Riding the "Big Trot"

I think riding the big trot may be the nemesis of many adult amateur riders. I'm lucky that I don't struggle as much as others I know, but I'm definitely no master! It has definitely been something I've been trying to work on since I have a horse that's extremely talented in the big trots.

Heather, expert on fancy dressage horses, believes the BHB could easily score 8's and 9's in his medium and extended trots if “I” can push him enough and manage to keep him balanced at the same time… without flopping all over the place myself! In order to keep myself from bouncing around in a big trot, I have a tendency to tense my entire body, which is definitely not the correct way to ride it. It seems to be something you have to ride over and over while experimenting to get it right. Here is what has been helping me so far in improving “big trot” riding:

1. Shorten reins before even thinking about adding impulsion
2. Take a deep breath and sit deep with correct rider position
3. Add collection to help lift the front end and rev up the back legs
4. GO! Loosen the upper thighs while squeezing the calves (and heels if necessary)
5. Keep fingers closed (no spirit fingers!) and slightly pulsing on reins (not hanging!)
6. Keep squeezing with calves and adding some heel/spur if necessary
7. Almost to end, so take another deep breath, pulse calves lightly instead of squeezing to keep impulsion, and add half halts to slow back down

Sounds easy, right? ;)

Championships on a Budget!

Competing in 4 championship classes at an out-of-town Regional Championships can add up extremely fast! Just my entry fee alone is cringe worthy! So I tried everything I could to cut down the expense of this competition. If I had been able to share a tack stall it would have been ever better! I definitely won't get a tack stall if I go to Nationals unless it's shared. Just too expensive at Dressage Finals costs!

Cost Breakdown:

Competition fees: $751 ($300 in class fees, $61 in office/drug fees, $175 each for my stall and tack stall—I was expecting my barn mate to go and share but she isn’t going, and $40 in meal tickets for my trainer and mom)

Food: Raid pantry to bring protein bars for breakfast and some snacks/drinks for the tack room. Two dinners are included for competitors (Thursday and Saturday).Volunteering 1.5 days gets me 2 lunches and 1 more dinner in exchange of giving some much needed help to the show during my downtimes. We’ll stop at fast food places to eat while travelling. We should be able to spend less than $25/person in extra food.

Hotel: Book $45/night decent motel and share. Total cost for 3 nights= $135 ($67.50 each)

Trailering: Trailer my own horse with my somewhat rusty trailer, and then I’ll have a vehicle too. Estimated fuel cost=$250

Golf cart: $67 a day for a gold cart rental?! Heck no! I’m bringing my bike!

Parking fees: Volunteering gets me a free parking pass at the KHP to save $15!

Total expected costs (for my mom/videographer/groom/motivator and me combined, but excluding trainer fees and her much more expensive hotel): under $1200-- which is still quite expensive, but do-able for a Championship.

10 Days Until We Leave for Regionals!

Yesterday was the first body clipping day of the winter since the Regional Championships are in less than two weeks! The BHB hates getting his legs clipped, so another epic battle of wills (and carrot bribery) took place. I’d like to think I won since the legs did all end up being fully clipped, but the BHB may have won a bit of an edge since they aren’t the prettiest. We’ll be battling it out again next month.

Freshly body clipped! I miss his richly red colored coat already!

The past few weeks have been pretty easy on the BHB— lots of jumping and trails interspersed with dressage sessions a few times a week. Cross-training is great for a horse’s mindset, especially one bred to be versatile. Mark has been really enjoying the variety and has ended up putting even more effort into his dressage work. I’m sure the cooler weather has had a positive effect on his work ethic too!

We can’t wait to go compete in the extremely large (580+ horse) Regionals competition in Kentucky. Until then, we’re working on some of the areas we tend to have issues in. Today we did a bit of drilling on simple lead changes and adding energy into our lateral trot work, as those currently our biggest downfalls. We’ve also been working quite a bit in counter-canter and on getting great 10m circles.

I’m a bit worried about our second level freestyle still since the choreography is very difficult, but the judges should really reward us if we can do it well. The stickiest area right now is the medium trot to travers since the BHB doesn’t always want to come back from a big trot. Our class time for this is after 7pm on Friday, so I’m also really worried that the BHB will decide he’s done for the day after his 11:30am first level freestyle class and not bring his A-game to this one. I haven’t figured out how to prepare for this yet!

The BHB had a vet appointment today to get his health certification to travel to KY, along with a teeth floating and his fall shots (since he doesn’t typically have much of a reaction to them). My father is getting my trailer and his truck ready to haul to Kentucky, since my trailer is currently with him at the farm. My poor trailer is in dire need of re-painting and some other cosmetic upgrades, so be on the lookout for an ugly trailer with some rust! At least everything else is great shape on the trailer—except the tack room skylight is quite leaky despite multiple attempts at re-caulking. And well, the BHB decided to customize the rubber padding around the front slot when he was younger =/.

Teeth Floating Time!

And the drugged exhaustion after. He needed his stall to hold his head up :)

Life of an Adult Amateur: Business Travel

If only travelling was stress-free :)

It’s quite difficult to juggle riding and a job, especially if that job requires quite a bit of travel. For the last several months I’ve been travelling for work roughly a week each month, and with trainers out of town and unable to take over, I’ve been feeling the stress of not getting the BHB the exercise he wants. He’s been a surprisingly good egg about it, especially since he’s been known to become a bit of a brat when he goes 3+ days without getting ridden. Maybe the better turnout at his new place is keeping him pacified while both Heather and I are out of town.

I have another work trip in a couple weeks, but it’s not going to be the same week Heather will be out of town, so we will be able to keep my beast happy. Thank goodness for horse trainers that can ride the busy business professional’s horses! It’s a symbiotic relationship—they need clients to make a living and we need people who are available to ride and train our horses! I’d like to say that I’m one of those adult amateurs that’s successfully working up the levels and doing everything on her own, but I’m not sure that’s even possible to do while being a business professional working a full-time job in a big city… Maybe if I didn't work full time or if I lived (and worked) close to a barn, but certainly not right now.