Goal Hierarchy

     I am not gonna lie, I was nervous about my ride yesterday.  I didn't want another disaster like Tuesday's ride.  I think Mort definitely remembered Tuesday's when we started, but in the end it worked out OK.  Let's get started on another ride re-cap because that is what this blog is all about. 

     He had a nice, swinging walk to start and we did our normal walk about the property on a loose rein.  When we got back to the outdoor I spent a lot of time at the walk.  The first time I picked up my reins he hollowed out and got stuck in a shuffled walk.  I had a moment of panic that I had somehow broken my horse and he didn't like contact and could never relax again.  I was determined to not have the same ride as Tuesday.  I came up with a plan to be as soft and as patient and as slow as I could possibly be.  I was going to do some walk work and try trot but if it was bad I was going to quit and walk the fence line.  I was in the mode to succeed quietly and calmly or quit while I was ahead. 

     I'd pick him up and let him back down as soon as he asked to stretch.  He picked up on this quickly and was soon pushing into the contact nicely.  We were just walking straight lines on the inside track.  After several happy times of me picking up the reins I decided to try some lateral work and bending, still focusing on trying to keep him stretching into a lower frame.   Leg yields were OK with him.  Bend and counter-bend went OK.  I did have some struggles getting the left bend, so I tried some shoulder-in.  He tried getting tight and retracting his neck.  I did a few small figure eights playing with bend/counter-bend.  I did some more stretching.  He eventually gave it to me happily enough.  It was time to try trot. 

     I started with the same method as I did in the walk.  I'd ask for trot and when he relaxed his topline and wanted to stretch we'd go back to walk.  I did this several times, shortening the walk time to just a couple of strides.  He was doing really well.  He only was giving me a little baby trot but I wasn't worried about it (yet).  I moved onto our lateral work and bending exercises.  We had some of the same issues tracking left where he wanted to retract his neck and hide from my hands instead of bending.  I worked on it by starting a small circle to the left to essentially force his bend (but not me being the one telling him to do it with too much hand/leg/seat) and when he gave me the bend I wanted I'd let him stretch down and go back to a walk.  This was fairly successful. 

     After I had him working well both directions I started to ask him for a more powerful trot.  Tracking right he was happy to start to push with his hind-end.  He was still a bit sticky to the left but I didn't make it an issue.  I know that his trot improves dramatically after canter, so I threw that in.  With him being in a baby trot the first couple of transitions were a bit stiff and he sorta launched into canter instead of stepping into it.  As long as he was obedient, I didn't make an issue of that either at this point.  We did a few canter transitions and worked on straightness and bend.  His trot did improve both directions.  His canter transitions improved with his better trot. 

     At this point we'd only probably been riding 35-40 minutes.  I had gotten bend and lateral work each direction in each gait.  I had gotten good up and down transitions (including a few trot-to-halt which is something we struggle with).  He was pushing from behind and maintaining a strong topline with a soft mouth and flexible frame.  I let him have some stretchy trot each direction and we went for a ride along the fence line with Emma. 

     We didn't work on anything new yesterday.  We didn't really work on our problem areas.  I certainly didn't work on anything from our tests.  I did overcome a tense and retracted Mort with calm, patient, quiet, steady work.  He was a pleasure to ride for the majority of our ride.

     I 100% do not think that bad rides are in our rear view mirror.  I will definitely struggle with myself and my frustration during those bad rides.  I hope that someday that will be in the rear view.  Mort isn't a horse that can be forced into doing what I want.  If he's having an off day I have to adjust my riding, attitude, and goals for that ride.  I believe that the more that I do that, the more he'll trust me, the more he'll relax, the less bad days we'll have, etc.  That's the goal at least--and it has to be more important than any other goal.       

Your Perfect Horse

Taking this blog from the $900 Facebook Pony.  Let's build me a perfect horse.

     I'm going to go with a warmblood/thoroughbred cross.  Ideally it would have the lofty movement and pretty gaits of a warmblood with the athleticism and try of a TB.  I've worked with a lot of thoroughbreds and thoroughbred crosses and I just love their work ethic and personalities.  I'm also drawn to a more "all around" type horse and I think a cross of this nature is perfect for that.

     Obviously I want a horse capable of going all the way up to Grand Prix in dressage.  It doesn't have to be international quality, but it would be awesome to earn all of my medals.  If it's a perfect horse, why wouldn't it be able to do Grand Prix?  But the perfect horse can't just get away with being wonderfully talented in dressage.  I want a horse who can school tempis on Friday and hop in the trailer for a trail ride on Saturday.  Maybe the next weekend I take him to a hunter pace.  I am a human who wants to be able to 'play' with my horse while working on my dressage goals.  Lots of dressage talent with a sense of humor to take all the other stuff I'd throw at him.

     I used to say that I wanted a really red chestnut with lots of chrome, but I'm easier to please these days.  I just want a color that can have a lot of shine with a little chrome.  He could be bay, brown, or chestnut.  I think black gets sun bleached too easily and dapple grays fade with age.  I'm not a huge fan of colorful horses either.  Size could be anywhere from 15.2hh to 16.3hh; I'm short and I don't need something huge that I can't get my leg around.  Overall type would be somewhat compact, balanced, and athletic.  I like them a bit on the leggier side, but with solid bone that will equate to the horse never being lame (obviously).  Imagine a heavier event horse or a light dressage horse and that'll paint a good picture for you.

     Good ground manners are a must.  I want a horse that Steven could take care of if needed.  The horse should enjoy lots of turnout but have no stall vices when stalling is necessary.  Should enjoy being with people and come to the gate.  Should have no problems traveling alone or with company and be able to tie to the trailer (with hay and water) for several hours with zero issues.

     I can't decide whether I want a 3 or 4 year-old with only very basic training.  I'd enjoy bringing him along myself and being able to really watch him grow and develop.  But I also realize that for all of the above ground manners to be possible he'd probably have to be closer to 5-7 and have traveled some showing 1st/2nd level.  Either would be a ton of fun.  As long as I get to bring him up the levels myself and have plenty of time to enjoy experimenting with other disciplines as well.  I doubt I'd want a real baby because I totally appreciate being able to jump on and know that there are at least the basics of not bucking, go forward, stop, etc.

     I think I've referred to this unicorn as a he or him enough times that you all can gather I want a gelding.  I'm not prejudiced against mares by any means, but Mort can't go out with mares so I might as well make my fake horse get along well with my real one.

     It's fun to imagine what the "perfect horse" would be.  It's also fun to see other people's being wildly different.  I also think that if we all were honest, most of us wouldn't trade our horses in for a "perfect horse" even if we were given the opportunity.  I know I'm a sap for taking an imperfect horse and improving him to be the best that we can be together. 


Let's see how Mort stacks up.

Breed:  Full TB and not super lofty

Activities:  Probably peter out around the mid/upper levels.  Can totally take him trail riding, but anything jumping or too rough and tumble is out with his front legs.

Size/type:  Good, shiny color with a little chome.  Leggy.  Too long of a back and full TB takes away from the dressage-hybrid of my dreams.  16hh

Manners:  Travels well and ties to the trailer fairly well.  Not terrible ground manners but could be better.  Friendly but doesn't enjoy grooming.  No stall vices.  Does well in turnout as long as it's not buggy. 

Age/Training:  He's 8 and showing 1st, schooling 2nd.  I got him at 6 with the basic basics from New Vocations.

Sex:  Gelding who sometimes thinks he is a stud


     So Mort isn't the perfect horse, but he's a lot of fun and I enjoy him.  He is also real, which counts for most of it.  I think his ground manners have improved a lot and will continue to do so.  I fully believe that Steven could feed/groom/lead him if needed, but I wouldn't trust him (yet) if he were clipping/vaccinating/dealing with something scary.  His confirmation isn't perfect but he is athletic with a good canter.  And again, he's real.

Frustration

     Sunday was a great ride.  Monday Mort had a spa day and a light lunge.  Yesterday I planned on a ride focusing a lot on lateral work.  Yesterday was a good ten degrees cooler and breezy.  This, combined with a need to work on his head tilt and a steeper leg yield, was what made me choose lateral work.  It helps unlock his topline.  With his added energy, we could potentially get some really good quality gaits.  Finally, the lateral work helps keep him focused and engaged in the ride rather than looking around at the other ponies on the property.  It seemed like a good plan to me.

     I put on my spurs and hopped on.  He had a lot of energy and gave me a huge walk.  I'm never mad about that, but it was noted.  I spent a good amount of time at the walk trying to establish a quiet response to moving off of my leg.  He had a couple of really tense/upside-down moments.  He does a really fun thing when he feels like there is too much pressure when he drops out his back, flings his head in the air, and shuffles his feet in a strange way.  My response is usually to drop the pressure of whatever we're working on but to up the "go forward" pressure.  He does it less than he used to but he did it a lot yesterday.  Keep in mind that I wasn't asking for anything new or extremely difficult, but his mind was just not in the right place. 

     Now, with what I just said, I should have gotten some decent walk work, and taken him on a ride along the fence line.  I'm not that smart of a rider or human.  I get sucked into trying "one more thing" to get him to relax.  I think it stems from him not being that bad.  He feels so close to letting go with his topline.  It's like we're on the verge of something good but just can't quite figure it out.  I also get frustrated and get sucked into trying to find that moment of soft connection to end on. 

     I really need to get over this on days like yesterday.  I am not sure why it's so hard for me mentally, but I just keep trying instead of sticking with making Mort a happy dressage pony and realizing not every day will be great.  It's so easy to end early on the good days and it's so hard (for me) to not keep trying on the bad days.  I just have that personality where I don't like to quit.  It can be great sometimes--like for my distance running--but it's really not fair for Mort.  I am not 100% sure how to get myself over it, but hopefully the more aware of it that I am the more likely that I'll leave the situation.  Ugh. 

     Needless to say, yesterday Mort and I did a ton of things.  I tried bend/counter-bend.  We did shoulder-in and leg yields.  I did a bunch of transitions.  I tried stretchy trot.  I tried letting him canter on a loose rein for a little bit.  I took him for a short walk about the property.  I tried half seat at the trot.  None of that worked fully.  We had some ok moments; the shoulder-in was most helpful, but throughout the ride I never got that topline unlocked and I never fully got him pushing from his hind-end into the bridle.  I still ended the ride with a great, swinging walk so he wasn't ruined by all of the crap I was doing, but he sure wasn't the better for it either.

     I should know better.  I'm not a novice rider.  I know that nagging and pushing a horse when it's not mentally there is stupid and a waste of time (at best).  Logically I know what happened was dumb.  But in the moment I cannot seem to remember that being more important than trying "one more time".  Poor Mort did get some extra hand grazing because I needed that mentally.  I'm sure all he was worried about was his dinner and turnout.  Moral of the story:  I'm frustrated with myself today. 

Playing Catch-up

     If any of you live in the Midwest you haven't missed out on the fact that it's not fall at all, but rather second summer.  It's been hot and miserable.  On top of that, Mort cut up his front legs running around in turnout last Tuesday.  All things considered, he had a pretty easy week last week.  I did a bareback ride that was 90% walk.  I did a walk along the fence line with a little trot and canter in the grass at the end.  He had a couple days off.  Yesterday morning, I got out there early (I do chores at the barn Sunday mornings), so I got to fit in a ride that had a little bit of actual work.  

     I was prepared for a kinda rough ride with all of his time off and lazy rides, but he was a super good boy.  I started with a ton of lateral work at the walk.  We did bend and counter-bend, leg yields, shoulder-in, etc.  His first couple of trots were a bit tense and upside down, but we did more of the same lateral work and he loosened up quite quickly.  I threw in some counter-canter pretty early in the ride and he handled it wonderfully.  He wanted to stretch but was still happy to collect as well.  He was just a really good boy.  

     It was unfortunately still fairly hot, even at 9:30 in the morning, so Mort was leaning toward being lazy.  He's started to develop a head tilt sometimes instead of bending.  It's been happening the last couple months.  Luckily, as long as I notice it and apply some inside leg he steps up and bends properly.  Definitely something that I need to keep in mind, especially when it's hot and he's feeling lazy.  

     With him being wonderful and it being hot we kept it short and sweet.  I played with a few things and ended the ride fairly early.  A fellow barn-mate was riding and I invited him to "trail ride" the fence line with me so we all got to enjoy a nice, easy walk.  Mort got a cool hose-off and I left him to enjoy his hay in his stall.  

First Level Test Three In Pictures

Pictures from our test this past weekend.  All photos by Leah Strid Photography (Confessions of a Dressage Barbie).

Now I just need to sit correctly and lift up those hands.....

First centerline

Going into first trot lengthen

After first trot lengthen 

Leg yield 

End of leg yield

10-meter circle right

10-meter circle left

15-meter canter circle

End of first counter-canter loop

Canter lengthen

Beginning of second counter-canter loop 

End of second trot lengthen 

Final centerline

Halt/Salute

Our true selves

Show Re-Cap

     Well, it was hot Saturday.  Luckily I rode in the morning, but poor Mort definitely had a soaking saddle pad by the end of our second test, and I was none-too-fresh either.  Let's get started on the recap.  

      The people who were volunteering and running this show were helpful, friendly, and wonderful.  I didn't see unhappy people the whole time I was there--a real accomplishment at a hot horse show.  I want to issue a huge thank you to the people who put on small schooling shows.  They're valued by many in the industry as they enable more people to show who can't afford (or don't want) to always be going to recognized shows.  

 

     It was not a fancy show facility.  The show was on grass (something that is fine with me and they kept it somewhat long to help with any slippery-ness that can happen with grass).  Mort handled the grass well.  The small dressage court had a small slope.  The large dressage court had a rather significant slope on one end.  That's definitely not something that Mort and I are used to dealing with.  He's ok on hills on the trails but keeping him balanced while dressage-ing was interesting.  

     Let's start with the warm-up.  I did get on about ten minutes after planned, but still felt mostly ok about how much time we had.  I started with about ten minutes of walking.  We were able to walk around the outside of the dressage court so he was able to check out any potentially scary things.  I tried to warm-up as closely as I could to what we've been doing at home.  Obviously Mort was a lot more energized out in the public eye, but he was still listening fairly well and I was pretty happy with him.  We fit in a little of everything and had time to walk for a bit before our first ride.  

     The first test was a disaster (we're talking a 56% disaster).  I went in asking Mort to be a powerful dressage horse--I wanted to "go for it".  It was a bad choice.  Mort didn't have a good half-halt.  That first trot lengthening was on the downhill and he said no.  I got after him a bit and I think that just made him angry.  Poor guy was just really off balance.  I'd say we need to practice on more hills to get over this, but it's not a common problem in the dressage world.  Instead I just had to come up with a plan for the second test.

     Between the two tests I switched to sitting trot and did several trot/walk/trot and trot/canter/trot transitions in a row to REALLY get that half-halt.  I also brought the power and intensity levels down in his gaits.  He was clearly not ready to maintain that balance over all those changes in terrain, so I backed down the difficulty factor.  

     The second test was a lot better.  Mort stayed with me and fairly relaxed throughout the test.  I asked for smaller gaits and he was happy to oblige.  I started coming back from the (very conservative) lengthens before the downhill and he came back well enough.  It wasn't a fancy test but he wasn't tense and resisting.  It felt really consistent throughout and I was happy that I could adjust our game plan and execute it well.  We got a 61% in this test which was a fair overall score for how conservatively I rode it.

     Mort cooled out well and was a perfect gentleman for the rest of the day.  Since another gal from the barn came with us he had to stand tied to the trailer for a few hours.  He happily munched his hay while I spent time volunteering as ring steward.  He loaded up well and got an hour or so of turnout when we got home.  He had yesterday off and I'm sure he enjoyed every minute of it because we finally got some much-needed rain.   

Bad Days

     Since Tuesday was one of our best rides ever, it is only fair that yesterday left me wanting.  Mort wasn't awful by any means but I couldn't consistently get him to use his haunches and really push into the bit.  It was fairly warm and Mort is really lazy in the heat.  I don't blame him, but when I tried to get him a bit more forward he just got hollow and crappy.  Instead of giving me a good bend he just kept trying to throw his shoulder out or head tilt.

     It was hot and frustrating.  I did a lot of transitions and tried bend/counter-bend.  I tried to throw in some trot/halt/trot.  He did stretch down fairly well for me--something the heat usually helps with--but still wanted to throw out his shoulders instead of bending.  I eventually took a walk with him, did a little stretchy trot and quit.

     I was disappointed that I never really got him working the way that I wanted but I didn't think we were ever going to get there.  Mort and I are really progressing as a team and these bad days are all part of training.  I just need to get off, give him a good brushing and ear rub, and try again the next day.

     Tomorrow is a small, local schooling show.  Today I'll give Mort and stretchy and easy ride.  I'll bathe him and clean my tack.  We'll load up early in the morning and see which Mort I mount up on.  Hopefully he'll be energetic but responsive.  If not, I'll do the best with what I'm given.  Shows and the week before a show aren't the time to train hard or pick fights.  In the end, as long as Mort has a fairly happy and relaxing experience that's what matters.  Every trip is an opportunity to set us up for success down the road.

Warm-ups

     Mort has been killing it lately.  I've had really successful and fun rides and that's awesome.  Friday Mort and I took it easy with a bareback ride.  We wandered the pasture looking for his fly mask then spent some time playing around in the grass.  I gave him Saturday off as I had plans with friends after my run.  Sunday morning I hopped on after chores with spurs and Mort was forward, soft, and supple.  He earned a super easy lunge day Monday.

     Last night was cool and breezy and Mort was definitely animated.  While we were on breaks he was very 'looky' but as soon as I'd pick up my reins to get back to work he'd come right back to me with full focus.  The extra energy just translated to some really fun trot work.  Even without my spurs he was soft and responsive to lateral work.  He got a couple stretch breaks and one long walk about the property and came back immediately.  Seriously a good boy and one of those rides where everything clicks.

     I am continuing to experiment with different warm-ups to see which one works best for him and I'm obviously really liking the results of the latest one.  I usually try to get Mort to stretch down and bend in the warm-up.  It's often only moderately successful with a little stretching and more neck bend than true bend.  I then jump into 'real' work without having really gotten him to push into the bridle well.  It ends with a cramped neck that I stretch throughout the ride instead of the other way around.  Definitely time to try something different--at least for the time being.

     The last few rides all I've been doing at the beginning is riding him "on contact".  For me this means that I pretty much let him decide where his head and neck are comfortable while I maintain a steady feel on the bit.  The only time I adjust him is if he hallows out and tries to be upside down.  Beyond that I do a ton of changes of direction and gait, especially quick ones between the walk and trot.  After about ten minutes of this he's pushing into the contact all on his own and we're really ready to rock and roll.  If I ask for him to stretch he's more than happy to oblige.

     This is definitely not a warm-up that is a go-to for me as I prefer to let a horse stretch and relax in the beginning of the ride.  I still do give him a long walk warm-up, letting him wander and loosen in that aspect before jumping into trot and canter work.  But, it looks like Mort really likes this warm-up mentally and for now that counts a lot more than whatever ideas that I have preconceived in my head.  He does start out a bit higher than I like, but if it means he pushes into contact and becomes adjustable sooner into our ride then I can't really complain.

     He and I have a schooling show this Saturday.  We're showing First 2 and 3.  I'm going to try to use this warm-up method and see how it translates in a show environment.  This is our last show before the recognized in October so hopefully this new warm-up really helps me unlock that topline in a show environment.  He gets today off.  I'll school Thursday and do an easy hack/school Friday.    

Experimenting

     Mort and I had a much better ride yesterday than we did Tuesday.  I gave Mort Monday off (because I was a lazy turd on Labor Day).  So Tuesday Mort and not only had a day off but it was also about 20 degrees cooler and quite breezy.  He was tense then I was tense because of him being tense.  I really struggled getting him to connect in the bridle which meant I really struggled with everything.  I don't think I got an easy left bend the whole ride.  I was frustrated and Mort was tense; it was not a recipe for success.

     Wednesdays are Mort's scheduled day off because I like at least one weekday where I can just go home after work and fit in a longer run.  That meant that last night was going to be another ride after a day off.  I decided to start experimenting with his rides after a day off.  He doesn't really get explosive, but he does get a tense back which makes everything else SO MUCH HARDER.  It's actually really similar to how he can get at shows so it's something that I need to figure out.

     Last night I experimented with spurs to see if I could do a ton of bend and counter-bend in our warm-up to unlock him.  With the spurs I'm able to really "ask, tell, demand".  When I tap my leg with the dressage whip it sometimes causes him tension over his topline so it's not a good solution when he's already stiff as a board.  I did use the spurs a few times throughout the ride, and it really seemed to work well.  Mort started out tense, but he worked out of it fairly quickly and we had a nice ride.  I made sure that he had a few stretchy trot moments throughout the ride and I kept it fairly short and sweet.  I want him to know that if he comes back to me from being stiff and tense that he'll get rewarded with stretches and short rides.  This isn't the first time that I've used my spurs on Mort, but it was the first time after a day off and I think I'll do it again.

     I know it's not the nicest part of training but sometimes the pony does need to listen.  If I've gone through the checklist and I know that he can physically do what I am asking and understands what I'm asking, then I "demand" that he does it.  I'd much rather make one or two good corrections than nag, nag, nag forever until he becomes dead to my leg.  I'll also say that Mort was moving off of calf pressure wonderfully for the majority of the rest of the ride.  It's so much nicer to use a soft aid instead of squeezing so tightly with my leg trying to get a response.  It makes my position better, which makes me more effective, which makes whatever I'm asking him to do easier.

     Tonight I have no real plans.  I may hop on bareback or I may throw a saddle on and work on an item or two from the First level tests.  We will spend some time wandering around the pasture because someone lost his fly mask (again).

P.S. Because it's the internet and someone may read this and think I'm an awful and abusive human:  I use soft roller ball spurs.  I also have enough leg control to know how to keep them off of his sides when they are not needed.  I had them on the whole ride and used them maybe three or four times.  I am NOT a very demanding rider--ask literally anyone who has given me a lesson because I'm always told to ask for more from my horse.

Papers

     Mort and I had a couple of good rides this weekend.  Yesterday kinda sucked, but I'm just going to blame it on the 20 degree temperature drop and wind and hope for better tomorrow.  But the exciting news today is that I got Mort's registration papers yesterday!

     New Vocations is a rescue organization that, after a year of care, the horse officially transfers to the new owner (while many other rescue organizations never give you full ownership).  Now, this means that last July was when Mort became officially mine, but I had never asked for his papers.  I didn't exactly need them for my gelding showing intro level at local schooling shows.  However, with recognized shows in our future I need to get his USDF and USEF paperwork in order, so I reached out to New Vocations a couple weeks ago.

     Getting Mort's papers is really cool to me on two levels.  They have some neat information with them--his race and travel records along with his prices when he changed hands in his life.  But the second reason is that Mort is really and truly mine now.  His papers have my name on them and that's really cool to me.  I have never owned a horse before; they have always been my parents'.  Mort is mine.  Hopefully I can live up to the responsibility.

In Defense of the Non-Warmblood

     Dear dressage/sport horse world,

     I, like many, enjoy occasionally looking at horse sale advertisements.  I get to admire some cool horses while keeping in touch with reality on prices.  The discussion today is about prices.  Just because something is a "warmblood" doesn't mean that it is necessarily worth diddly squat.

     Now, I couldn't be a real dressage rider if I had never fantasized about some big and fancy Warmblood, but I am under no impression that they are magic just because of their breed.  Some still come out with crooked legs or a terrible hind-end.  I won't even start on the discussion about how some folks think we're breeding dressage horses to have flashy movement instead of correct movement these days.  The point of this post is to point out that there are some awesome horses out there (even within our own boarders) that don't have the Warmblood stamp.

     We have all heard people complaining about the cost of a good dressage horse.  A two year-old WB prospect will easily run you $10,000 and up.  Once you get to a four or five year-old, who is probably showing First, you're easily in the mid-twenties on price.  If someone is looking for a schoolmaster you'd better just burn the mortgage (I think I'm pretty funny).

     I've seen youngsters being sold with less-than-ideal confirmation for more money than I make in a year (admittedly, I don't make that much) and I just cannot understand it.  Confirmation isn't everything, but when it doesn't have training or breeding potential, what are you actually paying for?  The old saying, "You can't ride papers" is around for a reason.

     What is the real difference between a WB and a TB or a QH?  I've ridden a QH that could just about get a 70% at First without a human on him.  He had the darn float-iest trot that would put a lot of WBs to shame.  I have piloted several TBs through a lot of levels;  I've even won sometimes.  I've also ridden some fun and talented WBs.  I've also had the same types of issues with all of these horses.  Some go around in a fake frame.  Some are tight over their topline.  Some are dull to the aids.  Most horses can be trained to be awesome dressage horses; most horses can also have issues that make them not-so-awesome dressage horses.  It's a way better investment to put your money into lessons and/or training than a big ticket price.

     Now, I want to be clear that this post is NOT to knock the warmbloods and warmblood-lovers of the horse world.  There are some really fancy WBs that I'd love to put a leg over.  People can spend their monies however they would like; that is not my issue.  The point of this post is to shake some sense into people who think that they can ONLY have a warmblood if they want to be successful in dressage.

     The average AA will never compete on the international stage.  Some of us may never compete at the FEI levels.  Some of us will forever be stuck at First Level and below.  Some of us may never show at a recognized show.  Some of us will never even show.  All of that is fine, and it's fine if these folks want to drop money on a WB.  What isn't fine is hearing these people complain about the lack of quality horses that aren't going to cost an arm and a leg.

     There are hundreds of really athletic TBs that will run you less than $1,000.  There are thousands that will run you less than $5,000 and those are the untrained ones.  You could buy a confirmed Third Level TB who also jumps 3' courses for probably $15,000.  You could find a deal on one for half that price if he had some jumping limitations, but could still show dressage happily for many years.

     Finding a good quality horse with sporty confirmation for less than $5,000 isn't that hard; you just have to not care about impressing your friends with the WB title.  It's more fun impressing them with training your grade QH cross to kick their butt anyway.

This Week

     Tuesday Mort and I touched on some of our lesson items.  I especially wanted to address Mort's bending left while in the more collected frame so we worked on that some.  I did some bend and counter bend as well as bringing him up and letting him stretch back down while keeping left bend.  It was fairly successful, though it'll just take more hours building the muscles for him to be 100% confirmed.

     We also worked a good deal more in canter than in the lesson, but played with the same ideas.  I spent some time playing with a more uphill carriage.  It turned out to be a little easier than the trot was, which was fun.  I worked on trying to keep him straight and on track through some canter transitions each way; I even set up poles for us to stay between to really make sure I was correct in my visuals.  While I could keep him between the sets of poles I still wouldn't really consider the transitions straight, but we are getting places as he only picked up the wrong lead one time.  Leads definitely haven't always been easy for us, so him being pretty consistent on a straight line in the middle of the arena was good.

     Wednesday was Mort's day off and I spent my afternoon trail running with Emma.  We were both really tired after all of those hills and rocks to jump over.  Yesterday I went out with a plan for a fun and easy ride.  I can be really focused on my goals and forget to give Mort some rides that are no pressure.  I often do lots of walking around the property but I still include some 'work' in the ride.  The goal yesterday was strictly easy.

     We started with a short walk around the property.  We then did some stretchy trot in the grass arena--changing directions and bending/counter-bending.  After a little more walking and playing with bend and baby leg yields we headed to the front pasture.  I let Mort hand gallop the length of it twice--once on each lead.  He is so much fun to just let run now that I trust him to come back easily.  On our second run he came back to a trot with me just sitting down--no rein pressure or 'whoa' required.  We ended our ride with more stretchy trot and walk bending in the grass.

     While it wasn't strictly just loose rein walk on a trail it was 100% an easy ride for Mort and I.  He never got tight over his topline or stressed.  We both enjoyed the easy gallops; I couldn't help but smile.  He came back to me wonderfully and was happy to go right back to stretching.  He felt loose and swinging and barely broke a sweat.  He'll probably end up getting today off because I have life things that are going to get in the way but I'm looking forward to the long weekend to continue to play with lifting that front end and starting to think about stringing together some test elements.