Whip it good!

Ellen, ready with whip in hand

We had a great clinic with Ellen this weekend! David Hillman happened to be here too as were my parents, so it was like the old days when I was a kid with Tom Dorrance, Ellen, David my dad and me. See previous post to hear about the clinic with Dave and an update on Amigo.

I learned a new feel this weekend. Every time I think I get the "in front of you leg" feeling I learn there is more to it. This weekend was the first taste I've had of MP's FEI gaits. Ellen started off by letting us do our normal putsy putsy warm up and then proceeded to get out the lunge whip and bring out the Corvette within MP. Ellen had me collect MP's front steps a bit and then when MP would really sit to push off, Ellen would ask for more with the lunge whip. The results felt dramatic. And looked that way too. MP went from being half asleep and imitating E-Or to a bright-eyed, perked ears dressage version of Secretariat. Varrooommmmm! Needless to say it was a blast.


New and improved trot. Right shoulder blade back and down - NOT!


My position is yucky in this picture, but you can see why she gets 8's on her flying changes

MP is so forgiving. I'm still just learning how to ride her. You will see from some of the pictures, my position is a constant project. Old habits, hard pulling saddlebreds and not enough saddle time through college have created some position "ruts" that are hard to get out of. And I also want to over ride her, that it do too much with my body rather than just let her take me with her. I think in part that habit is the control freak within me. But I'm getting there and I'm working on it every day. Thank goodness MP is patient. I know some days she's thinking "is this girl ever going to learn how to ride me properly?"


What we hope to look like 100% of the time

I've entered a local show on June 29th and I will officially ride the Para Equestrian tests for the first time. Thus far I've just been riding third level to gain experience and get qualified for CDS Championships in LA. the Para tests are the ones I will have to ride as I go through the process of trying out for the team, National Champs, etc.

All the new pics are taken by Scott on his new spiffy Nikon DX40. It shoots 2.5 frames per second so he can get some really cool shots. There will be more to come on that front in the next few weeks.

The value of horsemanship

Dave working Federica's 2 yo, Bel Canto (he's for sale!)

This weekend we had two clinics going at one time. Ellen Eckstein (our national coach) was here teaching riding lessons and our good friend David Hillman (who introduced us to Ellen through Tom Dorrance) was here to help us out with young horses and general horsemanship.

It is enlightening when Dave comes. He's always working on new ideas to work with horses in a way that does not require force. He requires respect which means submission at times, but not in a way that "breaks" the horse of their inner spirit.

Amigo being "aired out" - all four feet are off the ground


Amigo being flagged - all four feet still off the ground

We worked Amigo for three days, the first being a "refresher" from Amigo's time with Dave in April. The second day, Dave got on Amigo in the big indoor arena. He got on him from the ground from both sides. Amigo was great and very willing. The third day we worked Amigo in the big outdoor, first with flagging and then Dave rode him until he dried off. That is my homework: to work him until he's not silly and then ride him until he's dry!

Amigo with Dave - does this picture look familiar to you Tom Dorrance fans?

Dave also taught Federica and me to tie rope halters, so I'm officially in the halter tying business!

Change in show schedule

It looks as though the stars will not be aligning to allow us to go to Woodside in July. But fear not! I'm looking into alternative show dates either in late July or early August. And I'm also looking into alternative dates to debut our freestyle.

Freestyle Underway

The music has been selected! Now just the choreography and fine tuning are needed. I'll post an update after Ellen comes this weekend. And I'll post new pics. Horse-show-husband got a very fancy camera that can take 2.5 pictures per second!

Professional Pictures from last show

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Freestyle Update

I heard from the freestyle choreographer today and it looks like we're close to having our freestyle! She's going to send me music this week and I'll get try it out and see if MP likes it. Her opinion is by far the most important!

Dressage Derby = 2 good scores & 2 more blue

Unfortunately, I have no pictures from this show, but fortunately we got two more really good scores and won both of our classes. We got a 66.3% at 3-3 and a 68.9% at 3-2! We just need one more score at 3-3 and we'll be qualified for regional championships.

For this show my goal was to improve my walk scores, which we did. We went from dreaded 5's and 6's to 7's & 8's. The only down side was that we worked so much on the walk that we neglected the trot and so our trot scores suffered a bit. The canter work was solid as usual. The best improvement was on my "rider" score (one of the collective marks given for the overall impression of the rider's ability) which I received a 7 from one judge and an 8 from another. Overall, all of the collective marks showed improvement. The next step is to try and put it all together in one solid test!