jump to navigation

Henrik Johansen Clinic March 23, 2008

Posted by kimayars Arena Work (Horse) Digg! this story! Digg! this story. , add a comment

Last November I rode Tigger in a Henrik Johansen clinic. I had a great ride, and despite my overwhelming nervousness, had a very positive experience.  I vowed that I would do it again.

Last Friday was “the again”.  Honestly, it almost didn’t happen. Between my daughter’s 7th birthday and conflicts at work (I actually took the horse trailer to work to cut down on loading time) I made it to the clinic on time. Tigger loaded like a champ, and unloaded calmly and cooly.  So far it was the best he’s every travelled with me.  The only hiccup while getting there was I took back roads to the barn which were very windy, hilly and narrow (lots of fun with a Ford Excursion and a 2-horse slant trailer).  I inadvently made one of my girls carsick.  (Oh yeah, my family came with me.)

After tacking up I went to the arena to wait for my turn to come in.  It’s customary to wait until 10-15 minutes before your ride time and then enter the arena to begin warming up.  When I was near enough to see the horse who was before me, I was greeted with a bucking, balking, bitchy, stubborn, HUGE draft-cross mare.  I put Tigger in the crossties and waited until she was finished. There were some definite control issues that I didn’t want to interfere with.

After that horse left, I went in and Tigger and I did our little routine.  We make sure that we had a brain on the ground first.  Usually only a little light in-hand work is required to bring him back to earth. Today was no different.  I led him to the mounting block, calmly leaned into him for a bit to let him know what was coming, and then carefully placed myself in the saddle.

Then he bolted.

This was the same kind of bolt that happened when he dumped me.  I also didn’t have my right stirrup yet.  However, I was more balanced in the saddle this time and was able to turn him to the right (so the momentum would be transferred to my left stirrup). I sat up so I wouldn’t get pitched forward. By golly, it worked.  I stayed on, and got enough control to begin to put him to work and get his attention again.  Whew!

My trainer appeared and offered to hold him while I picked up my right stirrup. I eagerly accepted her offer.  As I continued my warmup, I heard Henrik say to her, “After seeing horses all day, I finally have a student! This horse has ENERGY!”  Oddly enough that comment made me more nervous.  I was the last of 8 riders that day. How on earth did I end up with the most forward of all the horses? Lucky me…

There are many things that I like about Mr. Johansen: He’s calm, he’s very complimentary, he tells you exactly what to do, and he’s fair to the horse.  Within a few minutes you can’t help but feel that even if the worst thing possible happens, it will still be alright.

We started out doing shoulder-fore around the track at the walk. Except that I was having a really hard time keeping Tigger at the walk. “Okay, he said, let’s trot then.” Except then Tigger wanted to canter. I felt like I was on a runaway train. I don’t ride with a whip or spurs, and I keep my legs light on him. Yet his enthusiasm was barely controllable. We started using 10m circles counter-bent to get his speed under control. Things started to improve.

We took a small break and he explained a few things to me.  When Tigger rushes, I pull on on the reins. This makes him feel trapped, which feeds into his anxiousness. I then pull harder, he gets more anxious, and so on, and so on… This much I knew, but I didn’t know how to stop the cycle. I didn’t feel Tigger was listening to my seat, but how do you school that when you feel like you’re on a tightly coiled spring? Well, you go back to basics.  School your transitions. Trust the horse to do the right thing. Use your seat first, then use the reins, but in a resiting fashion, not pulling. This sounds SO easy, but when you have a bad habit like I’ve developed, and in general have begun riding defensively, it is a hard thing to overcome.

We started with walk/halt transitions.  It took nearly all my focus to NOT pull on the reins.  At first he blew through my half-halt.  Henrik had me drive him into the outside rein, and use only the outside rein as my brake pedal.  Tigger threw up his head, but wasn’t trapped. He settled and stopped. We continued this until all I needed was my seat to cue the halt.

Next we moved on to trot.  He immediately started rushing, so Henrik had me do the same thing, but within the gait. Through the use of my seat and the outside rein, we would slow the trot until we were barely moving, then drive him forward to his working trot.  I use the term “drive” loosely.  All I really have to do is start posting.  The catch here was the tempo between the collected trot and the working trot had to be the same. The only difference was the length of stride. It was hard, and at this point my thighs were burning trying to control my posting to keep an even tempo.

Then all of a sudden, it was there.

I know Henrik saw it too because that’s when he had me go full arena.  Tigger was round, floaty, and soft.  My hads were steady, it was easy to post, and he was straight. We went everywhere in that arena, and Tigger kept the frame. He had self-carraige and was maintaining it!  Henrik simply said, “And now, just enjoy him.”  I did.

Finally, Henrik had me come down to his end of the arena and put Tigger on a 20m circle. “Softly,” he said, “feed your inside rein out, and encourage him to stretch.”  I must say, I have never felt anything like this before. He’s neck went out — not down like it usually does when we stretch, but OUT. The suspension in his trot seemed effortless, and he felt big and powerful. I seriously wanted to cry. He felt beautiful.

 As I carefully took up contact I asked Henrik if I could give him a break. In my opinion Tigger deserved it.  Henrik agreed.

My ride ended there. I honestly don’t think I could have topped that, and I wanted it to be a positive experience for both of us. Henrik’s last words to me were, “You have something special here. He’s very forward and he has a wonderful temprament. He is lovely.”  I was beaming for the rest of the night.  (Okay, and for the next two days.)

I took away from the clinic more than just techniques on how to harness Tigger’s energy and direct it.  I took away a sense and feeling that we could do great things together.  I’m not talking 3rd level tests or anything like that. I mean that we could be great with each other.  I left knowing a little more about him, and hopefully he knows a little more about me.  There’s an old adage, “It takes you a year to get to know your horse, and another year for your horse to get to know you.”  I have only owned Tigger for 10 months now. I feel as if the best is yet to come.

Squish, squish, squish. March 23, 2008

Posted by kimayars Run Digg! this story! Digg! this story. , add a comment

This morning Beth and I headed out for an ambitious 5-mile run into an area called the Uplands.  They call it the Uplands because, it’s, well, UP.  (Big gnarly hill.)  I had to walk twice, but Beth zooomed her way to the top. In fact, she was a little TOO peppy if you ask me. She blamed it on the McDonald’s french fries and peanut butter icecream she had yesterday.

A good run, though, and her “peppiness” kept us going.  This is good because it was pouring rain and a tad windy.  Not ideal weather for running, if you ask me. But then again I am a weather wimp when it comes to running.  I’m soaked and pretty cold as I type this.  You know it’s bad when your hands are prunes afterwards (and I was wearing gloves!).  We’re going again tomorrow, so I hope it dries out!

Anyway, I hoped I burned enough calories for Easter Brunch today!

More later on the clinic we did on Friday – I had a GREAT time and my horse was excellent!  It was worth it!

Logbook Activity

Hey! You! Out of my Parking Space! March 20, 2008

Posted by kimayars Uncategorized Digg! this story! Digg! this story. , 1 comment so far

I have shared previously that some mornings when I arrive at Sherene’s I’m greeted by a herd of elk.  Today I post proof…

As I pull in the drive:

That gravel patch is where I park:

And finally, they’re off:

Most of the herd was behind me. I’d hazzard to guess there were about 20-30 head (but the last time I guessed the size of an elk herd I was off by a LOT).

They’re so common here that when we went to Yellowstone a few years back we were yelling at tourists to keep driving. After all, it’s just an elk!  Now buffalo, that was something to look at…

Intervals - The Quest Continues… March 20, 2008

Posted by kimayars Run Digg! this story! Digg! this story. , 2comments

I have decided to renew my quest for the 8-minute mile.  I want to be able to run 5K in under 25 minutes by the end of the year.  Currently, I can’t run one mile at 8min without completely killing myself.  My plan of attack is intervals.

I only had about 40 minutes to run this morning. I was also mad. Mad that I was forced to choose between work and my riding, mad that I needed to vent to someone and couldn’t, mad that I have let my fitness slip so much.  I was ready for a fight. 

I set my intervals at 5.0mph and 7.0mph, running 2 minutes of each, alternating.  About half-way through I realized that I had energy to spare, and I could probably sqeeze out a little more. I upped the intervals to 5.5mph and 7.5mph.  I played “Take Me I’m Yours” by Squeeze and “Holiday” by Green Day over and over. I fed off my frustration and it worked rather well.

I’m now happy, calm, mellow, and have a clearer sense of what I’m going to do tomorrow.  I’m going to ride.  I have to leave North Bend by 3:30. That means starting the loading at 2:30. That means no meeting. Riding is very important to me.  It’s the only thing that is only mine, where I can disappear and just be me.  It’s become an integral part of who I am. To give up any part of it (especially when I have prepared for it) makes me cranky.  I don’t do cranky well. (Ask Jeff.)

Logbook Activity

A Test of Character March 19, 2008

Posted by kimayars Uncategorized Digg! this story! Digg! this story. , 2comments

Today introduced what I would call a character-defining moment.

My whole week has been a series of running from one thing to the next, sqeezing in this and squeezing in that.  Somehow, most of it has worked out. I have one big project for an organization I had to punt on, but it turns out that it worked well for everone involved to delay the finished product.  (Yet I still feel bad for missing the deadline.)

So, it stand to reason that I had Friday scheduled to the very minute. Jeff would take Samantha to school and I would take Veronica to school. I would be in to work at 9:00am, and get lots of things accomplished (did I tell you I’m optimistic?) until a meeting at noon. This meeting would last at most 2 hours, of which I would leave work to go home and get ready to haul my horse for a clinic an hour away.  My ride time is at 5:45, so a 3:00 departure from North Bend would give me ample time to get through rush-hour traffic with a horse trailer (oh joy) and get my horse settled.

Today I was told that the meeting time changed to 1:45.

Here are the facts:

  1. I really want to ride in this clinic.  I did a clinic with him in the fall and loved it. I have been looking foward to this ride for a few months, I only knew recently that I could attend because Jeff could take the day off to tend to the kiddos.
  2. I really want to go to this meeting. I love my job, and want to do it the best I can. This meeting will have a lot of information that I want to be there for. It was also rescheduled for Friday so that I could attend. (Normally it is scheduled on Thursdays which makes it difficult for me to attend because my 4-year-old is not in school).
  3. Jeff took the day off so I could ride.  I’m not sure it’s fair to him to ask him to still take the day off so I could work.
  4. My horse had been a handful this past few weeks. Couple that with a stressful last few days, an evening home with nothing to do is quite appealing.  It’s also my 7-year-old’s birthday that day. We’re celebrating on Saturday, so I rationalized that she would be okay with mommy not being around on Friday. I think however, she may take exception to that.

What I will probably end up doing is going to the meeting, then busting my butt to get Tigger ready and up to the clinic as fast as I can. And if we miss the ride, at least I tried.  The downside is it’s a $100+ ride. I should try everything I can to make it successful.

Jeff says I should tell the folks at work, “Sorry, I can’t make it. Fill me in later.” But I want to be there. It is important to me.

Oh, if only I could be in two places at once.

I’m going to take the night and think about it. Hopefully the answer will come to me in a vision… (Preferrably a half-naked-Brad-Pitt-kind of vision.)

5K Sport Training - Level Up! March 18, 2008

Posted by kimayars Run Digg! this story! Digg! this story. , add a comment

Today I did Level 3 on the “Sport Training 5k”.  I felt horrible when we started, but felt MUCH better afterwards.  There was a marked improvement in my mood. It was nice!  I did Level 3 at 6.1 miles per hour.  I couldn’t do 6.0 because the “0″ was broken on the treadmill.  :-)

Logbook Activity

All systems are GO! March 18, 2008

Posted by kimayars Arena Work (Horse) Digg! this story! Digg! this story. , 1 comment so far

Yesterday we took a trip to Bridle Trails State Park with the ponies. This morning I had my lesosn with my trainer. It would stand to reason that Tigger would be a little tired, and maybe a little sluggish. Nope. Tigger be frisky. Tigger had a “go” button.

I lunged him first because I just had a feeling. He was a little more bright-eyed and bushy-tailed than I had imagined he would be.  He was peppy, but listening. So I got on.

NORMALLY in a lesson, he starts out a bit fast.  About 10 minutes in, the edge is gone and I have to work a little to get impulsion. Not today. He actually finished the lesson stronger than when we started. At one point my trainer asked, “How are you doing?” I replied, “To be honest, I’m wondering when this lesson will be over.”

Don’t get me wrong, it was FANTASTIC to ride a horse that was sensitive, forward, and listening.  However, I was on the edge of my comfort zone the entire time. He was so forward I felt like he was on the edge of chaos. Yet it never got out of control. Well, not too far out of control.

He was a good boy, and I had a good time. Every day is a new adventure!

How to fry your nerves… March 16, 2008

Posted by kimayars Arena Work (Horse) Digg! this story! Digg! this story. , add a comment

Do you know the saying, “If it doesn’t kill you, it makes you stronger?”  Well, today’s adventure fit that perfectly.

I think Sherene and I knew we had to do this, and we knew that we were ready, but it was still terrifying.

We took the horses on a road trip.

And not just a road trip, we were going to RIDE.

To seasoned horse people with dead-broke horses, this probably sounds a little wimpish. But Sherene and I wouldn’t consider ourselves seasoned horse people. And our horses are NOT dead-broke.  She has an Arabian and I have a… well… whatever he is he can be tightly wound sometimes.

We loaded the ponies in the trailer and drove up to Bridle Trails State Park.  Our original plan was to meet up with some friends and ride the trails, but even before we got there we knew the possibility of this was slim. We arrived to a nearly empty parking lot (yay!) and immediately unloaded the horses.  So far, so good.  Sherene’s horse was pretty mellow, and that helped calm Tigger’s fears. In fact, Tigger was much better than the previous weekend.

We tacked up, grabbed our lunge lines, and headed for the vacant arenas.  As we entered the arena, Sherene casually mentioned, “This is going much better than I expected.”

I staked out a portion of the arena and sent Tigger out on the line. He walked on. Then stopped. This wasn’t a “HOLY CRAP WHAT IS THAT” stop. It was a, “This looks like a fine place to take a nap” stop. Wasn’t this the horse that was out of his mind last week?  Hmmm… I’ll bet he’ll blow up in trot. Nope. He was steady eddy. Sherene shouted across the arena, “Does your horse need a sedative?”  I casually glanced over to see Sherene expertly lunging her tail-flagging-nostril-flairing-fire-breathing-smoke-snorting fiery steed. SOMEBODY was a bit jacked up.

This is one of those moments when you’re looking at a horse and thinking, “My goodness, he’s gorgeous.” When Shazam puts on a show, he is striking. The downside is, when he puts on a show it usually means his mind is on something else other than Sherene. But Sherene is good at this, and I never worry about her being able to handle the situation.  She knows Shazam like the back of her hand, much to his chagrin.

After much lunging, we decided to actually get on and ride.  Sherene held Tigger for me and I hauled myself into the saddle from the ground. (Note to self: Need to work on some stretches.) I was fully prepared for Tigger to take off.  He just stood there.  My legs were shaking so bad I knew that he knew I was terrified. But, he stood there. Relaxed. It was nice. Sherene mounted and we proceeded with our flat work.

I was VERY pleased with the arena work.  He was still distracted, but didn’t rush nearly as much as last week.  He was listening, and felt very controllable. I actually was able to relax. Even when our friends returned from the trail, he was pretty good.  We had to go say hi, but he was well-behaved and seemed pretty relaxed.

One of our friends stayed behind while the other two headed out. We decided to try the trail a little bit.  Unfortunately, that didn’t go as well.  The horses kept getting amped up as we headed toward the trail system. by the time we got to a trail everyone was sufficiently fried, so we aborted. Sherene and I are all about having fun, and we had just crossed the line into “not fun”.

We continued our flat work in a larger arena, and I had some lovely canter moments with Tigger. He continued to be a very good boy.

The trip home was uneventful, and both horses seemed to enjoy their outing. Overally, it was VERY successful.  Things like this are very important for my show in a few weeks.  Hauling him places and getting miles under him makes the next event not so scary (for both him and I).

And our friend, who owns this VERY nice American Warmblood (TB x Clydesdale) asked if Tigger was a Hanovarian.  *giggle!*  That made my day!