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.  :)

Linda Zang and Cupcakes

Last Friday I had the extreme privilege of spending an afternoon watching Dressage guru Linda Zang teach several lessons at a private farm nearby.  It was a last second invitation and I am SO glad that I took the offer.  Linda is highly regarded in both Dressage and Eventing circle for her skill as an instructor, her accomplishments as a Dressage rider (taking Thoroughbreds to the FEI levels), and her status as an FEI "O" Dressage judge (one of only two in the US), and one of only six "O" judges worldwide that conduct judge seminars and educational panels.  She's like the Zen Master of Dressage in the States and sought after for her knowledge.

As you might expect, it was an absolute treat.  Linda is very down-to-earth, she is very pleasant to talk to, but is not afraid to be blunt and call you out for poor or ineffective riding when necessary.  No sugarcoating here, but still someone I could imagine clinicing with and getting so, so much out of it.  We saw three very different horses in the three private lessons:  first one was a big, young Hanoverian/TB gelding with spectacular movement, but not a lot of focus and still relatively green for his age.  The second was a six year old old-type Warmblood with less spectacular movement, but still very correct and well educated and obedient for a six year old.  The third was a little Thoroughbred cross mare, very typey-TB, with less natural dressage ability than the first two and by no means a big mover, but a confirmed Second Level horse looking to move up to Third Level.

Linda was able to make significant improvements to each horse/rider combo through her suggestions.  They were exact, timely, and very impressive to listen and watch the change occur.  Every great thing I had heard about Linda going into that afternoon was validated, and I really just enjoyed hearing her opinions.  I hope to ride with her one day as well, just for the experience and the input. 

Key points:
- Horse supples through the shoulder
- Ride the hind leg up to the opposite front leg (inside hind to outside front) to create the swing, throughness and connection
- Horse's energy should be up and through the outside shoulder, gently filling the outside rein
-  Ride through the inside and ride off the outside rein

I also found it interesting that she specifically said that it's good for dressage horses to spend a year or two as a quality hunter (with proper training) because a good hunter is allowed to come forward and go longer and lower, and the horse "learns to use himself longitudinally."  Meaning, and as she elaborated on, horses need to "start long and low, and you bring them up over time."  It is so nice to hear someone of her caliber support that theory. 

Interview with Linda Zang about assisting Eventers:

Great demo from the 2014 Thoroughbreds For All! event at Rolex Kentucky, where you can see a big change in the horse's way of going from start to finish per Linda's comments:

^ GREAT points in that video!

We were also fed cupcakes which made that just the most fantastic afternoon ever.  I look forward to attending more and learning all that I can from Linda.  Also, I'd be happy to return to that private farm because it was CRAZY GORGEOUS and the owners are incredibly fortunate to have such a property, their effort in planning and building is evident.  Seriously it was wonderful.

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

I saw a horse flip over today...

Which was, you know...ridiculous and completely preventable.  Thankfully the horse did not appear to be hurt and the rider was not on at the time.

People need a fucking license to be able to use draw reins.  I don't know where to begin with this post.  I think maybe I'll just say that I hate draw reins, I think that they should be reserved for people who actually have soft hands and understand contact, and those are the people that don't even need to use draw reins because they UNDERSTAND CONTACT.

Saw a young teenage girl (truck-in) who was apparently told by a former trainer that Maresy needed to be in draw reins, that the head had to be down, that you lower/widen your hands to get horsey's head down, and that riding backwards was ok.  Teenager brought horsey into an unfamiliar environment, horse was understandably excited and "up," draw reins went on and horse got increasingly backward.  Girl dismounted to lunge the horse, put the draw reins behind the saddle (!!??!!!), and 10 seconds later Maresy went up and over.  She landed on her side in the dirt, thankfully did not whack her skull on the nearby jump.  Situation was diffused shortly thereafter and horse appeared sound, at least from my distance.

JESUS H. CHRIST did no one TEACH this kid about draw reins or is it one of those "trainers" who slaps more shit on the horse, explains nothing, and tells the kid to keep kicking?

Kid was offered a free lesson by the resident trainer and hopefully she takes her up on it.  Horse just needs to go forward and kid needs to learn how to ride it without tying the head to its chest.

Personally I have no use for draw reins and I'm happy I'm in a situation where I never have to use them on my own horse.  Some may argue that "they have their place," but honestly I don't buy it.  I think they're a shortcut to proper training when someone isn't either skillful enough or patient enough to do it correctly. Worst case scenario, they fall into the hands of someone completely uneducated to their use, and horse splits its skull open. 

I just...I can't.  I can't.

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...

For or Against the OTTB for Amateurs?

There have been a few very interesting and inspired posts recently in the horsey blogosphere about the suitability of the Off the Track Throughbred (OTTB) for Adult Amateur (AA) riders.

SprinklerBandits: Case Against the OTTB
She Moved to Texas:  Case For the OTTB

Both have excellent points, but generally speaking, I agree more strongly with the case FOR the OTTB than against.  Bottom line, I think the real point of the original "case against the OTTB" is not anything to do with Thoroughbreds themselves: it is that adult amateur riders must acknowledge and respect their own limitations and find a horse that compliments their ability and shortcomings.

This, of course, requires people to put on their big boy/girl pants and be adults about this.  Which, surprisingly, can be exceptionally difficult for some, given that they may be making their first ever horse purchase, or maybe they're doing it completely on their own, and/or gotten completely wrapped up in the overly romanticized marketing of the recent OTTB movement.  It's easy to look at the affordable price tags, or to get emotionally committed to "rescuing" (blagh) an OTTB (hint: not all racehorses need to be rescued!).

Here are my original thoughts about the increasing popularity of the off the track Thoroughbred and the benefits and shortfalls of the movement.

There have always been people who go out and buy an inappropriate horse.  There will always be people who go out and buy an inappropriate horse.  This has nothing to do with a horse breed itself, so why are we labeling OTTBs as widely inappropriate for adult amateurs?  Thoroughbreds as a breed are so vast in size, shape, temperament and suitability, that it's impossible to paint them with a broad stroke.  As I stated in my original post linked above, I honestly believe there IS a Thoroughbred out there for every rider.  It's just that perhaps the more timid, less skilled riders need a TB that is older and highly experienced; you won't find that on the backside of a racetrack.  I think there is a small population of true amateurs that can take a horse off the backside and bring it along into a new career completely on their own.  Those people can and they should, if that is what they desire.

Other amateurs who are less skilled, but who desperately want a Thoroughbred need to understand their own abilities as a rider.  Where are they strong?  What are their weaknesses?  Are they confident on a green horse?  Are they experienced enough to train and be a leader to that green horse?  Are they working with a professional that has experience with Thoroughbreds (particularly with those off the track)?  If the rider is not skilled AND confident enough to handle a green horse, especially one recently off the track, then that should not be an option, no matter how pretty the horse or how affordable they are.  People who do not buy a suitable horse based on their needs are putting both themselves and the horse's future at serious risk.  Period.

Know yourself.  Be brave enough to admit what you can and cannot handle, and don't put yourself and your future horse in a bad position from the beginning by overhorsing yourself.