Week 54: Humbling

I cant believe that I have owned Corofin for a year. The journey has been one of the most humbling experiences of my life. While it would be easy for me to blog about all of Finn’s successes (there are lots of them!) I feel like this is my opportunity to talk about what I need to work on. Last weekend I took Finn to Plantation Field. After hearing that Boyd Martin (yes, that Boys Martin) was my dressage judge, I flew around the trailer with a wet rag, wiping down tack that I ought to have cleaned earlier and attempting to whiten the stains in Finn’s socks. Overall, the dressage went fairly well, giving us a 20.5 and a 6th place position. Then came stadium. It is no secret to my friends, family and trainers that show jumping is my least favorite part of anything. Normally my warm up is filled with nerve-induced exclamations that I am destined for failure. However, this show was different. Finn warmed up beautifully; easily finding the distances and getting his changes. In the ring he was VERY perky. This perkiness was only amplified by a flaw in my riding- my inability to sit down in the saddle and stay sitting. That said, we made it out with only one rail. Coming out of stadium I was super excited! We had made it to the best part and we might actually get a ribbon. Much to my dismay, Finn and I’s water issues returned with yet another elimination.

At first I was angry. I thought that I had let him down and worst of all, I thought maybe I just wasn't trying hard enough. Here is the thing about horses- they don’t care about you. I love Finn, more than anything, but at the end of the day he really loves grass. In the last year Finn and I have grown into a pretty great pair (can you tell that I am bias?) but that does not mean that things are suddenly perfect. OTTB’s are curious creatures. They possess the intellect to both learn quickly and outsmart you. They posses the athletic ability to both jump and stop a stride out. They also have the ability to force you to recognize your own flaws. No rider is perfect. No person is perfect. With horses, the moment you start thinking you are great, the first second that you allow yourself to say, “wow look how great this is” your horse will remind you that you are wrong.

The last year has given me a balanced confidence. I am no longer insecure about my riding (most of the time) and I finally feel like part of the barn team. I also understand that things are not always in my control, and with horses you can’t be cocky. I know that they next season will be a great one, with ups, downs and the occasional sideways. Over the winter I hope to work on my position and fitness (more on that next week). I also plan to make the blog weekly!

Week 51: Confessions of a Perfectionist

                Today is a big day. After a year of blogging and research I will be presenting my findings in approximately two hours. It has been awhile since I posted on the blog and a lot has happened. I attended the NJHP recognized event and got eliminated at the water. Again. One thing that I have learned over the last year is that horses are humbling creatures. Finn flew around the first portion of the cross-country. I let him canter along and for the first time he adjusted right off of my knees. When we came down the hill to the water he just shut down. My showjumping hadn't been stellar but I went into the start box feeling pretty confident. These jumps look small. The course looks pretty soft. No bank. Small ditch. Easy in and out through the water. Lots of galloping space. We've got this. Sadly, the little voice in my head was wrong. With horses, the moment you start thinking you know everything, you realize that you know nothing. After the event I was disappointed. Two days before I went to the event I brought Finn out schooling at a nearby farm. We cantered through the water and down a bank into the water with no problem. I felt like we finally had our water issue under control and then BOOM.

                Whenever you get eliminated at an event you suddenly become far more aware of how much eventing costs. The 200 dollar entry fee that I charged to the credit card under the presumption that it is OK to do things for myself every once in a while (OK so every other weekend) suddenly felt like a million dollars. All of this got me thinking about the people at the top of our sport that get eliminated and go home empty handed. Just to compete in a training three day it can cost upwards of 300 dollars before stabling, coaching and shipping. As a young rider it can be hard to keep things in perspective. BN looks like a 3 star to me and getting eliminated at a recognized event feels a lot like losing Rolex. However, I don’t know those feelings. This last weekend was the Fair Hill International event in Elkton, Maryland. Going into the CCI 3 star competition two very competitive riders, Sally Cousins and Sinead Haplin, were looking like they might just crack the top three. Both Sally and Sinead were place respectively after dressage and both Sally and Sinead fell off on day two. For both of these riders falls are uncommon. And for both of these riders this competition was to be a qualifier for other competition.  It is hard for me to understand how these riders must have felt. Sally had a second horse to ride in the 3 star and her fall forced her to withdraw Sue. Sinead was coming off a win at the Plantation Field International 3 star and was set up to place well at Fair Hill.

                As riders we have expectations. We push our horses, our wallets and our bodies to perform as perfectly as possible. We spend cold November mornings shipping horses hours a way to compete and we set out with a positive attitude. We walk our courses, tell everybody we are feeling ready even if we aren't and leave the start box intent on having that perfect ride. The constant search for the perfect ride more than not results in disappointment. So how do we deal with this? How does a person deal with the fact that they have far less control over their performance then they would like to think? When you leave the start box do it for you. Win or lose it is all for the experience. At my first event with Corofin in May of this year my trainer looked at me and said, “eliminated or not, if you get around 5 jumps or all 10 that is 5 or 10 more jumps then you would have jumped otherwise.”  It hurts to lose entry fees, to fall off, to get eliminated on fence one, to have your horse stop at the water and try to run backwards (thanks Finn) but every time we leave the confines of our own barns, of our comfort zones, of our indoor arenas, we push ourselves and our horses to experience new things and ultimately become better riders and horse-people. Just because you finished on a letter not a number, doesn't mean you didn't learn something new. 

Week 46: Draining

                The last couple of weeks have been a roller coaster. There were cross-country schoolings, bit changes and an injury. So where to start? I feel inclined to start this post with a candid tirade discussion on biting horses. We have all been there- it is 98 degrees and you fly out of the start box; your horse is hunting the jumps and carrying a canter that is probably faster than you need. You sit up 5 strides out from fence one and try to half-halt and….crickets. Your horse ignores your leg and then ignores your hand and THEN proceeds to jump fence one out of a balance that sends your stomach rolling. Like many riders who rode dressage and hunters I have been taught that the snaffle is the only way. When I tried Finn out to buy I rode him in a boucher and he went beautifully. However, at that undeveloped stage in his training I made the decision to use a full cheek snaffle instead. For the first couple months of Finn’s training this was perfect! Finn went fairly well in this bit until he started to gain some muscle. I am the first person to tell people how calm my horse is and how well behaved he can be, however; a very fit 4 year old OTTB is a forward going horse. Finn loves to jump-sometimes just a little too much!

example A

                In some of my lessons we started to notice that Finn likes to put his head down and avoid the bit. When he does this, it normally results in him rushing the jumps and becoming very hard to adjust. We worked on gymnastics, half-halting with the leg and using turns to change the balance of my canter. Although all of those exercises definitely helped me, I decided that it was time to consider a different bit. Insert angry people complaining about riders using strong bits on horses. Insert berating comments about my riding ability. Insert people who believe my horse should be taken. Insert opinions that don’t really matter!  I have come to realize that doing anything with horses normally results in hours of questioning your decisions and feeling bad, even though it shouldn’t. If you type in any bit on Google™ you will find a Chronicle of the Horse Forum damning all those who use and enjoy that bit. Of course, being me, when my trainer and I decided to try out The Wonder Bit on Finn, I sat down to do some research. As you can imagine I was faced with a hard reality: many people know how to use the internet and post advice, however; not many people have advice and inputs worth sharing. Also, terms like stronger and softer are very subjective. The discomfort caused by a snaffle can surely match the discomfort of a gag bit depending on who is holding onto the reins.

Wonder Bit

                When I finally decided to try the bit I was happily surprised. Suddenly Finn’s balanced improved and he was more adjustable. Of course a stronger bit can’t replace good riding. I plan to keep using the new bit for jumping and spend more time developing better body position and reaction time in the saddle. Overall, biting horses comes down to safety, jaw/tooth anatomy, age and training (of rider and horse). I think it is very important to get your horses teeth done every 6 months and talk to the dentist about his opinion. I also think that it is unrealistic to expect 1 bit to always work for your horse over time, or Furthermore, for you to expect 1 bit to work for all three phases. Finn is currently ridden on the flat in a KK Ultra Loose Ring Snaffle and ridden over fences in a Wonderbit.

Wonder Bit in Action

                Furthermore, I had the opportunity to cross-country school Finn in the new bit. I can honestly say it felt a million times better. The distances and my riding both seemed much improved. Once I realized that I could set Finn up for a fence with much less bridle, I became far more comfortable letting him canter along without me constantly adjusting. My added confidence combined with his better behavior made the schooling great.

                This Monday Finn went out in the field with his friends like usual. On Mondays I am lucky enough to ride a friend’s horse so I normally give Finn a day off. The friend’s barn is close to BOW so I decided to stop in and give him his daily treats and neck scratch. I was shocked to find Finn with a bloody nose and swollen face. I quickly called the vet to make an appointment for the next day. When the vet got there the next day, she took the time to evaluate the scrapes and swelling to find that he was OK. While the vet was finishing up, my trainer noticed that Finn had a small scab. Upon removing the scab we found that Finn had a pretty serious puncture wound. Finn has been rehabilitating well with the help of a drain and lots of antibiotics, however; the vets are not sure how long it will be until he is able to compete again. I am keeping my Flora Lea entry for the end of September in hopes that things will work out!

Finn's Leg

                Our horses work so hard for us every day. 10 months ago, if someone told me that Finn and I would have completed 5 events and performed 7 dressage tests I probably would have laughed. Horses give us wings and for that we must give them the time to heal and the time to grow. I hope that this week off has provided Finn and I with a great bonding experience. Every day with horses is an adventure; the good, the bad, the scary and the gross- they make us better people.

Week 43: Growing Up

                The last couple of weeks have really been crazy! I made a trip to look at colleges, competed in a dressage schooling show and went to another event. One common theme through all of it is growing up. As I look at colleges all over the east coast I am beginning to realize that my time as a high school student is dwindling. Not only that, but Finn is growing up too!

            

                Yesterday Finn competed in his 2^nd BN event. Although we go eliminated at the water, we had the most fun horse and rider are capable of having. Finn is a hot horse. He came to me as a calm three year old that had little to no interested in running away with me or being playful under tack, suddenly though, all that is changing. In the barn I ride at we frequently talk about horses going through their 5 year old stage; the point in a thoroughbreds life when they truly decide that they are alive. As Finn progresses through his 4 year old year I am beginning to see little glimmers of what may be this stage. Finn is fun to ride overall but he is becoming a bit of a handful to jump. He doesn’t buck or stop or do anything silly like that he just won’t slow down.

                In order to work on this we have been setting up some new exercises. The first one is a trot jump with a sharp turn right after. The point of this exercise is to get Finn focusing on the turn after the jump instead of his urge to accelerate. The exercise also has an added bonus: front-end quickness. By adding a turn right after the fence, the horse has to focus a lot more to ensure a clean jump. The second exercise is one that Megan and Sally swear by: cantering the pole. I am pretty sure that if you took any of Sally or Megan’s horses and attempted to ride them by a pole without going over it they would be very very confused. Not only does this get the horse thinking about pace or striding, it also gets the rider thinking about jumping in a more relaxed way. The more confident I become in my ability to find a distance, the more confident I will get about my jumping.

                Finn is usually a pretty good boy in the dressage however, this weekend he was a bit different. I felt that he wasn’t listening to me and he really just wanted to trot around with his head in the air. I tried to relax my hands and body but thinking back I am still having a hard time figuring out what I was doing to causing that behavior. I am a fairly green rider, at least in terms of OTTB experience so when things go wrong the fairest explanation is that I am flailing around up there. However, it seems that this time, Finn might have has his own problems as well.

                This last couple of weeks was a whirlwind, Finn pulled two shoes and I was once again paranoid about lameness and my ability to ride him. Growing up is scary. Thinking about putting Finn in a trailer a year from now with all of my personal belonging is scary. Most of all, leaving the people who stand ringside at events and clap for me when I finish my round is going to be scary. Even when the event doesn’t go as planned like yesterday, I still know that I have a ton of people behind me and my dreams. Tomorrow is a new day; a new day of challenges, mistakes and exciting new adventures.

                Look for another update midweek! I have some big plans for Teens for TB’s. 

Week 39: Bending is a Part of Breaking

                The last two weeks have been nice and quiet. After competing every other weekend for the last two months, a nice break is coming as a great surprise. I use the word break casually, as Finn and I have continued to work hard. The last two weeks Finn and I have spent a ton of time hacking out and working in the dressage ring. From day one Finn has been a little weaker behind on his right side and up until now, the movements that we have been doing have been more focused on straightness and pace than anything else. This last week we decided to push the issue.

                Before I delve into the deep and endless world of dressage lingo I thought I would take some time to talk about Finn’s jump lesson with Sally Cousins. We decided on Wednesday that Sally would get on Finn and jump him around a bit and we are glad that we did. Sally got on and warmed Finn up; asking him to move forward and come back. After jumping him over some single jumps she started weaving around and adding things together. Sally’s soft hand and good eye for distances made it all look so easy. Finn jumped the jumps out of stride and got all of his lead changes when asked. Watching Sally ride has pushed me to pursue a fitness routine that focuses on balance and core strength. If I expect great movement from my horse, he should expect great riding from me.

                 I tacked up Finn like usual and took him into the indoor on day one of his “Dressage Boot Camp” with a dressage whip in hand. Before mounting I stood in front of Finn and asked him to yield his hind quarters out. I repeated this a few times before deciding that he understood the concept and was ready to try some of it under saddle.When I got on him, the first thing that I did was turn him to the right and put my reins on the buckle. I used Finn to speed up, slow down, turn and stop using only my legs. I really like this exercise because not only does it get the horse thinking about leg aids, it also gets our human legs moving! I strongly believe that our legs work as an extension of our horses legs. When we want to move the hind end, lateral or forward, it is necessary that the rider use their leg and seat and not depend on their hands to “create” a frame. Finn responded well at this exercise at the walk and the trot so I decided to pick up the reins a bit. His first instinct was to lean on my inside leg and move off quickly. Although I respect his desire to go forward, I made a move to slow his tempo with my seat and hold the tip of my dressage whip against his hindquarters. I then turned him down the quarter line and had him leg yield over. I must confess, these were no leg yields of grace and beauty, but they were Finn moving his hind end away from the inside leg and the whip aid. For the rest of the ride I worked Finn on a menagerie of rein lengths; asking him for the same frame and the same willingness to yield the hindquarters at all lengths of rein.

                In my next ride I worked on the same exercises, adding canter work. Finn has an amazing canter. Yes I am bragging but it IS true. Finn easily picked up the exercises at the canter and he began to use his back and hind end fairly nicely. In my lesson the next day my trainer worked me through a bunch of circles and changes of direction to get him really focusing on me and relaxing. He was AMAZING. His walk was fluid, the trot was balanced and the canter was soft and comfortable.

                For those of you that have followed this blog from the beginning, you probably know by now that I am a goals oriented person. I have decided that next year Finn and I will be aiming for the American Eventing Championships as well as Dressage at Devon. These two shows have been in my dreams since I was 11 years old and I firmly believe that Finn can take me the distance.

Week 37: Out and About

                The last two weekends have been full of adventure! Finn competed in his first BN event and then we participated in a dressage schooling show. For the last week I have also been teaching the farm summer camp so it is safe to say that I am exhausted! At Flora Lea, Finn warmed up beautifully for dressage but then decided to take a step out of the ring during our test, resulting in elimination. We were permitted to complete the jumping phases of the show and Finn was a very good boy! He definitely put some extra room in over the bigger fences and he put in a fantastic cross country round. At the dressage schooling show Finn and I completed two dressage tests. We scored a 30 and a 34, with an 8 on our one free walk! Finn was much steadier in the bridle than he was at Flora Lea and he proved to be a tough competitor bringing home two 2^nd place finishes. One of our second places came out of a group of 7!!!

                In hopes of improving Finn’s basics, I have been schooling a lot of transitions. I do walk-trot, trot-walk and walk-halt transitions at the beginning of every ride to solidify Finn’s understanding of leg and seat aids. By teaching Finn to half halt off of the leg instead of the bridle, I am increasing the likelihood that Finn will pick up difficult maneuvers more easily. I have also been jumping with Sally Cousins more frequently. Sally has been helping me to position my leg more forward and keep Finn’s balance up before the fence.

                Something that I feel really helps Finn and I improve is being surrounded by some of the best people in the business. I don’t mean that I train with all of them; instead I mean that I get to watch them teach and ride. Being at Bit O Woods farm has made it easy for me to watch some of the best at work. Whether I am watching Jill Henneberg jump her two horses or I am watching Sally teach jump lessons to upper level riders, I am always watching and hoping to steal some of their secrets. I feel like the time we spend out of the saddle is almost as important as the time we spend trotting circles and cantering figure 8’s. Although being a good rider would benefit my horse, having a large toolbox of resources will help him and me almost as much.

                I am going to be taking a little bit of time between now and Finn’s next event. My hope is to work on Finn’s fitness and balance. My ultimate goal for this horse is that he will be competitive at the upper levels and in order to that, I need to be careful to not overdo it with Finn too early. Every single day I feel like Finn and I are learning something new and I can only hope that we can continue on this path.

Week 35: Immersion

                This last week has taught me so much that I thought I would update the blog earlier than usual. Finn and I have been busy prepping for another event while I have been trying to work on my new project called Teens for TB’s. Teens for TB’s is an organization dedicated to uniting young riders who are in the process of retraining thoroughbreds or young riders interested in retraining thoroughbreds. So far I have been using a facebook page to communicate with the young riders in my area and I have made contacts with Thoroughbred Charities of America and The Jockey Club Incentive Program about growing my efforts.

                In my efforts to learn more about OTTB’s I ended up meeting with Barbara Luna from Turning for Home. I arrived at Parx at about 9 in the morning and my dad and I made our way through security and into the backstretch where we met Ms. Luna. We started by talking about how much TB’s actually learn at the track. Despite some of the claims in my Ted talk, I now firmly believe that TB’s are given far more training and experience at the track then many people can understand.

                As we walked from the office to the stabling I saw horses heading out for morning exercise and horses walking beside grooms. Many of the horses seemed very content in their jobs. In the barns horses hung their heads out over their doors; some ears pricked more forward than others. The trainers and exercise riders were friendly and they all invited me to ask questions.

                At Parx I had the amazing opportunity to meet Finn’s race trainer, Eli Betancourt. I walked with Barbara Luna to Betancourts barn and she talked to me a bit about what she remembered about Corofin. Both Betancourt and Luna commented on Finn’s sweet and playful personality. Betancourt also offered a very interesting story. During the time that Finn was owned by Betancourt, Finn coliced and almost died. When the vets told Eli to put Finn down, he refused and gave Finn an enema by himself. Without Finn’s trainer, Finn would be dead. I can not explain how greatful I am that he saved Finn!

                Overall, I learned more than I coul have imagined at the track. Not only did I gain insight into the lives of thoroughbreds during their careers, I learned more about the people that make these horses. I was naïve to ever consider a thoroughbred a green horse. They may seem green, but in reality they have lived in an environment that tests them on every level.

                This weekend I will be competing Finn in his first Beginner Novice event. I will be trying my best to get my dressage scores down and have save and effective jump rounds. I will write more about Finn this weekend!