Boot Camp Bucks

[Explanation of saddleseat Boot Camp here.]

This week’s Boot Camp lesson was on lanes. Lane 1 is on the rail. Lane 2 is a few feet in. Lane 3 a few more feet in. And so on to the center of the ring. At the top of the ring, a rider picks a lane and then passes straight down the long side of the ring in that lane. Easy-peasey? HA!

Saddlebreds are not geared to suddenly turn off the rail. At least, I haven’t figured out where those knobs are. So, I would decide to turn for an inner lane. Then I would have to take several moments to figure out how get where I wanted to go. At which point, my window of opportunity had closed and I was left to make a wiggly hash of the corner. I suspect the point is be ready to turn at all times. You know, rider listening to horse, horse listening to rider, rather than both of us larking around the arena and occasionally checking in with each other. Easy to say. Hard to do.

Combining the diamond from last week [see explanation link above] with lane choice gives me the ability to get away from others. Being alone allows me to be seen by the judge and to demonstrate executing a plan that results in same. These maneuvers can also be used to cover up other competitors. I’m not as comfortable with this. It seems mean-spirited. Will have to converse more with Instructor.

So, there we are. Seven horses in a small outdoor ring being encouraged to pass and repass each other. Figuring out how to ride and steer at the same time gets complicated when the horse you are riding decides to get offended with violations of her personal space. Deeply and actively offended. Lola is a nimble little mare. When she starts heaving and plunging, it’s rubber ball rodeo time.

I attempted to mitigate the marestorm by keeping an eye out behind, by staying isolated, and by turning her head in slightly to get her eye on an upcoming horse.

Mainly, I had to convince her of three things:
You are still fabulous.
You are being a beech.
Unfortunately for you, I am a bigger one.

Once we got that sorted out, we had a lovely time. Although, I still couldn’t organize a proper turn.

Blades of Progress

At Exploratorium-style science museums, exhibits are full of buttons to push and levers to slide. Many of the displays work with optical illusions. Stare at the black dots on a white background until gray false dots appear in the interstices. A concave model of a face will appear convex. Lines misbehave. It’s all about the brain trying to adapt what it sees to what it thinks the world ought to be. Hold that thought.

Back when Previous Horse was alive but retired, we wanted to add a new competition horse for me. Given their rate of grass consumption, we would need to expand the pasture to accommodate three horses. Flash forward to Rodney and Mathilda. Even when they were out 24/7, they did not come anywhere near the same rate of grass processing. Apparently PH was a grazing machine.

The entire time we’ve had him, Rodney has preferred hay to grass. He grazes, but in a dilatory, doing-this-for-entertainment fashion. He was as likely be standing by the barn, just hanging out.

Until recently.

In the last few days, we have both noticed a new commitment in Rodney’s grazing. There is more vehemence to his attitude. He grazes farther away. He looks up less often. There are more violent, ripping sounds as grass is yanked up. He spends more time at grass and less by the barn. He is more focused. We think.

Right around the same time, we seem to be – maybe, possibly – making progress loosening the final stubborn fragments of his back scar. There is still more to go, but the area feels softer and the skin is moving better over the muscle. Then again, the progress is so incremental as to be hard to distinguish.

Could these two be related? He preferred hay because he didn’t have to rip off each bite? Try this. Clench your teeth and jerk your head to one side, as if you were ripping open a bag of chips. Can you feel the muscles down into your back? Freeing up his back makes him more comfortable with grazing? Therefore we can use changes in grazing to claim overall progress?

Or we have been staring at the dots for too long?

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Post number: 600.
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Mystified

Equine_Art_is_STILL_Art_by_etiquette_heart

Why is this even an issue? Sure, there are equine images that are overly twee for my taste. Then, there is the horse screaming in the center of Guernica. Art lies in the treatment of the subject, not the subject itself.

I found the badge here while trawling deviantART. The creator invited passersby to share, “Help stop the discrimination of equine artists by putting this in your journal.”

Boot Camp Moment

[Explanation of saddleseat Boot Camp here.]

First lesson, me and four munchkins. I am closer in age to their grandmothers than to their mothers. Still, I am as new to this as they were. Once we got going, I didn’t feel out of place. True, one hopes that I will be better at grasping concepts and keeping my sh!t together emotionally, but I had just as much trouble maneuvering my horse and planning ahead. I got into a traffic jam during the first trot. Bottom line, when you enter the ring, age stops, student starts.

While we grazed our horses afterwards, we spent time designing the shirts we would order to foster unit cohesion. For most of the afternoon, my peer group had been sub-teens.

Later, most folks had left.
A young’un said, “Am I the only kid here?”
I thought,”No. I’m still here.”
Sigh. As I have long suspected, I am in fact 12 years old.

Youthful enthusiasm. Yeah, that’s it. Youthful enthusiasm.

To Ride or Not To Ride?

Hypothetical situtation. I am trying a horse for sale. Seller rides horse. I decide I do not want horse. Do I get on and ride anyway?

Yes
Anything is Possible: I could change my mind. Highly unlikely, particularly if the horse has physical issues, but theoretically possible.

Learning: It would be good practice for me in evaluating strange horses.

Counterphobia: One should do the things that make one nervous.

No
Bad Manners: Definitely not if the horse is thundering around the ring doing his impression of the Oncoming Storm.

Exertion: More work for the horse, especially in heat, cold, rain.

Liability: What if something happens while I ride? What if nothing happens and the horse comes up lame for another reason entirely & I get blamed? Granted this is an accepted risk of showing &/or trying a horse, but why expose myself/the horse if it is not necessary?

False Pretenses: Good practice for me is just using someone else’s horse for my own ends. (Update: and wasting the seller’s time.)

Therefore
Ride or not?

Boot Camp Begins

I have started my training in traffic management. At the National Academy Championships, one has to ride with more than two people in the ring. Plus, one has to ride with style in order to distinguish one’s self. Therefore, Instructor has started special Saturday group lessons for those of us headed to the finals. My first lesson was last weekend.

This is all new to me. Aside from the flat class in a hunter division, I’m used to being alone in the ring. Plus, I never played team sports. I’ve never had to evaluate moving targets in order to make game time decisions. For example, at my last show, the announced called for a walk. I “finished my pass” but landed in a wodge of other riders. After the class, Instructor told me that I should have trotted past to a clear spot. Same thing happened in the next class. This time I trotted past. Even though I was doing what I was told, it was taking too long. It felt wrong. That feeling was correct. In that situation, I should have stopped my pass early. So the rule is you trot past other folks to a clear spot. Except when you don’t.

If a rider gets caught in a traffic jam, it is judged to be the riders fault. She should not have been there in the first place. Per Instructor:

Most believe that if the horse in front of you comes apart at the seams and you fall prey to it and your horse and/or you make a mistake because of said first horse, you are also held accountable and you too will be penalized. This is because you should be “aware of your ring” and what’s going on in front of you. You should have enough horsemanship to maneuver out of said bad situation. In a defensive driving course I took many moons ago, to get out of a ticket, the officer unequivocally stated that there are NO accidents that aren’t unavoidable. If you are truly paying attention and are following the 3 second rule you can avoid any and all accidents. Same goes with showing in my book.
Courtney Huguley

The first technique we learned was the diamond. If you follow the rail at the end of an oval ring, you get a U-shape. Instead, you leave the rail, head directly to the apex, make a 90o turn, and zip to the other rail. This makes a V-shape. Riders use it to get clear of other horses but also to hot-dog. I likened it to taking the direct five strides between two fences rather than the bending six-stride line. Harder to do, but flashy if you pull it off. It’s all about maneuverability and showing off of same.

Sure, I grasped the concepts right away, but then, I used to write this stuff. I can spout theory all day long. Whether or not I can execute remains to be seen. Just because I can write about the preparation for Grand Prix (interveiw with Jessica Ransehousen in Dressage & CT, Sept 1997) doesn’t mean I can ride my way out of First Level.
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Other News
Camera ordered. Things should get more visual around here soon. Details as soon as camera arrives.

New Off Topic post: The Upside Of Negativity