Get bent

We're back in the full swing of training, and the weather, time and everything else is cooperating for once.

Sinari, despite the odd days on and off has come back exceedingly well. With the support team firmly in place, her work has improved. The ground has even softened up to go for a canter or two in the fields.

We have decidedly gone back for the next few sessions and reaffirm and build a finer base, which she's already benefited from. I haven't worn my spurs in about a month and until recently, worked in the snaffle.

The joy about Sinari is that she has most of the tricks already programmed. She's always been really crack at the changes, and things like the tempi's are really no issue. 

It's just now about making sure that they are solid enough to go forward by next summer to the FEI.

In the meantime, I am aiming for a small winter show at the start of December. Third level.

7th Heaven.

I'm not a stranger to verband inspections.

I've been to about eight to ten in the past five years, mostly the ISR, AWR and GOV inspections. Each time I go as spectator, I pick something up about conformation, movement and presentation.

While Sinari is registered with AWR as a sport pony, and as Welsh D I wasn't completely happy with the quality of what the book was showing. So, when an opportunity presented itself to show in front of a different book, I took it.

The Hanover book is one of three German pony books (the other two are Weser- Ems and RPSI) that inspect and represent the sport pony population. Of the three, Weser- Ems and RPSI have American offices, the Hanover people... well, they have email and one inspection in the states per year. In Illinois. And when I breed, to have the foals inspected, I need to ship to Germany. Ouch.

The German books are notoriously tough, and it's been a while since I presented anything. So I was a little more than nervous. So the day before I spit polished the mare, worked on standing her up.

The inspector looked her up and down, watched her move (thankfully Sterling was handling I'm not fit to run anymore). She looked amazing for just being pulled back into work. Minus the walk, everything was above board, earning an overall score of 7.3333, .2 shy of being considered in to the premium book. Because I was tired and a bit stressed, I forgot to ask about mare performance testing, and whether or not they would allow me to go forward and do it at the GOV site next September or I would have to earn my scores.

Overall I'm pretty impressed.

Next big project is clipping.

Fields O'er Which the Reaper's Hand has Passed

The ink has barely dried on WEG, and with a minute window of opportunity, I responsibly shunned responsibilities for a weekend and escaped with the boy to a location that had a total of ten stoplights and no cell phone reception.

I went to the woods to get briefly get away from my life before the winter season and inspection struck and I would be unable to get away. I rode lightly throughout the week, checked in on young one, made a few decisions and then made arrangements to make sure everyone is looked in on.

It was fantastic. An hour out of Lexington, the world changes. The world slows.

And being unable to have much contact with the outside world, I did things that weren't among the normal routine.

I slept in, I took a long bath. I read two books. We watched movies (on cable), we ate... a lot.

To add to things, fall is a pretty time in Kentucky, and to be in the woods, is to watch the world transition.The fields are empty, the barns are full, and the colors turn bright.

Most times, fall means clipping the unenviable dread of the following season.

The reality of my, or any horse person's situation, that vacations or time off is non existent. When you do get it, run with it. Run hard. And never feel guilty about it.

We came back today, and while already the emails have started piling up, the house needs to be cleaned, the cats needed to be coddled and the week returns to normal tomorrow, It doesn't feel impossible to get through. 

From the center

WEG is over for me and I'm very happy to be able to walk away from the chaos for a little bit. I also didn't realize September has ended and we have slipped into October.

I'm happier about getting back to riding at an quiet barn, and back to routine. Since Gal's clinic, life has been non stop. At the barn the owner was hosting several reining pairs for the freestyle and people were in and out constantly.


This past weekend was the first weekend I actually got to sleep in, eat breakfast not at break neck speed and catch up with a few neglected items.

It also means I'm getting on the pony more and in cold weather, it's been adventurous!

It's also helped us out a lot. First day back I just stayed out of the way while she went on and did tons of stretch, bend and deep work, followed by the second day of working through transitions. Today she reeled off a set of four time tempi's, the first time in three months. I understand they were probably gimmes, but I'll take them.


Sinari has come back much stronger, but in the same breath, less fit. Cold weather and more forgiving ground means we actually get to go out galloping.


With the end of September, it means recap time:


-Transitions, transitions, transitions.
yes, yes and yes. These have become much crisper in the past month.

-Forward
Yes, much more in front of the leg.

-Get back to normal.
Yes, we have been cleared to canter and the majority of work. Even threw in a few changes.

October's Goals:
-Conditioning/get back into a solid four day week schedule.
-On the aids changes
-Transitions
-Add more lateral work
-Consistency

Stud Muffin

When Sincere was born, I was really disappointed that he came out as a colt.

It wasn't because he was imperfect, quite the contrary, it was because he was a colt. 

I like fillies. I like competing mares. Mares have more to give, and the lines are far more precious than that of their male counterparts. And like my mother, anything male in the household tends to end up getting neutered at one point or another.

It also probably doesn't help that the colts I really hadn't really gotten along with for various past reasons. Many of them being that geldings were zero personality pushovers and the stallions I handled weren't the best of individuals and I wish I could put nuticals in place of testicles.

So when Sincere came out, I pretty much said lower lobotomy please.

I cannot say what entered my mind when I showed photos to the GOV of him. Perhaps it was because he's going to push pony, or just the sheer fact that I have interest seeing this cross go onto a proper book that would promote him as an athlete instead of a halter reject. When I mentioned that he was going to go under the knife, they advised against until the two-year-old keuring was complete.

Huh? Since when was sparky a candidate for keeping the appendages? And what are they potentially seeing that I'm not?

The world on a string

I'm slowly waking up. This week was a blur of last minute appointments, hand shakes and clean up.

It's day five of WEG, and I'm in the thick of it. I'm sitting in the hacienda-styled IALHA booth. I've made a few friends, and caught up with people that I haven't seen in awhile.

The booth sits across and adjacent to the Parelli and Lyons booths has actually been interesting. Both are very nice individuals, and offer fellow vendors coffee almost every morning. No Kool-Aide yet.

The horse community is my extended family of sorts, while we may not share the same DNA, we occasionally share the same dysfunctional and addictions.

Life isn't too bad here.

The bus (amazingly) runs on time and is a great drop off location. There is a huge variety of people and things do to, daily.  And, yes, while prices are very high (minus the Bit of Britain people who are amazingly cheap), I think the general feeling is a happy one among the visitors.

The equine village is huge, and the Alltech experience is by far amazing. The only thing I have to really fault is that they need to develop more variety of their already outstanding line of beer.

The place is literally a candy land for horse people and I'm sorry for those who are missing it, I'm also sorry my time here is short.

Although short, it's busy.

I also got to chat to the heads of the GOV, to catch up with breeding news and to ask them their opinions about the ponies in question. We'll be attending inspection next year barring a few items on the agenda. I've talked to potential sponsors, talked to potential clinicians and venue sites. I've also caught up with the current ones to say thanks and to keep them in the loop of things.

I literally have walked about 15 to 20 miles.

It also means I haven't seen too much of the ponies lately. I know Sincere is alive and well, Sinari is being ridden infrequently at best. Which, doesn't surprise me (considering schedule) and also disappoints. I was hoping to use the week off from work to bring her back more consistently. We are cleared to canter, we are cleared to go back to quasi-normal work, it's just been a pill as far as scheduling a ride.

Otherwise, it's been a great adventure so far and I can't wait to continue it.

Grace be with thee

If you asked me ten years ago what I would be doing in 2010, I would tell you I would be riding, and be in the north east. I would have told you Germany would still be earning gold medals and the US would still be an alright team. I would have told you I would have been a professional something-or-other and an Adult Amateur.

I would have been fine, if not accepting of this.

I moved to the south east for university, not expecting to stay, but ended up staying. I ended up working as a staff writer, an editor, a website developer and photographer. I found Amazon to actually pay. I found a pony, and lost the horses. The Dutch team came to power, and has remained there. World breeding has improved, and we now have amazing individuals. There is even a large event in my backyard on occasion.

With the start of Team EnGaged and the evolution of the 2010, 2011 roster I feel more than blessed with my team, the teachers, the trainers, and the opportunities that have developed for this region. I feel privileged to be one of its stewards to help guide and shape it for coming years. I feel honored to have met, and learn, from the very best.

While I can give some insightful report to Edward's clinic, I'm going to leave that to the auditors and the pundits. What I will tell you is he is the real deal.

Above anything else, yesterday, I was reminded grace exists. That community, no matter how battered, still is able to ban together and create new foundation and that the occasional risk does pay off.

I cannot thank the individuals enough who had made that day special in my mind and others. Let us continue building, and growing. Let us continue to celebrate education, and our accomplishments. Together, we can move forward.