a rainy day

I'm welcoming it, since the arena could use some moisture and a good harrowing!

Yesterday I had a good ride on Cody, who had a few very engaged strides of trot in each direction by the end of the ride, and lots of stretching work at the walk. We were joined by Rafer Johnson and Redford, who meandered around the arena and watched, tore apart a few old fire ant mounds up against the rail, rolled a few of my dressage markers into new spots, and played "push the pole."

They love being part of the ride, and at the end, they came to the gate with Cody and me, as if to say "Okay! All done! Time for a few minutes at the round bale!"

The pony had a lovely bareback ride with my daughter. It was delightful to come in and get food cooking while watching them out the kitchen window. The painted pony and his girl.

It's nice to get this rainy quiet day mid-week. A break from business as usual. A good day to work on the book!

another ride on the Big Bay

Yesterday afternoon it was chillier and windy, and the sky kept shifting from sunshine and blue to dark gray. I decided I wanted to ride anyway, keeping the routine in place, and seeing how Keil Bay and I did on the ride *after* our good work on Saturday.

It's been dry lately, so all the horses have been easy to clean up, which makes for a much faster "tack up and ride" experience. I used the extra time to do some TTouch massage, from Linda Tellington-Jones. Years back, a riding instructor recommended her book as a good one for a girl getting her first pony, and my daughter and I read it together and have occasionally used some of the techniques. Keil Bay loves anything that falls into the category of pampering or giving him special care, so he lowered his head and chewed and licked.

He was relaxed but at the same time alert. It was one of those days where he seemed to be 17.2. Tarps were flapping on the shavings pile, and one was completely loose in the barnyard, flying around as the wind picked it up and dropped it back down again.

Fortunately, Keil has become nearly immune to the tarps. His thing yesterday was the wooded end of the arena. Each time we rode into that area he wanted to cut the corners so as not to get too close to the woods. I let him check it out and then began to ask that he pay attention to me as we approached the corners and rode deep into them with a correct bend. When he torqued his neck to look at the woods, we rode a circle and tried again. Initially, it took 4 circles to work this out. On the fourth circle he let out a big sigh and gave up the idea that there was something to spook at.

My line in the sand with him about spooking is that if he doesn't spook at something when he's not under saddle he shouldn't be spooking when I'm riding. He'd just been loose in the barnyard, prior to tacking up, and had gone down the labyrinth path to the gate, looking for bits of green to nibble, without so much as a peaked ear or snort.

On some level, I think Keil enjoys making the rides interesting, and usually when he starts out acting like there might be something to spook at, I know we're going to have a good ride.

We did a lot of walking correctly. My focus was on two things: making sure my entire body was positioned well, and riding with what Sally Swift calls "soft eyes." I've noticed that I can get very fixated on Keil's body when I'm riding - noting the bend, etc. - and while some of this is a good thing, it can also add to the crookedness. Often if I let my eyes go "soft" and look ahead without focusing too hard on any one thing, Keil will straighten and move much better. I'm sure it's my body that's torquing in the hyper-focused moments and when I do the soft eyes, I relax.

So we walked. I decided to let him set his pace, since he was already up and alert, and just ride what he offered until it settled into a good rhythm. This was a wonderful part of the ride yesterday. He enjoyed being in charge of the rhythm while I stayed soft and correct. We rode the full arena, we changed directions, we did serpentines, we did the entwickeln exercise again. It went much better today, as I was able to do it without thinking too hard through the steps, and after a couple times in each direction it became obvious that Keil Bay was nice and warm and flexible.

(I forgot to mention that I also did this exercise with Cody on Sunday. Cody does not know shoulder-in, but this exercise presents it in such a way that the horse seems to get it instantly. Cody did a great job and the suppling was evident in his gait after the exercise.)

I had planned to do lots of trotting with Keil Bay, and we started to the right. Again, I asked him to trot very correctly, and I put each part of my body into a good position, checked back periodically to make sure it was still IN that good position, and otherwise just looked up and enjoyed the ride.

The reward for this was Keil really getting down to work. Which I think is a misnomer - what he gets down to is really a pleasure in moving well, with his rider balanced and staying with him. I wish I could show a short video of what it looks like from my perspective from his back when he goes into this "mode."

He rounds his back, which makes my whole body feel suddenly like I'm an Olympic-level rider. It feels easy, and like I can do it really well. His neck rounds, his poll is suddenly the central point I see, and the movement of his shoulders is different, as though they are being pushed from behind by a well-oiled engine. We got this trot going to the right in about one long side of the arena, and we kept going for quite a few circuits, as I really wanted both of us to incorporate the sensation of that lovely, balanced movement.

The transition down to walk was elastic and wonderful. I gave him a few minutes' free walk, but still correct, as we changed to the left across the diagonal.

And then we repeated, but to the left. It was harder getting the correct bend going left. We had to do some 20m circles to establish it, and then try to keep that up the long side. There's one spot in the arena going left where the tends to show his stiffness the most. I think the footing is thinner there, or perhaps it's just his habit, and mine. I tried to let go of my expectation that he would stiffen on that stretch, and tried not to automatically torque my body. We rode through with much less stiffness the first time around, and the second, right as we entered the stretch again, he went into his power trot and we both nailed it. Very very good. I wanted to end on that note for that particular stretch, so we kept trotting, but I circled at E the next few times around so we could continue the work but not push our luck.

I often end the ride by riding on the buckle and letting Keil Bay go wherever he wants to. I practice thinking directions in my head and seeing if he heads that way on a loose rein with no aids, and often he does. He was so relaxed by the end, and I felt completely relaxed as well - strong and relaxed. It was a great ride, nothing fancy, but like both of us notched up quite a bit from the previous ride. I know part of it is the regularity we've had, and that we're both getting back into shape.

There is nothing quite like riding Keil Bay's big, powerful trot when both of us are feeling good and doing our parts together.

dressage book club and a special meeting

Yesterday, after my daughter and husband headed to a local dressage show to volunteer, I moved on with the horse chores, rode Cody, gave afternoon hay and Salina's lunch, and then left my son in charge of November Hill while I drove into town to attend the first of 4 "dressage book club" meetings with Cindy Sydnor.

There was a nice group in attendance and we were all eager to listen and talk about one of our favorite topics: dressage.

I got there right as things were gearing up but found a seat in the front row. I'm not always a front row sitter, but for anything horsey, I like to be right up front, for some reason.

Cindy passed around her copy of the massive tome School of Horsemanship, by Francois Robichon de la Gueriniere, who, among other things, is considered the originator of the "shoulder-in."

I was excited, as I had an epiphany earlier this week using Walter Zettl's shoulder-in entwickeln exercise, which not only helped Keil Bay and I deal with some left-sided crookedness (both his AND mine) but prepared us for that beautiful canter circle we enjoyed together on Saturday.

When we moved on in the book club discussion to look at Walter Zettl's book Dressage in Harmony, which is a long-time favorite of mine, and was actually translated from Zettl's dictaphone by Cindy Sydnor some years ago, we got into a discussion of shoulder-in, and the fact that it is such an important exercise and a foundation for many upper level movements.

Cindy asked us to share anything we might have to say about it, and I eagerly shared my revelation with Keil Bay, although I never mentioned his name. But I described some of his weaknesses, and mine, and excitedly shared how the exercise had helped me fix something I was doing with my right arm, and how that trickled into him getting a more correct bend going left, and how working carefully through that a few times seemed to prepare both of us for the amazing canter circle.

As I finished talking (Cindy's response was encouraging, and she finished by saying "that's so great - now YOU should write a book!") the woman next to me leaned over and whispered, "What's your horse's name?"

I answered without pause, "Keil Bay." And she got this beaming smile, her face lit up, and she said, "I'm J.S. Keil Bay was my horse for 6 years."

We exclaimed and promised to talk after the discussion, which we did. She and I corresponded when I first bought the Big Bay, and she kindly sent me a many-page document that summarized her work with him, his likes and dislikes, and a few stories about his wonderful personality. I sent her a couple of updates after he moved so she would know he was doing well and was much beloved by not only me but my entire family.

Yesterday, she wanted to know how he's doing, and I was thrilled to get the chance to fill her in. I talked about his work but even more about the Keil Stories that have become family legends, told her about his herd, and she told me that she has a TB now who fits her body better and is going strong at age 20, but said she doesn't think she'll ever love a horse like she did Keil Bay, and it makes her feel so good that he has such a loving and adoring home.

When I got home it was dark out, and my husband and daughter were still gone (Pony Club quiz prep after the show) so I headed out to the barn to get started on evening chores. Keil Bay was in the paddock munching some hay while I mucked a stall, and I called out "Keil Bay, you'll never guess who I saw today!"

I could hear him raise his head and pause, and so I went on. "Judy! She talked on and on about how much she loves you and misses you, and I told her how we love you too."

At this point he came and stuck his massive head and neck over the stall door. I rambled on and he stood listening until I ended with, "she said to give you a hug and a carrot, so here's the hug. I'll bring the carrot later."

After he got the hug, he stood and looked at me for a moment, and then went back to his hay.

All this made me realize that the very best thing we can do for our animals is love them and treat them well. They trust us and they carry that forward should they move on at any time to new homes. It was obvious from J's face that she adored this horse, and it's obvious from his demeanor and personality that he has always been loved and adored.

I told her we call him The King, and she smiled. "That's Keil Bay."

sunday morning tableau

I looked out the back door a bit ago and saw a huge crow fly from the ground up to a fence post. It was so shiny and black in the sunshine, and Salina happened to be standing nearby having a morning sunbath, so the black of horse and bird was very striking and held my attention. I was trying to figure out if I could possibly get a picture without alarming the crow.

Off to the side, I noticed the donkeys were walking around in an odd zigzag way, noses low to the ground, and upon closer inspection, there was a small flock of birds running hither and yonder, and the donkeys were following them, perfectly mimicking the erratic path of birds skittering along, not threatened enough to fly, but not wanting donkey noses nudging them.

valentines

So far today I have a number of valentines.

Keil Bay gave me a beautiful, slightly collected canter to the right today, in an entire 20m circle.

After untacking and getting the Big Bay turned out, I walked into the barnyard to see the donkey hearts enjoying a taste of spring.



Dickens Edward Wickens planted himself in my path a number of times, and looked quite charming.





Later, we're going out for a valentine's dessert, and tomorrow, my husband has agreed to substitute for me as a volunteer at a dressage show so I can do the dressage book club I signed up for, double-booking myself in the process.

Hope everyone has a lovely day!