Pink Is His Color, Show Report, Alabama Obstacle Challenge Series, King’s Ranch, September 2019

Overcoming Obstacles in Our Way

 

Alabama Obstacle Challenge Series
King’s Ranch
Wilsonville, AL, USA
Saturday, September 21, 2019

1 In-Hand. 5th of 6, score of 44 out of 100.
(Second show, second pink [Words]. More importantly, second show!!)

We started out with a judge’s walk-through of all the obstacles. Judges, officials, and other competitors were exceedingly kind about answering my questions. Which way? What tack? Can I touch the horse? Yes (you can’t in showmanship). Can I talk to the horse? Yes (you can’t in dressage). Can I get coaching from the sidelines? No (you can in saddle seat). And so on.

In-Hand Class
Maximum points per obstacle. Approach 2 + Execution 6 + Departure 2 = 10

I signed up early, so I ended up being first on the list. I thought about asking to see someone else go. However, no one else was immediately available. Oh well. I figured our problems would be those of execution rather than of understanding. And so it proved.

1. Walk over small tire bridge, 1+1+.5=3 1.2
That was a narrow bridge for a big horse. I tried it a few times longwise. No, Ma’am. He’d walk up to it and look at it, but wouldn’t step on it. After a few tries, I asked him to go over it crosswise to give him the idea. He stepped on it but tripped/slid. Okay, done with that.

2. 3 Rickety Bridges – walk across all three, .5+1.5+.5 = 2 1/2
Again, a narrow question for a horse who is not. He put a hoof or two on it, but we couldn’t get the tight zig-zag. I declared victory and moved on.

3. Send through logs at a trot, .5+3+.5 = 4
Trot poles.

4. Trot straight line from tree to the line and stop quickly, 1+3+.5= 4 1/2
The score sheet says we left points on the table. That would be on me. He did everything the way I asked him to.

5. Sidepass along red fence 5 steps either direction, 1+3.5+1=5.5
I was (mildly) worried about this one because sidepassing with a fence to block forward progress has caused him to feel catastrophic in the past. No problem. Moved right over 5 steps. And then had to take a good look at the – stationary – golfcart/atv being used by the scorers.

6. Cross through baby pool, 1+0+0=1
Wasn’t gonna happen. He’s done baby pool at home. This one was narrower, less substantial, and it’s been a while. I even walked through the water in my boots to see if he would follow me.

About this time, I heard the judge call, “Next!” Or though I did. It may have been someone outside of the ring talking about something unrelated, or the scorer calling out my time. Whatever. Time to move on.

7. Lunge horse around you at a trot while you stand on the platform, 1+5+1.5 = 7 1/2
He’s done enough lunging and long-lining that this was a piece of cake.

8. Send over flower jump. 0.5+5+1= 6 1/2
If anything spoke to his heritage, it was this. He thought the flowers sticking up were weird, but hopped right over.

9. Back into log all the way to the box, 1.5+3+1.5= 6
I conflated this with the novice course and did a mushy turn on the forehand to get into the backup area. Then, I had trouble arranging my knitting. Couldn’t organize horse, hold my leadrope, and aim the hooves all at the same time.

10. 360 degree turn on haunches in box, 1+1+1.5=3 1/2
Wasn’t gonna happen. We’ve worked on turn on the forehand, but not turn on the haunches. I made a generalized circle and called it a day. Is it possible to request an over-sized box if one is trying to rotate an over-sized horse? Asking for a friend.

Overall. He was a star. Anything that involved listening to me he nailed. He refused most of the super strange parts, but at least he went up and checked them out. He didn’t throw a fit. He just said, ‘Nope. Not today.’

Warm-up, No Class
The plan was to do the novice class if he settled. When I got on at the trailer area, I felt that horse brain was not sufficiently screwed into socket. So, I got off and walked down the short stretch of road to the showing area.

We walked in-hand for a while. Then, I had to figure out how to haul my sorry carcass on without a mounting block. I do horrible leg-ups. I finally used a tippy, black, plastic barrel that he didn’t like the looks of. That should have been an obstacle right there.

More walking. He was moderately relaxed but he wouldn’t hold a stand. He’s been standing magnificently lately. The fact that he wouldn’t stand still told me that he was still anxious. He was starting to wind down just as the novice class was ending. I would have done the class if he had settled faster or class had less trotting.

On way back, we walked in-hand around the goat obstacle – with live goats – for the trail course. He looked, but went right around. As I’ve said, weirdly brave.

Schooling Novice
During the lunch break, the course was open for schooling.

0. Checkerboard plank.
4’x4′ painted wooden plank. Balked at. Got a lead over from his ground crew. Oh, okay, that’s what you want. Marched back & forth.

1. Small tire bridge – walk over, halt in middle 5 seconds
Tried crosswise again. Caught a hind foot on it. Not our obstacle.

2. Rickety Bridge – cross over one section
Walked over one short leg, then back & forth over the longer middle. No lead.

3. Logs – trot across
Didn’t bother.

4. Cow – trot one roll back
Walked past. Ho hum. Rolled back at a walk with rider keeping an eye on cow as if cutting it. As we turned around, Rodney finally got a look at the cow cut-out propped on the fence. He gave it the stink eye and backed off a few steps. The closest he got to spooking all day.

5. Mailbox – pick up, trot circle around cone, drop off
Cake walk.

6. Baby pool cross with water bottles inside
Nope. Didn’t even walk up to it.

7. Platform – walk on, halt five seconds, walk off
Stared at. Saw ground crew on it. Walked back and forth over. Tried to stop him on top, but my timing was off. He got confused. Came back to it unmounted. You have to ask for the stop right as they are stepping up with the hind legs. Did it perfectly, see photo.

8. Figure 8 – around minion jump and log back – trot one circle, canter the second
Walked.

9. Log Back – Turn on forehand, back in to middle opening and walk out the other side
We did a few single steps of back. Then he put it in reverse and backed up till we ran out of room.

10. Box Turn – 360 degree turn on haunches in box
Didn’t even try.

Overall. He did exactly as well as I expected. He can do all of this at a walk. As always, the part that he has the most trouble with is simply being ridden.

Other Notes
I was surprised at the amount of helmet wearing. Out of two dozen(?) riders, all but two had helmets. That’s over 90%. One woman also had on an air vest.

I was also surprised that there was three other riders in English tack, including a full-on DQ complete with white schooling boots and blingy browband.

At The End of the Day
I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t harbor fantasies of belt buckles and year-end awards. You know, if I learn what they want for presentation, I can raise my … no. I am trying to squash my competitive side. The goal is to do something different and fun. To do something Rodney is good at so that he can have successes. For that, the show went brilliantly.

I don’t rule out a few lessons over the winter in order to practice the obstacles.

Scoresheets


 

Update
[First Trail Ride]
[And One More Thing, Alabama Obstacle Challenge Series, King’s Ranch, September 2019]

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Adverse Conditions, A Reference

Training Journal

 

After a heavy rain, the pasture looks like an overhead shot of a river delta.

I’m writing this now so that when it is too cold, too wet, too hot, too whatever, I have no excuse for sitting about feeling glum and pointless.

Rain
Obviously, if the sky is electric, I stay inside. Once the front has passed through and taken the thunderstorms with it, we settle into Goldberry’s washing day. What can be done in the run-in shed?

Groom & body work, if they are dry, which they often are.

Simple clicker training. Refer to Don’t Shoot the Dog by Karen Pryor.

Tack cleaning

Barn cleaning & organizing

Mud
We have a muchness of this. Our land has a heavy clay content, which means it takes days to dry and is slippery when the slightest bit wet.

Riding at a walk
Ring work. Walk/halt. Horse/rider bonding time. Both horses have a lot of walk in their repertoire at the moment, especially at home.

Obstacles. Alabama Obstacle Challenge Series, List of Possible Obstacles, Obstacle Regulations.

Pasture laps

In-hand at a walk
Groundwork. Think Spanish Riding School.

Clicker training that requires more moving about. Don’t Shoot the Dog by Karen Pryor.

Obstacles from the ground. Alabama Obstacle Challenge Series, List of Possible Obstacles, Obstacle Regulations.

French Equi-Feel exercises, per Tails from Provence
Feeling our way along…
Equifeel!
Joucas Equifeel
Equifeel Regional Championships 2015
Training Trailer loading as a competitive exercise
More Training Flags

Horse agility. The International Horse Agility Club. Has online competitions.

Trick Training

Bombproofing. This can be done mounted, but let’s start with all six feet on the ground, shall we?

Clearly, there is overlap between the above categories. Since each method has a different emphasis, I’m assuming each has a slightly different exercise set. More choice equals more variety.

Other
Ride bareback. Rode Rodney this way for a while. May try again some day. [Looking Forward, Rodney]

Trailer to place with all-weather footing, or a covered arena.

Cold
We have only a few days when it is so cold you can’t even [Cold Weather Riding Is Like Dating]. The rest of the time, cold weather riding is about footing. Around here that means mud. We have very few frozen solid days. Refer to protocol for mud activities.

Excessive Heat
Hose horses. Check that fans are on. Feed hay snack. Go back in house.

Moderately Excessive Heat
If I stayed in every time it got hot, I would not ride all summer. So, options.

Riding in the morning. Evenings do not cool off as much as one would think they should.

Pasture walks. Since we walk around the edge, much of the path is shaded.

Groundwork.

Ring work at a walk with bouts of mild trotting, after 3 pm when the ring area is shaded.

Trailer to a barn with a covered ring.

Snow
Take pictures. Feed carrots. Go back in house. Wait for snow to melt by mid-morning, or next day at the latest. Revert to mud scenario.

Query
What do you do in less than perfect conditions?

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Accepted!

Writing About Writing

 

Crossposted [Will Write For Feed]
~~~
“Congratulations! We love ‘You Had Me At Blue Hair’ and would like to publish it in issue eleven of Bending Genres, which will launch in October, 2019.”

For the story, click [A Ring On The Table, A Fiction Sketch].

I should be all wordy and authorial and say something. Does “Squeeee!” count? Huge shout-out to rontuaru for recommending Bending Genres.

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Challenge, Do Something You Are Bad At

Fit To Ride

 

Exercise is more likely to happen if it is interesting, yes?


 
In my endless quest to get my butt off the couch and myself off the farm, I found a weekly adult dance class at The Dance Foundation. The format is perfect. Mid-day; I can ride in the evenings. Drop-in; no series sign-up. Casual format; no one was going to ask me to do a year-end recital.

Real dance. I’ve never seen the point of hopping about randomly. I can do that at home without paying anyone. This way, I can convince myself that I am learning something. But not too much. The instructors change each week. So, there would be something new and interesting each week without being a whole new skill set to absorb. Tapas dancing, if you will. Last week, Sara Wallace taught contemporary jazz.

TDF was welcoming. They convinced me that would be okay to be terrible. I knew I was going to be. Terrible, that is. This is not me being bashful. We all have variation in our skills. When I rolled for rhythm, the dice fell off the table. So, I expected to be a tuneless lump. What I didn’t expect was how many other things I was bad at.

Look at me. Put me on a horse and I’ll be the first one in the ring. No problem. An equitation pattern with three judges watching? Bring it on. I was surprised at how much I did not want to go bouncing across the dance space in a room where other people might happen to glance at me.

Step by step. I had forgotten how bad I am at remembering dance sequences. I could feel myself trying to think it through. Robotic is the word I am going for here. Put part A here. Then place part B there. I would get the first four steps, after that, pfft. I had to watch the instructor every time. When she let us move on our own, nada. No muscle memory. No flow. Forget about following the music.

Up and down. My knees aren’t bad. Yet. There are stiff, especially if I sit on the floor. I rise with the grace of a lumbering bear. One of the moves was to sit down, roll from hip to hip, stand. I took so long to heave myself back up that everyone else was four moves ahead. I could not finish on my own, see above about needing to follow someone.

Expression. If I have a physical skill, it is riding. This is not an activity that encourages expressive movement of the arms or sassy sashays with the hips. I have spent years learning NOT to fling my body parts about with abandon. The effort of staying quiet in the saddle has increased my natural tendency to be uptight in mind as well as body. Jazz is so not me.

It’s all good. I wanted to get outside of my normal run of activities. This certainly is. I absolutely plan to go back. I may get better over time. I may never be better than the first time. That’s okay. Either way, it will get me off the farm and get me moving around.

And I got a blog post out of it.

My challenge to you. Pick something are interested in but are bad at. Find a safe space. Go for it. If you feel so inclined, let us know how it went.

Update

I made the TDF Facebook page. This the second time they have referred to me as dancer. When I showed up for the first class, there was a form they had all their dancers sign. Me, a dancer?!

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Learning From Youth

Adventures in Saddle Seat

 

Saddle seat lesson from Emily Hillhouse, a new instructor at Stepping Stone Farm. Not Sam, but at least Optimus, so I was only minimally stressed about the horse [Theory Vs. Reality].

BEFORE
My first riding lesson from someone YOUNGER than me. Technically, Coach Courtney & Coach Kate are younger, but only by a few years. This is an entire generation younger! It’s worse than a younger doctor! The trauma!

DURING
Lesson Notes

Whenever you ask for more, shorten your reins. As I understand it, show horse Saddlebreds work at maximum compression for a brief period. You always want to be asking the horse to gather.

Think about the horse climbing up into the bridle. As someone who spends most of the time asking horses to stretch & relax, I probably don’t ask the ASBs for enough up.

SSF horses activate from the hand as much as from the leg. This is wrong on a cellular level and contrary everything I hold dear. Seriously. Three days prior. I spent an hour working on riding off my leg and using as little rein as possible [Steady On]. OTOH, I can pontificate all the theory I want. I can’t argue with the Saddlebreds themselves.

Me: (leg)
ASB: Uhhh, what?
Me: (hand)
ASB: Oh, okay. I see what you mean.

AFTER
I asked for a post-lesson review. She told me to get my shoulders back more. Everyone does.

I haven’t worked that hard since boot camp. I think Coach Courtney & I may have been phoning it in a bit recently. She knows my focus is elsewhere. I’m just happy that I can remember how to sit in the saddle.

Could I have been riding hard in order to show off for a new instructor? Moi?

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott