My first few days as an adult

This past week was a blast! Here is a "brief" over view of what we have been up to...

Mary Beth Gordon and others from Purina Feeds gave us a visit on Monday to kick off our week. We body condition scored our own horses and were able to score others as well. Body condition scoring is used to determine the condition of the horses' body. A horse's body condition influences everything in their life from performance to good health. By using the body condition scoring, you can find out what kind of shape your horse is in because it focuses on critical areas of the body. It is based on palpable fat and visual appearance. Liv scored very well and didn't fail his test ;)

Tuesday we "had off." I use quotations because the only thing we have off from is riding lessons and lectures. We still need to be at the barn by 6:30am to feed, to do chores, and to turn out. I headed back home after I was done and crashed on my bed. A little power nap never hurt! That nap gave me just enough energy to tackle the rest of the paperwork and odds and ends that had been piling up.... and go for a run around the neighborhood. How did I get talked in to that?! 

And then came Wednesday. I woke up like every other morning ... half asleep. Then, my room mate jumped out of bed and yelled, "HAPPY 18th BIRTHDAY!" Ohhhh wait, I forgot...again! If it weren't for the other riders and the many text/voicemail/facebook/twitter/instagram notifications, I would not have remembered ... okay that's a bit of an exaggeration. I would have remembered, but it would not have been the first thing on my mind. Wednesday proved to be a fantastic day. My lesson with Lendon went very very well and Liv and I really got into a rhythm. He is becoming very adjustable to my aids and his mind has settled in quite quickly. What a great birthday ride :) After lunch the other riders had a little surprise get together! Whoopie pies, "18" (unlit) candles, and all!  That night a group of WITties (as Lendon called us today) headed east for some quality beach time! That's right... we went swimming in the Atlantic Ocean in the middle of winter! 

Thank you all for the birthday wishes and surprises in the mail! I will be eating well for a while! 

Surprise!

Is my Oreo obsession that obvious? THANK YOU EVERYONE!!

Now on to Thursday... I was pretty sleepy from that hard core partying the night before ;) aka ice cream at Baskin Robins and an Oreo cake at the house. I think Liv felt bad for me when I walked into his stall that morning half asleep because he was AWESOME in my lesson. To add some spice to our lessons, Lendon had us braid our horses and wear our own hair the way we would for a show. Those at Straight Forward Dressage know making braids look like buttons, shall we say, not my forte. BUT I gave myself 2 whole hours to work on them and in about 30 minutes, I had myself some recognizable braids that didn't look like the Budweiser Clydesdale braids!

We ended the day talking to Kim Boyer, owner of Hampton Green Farms. This past summer her horse Grandioso III made the 2012 Olympic Dressage team for Spain. It was so neat to hear her talk about not only her experiences leading up to the Olympics and the Olympics themselves, but also how she got her start and words of advice for aspiring riders. She started off by quoting Hilary Clinton's book It takes a Village. In this sport, you really can not make it big alone. It takes the loving support of your family and friends along with the right combination of horse+rider+trainer+vet+farrier+a million others! Kim emphasized the fact that you "should not be afraid to try something alternative" and "If you don't have the dream, you won't get there." It made me think about my journey this year. If I didn't have the dream to compete at Region 8 Championships, Dressage at Devon, and Colonel Bengt Linguist Champs, I could very well not be sitting in Florida right now. Dreams aren't everything, but they are a HUGE part of the journey! 

It is sad to say that I am getting used to waking up at 5:30. Today we had to be at the barn at 6 and as my alarm was ringing all I could think was, "Ahhh I just need 30 more minutes!" But waking up even earlier was well worth it. We left Hampton Green after chores and headed to Catherine Haddad's farm in White Fences. Catherine Haddad is a straight forward trainer who has made quite an impression in the international circuit. She has competed and placed in the top numbers at the World Cup and World Equestrian Games as well as trained many horses to the Grand Prix level. Catherine took us under her wing and gave us the low-down on developing a Grand Prix horse. The day at her farm started with breakfast. Her working student got the lucky 1st ride of the day on a schoolmaster, Maximus. One thing that stuck out to me was the power of consistency. Catherine warms up each horse starting left and with the horse in a frame parallel to their level/training. She would then change directions, testing all the "buttons;" Stop, go, left, right. This consistency allowed the rider to determine minor stiffnesses or issues right from the start... not 10 minutes into the ride. After seeing others ride young horses increasing in age, Catherine got on her developing Grand Prix horse. I loved how when she schooled her tempi changes and the horse had a misstep, she just started over and didn't make it a big deal. She emphasized that it is important to be able to start and stop each movement because when you do, if the middle falls apart, you can simply start from the "beginning." 

Saturday I had the opportunity to take a lesson with Courtney King-Dye. Courtney was a long time student of Lendon Gray and later became her assistant trainer. She was a member of the 2008 US Olympic Dressage Team. In 2010, a horse Courtney was riding tripped and fell. Courtney was not wearing a helmet and suffered a Traumatic Brain Injury. She spent 4 weeks in a coma and 3 months in in-patient rehabilitation re-learning how to walk and talk. She was the catalyst and is an avid supporter of riders4helmets as well as some one I truly look up to. Heck, I wrote my first English paper this year about her, her journey, and how much I look up to her for never giving up. Courtney's drive to get back to where she was before the accident is motivating beyond words.

During my lesson, we worked on the angle and bend of shoulder-in along with half pass-leg yield zig zags. I stupidly forgot to drink water pretty much the whole day so when 1:00 rolled around and the sun was beating on the arena, it just hit me like a brick. I made it through my lesson, but it was questionable making it back to the barn. Thankfully, the other girls came running to help and took care of Liv and I. I have learned my lesson and won't be getting dehydrated or over heated again. Mark my words! 

That evening and the next morning, the WITties went to JJ Tate's farm for a learning styles seminar. Dr(s) Kathy Kelly and Marge Watson did an AMAZING job pin pointing each of our learning styles. But not only did the learning style tests determine exactly which style we learn best by, but they also gave us ways to improve the weaknesses we have. I really am a mutt learner... visual, auditory, and kinesthetic. But I do best taught by visuals. So as a primarily visual learner, I tend to struggle with easier tasks but complex ones are a breeze, I don't like to read (see Mom, it's not my fault!), and I become impatient with a lot of talking. So what can I do to fix it? I can turn notes into pictures, charts or diagrams (if you look at my notebooks, that's what you would see), watch demonstrations of a skill before I attempt it, and think about problems while I am exercising or riding. Moving forward, Lendon has asked each of us to let her know our learning styles so she can come up with even better ways to truly torture us... okay slight exaggeration ;) 


All in all last week was tons of fun and tonight we had a potluck at our house including home made macaroni, KFC chicken, salad, banana bread, and ice cream brownie sundaes ... all the things that will make us need triple work outs tomorrow!