There have been a few days where I wanted to update here this week, but I woke up with a cold Monday and it kicked my ass a little bit. I'll just say it now, I am the biggest whiney sissy over the age of 7 when I get sick. I am pretty sure that no one can understand how terrible and tired I feel, when in reality, no one really cares. Fair enough, it's a frickin cold.

Even feeling dense in my head and tired in my body, I still had some good rides. Not that they were easy rides though. Tuesday Morten gave me a lesson on the six year old gelding and I was an absolute idiot. At times Morten would tell me to do something and I would just stop and look at him, not understanding his directions at all, even though he was speaking perfectly good English. I was either too slow or quick with my aids, or too strong or not effective enough. It was impossible for me to listen and ride with feeling at the same time. I could listen and do nothing in the saddle, or I could ride and shut out what he was saying. Just not cool.

Thankfully, after what felt like eternity, I got it, 'it' being a stellar, uphill flying change in both directions. Morten was really happy, but I think he was happy because the student from hell could finally exit the arena! 

When Morten wasn't looking with the other horses I went back into almost my comfort zone, working on simple transitions and reactions to my aids. (I say 'almost' comfort zone, because my actual comfort zone would have been in bed, sweat pants & warm sweaters, blankets pulled over my head.) These rides where I just focused on the basics ended up being fantastic!

This past week we had a client of Morten's bring her horse and train for the week. Laura is a super nice person, a very good rider with a lovely horse, and she is a physiotherapist!!!!! ohmygod. She worked with me twice, giving me an amazing massage and lots of stretching exercises to keep my neck/shoulder/back happy. It is good to get a little kick in the butt, reminding me to take care of my body before I need to fix it. 

I just got pictures of the lovely little Fidertanz filly I posted about last time. Here to the right you can see her fanciness. I've also added a picture of a 2009 Oldenburg stallion also for sale there. That orange goodness is by double World Champion and now FEI performer Florencio out of a mare by Jazz (sire of Dutch team horse Jerich Parzival and about a billion other top sport athletes) (ok, maybe not a billion, but a lot).  The pictures are a little blurry, but you can see that hindleg! A very exciting stallion, Charmeur, has the same breeding. Watch his video for a little bit of inspiration (and admiration for the great riding!). 

As the week closes I'm happy to be feeling better at least. I'm going to need every bit of energy I can muster this week; Morten and the family are on vacation, so I will be riding up to 11 horses each day. Have I mentioned lately that I love my job?

I just got home after another very quick trip (2000 km added to my car!) to Germany. I had to return Aila, Denny Crane's "mom", back to the Animal Embryo Centre in the Netherlands. It was a sad thing to bring her back, after she was such an incredible mother to Denny, but it doesn't make any sense for me to have an extra horse doing nothing but costing money when she can have another opportunity to be a fantastic mother for another embryo transfer baby. 

Saturday was like an Employer Party Past and Present, as I saw Hermann (who so generously lent me his trailer to move the mare!), Ingrid, and yes, even Morten who was teaching near Munster this weekend. It was great to see Ingrid & Hermann, as it's always nice to keep in touch with people who have made such a difference in my career and education.  

Today I saw Denny Crane and had a nice visit with the friends where he stays. Poor Denny got hit pretty hard with the ugly stick, as I knew he eventually would. However, he's still very sociable and charming, despite all his awkward angles. His dorkiness is not at all helped by the fact that there is a stunning filly in the group. This little Fidertanz filly is black/brown with four white socks, a star & snip, and the most beautiful, feminine head you can imagine. Even in her growth stage she still has an elegance that draws your eye; she puts all the other kids to shame. She is for sale for an excellent price if anyone is looking for a future prize.  

One funny thing happened that made me remember why it's cool to be in Europe. When I was driving today I stopped at a gas station in the north of Germany. While waiting at the coffee bar for my fancy-schmancy latte-to-go, I looked up at the TV to see the Grand Prix jumping class being broadcast from the big show in Neumunster, just a little farther up north. One of the women who worked in the cafe next to the coffee bar kept coming and checking the screen; then I realized that the three guys drinking coffee at the table behind me where discussing the class, noting the breeding of the horses and some of the history of certain combinations. It was just cool, and something that doesn't really happen at home in North America. Once I was back on the autobahn I noticed then a lot of big horse vans/lorries on the road after the tournament. I saw a few notable riders/stables from both dressage and show jumping heading in the opposite direction, so now of course I need to get on-line and look up the results to see how these people fared!

It was good to be back in Germany, but it's great to be "home." I'm looking forward to getting to work tomorrow and back in the saddle. Look out horses, I'm fired up... 

Morten is feeling better and riding more, which means slightly less saddle-time for Eiren. Don't cry, I still have my time filled with riding, it's jut that I get an actual lunch break now! Yippee!

The horses are going well and I'm making progress with Domani and Countess towards the goal of riding a Prix St George in the middle of April. I had some brilliant trot work with Countess today and Morten reminded me of not over-doing it. "Find the moment to quit once the horse tries. They need to know that even though the work may be hard sometimes, there is a reward. If they don't clearly understand the reward for their efforts they start to doubt you." It was a good reminder as I tend to get a little overambitious at times; I do NOT want my horses to doubt me.

So anyway, not a whole lot to talk about with the training, so let's talk about stuff. Cool stuff. One of the cool things we have here are the Stubben Offset Stirrups. Maybe that doesn't sound cool, but until you try them, don't judge.

These nifty products have the holes, or slots, for the stirrup leathers, set off-center. This means the stirrups don't hang straight at the pad where you place your feet; instead they hand a little bit lower to the outside. This does a few things:

• By putting more weight to the outside of your foot (I've told people in lessons to put more weight on their pinky toe) it makes your leg hang longer, draping down the horse.
• This longer leg makes it harder to grip with the knee. Gripping with the knee is bad for so many reasons, don't even get me started on that one.
• This position also makes it very hard to grip with your calves and turn out your toe like a ... what, a jumper? Hunter? Ballerina? Duck? You get the point.
• This toe-in (or just straight) leg gives you more contact with the horse, so more aid for you to use. It also makes it harder to poke your pony by accident with the spur. 

 A dressage leg should be long and with the toes straight ahead. That's hard. These stirrups make it easier.  

I know there's other clever (actually, I think they're even called "Intelligent") stirrups that have all sorts of smartness to make it easier to position your foot in the stirrup without twisting the leathers or angling your foot. I've ridden in some other designs but never noticed a difference in feeling, unless I lost a stirrup, in which case those Intelligent ones are very easy to retrieve.  However, when I tried these I right away noticed a difference. I have to say the first time I thought there was something wrong, that my leathers were breaking because the angle of my foot was so strange. However, once I got used to the feeling I decided I was a little bit in love.

So, if you have tight, grippy, toed-out riding legs, this might be an interesting thing to try. That's all for now, happy riding.  

Morten's very busy, international clinic schedule means he is often gone; this means that I get to sometimes ride more (yay!) but then I don't get his help (boo). Before the show I felt okay with my preparation, but now that Morten is back and has his eye on me, I realise how much better I could have done. 

His help is so clear and precise, it's amazing how quickly improvement is felt in the horses. The six year old was worked in the flying changes yesterday and we used the same exercise we used in my first lesson ever with Morten, on Alabama, asking for the cross-counter first because he came late a few times. Morten compared training horses to teaching math. "You don't start yelling and screaming at someone just because they don't understand a math problem; that just upsets them and makes it harder and frightening. You have to find a way to make it simple, to break it down into the smallest, understandable pieces. It's the same with horses. Getting frustrated and using stronger aids doesn't help when the horse doesn't understand." 

After a few late changes in one direction we did the cross-canter then change the front a few times. Today I had lovely, clean changes both ways.  2+2, people. That simple. 

We also worked a mare in the piaffe and passage, with Morten helping from the ground. This mare is amazing and athletic, and also a little stinky. She is the ultimate princess and has no trouble telling you off if she feels offended by what you're doing. When she finally rolls her eyes in disgust and says fine, she gives the best feeling you can imagine. 

It's such a great feeling when the horses work happy and I feel the muscles in my stomach burning because I'm finally working as hard as I should too! 

My show horses had yesterday off and today we worked "lightly." Now, lightly is maybe defined differently where you are reading from. A light workout for these horses today meant that it was short, 30-40 minutes in total. But within that time frame I walked, warmed up long & low, brought them up into a more collected frame and rode them as I did in the competition, then we kicked it up another gear and found another level of collection and self-carriage that I need to explore. After that I stretched and cooled out, then back to bed for my favorite orange ponies.

I feel like I made a huge change in my approach with Countess, and she was way happier. Watching the video from Sunday's video made me cringe (repeatedly), and talking with Morten gave me a bit better clarity of what I need to work on.  Today I was determined to just trust her to try, let her do more work than me. She was brilliant and so much happier. I have to remind her regularly to lift her poll higher, but today I just let her be there alone, without me trying to pull her up there, and it was so much nicer. Yeesh, I'm sorry for riding like a 'tard, big girl!

On the subject of me riding like a 'tard, I have a special present for you, dear reader. My father has taken a new-found interest in my sport, finally coming to terms with the fact that I'm not going to call it quits and go back to school. So in his effort to decipher the language of my chosen career he has been reading up on dressage-related information, including having a read-through of the USDF dressage tests to get an idea of what I shoud be doing at a competition. He asked me if I could write down the movements and scores from one of my tests so he can compare it to the video and better understand how the scoring works and what the judges look for and say.  

Well, I did better than that; I made it all into the video.  I chose my Sunday test with Countess, the worst one to date, because I learned the most by watching that one. Of course it makes me a little nervous to publish it, because I do look like an ass quite often. However, if my stupidity can help prevent others from being stupid, then off to youtube we go. CLICK HERE to see the test. There is more information about it on the page. 

And with that i leave you to snicker and giggle, or quake in horror at what the video shows. Have fun, and be good to your ponies.  

After watching the video of Countess' test last night, thinking about it, sleeping with it in my mind, and waking up thinking about it, I decided to kick it up a notch today. Morten reviewed both of my tests and between his thoughts and what the judges saw, we discussed what my goals would be to ride a better test. 

(In yesterday's class of 31 competitors, I placed 9th with Countess with a 64.6%, and 17th with Domani with 63.6%)

With Countess, I wanted to push it. Bring her pole up, let her front end lift, and keep the big energy flowing through her body. With Domani I wanted more power & swing in the trot, but more collection - without losing any activity - in the canter. That was my plan.

I said to Morten before I went in with Countess, "so if I'm going to make mistakes today I want it to be that she is too high in the frame." He said something like, "okay, good luck with that." 

So in I went, riding the hide off that mare, asking for bigger expression and a higher frame. It kinda blew up in my face and I pretty much shit the bed. It wasn't relaxed and flowing, but it was a great learning experience. I had moments of brilliance, with huge energy and expression. Unfortunately I would hold my half-halt to long, or come with a bit too much leg when I didn't need it and Countess would either get tense or ... get tense. I had a magical beginning to an extended trot but then we cantered. I lost rhythm in the voltes & half-passes because I was doing too much.

The judges rewarded me with a 62.16%, fairly deserved. Lots of 6's & 7's, but an unfortunate amount of 5's, plus one 4 (extended trot that wasn't). 

So we took Countess home and loaded up Domani. When we got to the show we unloaded in the parking lot and I had just hopped on when a horse got loose from it's rider while they were untacking. With saddle on and just the reins around the neck, this horse went flying past Domani, down the road and out of sight. Domani was super pumped and wanted to race, but luckily stayed with me. With a sick feeling in my stomach I rode to the warm-up ring, knowing there was nothing I could do to help. (Sarah was already on the phone with Morten, who was in his car on the way. He ended up helping to catch the horse on a busy, winding road, with not a scratch on him. Hoorah!)

Once I started warming Domani up I knew I had a whole other level of awesome underneath me. Everything felt so easy, but so expressive and bold. I could really ask for more then bring him back with easy aids. Morten gave me great help, but was really happy with the work we were doing.

When I went into the ring I thought to myself, 'he feels so good, just don't f^@k it up! But don't do nothing! Take the risk, ask for it!' Domani was brilliant. Sure, there were a few things that needed to be better - my last half-pass looked like some sort of epileptic seizure - but overall it was a delight. When I saluted at the end I didn't care what my score was, I didn't care if the judge liked me or not. I just felt like I'd put down a good test. 

Turns out the judge did like me and the orange boy. We scored a 70.54% and topped the field of about 30. He scored six 8's in the movements, plus got an 8 on gaits and earned me an 8 on rider. (Just to keep it honest, I got a 6 on rider in my test with Countess.) 

So HERE is the test. It's not perfect but it was a whole lot of fun.

Now I have to go hug my two orange ponies before bed. Cheers! 

The last two weeks have been crazy, but in a good way. While Morten has been suffering with severe back pain, I get to ride all the pretty ponies. Lucky for me, Morten is incredibly dedicated - he would hobble into the stable and teach me lessons. In between horses he would literally lay down on the floor of the viewing lounge/casino, then prop himself back up to help me once I'd warmed up the next horse. Unbelievable work ethic there, and it kept me super motivated and inspired. 

The lessons were amazing. There was one day where I had an outstanding lesson on a 6 year old (2005) gelding, where we found another trot. Dressage should enhance a horse's natural way of going, and we should be able to improve their gaits. A lot of times you see this obviously "created" gait, and it's not nice because of the tension and nerve in the horse. What I was thrilled with in this particular ride, is that while we were "manufacturing" a better trot, the horse was swinging and relaxed. Through the in-hand work he has learned the desired response to touching the hind-legs with the whip (step quicker and more under), and so a little tickle at the right time while riding the trot and he swings underneath himself, lifting the back and bouncing into a more lofty, collected trot while keeping the hind-leg quick. It was a small thing but super rewarding to feel. I thought to myself, 'this is the best lesson I've had in a long time!' 

That thought was short-lived, since my next ride was on an older horse and we worked on the piaffe, passage, and the transitions between them. I was doing too much, making it harder than it is for the horse. Remember, this horse has been trained by Morten; he (the horse) knows what he's doing. So while I'm bumping and grinding away up there, Morten was trying to explain to me to stop riding like an idiot (not his exact words) and let the horse do his job. So I tried again. And again.   ... and again...  .... and again...  ... and  I GOT IT!  Great, pat him, walk, now do it again... sh!t, I lost it.  Sigh. 

The horse is a saint and put up with my mistakes, and Morten just kept demanding that I figure it out and learn the feeling. While I'm not confident that I can do the piaffe-passage transitions in any sort of ideal way now, at least I got a better idea of how Morten trains them and what I will need to look for in my feeling the next time.

With this amazing lesson, Morten left for another week of clinicing in the US. While he was gone I was riding, riding, riding. Some days were magical, other days I felt like an uncoordinated dork. Usually the horses reflected the feeling, letting everyone know if I was riding well or like a beginner. Of course the magic usually happens when I'm alone in the ring...

Moving on to this weekend, another horse show. I had been under the (false) impression that Morten would be back Thursday night and would work with me Friday. Not so, he was first back Friday evening. When he asked me how the two show horses have been, I smiled uncertainly and said, "Good. I think? I hope. I guess you'll find out tomorrow!" They have felt good, but my standard is not always that of an Olympian.

So today I started with Domani, a 10 year old Hanoverian gelding by Donnerhall out of a Lauries Crusador XX mare.  I just really started riding him after my last show two weeks ago, and I gotta say, I like him! This was our first show together of course, and we rode "M" level (equivalent to 3rd). He was very brave and pleased with himself in the class. His trot work felt good, super medium & extended trots. The lateral work is a little sticky, as he's not super bendy through his body and I need to figure out how to prepare him better so it's easier. His canter work felt good, but Morten said it needed to be more collected. When I thought about it, yeah, it was a little like I had the gas pedal stuck on the floor maybe. My walk pirouettes were sticky and big, and I blew the last flying change. So lots to work on but overall I was happy. Domani gives a really great feeling in the show ring and all of these problems can get better.

Next up, in the same class, was my big girl, Countess. I love her to bits. In the warm up she was right away softer in the contact and through her neck than she was at the last show. She let me ask for more trot and swing, which was great since I was determined NOT to trot like an old woman today. In the ring she was nicely on the aids and I felt like I could be a little bolder in some of the work. Of course there were a lot of things I could have done better, but my overall feeling was a big improvement from last outing. Morten's main comment was that I need to bring her frame higher and more open, especially in the trot, allowing the front end more freedom. Watching the video confirms it. While I know she can't carry herself so up and open through an entire trot tour, I need to start allowing her to be there more often and keep her "with me" with smaller, quicker half-halts instead of holding her too tight. 

While I had a good feeling from both horses, the judge didn't love me. My scores were 63.something with Domani and 64.something with Countess. We had to leave before the class was over so I don't know how I finished in the standings. I'm not too concerned about it since the most important feedback is from the boss, Morten, but it will be interesting to read my tests. Tomorrow morning Sarah is showing early, so I can pick up my tests and read them before I ride both horses in the afternoon again.  

We did video both rides. Domani's test is on Morten's camera, so I don't have immediate access to it. However, here is my test with Countess.  I'm so fortunate to have this opportunity to ride AND compete such well-trained, quality horses. Somehow now, I've got to calm myself down and get some sleep so I'm ready for tomorrow. Good luck to me with that...