Harpo - our neighbour for the weekend!

Oslo and I warming up. Note the worried, thinking expression on my face.

Trying to calm and relax Oslo

Rebecca Rigdon (one of the trainers at Arroyo) prepard to feed her horse carrots once they got in the scary indoor. It is amazing how treats will relax/comfort most horses!

Skippy after his Freestyle with our coach (mom)!

Skippy with his Reserve Champion ribbon!

Skippy's Freestyle warm-up during the sunset.

Stabling at Del Mar show.

Steffen warming up Magic

The top riders practicing their "six-drille".

Dad's spectacular park job in the R.V. Campground on the Del Mar Fairgrounds.

Skippy trying to drool on his nice rbbon!

Bugsy - Lientje's dog.

Guenter Seidel on his horse U II.

Back to Work

It was VERY hot today. Over 30 degrees again and I don't think any of us Canadians are functional in that kind of heat. I started with Cashew and she already thought it was extremely hot first thing in the morning. She went super though and we had great walk, trot, and canter in the rings at Arroyo. The first ride at the barn and she was so confident and quiet. At a point she did think she was done though, halted, and she would not go forward. I felt like a little kid on their stubborn pony with my legs coming off her sides and kicking her repeatedly, without any forward motion resulting. Rebecca, one of the trainers was nice enough to hand me her whip in the ring and then we went right back to work. She just needed a bit of encouragement in the heat I think! Still, I am very happy with her and cannot get over how confident and relaxed she is at the barn. She goes straight to work when you take her out! I am very excited for Lientje to see her! We will likely do a lesson in the next couple of days - I think we are ready now! =)

I had a lesson on Oslo and Skippy with Lientje at 1:00 and 2:30 - the hottest part of the day. Both horses and myself were breathing hard and sweaty in a matter of minutes! We did lighter rides since it was their first day back after the show and Skippy especially, was confused that we were even doing anything in such weather! Oslo was very stiff and tight. I think he is finally feeling the aftermath of his shenanigans. The poor guy was not feeling great and I could tell that his muscles were sore and just so tight. We tried to stretch him as much as possible, but he was very hesitant and I am sure tomorrow's ride will also be spent stretching. We are also going to try and get him on the "shaker" at the barn. It is exactly what it sounds like! It is a stall with a shaking floor in it. I think Oslo and I will both stand on it for a bit tomorrow morning! It is supposed to loosen things up and make the horse, and you, feel better. Shannon stands on it every morning with her horse and swears by it. She often has back pain and the shaker apparently helps her with that. Therefore, we think it is worth a try for Oslo and I am eager to try it as well!

Skippy was actually super in his lesson and we had some very good work. He even let us get him more supple and engaged under the sweltering sun! With both horses I need to work on getting them even more in front of the leg and get more into the habit of putting my leg on for only 2 or 3 strides and then almost taking it off/lessening the aid to check to see if the horse is still with me. I am pushing too much each stride and need to "have the horse do more of the work" as Lientje says! Once again, mom is correct in saying that most issues have to do with the horse being behind the leg. The concept sounds so easy, but I have been working on it for years and it still needs more work! Still so much to learn and my timing needs to get that much faster.

I really hope it cools down tomorrow (something I am having a hard time saying, coming from the cold Alberta winter) but the heat is taking a toll on all of us. Either way I will be at the barn tomorrow morning again to ride everyone and likely do some more watching of Steffen riding his line-up of talented ponies! Just hanging out at the barn watching all the trainers ride the various horses is very educational, and even if it is 30 degrees out, I should not be complaining!

I do apologize for not posting any pictures recently. I have been having problems trying to upload photos on the blog. I have quite a few on facebook, but I know not everyone uses facebook, so I am working with Claudia back home to see if we can get the issues figured out. Hopefully I can upload a bunch soon! Sorry to keep you in suspense.


Linds

You Tube Links

I need to thank Chelsea for finding these links:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f00jnFtHiWE    This is Skippy's Freestyle

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibiFvrhQ4ec&NR=1   This is the top riders doing their "six-drille" on stick horses

I hope you enjoy them!

Day off

We all got the day off except for Cashew who got a good lunging session and a good walk tour of the rings at the barn this morning. She was very good. Quite focused during the lunging session and she was very brave walking around, alone, in the big rings. She was a bit concerned about the roof on one of the gazebos blowing around (it was super windy today) but other than that she was great! I cannot wait to get on her tomorrow and do some work with her!!!

The barn was very quiet today and only a couple of horses were ridden today by a two of the trainers. Almost everyone was taking the day off after the show. It gave Cashew and I a good chance to walk around the rings and get used the environment.

It was very hot today, with temperatures reaching almost 90 degrees Fahrenheit/~31 degrees Celsius. Oslo thought it was so hot he only wanted to be in his turnout for a few minutes - long enough for him to roll and then he wanted to go right back into his shady stall (he stood at the gate of his turnout and would whinny at me whenever he saw me walking back and forth in the barn!). The heat is due to winds coming from the desert, which is very unusual for San Diego at this time of year. These very warm winds usually occur in November and often cause fires (last year the barn had to evacuate due to fire warnings and excess smoke). Tomorrow is also supposed to be really hot so everyone is planning on being at the barn really early in the morning to try and avoid the heat as much as possible - this is very hot weather for the area this time of year and the Canadians are not the only ones complaining about it! By Wednesday it is supposed to cool back down to normal temps - we all hope so anyways! I hear the weather is beautiful at home - I hope you are all enjoying it!

I will be headed to the barn first thing tomorrow morning to help Lientje with a horse, ride Cashew and then get a lesson on Oslo and Skippy with Lientje.

I hope everyone voted today! We are sitting and watching the election results on mom's computer now - we couldn't find the results on any television channel here. The Americans are completely focused on their Osama news...



Linds

Big News!

The exhaustion has set in from the weekend and everyone is vegging for the night! Saturday was a better day for Oslo and he was calm enough to get 5s and 6s on his walk work - a big step up from the 2 we received on Friday! We rode the Intermediaire 1 test today and although he was more relaxed today, he still had very tense moments and was not always interested in listening. Consequently, we had numerous mistakes resulting in a score of 61%. I really couldn't complain too much though since Oslo gave me the walk and it was a huge step up from Friday. Taking into account all the mistakes, only 3 three tempis, an extra change at the end of the two tempis, large pirouettes, and a sloppy canter zig-zag, the score was still fairly remarkable for what we had to work with!

Saturday evening Skippy and I did the Intermediaire Freestyle under the lights in the covered arena, in front of about 500 people!!! It was a very electric atmosphere and I was more than relieved that I was riding Skippy and not Oslo. There were so many horses that completely lost it in the ring that night. Skippy is completely amazing though and was more worried about the flowers around the ring than anything else! Good old Skippy! We had a nice forward freestyle that was bang on to the music. It was a lot of fun to ride! Skippy received a great score of 66% and was Reserve Champion! He also had to be the big brave horse to lead all the other horses into the ring for presentations! The other horses wouldn't stand still and were jumping around during presentations and Skippy was just chewing on his sugar that he received from one of the awards presentor! He was so awesome. Such a star!!! =)

After the Intermediaire Freestyles the CDI 3* Grand Prix Freestyles occurred. Therefore, we got to see Ravel compete in person, along with Shannon Peters on her gelding, Odyssey, Guenter Seidel on U II, and many other amazingly talented horses! Such an amazing experience. I am such a huge fan of Steffen and Ravel's music so it was really special for me to see them perform in person. Also, Guenter's horse is a piaffeing machine!!! I would love to see his score sheets to see if he gets 10s on the piaffe work. It just seems flawless and effortless.

To conclude the evening the top riders, including Steffen, Shannon, and Guenter, did a freestyle together on stick horses (in a much shorter ring of course!). You may think that seems completely ridiculous and it was, but also quite entertaining!!!

Today was a new day and we started off with Skippy having a good test in the Prix St. George, placing him third in the class. It was a great conclusion to Skippy's fabulous weekend! Oslo also had a good finish to the weekend with his Intermediaire 1 Freestyle! Finally he was more relaxed and actually rideable today =) I was sooooooo happy with him today. Finally I kind of felt like I had my horse back. He was still a bit "stiff" feeling and was not always enough in front of the leg, but we had a good walk (for Oslo anyways), and we had a clean ride. No major mistakes. Definitely needed more suppleness and exuberance, but I couldn't have asked for more knowing what happened the past few days. I was a bit disappointed with how my choreography worked out (the timing and positioning of the movements), but that was my error and I know that I need to know the music even better. There wasn't anything majorly wrong, but I got a bit ahead and my pirouettes were not placed very well. I did only ride the freestyles a couple of times a few weeks ago, so I am hoping with a few more practices at Steffens' in the next couple of weeks, things will be more bang on for the next show! Our final score in the freestyle was 67% which put us 4th in the class (Steffen won the class on Magic with a 76%).

Overall the show was a great learning experience and a very interesting event to be a part of. Warming up riders such as Steffen Peters and Guenter Seidel is more than a little intimidating at first, but once I got over the initial fear, it was really cool!!! LOL. Even though I wish Oslo would have been better, I realize life doesn't always work out how you wish it would, and just being at the Del Mar show was an incredible experience! I feel that much more prepared for shows in the future.

We moved the horses to Arroyo (Steffen's barn) this afternoon after the show and all three of them got turnout for a while before settling into their stalls for the night. Their turnout time consisted of rolling in the dirt, more rolling, and ended with even more rolling. They were very happy to get out and "wash the show off of them"!

I will have access to the internet everyday now for the next couple of weeks, so I am hoping to update the blog far more often then I have been.

I am super excited to have the horses at Arroyo now and am eager to get lessons with Lientje and hopefully Steffen himself over the next couple of weeks! This past week has already started to whip my butt into shape, and I hope many lessons in the next while will get my body and mind into even better shape!

That is all for now!

Linds + Oslo + Skippy + Cashew

Pictures!!!

The terribly scary covered competition ring

Cashew's second ride

Oslo's first extended trot in the PSG test

Raffa - Steffen's groom taking care of his top hat!

Oslo's one of many warm-ups in the competition ring on Wednesday

Cashew enjoying her stall!

Show Day

Firstly, I need to apologize for not posting anything for a few days. We haven't had great access to internet on the show grounds and we have been super busy with the three horses, especially since Oslo has been very difficult..... =(

On Tuesday I took Oslo out to the fancy covered show arena. We did one walk around and he felt so relaxed and calm! I even mentioned to mom as I walked by that he felt so relaxed..... if only I had known what was to come. The second time around the ring, he planted his feet into the ground and threw his head up to look at the highway in the background. From that point on, he would walk, stand still, or even trot. All he wanted to do was piaffe. He got himself so worked up and his whole body began to shake. He was all sweaty in a matter of minutes just from him shaking and piaffing. All I wanted him to do was walk! We took him out and tried to get him settled in the outdoor rings but he was just a ball of nerves. We put him away in the stall for the night and took him out three more times on Wednesday (only short stretchy rides each time - the goal was to get him relaxed, not tired). We tried to start out in the walk each time, but he just wouldn't walk. Therefore, I tried to stretch him over his back as much as possible in the working trot and by the third time I could stretch him in the canter. When he gets so nervous and tense he just tightens his back and it is nearly impossible to get him to stretch down and just let go. By Thursday he was getting more relaxed outside and I only stretched him once during the day just because I was worried about him getting tired from all the stress and work he had been through the past couple of days. I was feeling better about things since he was starting to settle, but he was still very scared of that covered show ring.

Today was show day and I will start with the positive:
Skippy was pretty good in his Intermediaire I test. He fell behind my leg in the trot work, but the judge commented on how good his changes were at the end of the test! He won a big green ribbon and we were happy with that since he had 9 or 10 entries in his class and that was his more difficult test.
Second positive: Oslo passed the jog with flying colours! Dad had to jog him since the jog was at the same time as my ride on Skippy. I rode Skippy at 7:39am and the jog started at 7:00am and he was the fifth on to go in. Oslo and I were then scheduled to ride at 9:21am. It was a crazy morning, but it helped prevent me from getting too nervous!

Now, Oslo had a fantastic warm-up, but that was outside. Lientje, mom, and I thought we were so ready and he was feeling great. The second I walked underneath the roof of the covered ring, Oslo lost it. His head went up (into the perfect frame, but that also meant his back dropped!) and his muscles tensed up. We proceeded down the centreline and halted for about half a second and proceeded into a beautiful exuberant trot that was extremely difficult to sit since he was not over his back anymore. The trot work went alright and we had good half-passes. He was very excited to go in the extended trots, which was good, but he wasn't very supple and we had some rythym errors since we couldn't balance all the energy. Then came the walk.... well that was what was supposed to be next. Oslo did about 2 steps of walk the entire test and for those of you who know, there is a lot of walk in the Prix St. George. He was just soooooooooo nervous and wanted to piaffe/jog. Then just before the canter transition he did the typical Oslo move: plant his feet and throw his head up to stare at something scary in the distance. When he does this his he just braces on one rein and I cannot move his head or kick him forward. Eventually I coerced him forward and we some how managed to pick up the canter. Our canter tour was decent and we only had one mistake in the three tempis. We got through it but he was so tight and braced. Our final score was a very disappointing 59.8% but for not walking at all, the tension, and the disobedience (stopping and staring!) I guess I couldn't have asked for much better. I was happy to hear Lientje say that I probably couldn't have ridden it any better and unfortunately that is just what you had to deal with. We have a plan for tomorrow to keep him more flexed and I need to think as if I was turning him on a circle each step of the walk. We can only do so much though and the bottom line is that Oslo needs to relax for the walk to be any good at all. Fingers and toes crossed that tomorrow is a new day for Oslo.

Skippy does the Freestyle tomorrow under the lights in the covered arena!!! I am excited, I just hope he isn't that spooky and that we can hold everything together in front of the crowd - no pressure!!! Hopefully it will be fun though. Skippy's music is just so awesome =)

Cashew is doing fantastic and I have ridden her a few times in the schooling areas. She is so brave and I am thinking she is going to have such a good temperament for showing! I cannot wait to get her to the barn after the show and really starting working on some stuff! She is just handling all the distractions so well here - better actually than some other horse I know of!

Arrival!

We arrived safe and sound yesterday afternoon. It was a much shorter day in terms of driving, having only about six hours on the road from Vegas to San Diego. We went straight to the Del Mar Horse Park, which in the end turned out to be the incorrect show grounds - we are now at the Del Mar Fairgrounds! This place is similar to Kentucky, being that it has hundreds of stalls and an amphitheatre type arena. In addition, it is a bit overwhelming to think that I will be riding in the same class as Steffen Peters and Guenter Seidel!!! So, in all honesty, I am definitely a little terrified, but at the same time, I am soooo excited to be here and eager to show! I still cannot believe we are here and this is truly such an amazing learning opportunity for me. =)

The horses arrived in good condition and I rode Oslo and Skippy today. Cashew just got lunged since she is green and had some excess energy from being cooped up in the trailer for the last couple of days! Oslo started out quite stiff, which we expected since he isn't a spring chicken anymore, but we were very happy with how he seems to be handling everything mentally. He seems fairly calm and willing to work. He even doesn't seem to mind his stall very much! So hopefully he is getting his mental game ready for the weekend and is finally starting to settle into this showing thing! Skippy was terrific today and showed almost no signs of being stiff from the trip. He had so much "go" which is very awesome for Skippy! Just needed some extra half halt! Cashew had a good lunging session and was in a bit of a shock about the warmer weather and having to actually work. But, once she "expressed herself" a few times, she went straight to work and she went really well. We kept all the training sessions short and sweet since it was the first time the horses have been worked in 20 degree heat for a while!!!

Talking about the weather..... I have already fried myself! My face, arms, and shoulders are a nice vibrant red =( I went to Steffen's barn this morning to watch Lientje and Steffen ride, in addition to meeting up with Michelle McWilliam who is also down here for the shows. Apparently, I was sitting in the sun watching for too long!!!

We went for groceries today and bought a gigantic bag of "Horse Carrots" at the grocery store for the horses! We have a months supply of horse carrots now and only paid $5.99!! We were so impressed that the grocery store sold carrots specifically for horses! You know you are in a horsey area/community when... lol

Till next time,

Bluffton to Las Vegas and Everywhere in Between

We headed out first thing in the morning, just after 6:00am, on Friday so that we could get to the Coutts/Sweetgrass border corssing before the veterinarian left for the long weekend. The trip was uneventful to the border and once we got to the border things went slowly, but smoothly. The border crossing was insanely busy because of the long weekend. We were lucky because we got to go in the "big truck lane" otherwise we would have been waiting in line for at least an hour. We then had to see the veterinarian at the border crossing who had to inspect the horses and sign our papers. The time spent at the border set our arrival time into Idaho Falls back by two hours and we had a really long day, not arriving to the barn in Idaho Falls until just after 10:00pm. Music on my lap top was the only thing that kept us going! The horses all settled in right away thankfully and we all had a much needed nights rest.

Today was a much more exciting drive since we got to drive Utah, Arizona, and ended in Nevada for the night. Southern Utah along with Arizona are beautiful because of the many canyons and dark red hills. Salt Lake City is a bit terrifying to drive through with the truck and trailer, but dad always does a great job driving within 6 lanes of busy traffic. Vegas is a similar story and by the time we pulled off the Interstate and stopped at the barn for the night, dad was fairly exhausted from the stress of the traffic. The barn we are at for the night is so cute and it is only minutes from the strip if you can believe that!!!

The horses have all been travelling quite well and they were very eager to drink today since the temperature started to rise once we hit southern Utah. By the time we crossed into the Arizona border it was 30 degrees. The horses are super spoiled at the barn tonight and have turnouts attached to their stalls, along with fans that are running continuously. Oslo seems to be very "chill" on this trip thus far (knock on wood), Skippy wasn't eating much the first day, which for anyone who knows Skippy, knows that is VERY strange. He seems to have settled in today though and is back to his "pigish self". Cashew, the newest member of the gang is doing terrific for only being 4 years old and not having hauled very much before. She has been really good loading everytime after a rest stop and seems to be keeping her nerves in check as well. She is a little superstar!

Goodnight from Vegas and I will update the blog once we arrive in San Diego!

One Day Until Departure

Hello everyone! Thank you for checking out my blog! My goal with this blog is to keep family, friends, and sponsors updated about my adventure to San Diego, California for some top-level dressage training and showing. Oslo and I have declared for the 2011 Pan American Games and are hoping to be in the top 15 Canadian riders which compete in head to head selection trials for the ultimate position: one of three spots on Canadian team going to Mexico in October to attend the Pan American Games. The goal of competing in the head to head trials is definitely one that will push us beyond our comfort zone, but through the experience, I know I will learn so much and grow a lot as a rider and competitor.

My first post is only being done a day before departure due to me writing my last engineering exam yesterday, Wednesday. Now that I have that out of the way (and boy am I relieved!) I am finally able to start packing and getting organized for our six week long trip. Not only do I have to pack for myself for six weeks, I also have to pack enough stuff for the three horses that I am taking. This brings me to the introduction of the three wonderful horses I get to bring down with me:

Oslo: my equine partner for six years now, KWPN Bay Gelding, 16.2hh, 15 years old

Skippy (show name: Bonafide): equine partner for almost 2 years now, Canadian Warmblood Bay Gelding, 17.1hh, 13 years old

Cashew: newest equine partner - we have only been together for about 3 weeks, KWPN Chestnut Mare (but trust me, she is NOT your typical chestnut mare!), 17hh, 4 years old

I am so excited to be taking all three of them! They are all such unique horses and having all three of them down in California for training will really allow me to develop as a rider. Therefore, I need to thank the owners of Skippy and Cashew for letting me take their horses on this journey with me. So, THANK YOU Grant and Claudia Wierzba and Allison Hagen. Never have I known such amazing horse owners!!! =)

Now, a little more about the trip: My mother, father, and I, with the three horses, depart first thing tomorrow morning, April 22. We need to get to the Canada/U.S. border early in the afternoon to have all the horses inspected by a veterinarian at the border. Then we will continue on to Idaho Falls and spend the night there to let the horses rest for a few hours. Then one more full day of driving to Las Vegas where we will spend the second night. This allows us to arrive Sunday early afternoon (the 24th). We will be driving straight to the Del Mar Fairgrounds and be staying there for the first week since we have our first show the weekend of the April 29th. After that show we will be moving to Steffen Peters' barn just East of Del Mar. We will be attending two other shows in California during our trip and all the other time will be spent receiving lessons from Lientje Shueller (Steffen Peters' assistant) and Steffen Peters.

The packing and cleaning awaits me, so I am going to leave the first post at that. I promise to update the blog as much as possible and dad is always on photography duty, so I am hoping to post tons of pictures as well!


Lindsay