Reflections after Cavalia

Last week, Robert took me to see Cavalia.

I had missed it when it came around what was it, 5 years ago now? Time flies! Back in the day I was still beating my head against a brick wall about how to incorporate natural horsemanship principles with balanced riding (aka- dressage).  I don't beat my head anymore, but I certainly still do what I do. In the meantime, I've had a number of students come full circle. Its good to see faces I've known for a long time and watch them develop through life and horses together.

The short answer is that there is no one way to be with horses other than what works at the moment WHILE keeping  the horse on the path of physical health and mentally/emotionally enjoying his companionship with humans.

I enjoyed Cavalia and enjoyed watching it through the eyes of my fiance who is discovering so much about these wonderful creatures. He had a gleam in his eye the other night as we drove home from the barn after some fun play and told me he couldn't believe how attached he feels to the horses now. He is learning body language, how to use pressure to motivate and the release to reward. He's learning posture, balance, and harmony. Its fun to watch. 

Of course, he is at a slight advantage. He gets to play with Augie, my now 20yr arabian gelding who went with me well into Level 4 in the Parelli Natural Horsemanship program.  Augie knows the old school 7 games at all three gaits in all four savvies and all 6 directions.  Most importantly to me, he does it with feel. I'll be forever grateful to the Parelli organization for what I learned through the inspiration and thought provoked there. Ray Hunt was a tremendous influence on me as well. The man was a gift to the world of horsemanship like so many others. 

Watching Cavalia stirred these thoughts. It had been a long time since I'd done serious liberty play with my horses, or focused on teaching things that would be part of a performance routine. Like so many horsemen and women, I've had a few horses who would be grouped as difficult.

I have my very hot young horse, Romeo who is the most stunning animal I've ever had the pleasure of riding. He has incredible movement along with the heart throb P.R.E good looks. But, he is scared of life, paranoid to an extreme and sensitive.  I have renewed liberty as an end rather than a means. In other words, I want him to excel at liberty even if it means he is not predominately an under saddle horse. The horse has always told me he loves this and feels most comfortable there. I'm listening.

Philipe and Ernie are fuzz balls right now, enjoying a slower pace to life than they had the past year moving up to Prix St. George. In the meantime, this past weekend, each had terrific a-ha's about piaffe. If the weather will cooperate over the weekend, I just might get some pictures. In the mirror at least, I think we look darn good!

Time For Pilates!

Lessons are a blast. Last year and over the summer I was able to work consistently with USDF certified instructor and grand prix trainer Rachel Saavedra. In our last lessons, we worked on a few things with my position, the timing of my aids and all with the aim of cleaning up the timing on my changes so the tempis would work.
I finally feel like I'm figuring it out. My left hip is so sore though. I have been neglecting the Pilates. Since I have a dress I'd like to look amazing in come March, there are two solid motivating factors to prioritize my workouts.  Typically, I'm a person who would be disgruntled with myself for having slacked, but I'm learning about balancing out all the important things in life. Since I have a few things that are taking a good deal of my focus from simply riding horses all day and every day, some things, like working out have not always been at the forefront.

Health is important however, so I'll be doing some better balancing to keep myself on the right track. It has never been more clear to me what I say regularly to my students, "riding is a sport." Dressage takes considerable coordination, balance, and control of one's tone and musculature. Its not about strength. Riding a horse well, is about a solid core and CONTROL of the core muscles.  Time to dive into my Betsy Steiner book again A Gymnastic Riding System Using Mind, Body, and Spirit: Progressive Training for Rider and Horse She does a great job of uniting the horse and rider in all aspects through the training scale complete with wonderful diagrams and exercises to use the Pilates method for enhancing the rider's effectiveness in the saddle.

Because my riding time has been reduced from what it was, I'm having to pick up the slack eslewhere.  And, I'm staying on my rider's to make the most of every step. Even if you only get to ride a few days a week, make those rides count. Sit tall every stride, maintain structure and balance-- don't slack and slouch even if you only get to hack for twenty minutes.

If you can't ride, handwalk the horse. Sometimes its too dark to ride so I handwalk the horses for 15 minutes each. After three in a row, I've walked for 45 minutes. That itself is helping me stay trim, and my horses more conditioned.

As winter approaches, the holidays and family steal our time, remember to take time out to stay fit for your horse. A combination of low impact cardio and a program like Pilates that focuses on control, mind/body connection, balance and core strength is a good way to enhance your riding even if the saddle time is limited.
Here are two great sources I've used and recommended over the years to students.

I have a dress

For those who don't know the primary source of my blog absence, its a man named Robert. He popped the question back in July and we had very casually gone about brainstorming wedding ideas. Like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, they began to fit together and a picture of our wedding is forming. Last week, I found my dress.

This week, we will pin down our venue....  Our date is largley determined by my spring break and will hopefully be March 26th.

As it goes with a lot of things in my life, I'm going to blog it. Why? So, I have one more thing to keep up with that I probably won't update nearly as often as I'd like to, but because its fun and I want to journal my wedding. My wedding. I'm into repeating that phrase these days. White dresses, a handsome groom, love in the heart and all that does funny things to women and I've found I'm not at all immune to "giddy Bridism."

Here is a whole blog of it for anyone who wants a dose. ;-)

Secrets of Dressage Training

I sold this article to Yahoo! a couple of days ago and am quite happy that my writing is beginning to make some earnings. It may not be a lot, but it is nice to earn even a small amount for doing something I enjoy--writing, teaching, and especially writing to teach about horses!

Dressage Training Secrets

Amateur Appreciation Day

In August, I took a teaching job. Along with riding my horses during the week, giving lessons on weekends and evenings, I am teaching a 5th grade classroom from 7:30 in the morning to 4pm in the afternoon.  A steady paycheck is nice. Less riding time is not so nice. Last week we had a holiday. I got to ride a lot. By the third day, I was far too sore. Tonight I will re-initiate my pilates floor exercises a few nights a week and compliment it with cardio on the spin bike.

I'll do this while helping maintain a household, spending time with my family, oh, and how could I forget, planning a wedding!With just a few things dividing my time, I can say I have a very healthy respect for amateur riders.  They juggle family, work and horses in a delicate balance while striving for personal goals in all areas of their life.
Here is a cheer for the amateur riders out there. As someone who now does not get to ride all day every day and is still attempting to be competitive at Prix St. George, it is a daunting task.

But, life is rich and there is a lot to enjoy. Enjoy it. Laugh at anything you can. Love your family. Ride like their is no tomorrow. It will come and it will be all the better for it.