Linda Zang Lesson and WIHS 2016

Watching the Jack Russell terrier races at Washington International Horse Show (WIHS) on live feed so I don't know how this blog entry is going to go with the distraction factor...

-SQUIRREL!-

So yesterday...WHAT A DAY! :)  Successfully hauled Soonie out to the ever-beautiful The Plains, Virginia to take our first lesson with dressage guru, Linda Zang.  My day started with a 0400 wake-up so I could get to the barn by 0500 to feed Soon, hook up the trailer, get him prepped and do a last check to make sure I had everything.  He walked out of the barn and straight on the trailer like a pro, in the dark, and we were on the road shortly before 0600 for our nearly two-hour trip.

For the record, driving a loaded horse trailer in the DC area during rush hour is the single most terrifying thing I've ever done, and that's coming from someone who is A) not a nervous hauler and B) used to DC traffic.  Seriously.  The buffoonery is absurd.

Here is where we were heading:

We got to the farm with plenty of time to spare and I was SO HAPPY I had sprung for a day stall.  Bubba stepped calmly off the trailer and walked very pleasantly into his courtyard stall.  I loved how he took everything in like a pro.  He didn't scream, he wasn't looking around for anyone or acting frantic.  He was calm and curious, and seemed to be like, "Okay, this is fine" after he had a look at his digs for the day.  Went right for the hay and I knew I'd be fine to go audit some of the other lessons prior to ours.

I mean honestly, this is PRETTY OK LET'S BE HONEST

The lesson went very well overall.  Soonie walked in the indoor, was pretty chill about the whole thing, but was very tense once we got down to work.  Part of that was on me because I didn't have him warmed up - next time I'll ask where I can school prior to the lesson, but it did seem like the procedure was to just walk in the indoor 10 minutes before your lesson and hang out until it was your turn at the other end of the ring.  So I walked in with 15 minutes to go, but the lesson ahead of me ended early so poor Bubba had to go in front of Linda Zang a giant ball of tension.  I guess at the end of the day, she saw us at our not-so-greatest (worst?) and didn't kick us out, so...YAY!

Sadly I did not get any video this time, but she gave us a lot of great feedback, lots to work on at home, and exercises that I can easily continue going forward.  She got me working him on a 10-15 meter circle, getting him to move through his shoulder off my inside leg into my outside rein.  I had to really hold the outside rein and block him running through it with the support of my outside leg, while also opening my inside rein and using it as an opening/guiding rein while pushing off my inside leg as the driving aid.  She had me tap him on the inside shoulder with the dressage whip to help manipulate him a bit there, and it helped.  It was a bit of a fight to get through his tension and distraction factor in the beginning, but once he got loose and more focused, he started to come through very well.  Linda was very complimentary when he finally started to round up and use himself.

The trot work improved quite a bit once we got going.  We had to work through some issues at the canter with him swapping out behind as he has done on occasion the last few weeks.  I asked why she thought he was doing that and she was quite frank that it was him trying to evade having to use himself.  Which makes sense, because the other trainer we had ridden with a couple times also emphasized getting him more balanced off the outside rein, getting him straighter and more through (much like Linda, but perhaps not to the degree Linda was asking for).  The swapping out started when I started asking him to put forth a little more effort to be correct.  Things were starting to click in my brain.

We essentially did that circle exercise for about a half hour at different sizes (10, 15, 20 meters) at all three gaits.  I had to ride him THROUGH the lead swapping nonsense instead of coming down to the walk to correct it (which was essentially rewarding him with a break for swapping).  Instead, I had to demand the inside bend and connection to the outside rein while keeping the canter.  At one point I was having to pull my left hand out to my knee and really push off that inside leg in order to do this, but once I figured out how to ride him through it, he corrected himself within a stride or so.  After a few changes of direction and more repetition, he actually got to the point where he was totally round and through, AND was extremely light in the bridle.  He felt SO GOOD!

It reminded me of that scene in Armageddon where they have to go through that 11.5 Gs in order to get around the moon and into smooth space...Soon fought and leaned just about as hard as he ever had on me and it was a real arm wrestling match for a few minutes, but the breakthrough was incredible and definitely something I can build on for the future!  He felt great at the end.

I will definitely be replicating this at home and taking to heart what she said about pushing him and demanding more from him.  He's so lovely and perfect and pleasant that I've lulled myself into this zone where I don't really push him, and only get a little bit from him and am happy with that.  He can do more, and I know it, but that's why I've been needing to ride with folks.  Thankfully the feedback has been consistent, as has the training advice, so I know the progress from here on out is going to be significant.

Riding with Linda was just as I hoped it would be.  She was tough, exact with her observations and demanding, but riding with her was fun.  She made it enjoyable, I could laugh at myself a little bit and open my eyes to what I was sitting on, and the progress we made in one ride was pretty incredible.  My barnmate has had the same breakthroughs with her TB after riding with Linda a couple of times.  I'm excited to continue with Linda, as well as our home trainer. Next time I'll be sure to get video because holy shit I want to see this goodness.

I got Bubba put away and once our buddy was done with her lesson, I got him loaded up and we went home.  He was a total pro about the whole day, which just builds my enthusiasm for more clinic adventures in the future.  Up next:  Anne Kursinski in November!

Good boy, Brother!

He had a long day, but at least we got home and he got about an hour or so of turnout.  My long day continued because after a quick-ish turnaround at the farm, I ran home to get cleaned up for Puissance Night at WIHS!! :)

I love WIHS, I'm just sorry I can't spend more time here when it rolls into town.  But hey, a great night with friends and a meet up with a college buddy will put a smile on my face any day. :)

I love this horse show

 The vendor area was chock full of goodness as usual, and per the usual I could only afford about 5% of it.  But being surrounded by beautiful, expensive things made of leather made me want to look at everything because TREAT YO SELF.

There were beautiful saddles, beautiful Barbour things, beautiful handbags I would probably never use but would look amazing to all those high class things I never have time to go to...

I could afford the unicorns-farting-rainbows socks though

 Special shout out to Model Horse Jumps and their ridiculously beautiful and detailed line of jumps for model horses!  Not going to lie, my fellow 30+ horse buddy and I spend about 10 minutes gawking at the insanely realistic jumps and all the things we really wanted to play with.  But we have young nieces so we convinced each other that we can BUY ALL THE THINGS and live vicariously through them.  But also, how cute are their jump picture frames?  Yes, I think I will have three.

www.modelhorsejumps.com

We pulled ourselves away from the tiny horse jump course and back to our seats to watch the great puissance competition.  McLain Ward and Aaron Vale tied for first by jumping 7' in the fifth round.  Awesome!  Here's the view from ringside:

We got our photo in front of the puissance wall thanks to my amazing college friend.  She is the best.  It was a great way to cap off what had been a truly perfect day.  :)

Action photos

Photos from Sunday's open house!  Soonie and I participated in the jumping demonstration and were on hand to answer questions about the Thoroughbred charity and the new Hero Horses program.  Beautiful photographs by Katherine A. Turnbull Photography.

MOAR PHOTOS!

Here are a few more photos from our interview.  :)

Finished Interview! :)

 Public Affairs finished the video feature on Soon and me! :)  I cannot thank them enough for the opportunity and the love they poured into this project.  I think it really showed.  It's difficult to capture things in a short clip, and they got all the important parts in to create a beautiful piece that I am very proud of.  I'm feeling extremely thankful and blessed to show the world how wonderful Soonie is!  :)

Captain Equestrian
Captain EquestrianAirmen are so much more than they appear in uniform. Airmen come from all walks of life and Captain Lindsey Colburn of the 11th Wing is no exception. Captain Colburn has been flying way before joining the Air Force in equestrian sports.Produced by TSgt Nick KibbeyPhotos by SSgt Chad StrohmeyerAssistant Videographer by SrA Jeff Lander
Posted by Joint Base Andrews on Friday, August 28, 2015

Flat Video and Progress Pictures - April 2015

Today was one of those rare days where Soon was "up" and a little full of it.  But to be fair, we had a very windy, cooler day, and everyone's a little crazy.  I snagged some video of us flatting and also pulled some screencaps.  From the video, you can see that he was tense and not swinging in the trot.  I also need to ride him more off the outside rein, as you can see he has a tendency to "cheat" and tip his nose to the inside rather than truly come through and flex at the poll.  We didn't do much stretching, because he got rushy, and him running around on his forehand is not a useful or correct stretch.  The little bit we did you can see he has a little more swing in the trot and he tracks up better, but he's behind the vertical and bordering on running, so I cut it short.

All in all, still a productive school even though it started off with him trying to jump the ground poles.  Even when he's "bad," he's still very good in the grand scheme of things.  We're still working on the "up and out" concept in terms of his balance and outline - you should be able to see how much that outline has shortened and become higher compared to our other flatwork videos.

Flatwork March 2014
Flatwork January 2014
Flatwork September 2013
Jan 2014 and Mar 2014 Screencaps

I like this because you can't see me staring at his ears

Artsy...

THERE'S THE TROT

AAAAND IT'S GONE.  Behind the vertical and on the forehand

Better.

Got his BOT sheet to make up for the lack of stretchy time

Jumping horses over sticks is the BEST!

Why Today Was Awesome:
1.  It's Friday
2.  I got out of work early and went straight to the barn
3.  Barn owner set up a full course
4.  WE JUMPED IT

We haven't jumped in over a month (?), but he was perfect anyway.  Distances were quiet (could be more open, but not a lot of room to work with in the corners), but he was super adjustable, willing, and reminded me that he doesn't care about filler (decorations/flowers/boxes, etc) at all.

Some screenshots of Soonie jumping cute and me looking like I know how to ride:

The long-ish spot and me trying to stay with him

And HE IS FUCKING ADORABLE:

So tiiiiiiiired...

Rut Roh!

Unfortunately, Soonie was a little short today when I got on him.  Didn't feel off at the walk, but was inconsistently short on the right front in the deeper part of the footing.  I cut the ride short and got off, removed the tack and then put him on the lunge line briefly to see what was up.  Not "lame," but definitely short.  His RF was also warm on the outside part of the hoof, so I guess we'll see what's up tomorrow.  Might be an abscess brewing, who knows.  He got a gram of Bute and the rest of it is a waiting game to see if we need to have the vet or farrier out this week.  Bummer.

But he is still super adorable.

Sleeps!  Brought him in early, zero shits were given.

Spring Cleaning!

I had the most productive 36 hours in recent history. Thursday evening Soonie and I had a great flat school with some excellent counter-canter work.  I cleaned his sheath (every horseman's favorite job, made especially awkward with some teenage boy walking around the barn) immediately afterward and thus began the SPRING CLEANING EXTRAVAGANZA.

We followed it up on Friday with:
- Gave Soonie a bath
- Cleaned and oiled my CWD
- Full clipped Soon
- Washed all my own personal horsey jackets and shit

I was going back and forth with whether or not I was going to actually follow through on my original plan and give Bubba a full body clip.  We don't have hot water at the current barn, no wash rack, and we had not had warm enough weather lately for him to get a thorough bath.  I thought maybe I'd just let him shed out again, but lately he's been shedding so much, I got sick of it real quick.   We got a hot streak in temps this week and I decided to jump on it.

So now everyone can see how awesome he looks now that all the layers of dead winter coat are gone!  He slept through the whole thing and people thought he was drugged.  He just REALLY enjoys his crosstie nap time.

Sleeps, the perfectly behaved horse

Body done, look at those dapples!

Head clipped and looking extra handsome

Shiny...

ALL THE DAPPLES

That neck though <3

Derp

WE ARE READY FOR WELLINGTON NOW, oh wait..

I just LOVE. THIS. HORSE.  He is probably the only horse I've worked with that seems to enjoy the clipping process, at least the long naps and attention parts.  I guess I shouldn't detest clipping so much, because it leads to some high quality Soonie Snuggle Time.  He was so dang polite and super helpful ("Here, let me put my head down for you so you can get that spot between my ears and forelock") when I clipped his face and ears it was just...

 And now that I'm DONE with all that, this is how I feel:

 I think my goal for the rest of the weekend is to eat, sleep and ride.  Because goofing off all day sounds really, really good right now.

Me the rest of the weekend

Sleepy Soonie Episode 487

More sleeping Soonie cuteness:

Spoiled!  ;)