I wanna go

Mary Phelps, Whip; K. Gage, Groom. Phelps Photo

It's been busy out here.

The year end stuff has finally caught up with us and it's the final drive to October.

Most of my last two weeks have been spent on the road, training, grooming, finishing up 2011 or planning out 2012.I haven't really seen my guys, or ridden any of my usuals.

I partly blame the weather. My outdoors have been under water now for the last two weeks. So, I've spent the weeks finishing out my paperwork so I can go forward with graduating the L, attend  few conferences and figure out winter.

But needless to say it hasn't been short of adventurous. 

After getting to ride 17.1 hand giants (a nice mare and two lovely geldings), clipping a few ponies (see above photo for results) I was conscripted into service by Sterling Graburn for the weekend for a HDT in Louisville.

I'm not an exact stranger to driving, but I am a complete novice when it comes to the particulars and morays. Within an entire weekend, I think I managed to get grasp on the basics of it. I even groomed and navigated. I ran into old friends and even made a few new ones.

The quality of horses here ranged from VSE to international caliber. It was incredibly pleasant to experience that range and hospitality of both competitor and organizer.  

It felt nice to step out of my discipline for a bit and go in to a place that is a little out of my depth, but not too unfamiliar at the same time.

Now I'm back at home, readying for the final go for October, sending Sincere off for his first 30 days and trying to gain more saddle time while closing out the last bit of the year.

We've got to make it rain somehow

I started writing this complaining about the weather. Up until Friday, it was raining, and spent another week grounded because of weather and a convalescing pony.

Seems like karma can't catch a break.  

With the free time and plowing through my weekly groceries, I managed to catch up on paperwork. I was glued into the USEF National Dressage Finals pretty hard, cheering on friends who made it to the pinnacle of the season. Over the weekend I managed to stop by the NDPC/MSEDA show to watch a few of the rides, be around people and carry out appointments.

But, between rounds, I found out it's very hard for me to sit on the sidelines.In fact, it really bites.

So I went back to the barn, and instead of feeling out, I went to work.

Sincere was groomed and worked in hand. He's going through another growth spurt, and while he isn't swan ugly, he's not looking like a super model either. He's amazing to work with and alongside. Soon he'll be shipped out to winter pasture to grow up a little further.

Sinari was groomed, going to have to clip her soon. She's regained a lot of her energy and she's becoming jealous of Sincere. Hopefully will be back under saddle soon and preparing out for winter season.

Inches

 It's dry out. You step on the grass out here and it's like walking on dead leaves. The ground is hard, and we're in need of some rain. We haven't galloped in ages. Otherwise, the last bit of summer is loosing it's grasp.

I'm not ashamed to bid this summer farewell, it's one that I haven't gotten to reflect on or idle in too much. The horses and I were busy from one weekend to the next, with few breathers until now.

The last week has been slow in the work department, the pony is still off. Her soreness is gone, but just want a vet clearance prior to taking her back into the program. Sincere is still going forward with what he's doing (hint: not a heck of a lot). There are a also a few interesting developments. Arena fever has set in and our attentions have turned to fall and winter training.

I wish we had a competitive indoor series like Europe, we have the facilities for it, and we do have a decent fall season schedule in October. However, personal plans are taking over around that time. So, forcibly, our show season is done. Next year though is already holding a lot of promise.

August Goals:
-Clinic in TN
Check, and had a lot of homework for it.
-School through PSG
Check, perfectly do-able, just going to take some practice.
-Send entry in for NDPC
Check, and then scratched.
-Re-flock saddle
Check, Sara Ivie of County Saddles is awesome.
-Transitions, halts, lateral work
Better transitions, and better lateral work, but need to tighten up the canter-halt transition.
-Finalize Kur.
Still toying with music. Going with Dr. Who, just need choreography.

September Goals:
-Clinic in TN
-Condition, keep running through PSG.
-Ready supplies for winter
-Transitions

I get knocked down

It's been a tough few weeks at base camp.

Work has been beating up on me for a little while now, and late-season exhaustion has officially kicked in. It's always the last stretch that is the hardest. Kind of like the 10th round in boxing, where both parties are slugging it out. There's just that urge just to continue to see what you've started to the finish.

After the clinic, we took Monday off, worked Tuesday and Wednesday. Normally with a show on the horizon, I don't leave town, but as a change of pace, I went to San Diego for a business trip. Sinari is a little confused by the R&R time, but I think it will help keep her fresh for the final push of the season.

I hated to do it, but I canceled our PSG test at NDPC. She was a little sore. So instead of pushing the issue and potentially having a greater problem, I erred.

Despite the light two weeks the predominate theme has been tempi's, pir's and canter tour.The timing has gotten better for the canter zig-zag, but the left-right change is sticky and the right pir is very large still.

The trot work is coming well. The half pass has gotten flowy-er before the break I could add a lot of power.

Sinari isn't the only one who is shining with the work. Sincere, is quickly proving he's going to be a nice horse.

Aside from the serious delight to work around, he's a clever mover. The goal as always with him is to keep his interest in the new work and develop consistency within the gaits. 

No one said it would be easy but no one said it would be so hard

This past weekend we finally scored a pair of eyes on the ground and started to throw the test together.

Prior to this weekend I had maybe done the meat of the test a dozen times either concentrating on just trot or canter tours, and even then I didn't do them in entirety (yeah those two canter pir's to the four's, threes and extended... woo).

On the surface the PSG is the equivalent of fourth level. Same movements. Different beast entirely.

It's deceptively flowy, with softball setups on paper. In reality it's rapid fire execution and claims serious real estate in making the rider and horse be fit to actually carry through and execute. This is not a test for the under prepared. I think the test writers must have been laughing all the way to the bank when they wrote it.

With this weekend we identified two weak spots in our work. Canter zig zag and the pir's. The pir's are still too large but the zig zag is a matter of attacking the set up. The tempi's were also weaker because we ramped up the balance.

It's also the first time I felt what we are going up against.

It's hard. Especially the canter work at the end where it all happens all at once with separate scores on just about everything. It doesn't help that we're stuck in arenas where the dimensions are skewed.

But the challenge has given me food for thought of what I want to do with this part of my life. Is it hard? Yes. These are the hardest tests in the sport.

Does it make me want to do this for the rest of my life? Yes. Insanely, yes.

So it's time, as Koford has said, to throw our big girl pants on and suck it up. Four weeks till lift off.

How to see the sun rise

The two Bronze rides from VA came in the mail the other day, I finally figured out how to upload them to Youtube.

Sunset in July

We went back to work last week and started hauling through the training. We had our arguments about certain items, and we began discussing the tempi's again and a number of other things, but it seems that we're right where we need to be. We've worked through the vast majority of elements in the PSG, and I'm feeling fairly satisfied over it. Today she worked pir's with moderate success.

The time in the fields did her well, although she came back from her gallop sets a little more braced and rushy. I'm happy to have her back in the arena. I managed to carve out a kur, I just want to get it in front of JK and CF for final approval before I ship the tapes out and stick it on Youtube.

August for us is normally a light month, there is only one show in-state and it's usually too hot to even thing about attending unless you're desperate for a score. Riding is usually kept to early mornings or evenings, and there's usually a lot of water involved for all parties.

I'm using this month to prep up for the final show of the season, the National Dressage Pony Cup. The NDPC is a strictly pony-only show, it's sister show, East Coast Pony Cup, takes place later this month in New York. While I really wish I was going, a lot of good ponies are going to be there, but it's just not in the cards this year. I have a feeling that I will be the only one at PSG at this one, and the judges are pretty alright.

I've seriously waited for this entry for a long time and I'm still a little hyper, and a little sensitive about entering. It's a huge leap. But I trust the training, and I trust the people that have brought me to this point and believe that the pony can do it.

So far, we've managed to get good training in, and it doesn't feel like we're over doing things, and hopefully within the four weeks we can put everything together. Despite a low-key schedule there is a lot being planned to get us through the month.

But for now July's recap:

July Goals:
-Clinic in TN
Check, it didn't go exactly as planned, but ended up exactly how we needed to be.
-VA Show
Check, biggest success of the month. Had a fantastic time there. Want to go back.
-Finish Bronze
Check. Best birthday present the pony could have given me.
-Halts and transitions
Still need work, we need to bump those 6's and 7's.
-Condition, condition, condition
Check. She's gained more muscle for the mediums and extensions.
-Decide level for NDPC
See photo:)
-Finish Kur.
Check. Just have to choreograph.
-Tempi's, big, bold tempi's.
Rehashed these. She needs an adjustment and a reflock to really start swinging for the fences. 

August Goals:
-Clinic in TN
-School through PSG
-Send entry in for NDPC
-Re-flock saddle
-Transitions, halts, lateral work
-Finalize Kur.