Why?Because now I want something like this to organize all my pads and shit at the barn.
Monday, November 12, 2018
Enabler status?
A friend of mine sends me this as a screenshot pic off Instagram. I almost hate her for doing it. Seriously, I do.
Why?
Because now I want something like this to organize all my pads and shit at the barn.
Why?Because now I want something like this to organize all my pads and shit at the barn.
Wednesday, November 7, 2018
What's your style?
While watching the WEG, one of the commentators had mentioned "This persons 'Style' of riding is very fast. That person's Style of riding is very careful." While yet a few others she described as elegant, effective, classical..." and so on. Not to long ago a friend of mine made a comment about a judge not liking her 'style' of riding. That got me thinking- What is MY style of riding?
While we all hope for our riding to be described as careful, elegant, effective, classical, quiet, etc. we often describe what we feel what we're doing up there as being None of those things. Our seat is off balance- sitting heavier or deeper on one side then the other. Stiff shoulders, leaning into our turns, sloppy lower legs and then there's Grabby McGrabby Hands with a death grip on the reins.... It's so easy for each of us to find fault with the way we ride and most of us can tick off the things we need to work on and either Do More or Stop Doing.
While there have been things I have worked on to overcome- my hands are a big one for me. Whether it's keeping them on the horses withers or where I hold them when driving, and having one person telling us to do it this way and another telling us the opposite- It gets frustrating. We try hard to please everyone and try to guess what the judge likes to see and 'Do That', but it doesn't always work.
I have thought long and hard about it over the past few months, about what My style is. My new man told me a while back that at the last driving show, he felt bad for me and my Ponyman, that we didn't win any of the ring type classes on the first day. But then on the second day, when it came to the Games classes and we turned on the heat to Bring It, opening up a giant can of Whoop Ass!? He was super proud of us flying around the courses the way we do. He could understand why Kat and I enjoyed it so much. We were a force to be reckoned with and people around him were excitedly asking questions about us.
Things that different people have said over the years have stuck in my mind. People whose opinions I respect in the different sports I have competed in, have helped shape me in how I ride or compete. But that still leaves the question to be asked- What is my 'Style' of riding?
I have decided that it is a combination of things. With the driving- Our forte is not elegance. I know this and have for some time. We get things done and can hold our own in pleasure classes, but Kat and I are not the stand out type to watch on the rail. Our Dressage tests were hardly flawless, but our scores were always decent enough to get us by on. While I'm okay with that, maybe it's something to focus on and take a bit more seriously. If we were competing and traveling a lot to do so- it would be beneficial. At this point, it's just something to be considered. When it comes to the games classes, cones and hazards- we are fast and what some might consider almost reckless, but things are still under control, so it's all good. We are definitely fun to watch. Kat and I don't have to think, we just DO. He's quick and loves it and I enjoy letting him go for it.
My riding is much the same. Rail classes I can take it or leave it and score decent marks to get by on. I'm not sure I'm an elegant rider, since I don't often have anyone around to take pictures, let alone video, that I can share and dissect over and over to improve upon. I ride both English (hunt seat and dressage) and western and one of the girls at the barn asked me about it the other night. She had started out at a dressage barn but hasn't sat in an English saddle in years. She wondered which one I'm more comfortable with? I shrugged it off as I told her that I've done both so much it's all interchangeable.
My style? Some days I still don't know. If there's one thing for sure, it's a work in progress.
While we all hope for our riding to be described as careful, elegant, effective, classical, quiet, etc. we often describe what we feel what we're doing up there as being None of those things. Our seat is off balance- sitting heavier or deeper on one side then the other. Stiff shoulders, leaning into our turns, sloppy lower legs and then there's Grabby McGrabby Hands with a death grip on the reins.... It's so easy for each of us to find fault with the way we ride and most of us can tick off the things we need to work on and either Do More or Stop Doing.
While there have been things I have worked on to overcome- my hands are a big one for me. Whether it's keeping them on the horses withers or where I hold them when driving, and having one person telling us to do it this way and another telling us the opposite- It gets frustrating. We try hard to please everyone and try to guess what the judge likes to see and 'Do That', but it doesn't always work.
I have thought long and hard about it over the past few months, about what My style is. My new man told me a while back that at the last driving show, he felt bad for me and my Ponyman, that we didn't win any of the ring type classes on the first day. But then on the second day, when it came to the Games classes and we turned on the heat to Bring It, opening up a giant can of Whoop Ass!? He was super proud of us flying around the courses the way we do. He could understand why Kat and I enjoyed it so much. We were a force to be reckoned with and people around him were excitedly asking questions about us.
Things that different people have said over the years have stuck in my mind. People whose opinions I respect in the different sports I have competed in, have helped shape me in how I ride or compete. But that still leaves the question to be asked- What is my 'Style' of riding?
I have decided that it is a combination of things. With the driving- Our forte is not elegance. I know this and have for some time. We get things done and can hold our own in pleasure classes, but Kat and I are not the stand out type to watch on the rail. Our Dressage tests were hardly flawless, but our scores were always decent enough to get us by on. While I'm okay with that, maybe it's something to focus on and take a bit more seriously. If we were competing and traveling a lot to do so- it would be beneficial. At this point, it's just something to be considered. When it comes to the games classes, cones and hazards- we are fast and what some might consider almost reckless, but things are still under control, so it's all good. We are definitely fun to watch. Kat and I don't have to think, we just DO. He's quick and loves it and I enjoy letting him go for it.
My riding is much the same. Rail classes I can take it or leave it and score decent marks to get by on. I'm not sure I'm an elegant rider, since I don't often have anyone around to take pictures, let alone video, that I can share and dissect over and over to improve upon. I ride both English (hunt seat and dressage) and western and one of the girls at the barn asked me about it the other night. She had started out at a dressage barn but hasn't sat in an English saddle in years. She wondered which one I'm more comfortable with? I shrugged it off as I told her that I've done both so much it's all interchangeable.
My style? Some days I still don't know. If there's one thing for sure, it's a work in progress.
Thursday, November 1, 2018
Move on already
At the last barn, there was a group of people who used the round pen to the point of overuse. They would lunge their horses in the round pen but their idea of lunging was to run the hell out of them, whipping at the horse and yelling constantly. Any time they had a problem with the horse- back to the round pen and run the hell out of them some more.
The funny thing was that they always watched me ride, had often asked me for help solving their problems and complimented me on my horses several times over. Not once were my horses in the round pen. I helped them a few times with some of the minor issues and solved them, working either out in the pasture or on the trail.
And yet when I made the comment about how the barn owner should tear down the round --pen, they got a bit butt hurt. Before anyone gets the idea that I'm all Anti Round Pen, I'm not. They are good to have for starting horses, for free lunging on occasion and for turnout when the horse may be on restricted movement due to injury. But life does not revolve aound the round pen. At some point, you need to move on.
Once you've taught your horse to lunge on a line and can do it outside the round pen, You have moved on. If you're riding at a walk, trot/jog and canter/lope in the arena or out on the trail, obviously you've moved on beyond the round pen too. All things these people and their horses could do, but still they reverted back to the round pen, where they would run the hell out of the horses and damage any bit of the bond they had between them.
On top of that- the footing in there was for shit. It was uneven, deep in some spots, thin and hardpacked in others and there was also the perpetual mud spot that never dried up. I'm not one of those people that's difficult to deal with or hard to please, but I try to give my horse a chance and I'd like to keep them sound. adding to things, the round pen was small, as in too small. That kind of stress on their legs and joints is asking for problems.
The funny thing was that they always watched me ride, had often asked me for help solving their problems and complimented me on my horses several times over. Not once were my horses in the round pen. I helped them a few times with some of the minor issues and solved them, working either out in the pasture or on the trail.
And yet when I made the comment about how the barn owner should tear down the round --pen, they got a bit butt hurt. Before anyone gets the idea that I'm all Anti Round Pen, I'm not. They are good to have for starting horses, for free lunging on occasion and for turnout when the horse may be on restricted movement due to injury. But life does not revolve aound the round pen. At some point, you need to move on.
Once you've taught your horse to lunge on a line and can do it outside the round pen, You have moved on. If you're riding at a walk, trot/jog and canter/lope in the arena or out on the trail, obviously you've moved on beyond the round pen too. All things these people and their horses could do, but still they reverted back to the round pen, where they would run the hell out of the horses and damage any bit of the bond they had between them.
On top of that- the footing in there was for shit. It was uneven, deep in some spots, thin and hardpacked in others and there was also the perpetual mud spot that never dried up. I'm not one of those people that's difficult to deal with or hard to please, but I try to give my horse a chance and I'd like to keep them sound. adding to things, the round pen was small, as in too small. That kind of stress on their legs and joints is asking for problems.
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