Two for the show

So it's nearly September and the majority of life is still... in... flux.

Not exactly where I want to be, but when in doubt when life hands you a snow globe, just shake the damn thing until it settles or go to a horse show.

I vote going to a horse show.

Last year I enthusastically entered into the National Dressage Pony Cup PSG test. I barely had confirmed pir's and the tempi's were still a tad shakey, but I was boldly going where I had not clue about.

And the show, alongside a few others, supported it.

I love this show, it's exactly what the pony population needs and is a fabulous showcase for anything under 14.2. It even has small horse classes. To have this in my backyard is a heaven sent.

But it wasn't to be last year, the pony popped a split and was out for a little while. Then it was cold, rainy and miserable on top of it.

This year, entries are due and I was at a toss between Fourth level and PSG. 

A few days ago, out of sheer curosity we rolled through the PSG. Not expecting much, or anything brilliant I was reasonably impressed, but not enough to consider it. So I went to an non-bias source and rolled through it again.

It was respectable.

So on a whim (and a few bourbons of courage) I filed the entry for the NDPC at the Saint George and before I could change my mind the post went out in the morning mail.

Today, I realized I have less than two weeks till I reach something we've been working towards for a very long time and I thought I would never say it, but it's scary.

There comes a point in your life, when all you've wanted comes perfectly within grasp, and then you have to make a choice whether or not you really want it. I've wanted to do this since I started dressage about a decade ago. There wasn't really a day that made me stop wanting it and wanting it on a larger scale each passing year.

So, commitment phobias aside, I'm trying to get my game face on despite some reservations. We've been rolling through the test itself at least twice in a session picking things apart and putting it back together. The canter tour is a marathon and not recommended for the faint.

Still could use as much good juju as I can get though.

This also comes as fall season kicks off and a new horse arrives this weekend.

Sincere G.

Officially posting this.

Sincere G. is a 2009 chestnut gelding by Savant (Kupido/Grannus) out of a 14.0 Bask/Barbary-bred Arabian Mare.

Flashy, highly trainable, easy going with three good gaits; he was lightly backed in 2011, and has begun working on the lunge and through the jump chute with stylish, careful form. Initially bred for dressage, he would make an exceptional A circuit hunter/jumper candidate. He will be going under saddle this fall if not sold.

Asking $5,000, motivated to place him prior to winter.

Contact:
Kelly Gage
859/699-7383

Opportunity costs

It's been awhile since I've posted here, and I've been uncharacteristically silent for a few reasons.

First being travel has got the best of me, and I'm some weeks, without internet connection. The last three alone have been spent living out of a trailer at various functions away from home. 

The other reason has been much more thoughtful.

The last few weeks have been trying, really trying, and the schedule has been more than tough. Sinari and I left for VA on the 5th, only to end up somewhere entirely different on the same day, 13 hours later. We turned around and went to the Dressage at Lexington show (mixed results, but broke 60 percent) six days later and then traveled home. All in all, spent roughly 20 hours on the road.

I saw a lot on that trip, from young international horses to adult amateurs kicking along. Even the Amish got involved at some point. 

What initially was planned as a training trip, ended up being a training loss minus one or two people chipping in a long the way who kept us up and going.


I did a lot of thinking on this trip and where I wanted to end up, I talked to a lot of people who know me and respect the goals I have in mind. While I was on the road I spent roughly three hours on the phone with different individuals.  After those conversations, I came to the collective conculusion that my herd and I have diverging goals.



For the first five hours of this realization, it was horrible. It felt like I was giving up on family and I was knocked in the gut, but I knew this day was coming, I just hadn't accepted it or planned for it as well as I should have.

Sinari, who is the light of my life, is 13 this year. She is committed for the rest of the year and should reach PSG by September. She's my first FEI horse that I've made from scratch, she earned the bronze and is in the process of earning the silver, she's a premium mare with the Hanoverian book (Weser-Ems Pony), she is the only Welsh mare in the US doing this sport at this level, and has taken me from nothing till now. Those accomplishments will never be taken away from either one of us. She's an incredible worker, and gives 100 percent every day of the work, but physically it gets to be too much. She's earned the right to step back and be comfortable in the last six years of competition as an FEI Pony for a junior and allowed to shine in the world stage.

She's the touchstone of my program and she will never be sold. When she's ready to retire, she will retire with me in a back yard somewhere, fat and happy.



I look at Sincere, who I bred, and raised so far from birth. He's an athletic, beautiful, capable pony who is a card and fantastic to be around every day. He's everything that his breeding represents. However, looking at his age group and conformationally what he is, he's not going to make a class dressage horse. After working him through a jump chute, it's obvious what his career path is, and what he enjoys the most. Blood never lies and with Kupido and Grannus in the mix, well, the boy can't help but have springs.

I've put him on the market to get him to a home where he's going to shine in the hunters. 


This begs the question of what's next. The answer is I don't know. There are somethings working out for fall and for next spring. There are some possibilities as well, I won't know how 2013 will really be until November.

Saddles For Sale

Like everything around here, my horses have changed... again.

Saddle fitting is art and science, but mostly it's a pain. While I'm happy that the changes are positive, with horses gaining topline and changing due to training and maturity, I'm not happy I'm back in the throw darts mode of finding something. Thankfully, I have a really good team of people for that in County Saddles (Sara Ivie let me count the ways...).

Surprisingly, Sincere's saddle is a Schleese. Or was. It statically fit him two months ago. But when we got into more serious work, he changed and doesn't fit now to the point where its teeing him off. So on the market it goes for something that will keep him and his back happy.

It's a four year old dark brown 17.5 wide Schleese JER with long billets. Exceptionally pretty and in great condition. I'm asking $700 obo.

It's pictured right.

Following in her younger counterpart's steps, Sinari, decided it was time for a change.

Sinari has become fit to the point where she dropped an entire tree size (despite being a few pounds too heavy) and what awesome County rep Sara Ivie and I thought would be the forever saddle turned out to be a temporary band aid. So we're on the search again and I've put her's on the market as well to help aid that search financially.

Sinari's saddle is a 17.5 inch extra wide black County Competitor. At five years old, it truly is a fantastic saddle, helping us develop and get to this place, and fits the majority of horses it's thrown on, in fact I've had horses throw fits because they don't want to go back to their old saddle. It was recently reflocked, and is regularly conditioned. I'm asking 1,800 obo.

Go your own way

I've been avoiding blogging for the past few weeks, namely, time (clinic, clinic and show), and to be quite frank, I really didn't want to recap things or make goals or do much of anything. Even training, no matter how progressive as it's had become, was a drag.

I've officially hit seasonal funk and it's only June.

It's not like I didn't see this coming, a so-so show debut at 4th (55,6; 56,5) in the nasty 100 degree weather put a huge damper on things, dealing with the drama of work, organizing and a few other items has also left me a little more or less worn out and running for cover. I had my first weekend off in eight weeks and didn't know what to do with myself.

But with no regular lessons to keep us going at a critical juncture/push, and the next big days for travel in July, the wide expanse of June seems intimidating, if not boring.

It's not a negative thing, in fact there's a bunch of positivity about what had happened and what continues to as well.

Sinari has progressed and is gaining huge amounts of condition. When the weather holds, and there isn't a hay crop being harvested, we're up to six miles of trot and canter sets about two days a week. She officially beats the off the track thoroughbreds. Hoping that we'll get up to about eight miles before it's all through.

In the arena, the upped balance point and running through all the test elements at least once a session has helped. I've asked her to become hotter and wouldn't you know it, the little girl has it. I just need to go back to Sesame Street to learn to count my tempis.

The show wasn't a waste either. I can see why people can easily get bummed about mid-50's. Not showing since last July, we were, very, terribly out of practice and at a new level to boot. So while it didn't meet our goals of above 60, everything is fixable.

During the show she dug in and really did try to work it, but didn't have enough gas in the tank. It was my stupid fault for the warm up routine in that kind of heat. That our mistakes (pir's and accidentals fours) were really easy to clean up mistakes. The judges were really positive about the comments and talking to them after helped a ton as well. We're in review mode and I'll be darned if we don't crack 60's by July.

Sincere, despite showing that he was a turkey during the Hess clinic (just took him out to lunge in a new place) really is doing exceptionally well for his age. He has a ton of swing and three very elastic gaits. Just no topline to speak of to really sustain it. Plus he keeps trying. What's not to like about a horse that just keeps digging to find the right answer? He's looking less immature and more up hill and horse like everyday.

Even had an email from his dam's owner. May is doing really well, and is even going under saddle. I can't wait to see her again, it's been three years.

Being alone doesn't mean you don't limit your progression, it means you find different ways of adapting to progress.

I'm terribly manic about a few things, and one of them is staying as goal-oriented as possible. I think that's how I've managed to drive the ponies to this point, just get from point a to point b and work your ass off in between. Every. 30. Days.

Not having eyes on the ground, or being able to ask questions to your coaches (they've honestly been busy), when the expectation has been up has been really difficult. But it also makes you independent and much stronger. I still have questions, and experiences I want them to relate to, but right now their pursuing their own goals.

And I want more

The last few weeks have been a blur between a lot of highs and lows.

The season is here, and it's breathing down our necks and after two straight weeks of training, it feels like we're prepared enough to roll down centerline this weekend at 4-1. No promises for photos and videos, I have no idea about the amount of extra hands I'll have about.

In between I tossed both ponies into Houston and Hess' clinics.

Sinari, dug deep on the first day of Houston and produced a solid school with really ramped balance and collection. The second day, riding in the heat of the day, we ran out of juice and schoolmastered around trying to keep her comfortable. She was able to pull a little bit out of work, but we mostly worked on biomechanics and positioning.

Sincere benefited as well, getting a base feeling and direction as to where to take his training in the next few months. In the end, I know the more we develop on the ground the more we will have under saddle.

A day off from work and we shipped over late to Rolling Hills to train with one of my all-time favorite judges, Christoph Hess. Christoph, who has an equally quick eye as Houston and Koford, picked up on the work quickly. He began ramping us into this week with emphasis on scores. We picked apart and reviewed and picked some more. His goal aside from setting the stage was to push an electric ride.

Talk about a different ride entirely! Sinari became positively hot off the aids, to the point where we were pushing control issues. But that's where we needed to go, just to the edge.

Hess also noted a year over year improvement on the mare, which was great to be not really re-humbled back to a 20 meter stretch circle for 45 minutes.

I also brought out Sincere to this one as well. The purpose was two fold, the first being that getting him off the property and getting him into a job (even a basic mindset of work) in a new place is fun and he shouldn't worry about it. The second, is I have a huge amount of respect for the people I work with, Hess being one of the top people in the young horse world I wanted his thoughts on what was produced three years ago.

While Sincere was a trooper, and I didn't kill either one of us in long lines, Hess was not as impressed. Sincere pretty much looked like a turkey trotting around tense and not his loose usual self.  But, given that he shipped in 30 minutes prior, was groomed, tacked up in a busy barn and lunged in a strange arena, I give him more credit.

Overall it went well, and we'll be back for more.

Plastic ponies anonymous

I've been trying to find the time to write this, it seems so hard these days to find time/energy to write due to the schedule!


So other than putting about 2,000 miles on the truck and working odds and ends and dealing with an extremely busy schedule, there's been some news as of late.

A while back, Breyer (y'know the plastic ponies) announced it's annual festival at the KHP.

I have Breyers, and while I'm not a super-nut for plastic ponies like some of my friends, I do have a soft spot for some models that dot my book shelves and my nightstand.

I still have Erin Go Bragh, Black Beauty, Merry Legs and a limited edition arabian horse that a friend gave as a graduation present. I still pick up the yellow box to read the back stories on the model.

However, I normally avoid Breyerfest weekend at the park (these days I'm rarely in town to really do any avoiding).

This year's theme is British invasion (London 2012) and apparently since Sinari is technically considered British by default (Welsh), she came up and was accepted for Breyerfest.

Which leads to the dilemma-- what do you do for Breyerfest?

Enter one freestyle. There have been a bunch of ideas thrown about in the camp, but the one main requirement is that anything we do be, well, English-themed.

My initial freestyle is done to Dr. Who, composed by BBC, however I think the music is too serious for a bunch of girls who are in it more for entertainment than anything else.

Then we thought of Queen and while the guys thought it would be spiffy to dress up in drag (pleather full seats anyone?) and get sparkly Petries, again, age plays a factor. Beyond, We are the Champions, I don't think anyone remembers Fat Bottomed Girls.

The final decision went down to Coldplay. The modern band isn't my first choice, but a relation (e.g. my brother) pretty much booted a Paradise/The Scientist/The Verve remix that is total fun/high energy.

Riding has also been interesting as well, we ramped her up in VA, and this week we're taking it a little light due to an upcoming clinic and show. Doesn't mean the work isn't serious, just means that we're doing more suppling exercises.

Sincere is out long lining, the wee guy (well not so wee now) turned three yesterday, and he's been going on the lunge now (on and off) for the last three weeks. What a guy, just takes everything in stride. It's been forever and a half since I've gotten to play with a baby, and I've forgot how much fun it can be. Yesterday he went out long lining in the fields, took everything like an old pro.

I'm guessing his summer plans will include lunging, some free jumping, getting out on the trail in long lines and then by late summer/ early fall have someone jump on him a few times for some work, perhaps a cheapie in hand show to get him out there. 

May Goals (I'll cap April off this week):
-Above 60 percent scores at 4th level
-hone the pir's
-hold the count on the tempi's
-fitness
-up the balance point