All's well that begins well....

Yes, I've been MIA for a couple of days. Oh well, I have a life too!

Der Greters:
Greta's fine, and she just seems to be feeling better and better every day! The little cougar's been hanging out with "Cupid" (the bay youngn' with the heart on his forehead) and a new bay horse - affectionately called "Bay Boy" - who looks like he's fairly young too, both maybe 6 or 7. Greta's 12. She's a cougar. Rrrrawr!

They thinned out the pasture board herd, so it went from 15 to nine in the past week. That plus steady rain means lots of green grass! The big Belgian Wilbur and the big black Percheron Beau have both been moved to stall board, and the herd seems to be more at peace with everyone and everything it seems. I've even caught Greta rolling in the dirt twice now! And it's always been right before I go to get her! Maybe she has, like, "ESPN" or something (Mean Girls reference). In the mornings, when it's cool, she'll hang out under the thick trees at the far end of the pasture (and apparently the pasture goes back much farther than I thought, just with trees, though not insanely far, and there's even a few riding trails behind the pasture!) with her little gelding gang, and then when it's hot the horses move out into the sun.... I'm still trying to figure that one out...........

Oh, and she gets her hoofies trimmed tomorrow. I'm so glad that we will still have the same farrier!

Der Riding:
Riding has been going super-duper well. She had most of the week off last week too because of rain, so that would equate to about three days in the week instead of five....? I don't know. We've been doing a lot of walk and trot exercises, trying to get some basics back down, and we just canter for fun really! Her trot has become very nice to sit and she getting on the bit much more nicely. I've felt the beginnings of her trying to round out her back, and she's gone all the way when I'm doing something right.... That I am also still trying to figure out!

And then I lounged her yesterday just as a warm up and also to see how she looks overall. Her walk was lazy (but that's because I wasn't on her, and I know her walk is good already) but her trot looked beautiful and her canter has become more collected. There is a longer moment of suspension between each stride. I'm very happy! She's thrusting aside the polo world and coming back to her dressage origins! Though she still gets very excited over white objects on the ground and tries to cut in front of other horses. Not bad though. She never tries to take over. I get a kick out of it more than anything haha!

I NEED TO TAKE PICTURES!!!

Der Lessons:
We will be starting lessons October 18th: two private to see where our niche is, then group lessons from there on. I'm so excited! I love all the riders and I love the instructor, and they all love Greta! She's hard not to love :D

Der Gogo:
Get well soon Gogo! From what I read you were feeling pretty cruddy today. It all pull through, don't worry!

Und als Schlußfolgerung, Das Morgan Dressage:
In conclusion, I was very excited to see a Morgan in the Dressage at Devon as featured on Behind the Bit. Very cute Morgan. It's not a warmblood! Oh, and has anyone heard of the A-mazing dressage Saddlebred (the first and perhaps the only Grand Prix level Saddlebred out there at the moment...) Harry Callahan? Yeah, go check him out :D

What I was not pleased with though was the opening picture to the blog: the horse was clearly not round in the back and was being pulled into the bit. Quite clearly. The first video: the canter was really good as were the tempi changes, and I loved the music (eternal Disney Tarzan fan!) As for the second video: Um... more being pulled into the bit, silly passages and piaffes and half passes and trot work in general. I cringed. But then again he was apparently quite spooky that night, so he might not have been listening all the way? He was still broken at the third vertebrae, no excuse for that. Way to go half-a$$, modern dressage!

But what do I know? I'm just a lowly first level.... :(
lol

What drives them.

What is the meaning of life? No. It is: what is the meaning of horses? What is the meaning of people and horses? What drives us to them? Yes, that is the question.

What drives us to the horse? Is something within them and about them that we wish to see within and about ourselves: elegance or power or grace? Perhaps we ourselves wish we could dwell in the illumination of the present and not the dim of the past and to never look back or look forward, but to simply be. Perhaps we wish to humble ourselves in the present of a creature far greater than us in speed and strength and social. Perhaps it is to feel a sense of risk in accompanying one so large and unpredictable, and to know that we trust them still.

Perhaps it is the longing for a bound outside that of the confines of humanity, and one that blends harmoniously within the realm of nature and all that civilization considers primitive and beastly. Perhaps, to ride atop a horse, we can achieve a glorious freedom we could only visit in the dusky world of dreams and the subconscious. We can laugh without fear of social condemnation, speak our innermost thoughts without an ounce of thought nor a thread of remorse, relieve our frustration before it turns to destructive inner violence. Perhaps it is to relieve our instinctual drive to love, trust, and care for without the unbearable hurt of betrayal that only the complexities of human nature are consciously capable of. For what we give to the horse, they will, without fail, return wholeheartedly.

Or perhaps, more cynically, one might say that some abuse this. Some use the horse as a means of control over their uncontrollable lives. Some use the horse as way to be looked up upon when otherwise they might have been trampled, to achieve something when nothing else was readily available. Some would wish to exploit the horse's unfathomable will and need to please by making them suffer for it in the torturous arms of neglect and abuse, whilst those who care can only stand by and weep. Or, perhaps, give them a chance to be strong and fight for the inalienable right to live prosperously that is bestowed upon all of nature's creations.

Perhaps, then, horses are our God-given purpose. Perhaps it is we - any persons who have been fortunate enough to be within and enjoy the company of the horse - who were blessed with such an opportunity to relieve our emotional faculties by simply feeling the warm breath on your cheek, and the velveteen muzzle brush your palm, and powerful muscles ripple beneath your body, and the gaze of multifaceted eyes connect with that of your own and know that you have achieved a nirvana of sorts:

Something, perhaps, that is truly unexplainable.

Eventing Andalusians

You heard it right, folks:

Yes, that is an Andalusian. Yes, they are schooling what looks to be (Intermediate Novice? All I know is Beginner Novice and Rolex, guys! The horse is 16.2, if that serves as a reference) cross country. And yes, that song is in French. Apparently they are in France, and apparently the French can rock ("French frogs: plan of action!" / "We surrender!" / "No, not that plan of action!") haha!





I loved that last one because of the backdrop! JEALOUS! Oh, and the jumping hehe. I'll be sure to check out the other videos! They look pretty talented to the dressage rider's eye!

Oh, and some dressage. It's looks pretty decent. The sorrel horse is a schoolmaster they had her practice on, as this was just away schooling in Combelles (ooh, sounds fancy!) not a competition:

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Greta updates will be coming soon, do not fret!

Time for something sickly sweet!

Mmm. It's September, and it just went from a refreshing 80 degree weather this past week back up to 90 degrees today. Not bad, compared to this record-breaking summer, but with October and November and December drawing closer and closer, I can't help but thing of my favorite time of the year.

Sweaters and wool socks and quarter sheets and big winter blankets, and anything else snuggly you can think of. And feeling the crisp air fill your lungs while you take a morning gallop (which hopefully some of those might be coming when the winter breaks start!) and having your bum all warm when you ride your horse bareback in the cold.

You actually want the sun to come out and warm you up, and so you can see the spindly branches silhouetted against the clear sky. You want a helmet and tall boots on because they'll keep you as toasty as they can get (which for a Texan, won't mean much, because most of your riding apparel is meant for extreme heat, not cold!)

Being all cozy in the stable while you tack up, and warming your hands as you rub down your horse with a towel. And you get to make your horse look classy with a clip! (If you don't let them turn into a yak.)

Spending Christmas afternoon feeding a carrot or two, or three, or ten, while they breath moist breath on you, and taking walks through the bare pasture where you can see every hole and dip (no snow here!)

God, I love winter. It'll be Greta's first in Texas (big difference compared to Colorado winters, I'm sure).

No, we don't decorate Christmas cacti and have longhorns pull Santa's sleigh. Maybe in El Paso! But we do get poinsettias. So pretty!

For All You Jumpers & Eventers

Particularly Sam....

You mentioned to me a few posts ago about how much dressage is involved in jumping. You told me that you once saw a rider perform something that was just about a pirouette in a jump-off round that saved the clock big time. Well, check this out:

The kick-ass tight turns don't come until the final round, but I was totally geeking out! Those were amazing!!! And her hands remained practically motionless! That is sooo cool! The first tight turn and then The ones where she lands after the double combination and immediately turn left me starstuck. No wonder this girl got first!

"And look: I'm trrrotting!"

Haha. I love the scene from Shrek 2 when Donkey gets turned into a horse. "I can whinny! I can count! And look: I'm trotting!"

So now that we are on the subject of trotting, Greta and I did a lot of trot work today. We cantered twice. The first was a twenty meter circle, and it was A-mazing! The second... well, she took off on me and just zipped through the center of the arena. So we didn't really canter after that. I needed to focus on trotting anyway (okay, I'll stop.)

I feel like I've had another epiphany today, and that is my seat! I kind of figured out how to use it to drive Greta onto the bit, and from the glimpses I saw in the mirror, we looked pretty good! The video doesn't do it justice. Greta reached some "Eureka!" moments for herself as well.When her trot was especially good, her poll was the highest point and her back was nicely rounded and she brought her hind legs further beneath her, and it was a dream to sit.

When I drove Greta onto the bit, I used my inner thighs and seat to sort of "squeeze forward"so to speak. It was pretty friggin' cool.

And then she got a bath. So now she's sparkly white until tomorrow!

I love that Greta girly.

So, now, video of our trotting heehee:

Go Gogo!

Get well soon, Gogo.

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Greta did very well today! I actually had a "christening" of owning a first horse: I fell off! Totally my fault, I should've been paying attention. The shavings shed was being cleaned out and I kept having to coax Greta at a walk to just ignore the noise and go past it. Then I wasn't paying attention + a particulary loud noise + a sharp 180 = me on the ground with a loud "Oh!" haha! Yay!!! Instead of taking off, Greta politely stood still and looked back at me as if to say, "Um, Bre? You were supposed to stay on. Duh."

I felt quite embarrassed until I saw the look on the turkey's face. Cracked me up and totally made my day. Kodak moment!

And then sniffed me all over to make sure I was okay. I was flattered.

Got her to do a nice, swinging trot again, and I practiced sitting it. Absolutely lovely!

We will be starting up lessons again within the next few weeks. We will do some private lessons so we can get up to the same level as the group lessons and so my new instructor can see how we stand. I'm very excited! Don't know about Greta, though.... I know she was excited to get back into work after a week off! She deserved it.

Worried

Good news first: Thrush Buster held up amazingly for 5 inches of rain (TX weather is so random, one day is 100+ degree weather and we are in the midst of a drought and a few days later it's in the 70s with pouring rain like we live in Seattle!) so I would definitely recommend it to anyone now! The best deal I've found, surprisingly, is on Dover Saddlery.

Bad news: I've been anxiously awaiting and watching for Andrea and Gogo from Eventing-A-Gogo to see how they are doing in the Beginner Novice AECs. The showjumping round is blank and the final score is a big fat W. They withdrew. Now I'm really worried. I hope everything is okay.....

Oh, and some more good news, I found some AEC pictures of Sam and Val from Blue-Eyed Eventers on the AEC website. They look awesome!!!