2.21.11

Star and Tacki waiting to be saddled up

I am going to training today. This month Nancy has been riding Lyn's horses so I have just been grooming and warming up. That has given me a nice chunk of time to work on my own horse. So I have been trying to get Star legged up.

Nancy climbed on Star for me that day and has coached me a couple of times since and things are going much better. I don't know what I would do without her help.
It really helps having Lyn ringside encouraging me on. My friend Courtney also gave me some great ideas to work on, and a lot of encouragement too. I guess it takes a village to raise a rider!

I know this arena work is sooo important. It is also very hard! I can't wait till the weather turns and I get to hit the trails.

The Beginnings of AOF

When I was a kid I had no fear. I rode whatever people would let me climb aboard, including sitting two horses for the first time. I remember being bucked off by one and landing on a car hood. I thought it was great fun!

I had two horses, one I did quite well on at the state level in 4H with my horse "Babe". The second, "Spooky," I started and was soon riding around town on by myself. Then my parents sold my horses (out from under me) and I took a 20+ year break. College and a family and a non horsey husband were my new life. I never dreamed I would ever have a horse again.

My husband bought me my first horses 6 years ago.

Five years ago I took a nasty fall at a canter when my mare ducked out from under me. It was in an arena setting. I hit my head hard and messed up my back. It started a very deep root of AOF in me.

Funny thing is in the last 5 years I have successfully started 5 different horses. I have had to pass each one off once we got to the canter stage. Isn't it crazy to not be afraid to back all of those greenies for the first time, yet still have serious AOF about cantering? But I did.

It took me a year or so to canter again on Delight and even then I had to talk myself into it and I rode stiff and grabbing her mouth. She actually used to "pop the trunk" on me quite often at a canter while my Tom and kids rode her with no problems. I know that I was causing her bucking by asking her to go with my legs and holding her back with my hands, but I couldn't do anything about it!

Since then I have been riding several horses for Blue Note Arabians, done two endurance rides and been to several shows. I still deal with AOF sometimes, but I have made tremendous strides against it.

I am hoping to share some tips here on how I am overcoming this monster with the hopes it will help someone else. Maybe someone else will grow in confidence to beat It too.

Catching Up - Part Three

I also need to share a bit of a speed bump that I had last week.

I was trying for my second canter last week on Tacki and I fell off.

It was the first time for a "real" fall for me in 5 years or so. (I have fallen off bareback a couple of times just fooling around). I was stiff for a couple of days, but I survived.

As I was cantering Tacki she ducked her shoulder to the inside. I over compensated and it just got worse from there. I finally decided to bail off but by then it was too late, I already was "falling with style" as Woody said to Buzz Lightyear.


It was NOT Tacki's fault. She doesn't have a mean bone in her body and didn't buck, I just lost control of her shoulder wasn't able to think fast enough to fix it. I hate it so much that I "grab" when I get scared... it is just the opposite of what I need to do.

What's ironic is that my last fall 5 years ago was nearly the exact same event. Delight ducked her shoulder ( out that time) and I fell off hard like a sack of potatoes. Delight was definitely being dishonest. I was really lucky. I wasn't wearing a helmet and I did hit my head. I also hurt my back badly that time.

The difference this time is that I knew what was happening even as it was happening, I just couldn't get my body to work right fast enough. The first time I fell it took me YEARS before I understood what happened.

So I guess I need to work some more on shoulder control, eh?

I did get back on and cantered both directions. Tacki is a very forgiving mare. She really is a wonderful horse.

One of the best things that came out of this is that my AOF did not kick in this time. I think I must really be making some progress against that Monster!

AOF - Nada. Me - Three Million!

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Catching Up - Part Two

Not of me, but of how I feel!

I went to the second jumping show yesterday. I was worried again, but this time for different reasons; "What if my wins last month were a fluke? What if I fall off? My goodness, I haven't ridden Delight in the English saddle in a month!" Worrying is my specialty it seems.

In the weeks before the show I had been teasing Sandra, who planned to ride Sam, about riding against "The Champion of the World," and that she needed to "Be Very Afraid." I didn't really expect to duplicate my wins of last month so I talked a lot of friendly "smack" with her. Sandra is my endurance riding buddy. In the summer we spend a lot of saddle time together and I enjoy riding with her very much. This winter we haven't been able to ride together much and so I was looking forward to spending the day with her almost as much as I was the show itself.

My husband Tom came along with us, so I had several of my best friends there: Lyn, Nancy, Pat and Sandra. I am so grateful and blessed with my circle of friends.

This time the jumps had numbers on them so learning the course was much easier! I didn't need the help of my little bitty pony girl to figure it out. I saw her pony there but he had a different rider on his back. Maybe she was her big sister.

I was a little later getting into the arena this time for warm ups. There were also nearly twice as many entries into this show so warm ups were quite chaotic. It was hard to get Tacki to settle in and drop her head. One of the areas Tacki is the greenest is in playing off of the emotions of the other horses. It's one of the biggest reasons I wanted to take her to these shows. She is a forward little horse and if another horse is cantering she thinks that the race is on! I am sure my hands were too high and my seat too forward, but I tried to work on them.

I worked Tacki for 1/2 hour and then I rode Delight into the arena. She was buddy sour, screaming and nearly bucking. Between hoping I could sit the English saddle that I was riding in and trying to keep her from darting out the gate every time we passed it, I was smiling at my little red dragon. Delight also picks up on the energy of the horses around and she thought she should gallop around like they were. I know my hands were high and I was quick to grab her, but again I concentrated hard to get us both settled.

Delight and I were first up. I could never get her into a nice even working trot in my training round nor my actual round. I knew we were too fast so I actually brought her down to a walk over the last "fence" both times. The first round we were 6 seconds off the pace and the second time we were only 3 seconds off.

Tacki had settled down quite a bit before my rounds on her. She always does better out there alone. There is something about this little mare that I love - actually there are many things I love about her- she really tunes in to her rider and tries very hard to trust when she is afraid. When we are both focused it is a wonderful feeling. On our training round she nearly refused one "jump" but I think it was my fault. We were coming around a tight circle and I didn't get her straight and focused on time. We were 4 seconds off the pace. The second time was very nice and we were only ONE second off of the pace!

Then Sandra rode Sam for his two rounds. During the warm up time Sam had been a little bit of a handful. Sandra is a great rider and she handled him beautifully. Sam's tail was flying. He was so lovely! Their training round was only off by 6 seconds. Their second round was better and only off of the optimum time by ONE second!

So, once again I took first AND second place! And, Sandra shared first place with me! I could not have dreamed up a better outcome! Congratulations Sandra, "Wee Ha!"

There were 16 rounds, twice as many as the last show.

Maybe I am learning to ride these horses after all? What a nice boost to my confidence. This is the second time in my adult life that I have won a ribbon riding horses. It has been beyond my biggest hopes and dreams.

The best part?

AOF - Zip. Me - Two Million!

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Some Catching Up to Do - Part One

No, it's not me. Just a lovely picture. In fact, I don't jump. My classes at the jumping show are over ground poles in between the standards.

I have a few things that I want to share, things I should have blogged here about as they were happening, but life got in the way.

I went to the Jumping show on the 18th, and won first AND second place! I took First on Tacki and Second on Delight.

I have never tried anything like this. I went because the series is a fundraiser for Nancy Roche and her horse Breezer so that they can go to some big horse shows this year. I took Tacki* because she is my green endurance prospect and I wanted to expose her to other horses, scary jumps etc. I took Delight because she is mine and I love her. ♥

My goals were to remember the course, and to not have any refusals. Oh, and staying on the horse was a goal too! The first time they blew the start whistle it spooked Tacki and she almost fell down right underneath me. Everyone laughed, including me.

One thing I loved was that while I was having to remember all that stuff the Fear Monster was pushed right out of my brain. In fact, trying to remember everything turned out to be an unexpected bonus. "Which is the next jump? Stay straight, keep the horse soft, keep the working trot pace, and oh yeah, 'Which one is the next jump?' " I was focusing so hard there was no room left over for fear in my brain. I felt like I was riding like I did as a kid. It was a wonderful, powerful feeling.

There was a little bitty girl on a little bitty grey pony who helped me learn the course. She was the cutest thing. Her mom was trying to explain to me the mysterious symbols on the jump map and she suggested that her daughter lead me through the course. She was so proud to be helping a grownup! I gave her my second place prize, which was a bag of yummy candy! She was in another class, so I didn't see how she did.

So, I was not expecting to place, let alone win! I was one second off of the optimal time with Tacki and 4 second off with Delight. There were eight rides in the competition.

AOF - Zero, Me - One Million!


*Tacki (and Sam) belong to Lyn Kinney of Blue Note Arabians. Sandra and I are conditioning them for Endurance this summer.

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A Breakthrough!

On Friday I had a wonderful breakthrough!

I cantered Tacki both directions in the indoor arena. I was a little scared, but not uncontrollably so. I know I will be able to canter her whenever I want to now. I can't wait to canter her again! What a wonderful feeling to have after suffering years of fear.

Most of Tacki's training has been at the walk and trot. I have cantered her up hills, and a teeny bit out on the trail. He original trainer has started her in a canter, but Tacki is still green and unbalanced.

Since Tacki has had only a little bit of canter work my ride was all head up and hollow back, me with elbows flying at first. I was worried that I was getting in her way up front so I pretty much dropped the reins and tried to steer with my legs a la Clinton Anderson's passenger lesson. I wanted to make sure I didn't get in the way of her "forward". It was really hard to trust her, as she is so green. But we did it!

AOF, Take that!

A New Saddle

I am in the process of buying a new saddle. It's my first English saddle ever. When I was a kid I rode English quite a bit, but never owned my own saddle.

It's a brown Wintec 500 All Purpose.


I am hoping it will serve two purposes. Number one I want to continue learning to ride dressage. I have been learning that dressage is a wonderful cross training for endurance.

Number two, if I can get confident enough riding in it I would like for it to be a future endurance saddle. It fits all of the horses I ride without having to add padding. I love the cordura Western saddle I have been riding in, it is as comfortable as they come, but I have to heavily pad it in the front. This adds weight and also adds heat to the horse's back.

I'll share some observations about it as I go along. So far so good. I have ridden Tacki and Delight in it at a walk and a trot, and it is the saddle I was riding Delight in at the jumping clinic. I still need to canter in it. That darn canter! Actually I just haven't had a good opportunity yet. Soon. I promise myself!