DefinitelyDressage.com

Moutaineer

Chisamba, I'm finding him much easier to ride in the double, which is probably a failing on our part, but there's that thing about old dogs and new tricks, and I'm at the point where anything legal that makes life easier is a good thing!

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Gratuitous Potters picture to prove we did it.

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Eh, Chisamba, I had a weekend of bizarre judging, too. 2 newly-minted S judges on a power trip. (As another competitor said to me at one point, "she sure likes the sound of that bell!") Scores were miserable throughout, except for the spectacularly fancy young warmbloods at training and fi...

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Yeah, im not complaining about my 8.44am ride time tomorrow!

We are as ready as we are going to be...

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We are much hotter than we are used to at elevation also. Poor Potters is sweating standing still, and he's covered in hives again. I think he got bitten by some bug which precipitated the whole thing. It's too hot for fly sheets. A trip to the vet tomorrow for me to pick up assorted meds/dex/ antih...

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Boy its been hot riding the last couple of days. Exhausting. And its going to get worse. And while all the new landscaping etc around the barn looks very smart, next to the new asphalt, using black lava rock as mulch would not have been my choice. Its simmering all the newly planted vegetation (and ...

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Good news about Annabelle! Yes, I am in a good place with a bunch of fun and supportive like-minded people. It really is great. I'd find a Freisian Knab quite hard to resist. (Theres a nice looking Knab youngster for sale just down the road from me at a very reasonable price. Sadly I neither need or...

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: Friday at the barn... The Magnificent Six :); 20230708_132224.jpg (175.87 KiB) Viewed 232575 times

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You know its hot when you take your boots off after a ride and your shins are sweating... I warmed up and ran through the 3.1 test this morning. I'm pretty happy with the canter work but I seem to have completely lost the ability to ride a trot half pass in either direction. I think I'm trying too h...

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You are bound to be near one of us, Flight!

Ouchie, Annabelle! I'm glad she's sound though.

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I used to live the Estes Park shows when I was in Colorado. Are you talking about the same Estes Park? can be windy. Yes, same Estes Park. The weather is notoriously awful for this show which is one of the things that gives me pause. That and the long trailer ride, the lousy stabling, the fairly ru...

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I'm looking forward to the next two months. I feel like I've finally got my Mojo back. Potters is being a joy to ride and I'm having fun. Of course I do have that feeling of impending "waiting for the other shoe to drop" doom one gets as a horse owner when things are going well. I have a s...

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Well, I have to say I'm pretty happy with my progress in the last couple of months. I'm riding independently, feel much more confident and I'm having fun. I've sorted out some medical stuff which has helped my energy levels and physical fitness quite significantly. I've spent much more time in the s...

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Chisamba, in my world you do what the horse needs to do in order to be comfortable and happy. I see that as being an overriding concern of yours too. The horse will thank you for it. And to be perfectly honest I think the vast majority of actual competitors have their heads so deeply in their own co...

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Mikey is a handsome dude! You look good together.

I hope Annabelle is healing up, SF.

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Oh, no SF, what a shitshow!

Poot Annabelle. I hope the trainer is showing due contrition also.

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At least your potential buyer recognized her limitations before she got in over her head. My dear 80 year old 4'11" friend bought herself a new horse in the Spring. Its not working out, and I feel so badly for her and the horse, TBH. Summer arrived yesterday. I've just got back in from a broili...

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Yikes, Exvet! And yes, I see safety stirrups being a purchase in my not too distant future. A lovely week of riding post-show here. Much productive work on getting in front of my leg at all gaits. Its hard work for both of us, my body is happy to take the weekend off and I suspect he's feeling the s...

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Moutaineer

Lovely day for a horse show!

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Good Monday morning all! If you take my riding out of it, the show was a roaring success... The weather turned perfect, cool and sunny, and the rings had dried out just right overnight. It turns out, Potters really likes to go to a show. He happily went to sleep on the cross ties while I braided him...

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It just bucketed down with rain all night and all day until about 2pm. Then we went over to the showgrounds to have a practice ride in condensed mud soup. At least it wasn't slippery. We got back to the barn looking like we'd been hunting in Ireland. Cleaned horses, cleaned tack, and now at 7pm I've...

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Ah, I hadn't realized Annabelle had hit her limit so hard, SF. Yes, I do agree there is no joy in banging a square peg into a round hole. And I'm impressed with how you've persevered with Tesla. She has been a tough nut, to be sure. I also forget that everyone is younger than I am and that really ma...

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Forgive me SF, if I overstep here... I'm half a bottle of wine into a Saturday evening.

I think you should keep.sweet Annabelle and enjoy her. It sounds like you are banging your head against a brick wall with Tesla.

Susan, jingles for your mom. That's worrying.

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Mischief managed... they'd sent the confirmation to Justin, not to me who signs the checks, so to speak. I had an excellent ride today, which I did not deserve as I discovered when I got off that I'd fastened the cavesson over the cheekpiece on the right side. Duh. I thought he felt a bit unresponsi...

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Of course, EqEntries have sodded up my entries for the show next weekend. I'm sure it will get sorted out, but really...

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Well done!

Potters and I are going to our first show in 8 days... you are making me feel better!

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ExVet, I thought Junior looked pretty good. A bit tense, and it's frustrating about the flying changes, but I was expecting you'd get a higher score than that. I'm envious of your lovely solid position and quiet leg! Good on you, Chisamba, for going out and doing the PSG. I'm sure you got a lot of u...

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Bummer, Blob. Fingers crossed you can get some resolution. Huge storm as I was getting on Potters today. I had seen it coming so had already retired to the indoor arena, but the rain hammering on the roof was absolutely deafening. Potters held it rather tensely together for 15 minutes or so, then th...

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A bit of Potters eye candy

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I'm so sorry life is being so difficult, LSP. I hope your husband continues on his road to recovery, and that you get some much-needed horse time. I miss hearing about your journey with Lynx. Yesterday Potters came in with a fat fetlock with a hole in it. I don't know how they manage to do these thi...

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Lovely picture SF. I like Annabelle!

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I'm also subscribing to Chisamba's advice on improving the canter. Mostly thats for me, as when I improve my seat and position, he magically improves, too! We had some lovely canter work yesterday in the indoor as it was pouring with rain (solidly forecast to do so for the next 10 days.) I've never ...

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I'm glad you had a good time, though I'm sorry you got Covid. There seems to be an awful lot of it around at the moment. I hope you are feeling better. It seems to rain all the time in Iceland. I have two other friends who have been this year and all their pictures show them bundles up in layers of ...

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Sometimes boring news is good news, Chisamba!

Just chugging along here. Today is our "day off" so I get to do office work

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Good crossing, Chisamba! Well, in a moment of madness, I've signed up for a show in mid-June. It's just around the corner from the barn and pretty much the entire barn is going, which should be entertaining. As long as my trainer can stay under the radar of the facility owner, it should be OK... It'...

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Oh, yeah, Chisamba. I got hit up on the clarity of aids thing, too. Its so much easier to be clear when the horse is in front of your leg and has its own motor.

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What a bummer, Susan. Maybe you will luck our with the new owners. Fingers crossed. Day 2 of the clinic had me on an electric horse looking for things to spook at. After being an outstandingly relaxed and calm boy the day before I was a little disappointed, but at least it gave us the opportunity to...

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Good luck, Blob. Could he still be holding tension in that canter because his tum still hurts? Day 1 of the Mette clinic in the bag. It went very well, and she is pleased with the improvement in my position and in how I am riding, which made me very happy! We worked, as always, on alignment, among o...

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Cowbird?

Somewhere i have a picture of one of mine with a row of them down his back.

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Nice, Aleuronx! You must be pleased. I'd be beyond thrilled to earn an 8 for a medium trot. Really tough decision Chisamba. I feel for you. But one to make before she hurts a human who isn't related to you and who then sues the heck out of you. I don't think I've ever shared this, but one of the rea...

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Don't expect the weather to be decent here, SF.

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To your third point, Chisamba. Jeremy S was saying last weekend that he thinks this line we have about dressage just being training things that horses do naturally at liberty (paraphrasing this) is "complete effing bullshit" (bowdlerizing this.)

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Hes very handsome, Chisamba! And yes, a very lucky boy. I had my first solo ride with no Justin warmup since when? Thee end of January i think? on Tuesday. It was great! Just a really good ride with everything feeling like it was coming smoothly and effortlessly. I couldn't be happier. Unfortunately...

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I can't believe it's May already. I can't quite get used to writing the date as 2023 yet... Something about the pandemic screwed with my sense of time, I think. I have a clinic with Mette the weekend after next, which I think will be enormously helpful in getting me over this stupid anxiety thing. I...

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I'm riding again, and I'm riding much better than I was. I'm still having Justin hop on first to do a warm-up, but I'm hoping this will be the last week of that as being a regular thing. I was going to get all brave this morning, then the cement trucks turned up... Potters was actually a complete ro...

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Darn it, Chisamba. What a giant pain. Potters has been a model citizen this week. Today the landscapers were zipping around on the skid steer just outside the far end of the arena, so he was very "up." But whilst he certainly gave Justin a run for his money, he was more forward than spooky...

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How is Kimba, Chisamba? Justin videoed my ride on Saturday. It wasn't ugly, per se, in fact there were some very nice moments, all told. But could we have been going any slower at the trot and not left a silvery trail of slime behind us? It didn't feel like that from on top... So today, I upped the ...

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I'm sorry Chisamba. What a tough few days.

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So, yes, I had my first ever ride in a double today (I don't know how I've managed to ride for 55 years without using one before, but there we are!) Potters is experienced in a double and I bought the same bit set up as his previous owner was using. Very interesting. A completely different feel. I f...

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