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.

I keep my eyes fixed on the sun

In case you didn't get the memo, it's hot.

Normally, we still work through the heat, but this has been beyond excessive with triple digit temps and the humidity being off the charts. The pony has more 'fro than usual.

Sinari was in her stall sweating with a fan, however, Sincere was busy bouncing off the walls and playing with his Jolly Ball. The ADD two year old doesn't mind the heat so much. He's just happy to be active.

Normally, after a large show the pony gets about two days off and then a light week of hacking in the fields. But the weather interfered and we stuck to pony parlor, re-organizing the supplies, wrap-up efforts and hand grazing until Friday, where the weather broke temporarily and I was able to lunge just a little bit in the indoor. Saturday was much better, when we finally got under tack and went hacking over hills for a short while.

Despite weather, she's come back fresh, which makes me incredibly happy, she power walked out to the fields and did short canter and trot sets before the humidity became too much. I'm planning on doing a 50/50 week with her- start the week in the fields and then go back into the arena for starting up the fall season.

The time off with the pony also meant I got to play with the young man. He was more than happy for the attention. Pulled his mane, sorted his tail, trimmed the fetlocks and lunged him once or twice. Feet trimmed today. The big news for him is that he wore a saddle for the first time, and was completely awesome with it.

Begun making fall plans for both and this week we have visitors in town.

Through every open door

We've finally unpacked, cleaned the trailer out, threw the laundry together and Sinari has had a good couple of rolls. It looks like she came out of it alright. Her attitude is cheery, her legs are tight and cold and she's not sore. We should be back to under saddle by Thursday and in the arena next week.

Dressage at Lexington was nothing short of fantastic. Achieved everything that needed to be achieved, plus more. I'm still honestly floored about the entire thing.

I didn't expect to take this trip this year. In fact, I was prepared to just stick to Kentucky and a few Ohio shows. But, a few months ago JK challenged us to throw our big girl pants on and come to Dressage at Lexington in July, a first major East Coast showing for the pony. Feeling, game I entered us not really knowing what to expect.

What I didn't know was that this was a number of major qualifiers for the bigger championships. Several large barns show here, several large riders do as well, several of which are high performance riders from other disciplines. Even the AA base is ultra strong at this show.

We left last Wednesday around 8am before the heat and the Breyerfest crowds hit Lexington, and arrived safely around 3ish in the afternoon after white knuckling it through West Virginia. The Virginia Horse Center is a beautiful, sprawling facility with hills. The view is breathtaking.

We landed not in a quiet park, but in the middle of hunter pony princess hell. For the first time we were easily the biggest in the group and definitely the oddest. We were surrounded by jumps and kids at every turn.

After I got her settled, I went to check in and school around the arenas, what was left of the hunter pony crowd gathered to watch us go through the paces. Some hooting and hollering went down after we went through a few lines of changes and lateral work.

Thursday rolls around and the weather is nothing short of a perfect 80 degrees and partially cloudy. I get up feed, walk and lunge her out. JK and crew arrives, unpacks and we proceed to start to school horses. Sinari still feels great, no hitch, but a little behind the leg. We school transitions up and down, in and out to get the brain firing. I get to meet the other clients, who instantly make us feel at home. By the end of the day we're set and ready to roll.

Friday was another early start, a quick breakfast and trying to find the nearest coffee source, all of us were at the barn sorting horses and getting everyone ready for the early classes and preparing for the mad dash of the afternoon. I get up, warm up, and go and ride at the hill. Unlike Kentucky, there are huge amounts of space for warmup, I virtually have my own arena. Which is great because it settles her down and clicks her in. She puts in a solid round and consistent test to earn into mid 63 percent with great comments, and second place against confirmed horses.

Friday night I catch up with people and watch good horses previewed for the Saturday auction. Keenland this is not.

Saturday comes through with more perfect weather. Sinari warms up, this time with a small fan club forming on the rails. Small girls, and a few of the clients came out to cheer. I'm frankly not used to this, but the pony transitions into diva and channels her inner Aretha. She knocks out the test with consistent 65 percent, ending second to a really nice pair by 1 percentage point. Proving she belongs here and is capable I just have to ride the test clean, she does the rest. Due to the management using the same judge, we have to still compete Sunday to finish out the USDF Bronze. But the highlight is ending up Reserve Champion for the Sporting Horse Amateur Challenge (Individual).

Saturday night rolls around and it's found out that it's my birthday on Sunday, Justin drives five plus hours to spend the night with me. I feel seriously lucky and on top of the world. I've had the best meal I've had all week.

Sunday breaks, and the pony and I are running low on batteries. I get lost on my way back to eat breakfast with my parents. My cell phone doesn't stop going off with text, phone calls and messaging since 2am, so I'm on little sleep. We stick to the normal routine, but threw in an extra walk to keep loose. I drive around on the Bobcat to kill time and start packing up. My support crew is leaving after their last tests, my parents, who also spent the weekend left early that morning to travel home. Only Justin and JK's horses remain. For the first time, I feel the pressure of completing out the weekend well.

We warm up in the covered arena, and everything is going according to plan. She's firing all cylinders despite being tired. She's doing everything as cleanly and I'm not riding like an idiot. Then they clear the arena to drag it, and we get chucked outside. We're interrupted, then delayed then allowed to go in early. The pony wilts mildly, she sucks behind and fades in the mediums. Her normally great lateral work felt weak. I ride it as cleanly as I can, and we go and cool out. I'm proud of what she's done and we've finally got our stuff together to ride tests.

Ten minutes later I'm screaming up and down the barn and running to find, score texting came through. 61 percent. We've done it, we've achieved the bronze. Two seasons, countless hours later. I don't care we ended up fifth in the class. I don't care that we have a six hour journey back. We came to accomplish this, and we did it.

We're now back in Kentucky, plotting a bit of 2012, but looking to perhaps make it a double threat with Silver in the wings. Next on the schedule is a stop in Tennessee and then a show in September at KHP.

The bronze age.

Long trip home so sorry about the quick note.

Achieved USDF Bronze today with the pony, what makes it even more special is that it was my birthday. Thanks to everyone who came out, celebrated and has been more than supportive of Sinari's career.


Go Pony!