Riding in a Cast

Spring break is almost over! This means that I've already finished my shift of farm sugaring, have already gone skiing, and am now back in Austin. Obviously, I have a few pictures to show for it.

Sugaring was incredibly fun. We had several good sap runs, some lovely weather, and best of all it was a week spent living with around 10 of my best friends. It was a very good time.

In Jackson, my dad and I skied for two days. The snow conditions weren't great--I've never seen the Bowl in such terrible shape--but a good part of the mountain was skiable and we had two very good days. The moguls were great!

And that brings us to yesterday, when I went riding in a cast. I didn't think I'd be allowed to ride, but  was proven wrong, on the condition that I make my best effort to not fall off. It was a pretty decent ride--my instructor noted that my hands are much better now than they were last time I rode Jones, and that I must have been doing a lot of flatwork. She was right; that's pretty much all we do at Stoneleigh. (Even if it gets a little frustrating, at least when I start being allowed to jump bigger I'll know that I must have REALLY good eq on the flat. Or something like that.) I think my leg also looks better on the flat. 

My mom took a bunch of pictures. Here are the best ones.

I'll be able to go riding again tomorrow, and might actually be able to take some pictures of my own. Also, I spent a good portion of last night oiling my saddle, so now it looks absolutely gorgeous. I'm always surprised by how well it takes oil. 

More pictures soon!

Riding at Stoneleigh

Sunday was my day for riding at Stoneleigh. Needless to say, after two weeks of being grounded, I was pretty excited. My advisor drove me and the other girl who sometimes rides with me to the barn. Our instructor put me on a horse called Bandit. He's a pretty small chestnut and seemed to be worried that the world was going to eat him, but he wasn't as jumpy as some horses I've ridden. When we started trotting round the ring I found that he's very stiff and it's hard to get him to bend. However our instructor did say that when I was warming up at the trot and the canter I did a good job keeping him quiet and relatively soft, and the jumps started off quite well.

He started getting a bit fast as we progressed through the little course. At the third fence we had to circle because it was a tight turn and I didn't get him well enough bent to get around it properly. That was the start of our woes. Then at the fourth fence, a diagonal, he got very quick and I didn't half-halt strongly enough. It should have worked out but someone on the other side of the fence accidentally kicked a standard. This horse, who thought the world wanted to eat him, wasn't having any of that so he went left and I continued forward. I wasn't hurt at all--I rolled onto my back and although the back of my head sort of cracked the ground I had a good helmet on. I got up quickly and our instructor said it was a good fall. After that we didn't have much time left in the lesson so Bandit and I just jumped the one he refused and finished the course.

Although I felt pretty ashamed about falling off, the rest of the lesson was actually pretty decent. Bandit never did want to bend to the inside but I kept him moving at a steady pace on the flat and as far as my equitation goes, it wasn't terrible. My advisor was there taking pictures; from what I could see on his camera's screen, my leg has improved a lot since I last saw photos of myself riding. If he sends them to me and gives me permission to post them here, I will.

After the lesson both my advisor and I went outside to take some pictures of the horses. It was really cold so I only got a couple of shots.

You may recognize this horse from one of my previous posts. He's probably the most photogenic horse at the barn, or at least he perks up his ears the most often.

Until next time!

The Horse Show

Last weekend I rode at the only horse show I've done all year. I'll say preemptively that we didn't bring home any ribbons. Jones kept refusing fences because I was either inadvertently holding onto his mouth or I looked down for the stride instead of riding it properly, or some other combination of little mistakes that made a difference. We actually did pretty well-- the lines and single fences that he didn't refuse were really good!

Even though we didn't win anything I still had a great time. I took a lot of photos, too.

All the photos I shot as stock are posted on my deviantART stock account, Ophelia-Stock. Feel free to take a look!

Big Bend and Jones

This past week I was in Big Bend on a school trip where I took lots of pictures. But I haven't uploaded them yet, so you'll have to wait. In the mean time, I have pictures from riding on Saturday. Jones was absolutely fantastic, continuing on from the show last week. I was so pleased with him. He moved out very well for me and got most of his spots. The only ones he missed were due to rider error (oops). Both Debbie and I were very happy.
Pictures.

He may not be the fanciest jumper, best mover, or most perfectly conformed horse--but he knows how to get the job done. He is fourteen or fifteen, so he's been doing it a long time. I can only hope to ride more horses like him in the future.

As for my eq, it has improved. Saturday was a bit interesting, because I have a nasty sunburn on the inside of my calves and that is not exactly helpful for keeping the lower leg in place. Still, I think it stayed pretty secure throughout. It was just the trot afterward that killed. Anyway... it was a really really good lesson.

Oh, yes, and as a side note. This spring break I'll be working on what will be my first finished custom. It's part of the "Think Green" Spring Stablemate Swap. It won't be green, and that's all I'll say. There won't be any updates on it until it's finished, to keep it a surprise.

"You're not in Kansas any more..."

That's my favorite quote from James Cameron's movie Avatar, probably because the person who says it looks just like my awesome 7th grade science teacher (but much meaner). It also happens to be the way I felt this morning at the show. Last year, Jones and I won Year-End Champions in Open Hunter--but that was on the schooling circuit. This year we're showing the next level up, and competition is about equivalent to what you get on the A show circuit, so I've been told. It may be a little less competitive, but apparently it's close. Though we may have dominated last year at schooling shows, albeit due to sparse competition, this year is not going to be the same. We're not in schooling shows any more.

That said--Jones was wonderful. Wonderful! Our first round, the warm-up, was... a warm-up. I didn't get Jones moving off to the first fence, and that is what always gets us. Granted I didn't have my spurs on, but that's not a very good excuse. We added in every single line and didn't use the corners well in the very, very small arena. But since it was just practice, it didn't really matter. I popped my spurs on before the second round and Jones cooperated. The only issue was that he got going too fast toward the end and I didn't shift gears fast enough so we ended up overshooting a line a bit. The last round, though... that was perfect. Okay, not perfect, there are a bunch of nit-picky issues like needing to get him to counter-bend better and letting my leg slip a little, but it was really really good. Kim said it was the best show round we've done together. We placed fourth for both Hunter rounds in a very crowded Youth/Non-Pro class, not a terribly easy feat. I have every reason to boast about how good Jones was.

As you can see, it rained. At least, in the morning it did. There was thunder, lightning, and water--the whole nine yards. But then it passed and the skies cleared. Unfortunately it stayed cold and windy, but it was bearable with the sun and a bunch of horses around.

In response to a question from the maternal unit, yes, I do intentionally crop out the riders sometimes in pictures of horses. In fact I do this often because I'm NOT taking a picture of the rider, I'm taking a picture of the horse! So if someone's face looks strange it's not ruining the picture.

I would put pictures of me riding, but I don't want to spend the time to blur out my face. Too lazy tonight for that.

Prepare for a week of silence after tonight. I'll be on a school trip to Big Bend, having fun hiking and laughing at girls who bring and wear mascara--and promptly sweat it off down their faces. It should be fun, plus the scenery should be great. Not to mention the geology, which is why we're going in the first place...

Night, all! Send love to my handsome Jones (pictured below in the rather unflattering photo).  And those who dare say a word against him (father!)... he will require an extra carrot to soothe his grief. And perhaps a silk handkerchief to wipe away his tears.
Sorry, I'm a little hyper.

Better Position/Stronger Leg

Though I've recently decided to stop taking perfect position so seriously (and thus improved my riding), it's still important. Lately, I've been working on keeping my shoulders back, body straight and, most of all, leg still. Jones requires a strong leg, and keeping my leg still requires a strong leg. I no longer have a strong leg.

Two years ago, I left my old barn and came to where I am now. The only reason I've glanced over my shoulder is that I hardly ever trot without stirrups these days, whereas I used to every time I rode.

Lately, my leg is what I've worked on most, alongside keeping  my body slow over fences and allowing Jones to close my hip angle. It has been going pretty well so far. I've been tieing my stirrups loosely to my girth as a guide, and so far it's been helping. By Saturday, I think Jones and I will be ready to show.

As always, Jones has needed work on his upward transitions and keeping up a constant pace to the first and second fences in a course. If we can do good transitions and keep moving at the start, the rest of the courses on Saturday should go smoothly.

Ah yes. Saturday is the first show of the season. It's the more prestigious circuit around here and I'm hoping to do okay in my eyes, even if we don't place. According to Debbie we'll be competing in Youth/Non-Pro and we'll be in a square arena. It should be interesting.

I'll have updates tomorrow after show prep and a show report on Saturday.

Not So Good.

I think I'm sick. My sister's had something, and I'm now showing the symptoms. It really started after riding, though, so luckily we still got to jump.

No pictures today. They're all so horrendous I want to cry every time I look at them. In fact I did cry when I first uploaded them and took a close look. I don't know whether that's because of my present lack of sleep, or illness, or just the horror of these photos... but they make me want to start bawling. Eek.

For some reason I'm having major issues with my leg. Can't keep the heels down or stirrups at the girth. If I could only fix those problems most of my other problems would be eliminated, too--I think. We'll see. For now I'll be stretching my heels down on the stairs and hoping for the best.

It's about time I mention tack making. The raffle halter is progressing slowly due to terribly irritating and uncooperative candles, but it's getting there. It should NOT take so long to do one halter, seriously.
EDIT: It's finished. Now on to the lead and cooler!

Fiftieth Post

Doing well so far!

Today, though it was pretty chilly, we made it to the barn. Jones was pretty good, albeit a bit lazy. Doesn't give much hope for tomorrow, but oh well.
The main issue with today's lesson was--me. My mom took some pictures toward the end and oh my. What am I doing?! It looks like I put too much weight in one stirrup and so was way off to the side. Yipes. My equitation is not usually this bad. For some reason it's gotten way worse lately.

Now, so we have some pictures, here they are. You may feel free to critique anything you see. I see lots...
All the major issues are circled in red. There's plenty (too much) of red.

Leg slipped back, too much of a breakdown, off center, not holding with legs

Too much breakdown, leaning WAY to the right

Leaning WAY to the right again, too much breakdown

Too much breakdown, leaning WAY to the right, heels not far enough down, legs slipped back and not holding, hands open

And I promise you, non-jumping people--I'm not being too hard on myself. There's probably a lot I'm not seeing.

The reason I posted this is because, as George Morris says, it's important to learn from photographs. You might not necessarily feel like something's wrong with your jumping or flat position, but there could be a lot of issues. If anyone who reads this would like to have their pictures posted for critique by me and other readers, just say something in the comments.

Show Season

It starts in about a month. There's actually a practice show at Rio Vista this month, but it's not rated so most of the people at my barn are opting not to spend the money for a non-rated show.

Last year, Jones and I mostly competed on the TSSA, or Schooling Show circuit. We were in one of the higher classes so there weren't very many competitors and we won the year-end championship in Open Hunter and the year-end placing of Fourth in Junior Equitation fairly easily. Even though we had some pretty craptastical rounds, the points worked out.

This year I'd prefer to do Centex. Centex is not schooling shows--many of the shows operated by Centex also have classes recognized by the Texas Hunter Jumper Association (THJA). There are many, many riders and more horses, and some of the shows are two days long as opposed to the traditional Saturday TSSA show. Competition is very fierce. People count up their points until the very last show, when they do the best they can and bite their fingernails until results are posted on the website.

And then there is the Summer Circuit. It's comprised of three shows in the middle of the summer, each one three days long. (The real kicker here is that one is scheduled for the exact same dates as BreyerFest--joy. And there's no rain date because it's at the Expo center, which has a covered arena.) They're extremely prestigious and if you can win at those, you're probably good on the A circuit, too.

Yes, it seems strange that I'd like to throw myself headlong into the huge competition of CTHJA, but the truth is that the other shows are enormously boring. TSSA offers little competition and I don't think either I or Jones could achieve our potential at such shows. Plus, this is the last year we have to show that I'll not be out of practice (my dad wants me to not ride at boarding school for at least the first two trimesters--if at all, because there won't be much time for me to get away anyway). It's the best chance we have to succeed, so I figure...

Does anyone else who reads this blog show hunters or jumpers? I'd love to have a chat if you do--or even if you don't.

G'night!