When the mistakes are all YOU.

So, apparently the freight train feel when we gallop at tables is caused by yours truly.  Farrah obviously plays in to it, (I think she likes to antagonize me) but it is her rider that is creating the bulk of the problems. 

I managed to show Mike Huber that the pony is athletic, not by wowing him with our brilliance but rather burying Farrah to the base of a number of wide training level obstacles.  Which she packed me over anyway, to her credit.  His comment was "Well, she will really go from anywhere, even if her front feet are in the jump". 

I can still get that deer in the headlights look to some of the fences.  Large gallop tables are my usual culprit.  Apparently, I approach them like this:  /:O

And then I push Farrah past any distance that might have been there.  As Huber put it, I am gunning her at nothing.  Why Farrah is choosing to still jump them at this point is beyond me.  So Mike worked on getting me calmed down, and things went much better after that.

Our lesson finished with us jumping with ease the large training tables and the corner and also riding through a preliminary coffin line.  It really is all me and the pony is just fine.  At this point, I am glad she is putting up with MY learning curve.  We head to Longwood on Saturday for a final school prior Rocking Horse III.

What happened to the brakes???

In the beginning (like last year), for BN and Novice, I rode Farrah in a loose ring snaffle, merrily cantering along on XC.  Now that Farrah has run two trainings, she has altered the conditions in which she chooses to participate in this fine sport of eventing.  Gone are the lovely half halts, where she rocks back and says "ok mom, I see it, no problem".  What I have now is basically an arm pulling freight train and Farrah is clearly saying to me "Quit bothering me, I KNOW what I am doing galloping like mad and then scrambling over". 

This is not really working well for me.  First of all, I want to live and actually enjoy eventing.  While her boldness is good, reckless abandon at Training level and being only 14.3 spells disaster to me.  Somehow, bitting Farrah up doesn't seem like the correct answer to myself or my trainer, so we are going to back up a little and re-group.  The added fitness for Farrah at training also seems to be working against me a bit!

This weekend at RH 1, Farrah did reasonably well at dressage (35) and was very rideable in stadium and went clean.  We began xc in 2nd place in our division.  When she rapped two tables with her legs (from blowing through all attempts at a half halt or full stop or any other such direction on my part) and then ran out due to a "discussion" I was having with her, I decided to retire.  We did gallop up the bounce bank nicely at fence 12 before I called it a day, thus ending on a good note.  I was surprised by Farrah's new found cavalier attitude to XC, and it definitely took the joy out of galloping to the fences!

At a recent schooling, when I attempted to pull out of an approach to a corner (due to Farrah's over-riding my decision on a half halt and balanced approach - in which Farrah didn't even pretend to acknowledge there was a rider on board), we had this:

I  tried to pull her out to the left and she decided we should launch it.  She had to put her hind feet DOWN on the top of the corner and push off.  I thought she learned something, as afterwards she was so respectful and we finished with the following:

And this:

So, back to the dressage and bounces and some help from Mike Huber....more tools in the toolbox are needed.

Farrah's barn mates showed her that even though they are new to eventing, they could go out and do well.  Monte (Nataly Pacheco's gelding) finished fourth in his FIRST event, ever.  He got a 30.5 in dressage, had a rail in stadium and cantered xc like a pro!  My daughter's pony, Lucy, a former broodmare, was seriously bad in dressage (45!!) but clean stadium and xc and moved up to 7th in her BN division.  The weekend felt mildly salvaged :)

Proof that Farrah is NOT NORMAL

I feel rather silly that I hadn't ever put the 2 + 2 = 4 thing together before.  Sometimes you need to be smacked upside the head to notice the obvious.

Farrah does not really like to bend left.  When asked to view her left eyeball ever so slightly, she does resist.  Not horribly, but it is definitely there.

Then you add in the rather odd, periodic swelling of her head.  Not up by her cheeks, but underneath, around the teeth and towards the chin.  Only sometimes, only after grazing (think all fluids follow the laws of gravity).

  

Now, she is swollen so briefly that this is what normally happens:

Go to put her halter on in the dark, hmm, won't quite fit.  I check, yes this is actually HER halter.  Her face is swollen that swollen, and even caffeine free I can see we have a problem.

I admit the first time I panicked, called the vet as thoughts of snake or spider bites raced through my brain.  However, she can eat and drink normally and there is no temperature.  Of course, the mystery swelling is gone when the vet arrives.

The swelling comes and goes, and I finally get the bright idea to take a picture with the smart phone and email it to the vet.  Lightbulb!

My regular vet says, upon inspection, she might have a stone in her salivary gland.  It is mobile, so the swelling comes and goes.  You need to get a nice digital xray to know for sure.  Ok, no problem.  Have the other vet with digital come and low and behold, the left cheek is not formed normally.  As in the bone extends up and back towards her ears.  A good 2 inches! 

This vet says we should have a specialist take a look, but the unique bone malformation could be interfering with the salivary gland and she might need surgery.  Now, with all the grooming and clipping this mare has had, you would think I might have noticed it.  After all, while you can't see it readily, on palpation it is pretty hard to miss.  So now I realize that if I had just started adding a month or so ago, I really should have been able to catch this and not feel like an idiot in front of the vet when my horse's head is clearly NOT like all the other equine residents of the farm.

The xrays do indicate Farrah was made this way....no sign of trauma or bone remodelling.  So now we just wait 2 weeks for the surgeon to come back from France and tell us actually how to proceed.  In the meantime I count my lucky stars that it isn't a leg and that she is insured and wait to enter that next event, pending a date with the surgeon!

Farrah Does Ocala

Farrah was incredible at the Ocala Horse Properties Event.  We had a few hiccups in dressage, where I pushed for a wow lengthening at the trot without the half-halt.  We cantered 2 strides, so that became a 4...of course that shut off my brain and I started to walk at C, instead of the stretchy trot circle (Training A).  Ah well, add an error.  Farrah was 8th after dressage with a 38.

Stadium was awesome.  Farrah was so rideable, the course flowed and we made time and left all the rails up :)

Cross country had some good questions for a first training.  There was a half coffin, a log/bank drop, a second bank drop 2 strides from a table and lots of big gallop tables.  Nice bending question.  I figured we'd not even be close to optimum time and I didn't go for time, as we are so new to this level (first time out!).  I was shocked, we were only 10 seconds off the time and ended up with a 4th!  So one score down for a T3D (long format event).

I CAN'T wait for our next one, sometime in January.  Woo Hoo Farrah!!!

Farrah is a Training Pony

I never thought I would type that.  A year ago, the BN xc fences looked big to me.  Then novice fences looked big.  When they started to look small, I thought maybe we could do training.  (The maybe is for me, not Farrah).  Pictures are courtesy of my friend, Jitka Hyniova.

We were tied for 2nd in dressage with a 37.  Not great, but certainly not too bad for our first outing at training.  It was nice and cool and Farrah was quite energetic.  We pulled a rail in stadium, totally my fault.  I came too far forward up Farrah's neck.  We also incurred a few time penalties.

XC was amazing and I rode Farrah conservatively (ie slow, she isn't super fit).  The coffin line rode well, as did a log drop to a hut.  The gallop tables were incredible, as was the corner and she nailed the log drop into water with coup out.  Our only issue was a small bending line through the trees.  I thought we had scored a refusal, but apparently blowing sideways and taking the jump from basically a walk was not!  We had 12 seconds in time but finished in 5th.  So proud of her!  So now she is a training eventer, with me thinking maybe I could eventually try preliminary.  We'll see :)

Debbie Stephens Lesson

Those of us who live in Florida are incredibly lucky to have access to lessons with the best of the best of the best.  Until now, I haven't really taken advantage of their proximity for a number of reasons.  I suck as a rider.  No money.  Not a great horse.  No money.  Still suck a rider.  No money.  Great horse.  No money.  Still not a great rider.  I am sure you are getting the picture.........

Lauren finally convinced me that I should take a lesson with Debbie Stephens. (In case you don't know, Debbie has ridden on Nations Cup Teams, Pan Am Games, etc.).   Lauren got a lot out of Debbie's lessons on Maven, her 2* horse.  Debbie is close to us (45 minutes).  Debbie is also back in town, from 4 months of showing up and down the East coast.  As I have a fantastic red pony mare in the barn, I finally agreed with Lauren and figured I could at least try.
My biggest concern is my wonderful ability to panic in a stressful situation.  This can happen when I ride for any dressage judge I know (IE going off course with Bill Woods judging).  I also apparently love to get the "deer in the headlights" look when approaching jumps I am unsure of, like drops into water.  Lauren said I'd be fine, but I am known for over-thinking riding, getting embarrased and then turning off my brain.  Not really a great set up for a lesson with Debbie.  Lauren was optimistic; I'm not sure why as she was present for the full blown panic I had prior to my first Novice).  I think Lauren forgets the bad things easily.....or at least on purpose.

I did manage to stay on, even when we almost fell in the rain.  I also managed to get yelled at, for forgetting where I was going.  Debbie asked me why I rode to the fence like I was day-dreaming about something else (I am sure that was my deer in the headlights look).  I did finally get it all together, however.  Farrah was amazing, and Debbie said I shouldn't let Karen O'Connor see her.  I knew Farrah was scopey, but not THAT scopey.  Debbie said Farrah is a freak of nature.  THAT I already knew!

Lots of fun and we'll have to try it again....I'm thinking a cocktail ahead of time might be a good idea for me!

The redhead soars........

Over the fences.  Even when her owner doesn't exactly get out of the way.  Sigh.  One day I won't look at pictures of me jumping and think "good lord, that is embarrassing".  At least, that is what I hope.

I am not sure why I insist on sticking my elbows out like a chicken.

Maybe one day I will get it right!  Now, on to Debbie Stephens for a jump lesson on Sunday.  Then Wednesday is Bill Woods for dressage and we are then primed and ready for Training at Rocking Horse.  Or so I hope.