awesome. At the K&K Cup in Münster they came 4^th in the Grand Prix and 3^rd in the GP Kür with a 73.95%. Not too shabby me thinks.

Dante made his "small tour" debut placing 2^nd in the Prix St. George and 3^rd in the Intermediare I. These two horses are great examples of when the Young Horse program goes right. Both horses have competed in the 5 and 6 year old classes and now at 7 Dante does the small tour and at 9 years Dami made his GP start. No, the Young Horse program is not for every horse, but when it's right, it's great.

Other news, I got a car! Wohoo! While it ain't no Mercedes, I love my old Suzuki Swift.  I call it, ‘der Toaster', German for the toaster (who said learning a foreign language was hard?). It is like toaster with wheels, but it does get me from A to B in a fuel efficient way, and much warmer than my fabulous bike which is easy to fall off of in icy winter conditions. Best of all, because of der Toaster, I have new clients!

I have been in contact with a wonderful breeding farm and agreed to start training and showing three young sales horses. Today was my first day on that job, and I think this is going to be great. One youngster was rather full of himself and our ride consisted of him trying to launch me and me trying to stay on and giddy-up. All ended well with me staying on from beginning to end and him finishing with long and low stretching and blowing his nose. We will lunge before the next ride anyway! But all three horses are wonderful quality and once again I feel so lucky and fortunate to have made these connections.

Tomorrow I start my German classes again, which I'm really looking forward to. I'm also in the process of applying for my competition license, and that will be very exciting when I have permission from the powers that be to don white britches once more.

I know I'm forgetting and/or omitting a ton of info and news here, but it's time for me to eat and get some sleep so I can do it all again tomorrow (I still can't believe this is my job!)

Cheers,
Eiren