My Inner Kelsey

I love my friends. The only thing I really don't like about my friends is that almost all of them live in some other town, in some other state. Most of the time, I'm forced to catch up long distance via phone, text, or Facebook, which means that my daily life is pretty dull (and Smartphone-dependent). Because I live alone and keep mainly to myself, I tend to have a very busy inner monologue as I go through my daily routine. I've come to realize that oftentimes, I will think of something I want to tell to or share with one of my friends, and I can instantly think what her reaction or response would be....even hearing it in her own voice. Inevitably, it's something silly, so this internal conversation always makes me smile. Sometimes, the running dialogue keeps me entertained as I feed the critters, or as I ride Eddie, or as I walk the pig. Anytime I've got the chance to think to myself, I'm probably having a talk with one of my far-off friends. I guess that if I only get to see my BFF Kelsey once or twice a year, a telepathic chat session of my own creation on a regular basis will just have to suffice. At least, if anything, it certainly keeps me entertained.

Now, before you become concerned about me and question whether or not I spend a lot of time in an upstairs bedroom papered with yellow, flowered wallpaper, just know that I am perfectly sane. I simply miss my friends sometimes. For all of you out there, I guess this means that I think about you every day and I look forward to the upcoming event season when I will finally get to see you all again!

One of my frequent conversationalists, Kelsey, and her former
steeplechase OTTB, Geno, at his first show.
I think he's got that stadium jumping thing all figured out!

Payday.

Ye olde chuck wagon.

This is what the back of my truck looks like every time I get a nice, big paycheck. 25lbs of cat food, 70lbs of dog food, 300lbs of horse food, one 40lb compressed bale of alfalfa, and 25lbs of wild bird seed. I couldn't be more happy if those were all shopping bags from the local mall full of new clothes and shoes. Nope, not for me. I'll take a truckbed full of critter vittles any day!

Eddie is a "Pig"

I saw this article earlier today on Horse Nation and I couldn't contain my curiosity. I had to know if Eddie and I had been destined to be together all along. Are we a perfect match? Let's see....

I was born in the Year of the Ox, and Eddie was born in the Year of the Pig. According to this analysis, horses born in the Year of the Pig are " honest, frank, and gallant. They maintain an outer and inner calmness, have a strong heart, and will do anything you want once you have earned their friendship -- they are very loyal. They enjoy working through problems and puzzles. Because they are so trusting, one of the Pig-Horse's weaknesses is that they are easily taken advantage of." After reading this description, I was shocked!!! That is Eddie to a tee.

When I scrolled down the page to see the horse/rider match analysis, I was disappointed to see that an Ox/Pig partnership "needs effort." That sounds like a typical judge's comment on any of our various dressage test movements, so that seems about right. But, then I looked at some of the others and they read "hard work," "hard going," "tricky pair," "ups and downs," and "not matching!" In all reality, a result such as "superb match," "great fun," and "truly loving" would be fabulous, but where is the challenge in always having an easy time of it? I love puzzles, and apparently a horse born in the Year of the Pig loves to "work through problems and puzzles" too, so it's obvious we are the dream pair. I am loyal, Eddie is loyal; I am honest, Eddie is honest; I am calm with a strong heart, Eddie is calm with a strong heart. In my eyes, "needs effort" just means that there is satisfaction in a challenge met while traversing the bumpy road together. And, if that's truly the case, I didn't really need the Chinese zodiac to tell me that. It's clear to anyone who knows me and Eddie that we are indeed a perfect match!

I would much rather....

....jump one of the red concrete balls in the Target parking lot than....

.....a very bright and upright show jump vertical.

Am I the only person who sees average and run-of-the-mill objects in everyday life as potential cross-country fences? Even though it is skinny, round, and red, I just think the Target ball has a more inviting shape. I am really struggling to feel balanced down to verticals of late. Maybe I'm just out of practice, or maybe it's a perspective issue. It will get better with time this spring.

Now, to test my theoretical bravery against the Target ball. Do you dare me?

A Horse, A Rider, A Trainer, and Two Wooden Poles

The Crossrail

This past week, I finally got the chance to schedule a lesson with Erika Adams at Road Less Traveled Eventing here in Knoxville. I have not been in the saddle for any length of time since Eddie and I rocked the starter division at a local combined test the first weekend of December, so I am in rough shape. Add to that my total abandon in regards to excessive carbs, sweets, and alcohol in an extended holiday season....and you've got one struggling rider. 

I've asked Erika to assist me and Eddie with our jumping since we need some help bringing together all of this flatwork we've been doing and incorporating it into our schooling over fences. Kyle helped me get a head start on this back in November, and now we are gettin' our 2012 on by training some at Erika's. We started out just wandering around her "very scary" indoor, with the "Eddie-eating" wet spots in the far corner. Once we fully inspected and (over)analyzed every inch of the arena, we started warming up at a leisurely pace. After about 5 minutes of this "leisurely pace," I was beat. Whooo! Out. Of. Breath. This is the sad reality of it here at the onset of the new year. But, instead of being bummed and mentally berating myself on the drive home, I'm looking forward to this as the chance to have a "Before" and "After" moment at the end of this year. Just you wait.

Anyway, after more trotting and huffing-and-puffing, we were ready to start working over a simple crossrail. The crossrail is the essential basic to every jump school warm-up. But, the difference between previous crossrails and this crossrail is that earlier crossrails have just been a simple means to an end: I jump a few crossrails, then a vertical, then maybe a small oxer, and then I'm ready to go ride some cross-country. This crossrail, however, was a way to say, "I'm serious about doing this right and we are ready to go." Unfortunately, what the crossrail said to Eddie was, "If you focus on accurately approaching and popping over me, then you can't concentrate on all the big, scary, spooky creatures that are just waiting to attack you when you land on the other side, trotting towards the EVIL, DARK end of the indoor." So, like any smart horse would do, Eddie listened to the little voice in his head and he concentrated on the EVIL, DARK end of the indoor, and he forgot about the crossrail right in front of him. Dead stop. Say, wha? [exasperated sigh]. I pony-club kicked him once or twice and he sullenly walked on over it, but I was less than excited about that anti-climactic initial effort to what I was hoping would be a year of looking forward and no looking back. 

After I came around the arena and we inelegantly hopped over the crossrail a few more times, Erika really helped me get down to business. One of the things I struggle with is "the metronome effect" (Erika's term), whereby if Eddie listens to me one time when I cue him to -- say -- flex at the poll and step forward underneath himself and carry us through a corner, then as long as he is going along and trotting, trotting, trotting as we continue around the arena, I get lulled into this complacency that means I have completely forgotten to keep asking him to flex at the poll and step underneath himself as we progress. So, we worked on my leg position and contact through the turns in our approach to the crossrail in order for me to keep Eddie in a nice frame and coming forward into the fence, then the jump just takes care of itself. I also worked on making almost no position change over the jump and just slightly standing taller in the stirrups and softening with my hands. I tend to get all crouchy and perchy over even the smallest jumps, so this was a good exercise and something I will keep working on here at home until it becomes second nature, no matter the type or height of fence. You can take an eventer out of the hunter ring, but it takes a lot of work to take the hunter ring out of an eventer. 

We worked a bit more on incorporating my dressage turns (think "rising trot E to K, at A turn down centerline") to the crossrail in the center of the arena, and I really started to feel a faint connection forming for me and Eddie, with our dressage finally meeting the jumping in a visible, tangible way. Erika gave me a few homework exercises to practice at the trot and canter with small fences, or even ground poles, to help us solidify the concept of pace and balance and letting "the jumps just get in the way and take care of themselves." After we finished our positive work over the crossrail, we were almost out of time, but Erika was going to have me do a small vertical at the canter a few times. As I started to collect my reins, she looked at us and said, "Or, you can stop right there. If you want to end here, it's a great place to stop." Of course, a part of me wanted to continue riding and get help with Erika while I was there, but I felt a satisfying relief when she said this. It sounds crazy, but I felt like we'd made a lot of progress just working over a simple crossrail, and I wanted to process that sense of accomplishment and make some mental notes for my next ride. As I started to dismount, Erika noticed that Eddie was looking brighter, more enthusiastic, with his head up and ears pricked, so it seemed like he felt good about our lesson, too. What a great feeling....to have my horse excited about our progress, as well! I'm sure everybody is probably saying, "Oh, why don't you do something really productive, like get out there and just jump a 4-foot oxer already," but that would defeat the purpose of the WORK. Eddie and I can jump a 4-foot oxer, if we are galloping wildly down to it and forced to jump, but the real question is, "when it really matters, can we do it right?" And, that's what all the crossrails are for. There is no need to hurry up and cut corners anymore: you can't run [correctly] before you can walk [correctly]!

Hail to the "Not Canter"!

I love this blog post about how to effectively employ the use of the "not canter." Amen! For a horse who can memorize dressage tests (or, mostly memorize dressage tests, or at least think he can, anyway), this is a God-send. I have decided to use this ploy a good bit in my flat schools this spring. Eddie always trots better when he thinks we're getting ready to canter. My new best friend: the "not canter." :-)

At what price?

While I was visiting with my parents last weekend, we were watching the Tennessee Titans play the Houston Texans on Sunday afternoon when I saw this happen:



I was stunned. I can understand that sometimes adrenaline takes over and the body acts out of shear impulse and instinct. But, to go in for a helmet-to-helmet hit without a helmet seems idiotic and utterly reckless. How important was that tackle (when the runner was already being pushed out of bounds) compared to the safety and well-being of the tackler? He appeared to be completely unaffected, but WE ALL KNOW how head injuries work. With as much research that has been conducted recently involving brain injury and football, new innovation in materials for high tech equipment, and the call for more serious consideration regarding head safety and post-traumatic assessment.....well, this video just feels like a slap in the face to all of us in high-risk sports who fight for action and awareness in terms of enforcing head protection at all times. 

And, what amazed me more than anything wasn't just the initial tackle, but, did anybody else notice the assistant coaches and trainers on the sidelines who were hugging Braman, chest bumping him, and patting him on the back? Why did they not immediately check him for signs of dizziness or concussion? Yeh, yeh, yeh....I know. It's FOOTBALL. Football players aren't supposed to be sissies, or so I've heard. If that's the case, then why all the fuss about better attention to head injury prevention and detection? If you're going to talk the talk, then you better walk the walk on national television (although, I guess it is possible that a full evaluation of Braman happened off-camera). As someone who always rides in my helmet, who worries about those around me always riding in a helmet, and who has suffered a concussion while wearing a helmet, I guess maybe I'm super sensitive to this topic. Or, perhaps I am not the only one. How does this video make YOU feel about the state of helmet safety in the NFL and other high-impact/high-risk sports? Is it just me who was shocked that this seemed to be treated as......natural and appropriate for the situation at hand? After seeing that hit, I couldn't help feeling a little dismayed, as though man -- who has come so far in terms of evolution throughout the centuries -- may have suddenly taken a step or two backwards toward that proverbial cave. 

"Wear your helmet, people."

New year.......new shoes.

WARNING: Twirl and sashay at your own risk. 

On my holiday foray to Charlotte last week, I got a great deal on a killer pair of shoes. And, by "killer" I mean: "Those shoes are going to kill you when you fall and break your neck," (quotation courtesy of my mother, of course). But, one thing I cannot resist is a reasonably priced ($29) pair of fancy shoes. I haven't bought any fancy shoes in a long time. I will gladly pay $70 for new shoes for Eddie every 8-12 weeks, but it'll usually be 8-12 months between shoe purchases for yours truly. It's the holidays, so I caved in and I bought. I haven't worn them yet, but I keep hearing the old, "If you build it, they will come" line from Field of Dreams echoing in my head, so I figure that if I wear them, a party will materialize somehow, somewhere!

Cross-country course walking machines. Check out those studs.
And, yes, they are purple!

And, because one pair of shoes would have come home lonely in the bag all by themselves, I had to get 2 pair to keep everyone happy. These are my foot SUVs -- perfect for running, walking, hiking, and trekking out there around cross-country courses everywhere. These were $39 on sale (I know it's tacky to talk price, but I've got to give a great deal it's due). Such fancy kicks for not a lot of cash. Happy New Year to me!