Back to Reality

[dancinghorse]

I hadn't realized it had been so long since I posted to the lj.  Time flies when you're having fun.  I've been fair to middling comatose the past couple of days--recovering from the long crush of deadlines, holidays, and finally the Lipizzaner clinic.

When I last posted, it was Monday the 3rd and we were fretting about storms.  We  did get over an inch of rain, which caused some of the expected problems, but the Mother Ship was kind.  Often there was a large circle of clear sky over us while the rest of the world was deeply socked in.  The guests were able to ride every day, sometimes twice a day.  The horseguests stayed in the stalls, in and around my troops  (who calmed down fairly quickly, considering), until Wednesday, then were able to move to the guest pens, which were much drier underfoot than the stalls.

At any rate,  on Tuesday we dealt with a lot of rain and cold, but managed a trail ride in between squalls.  Keed was supposed to be Trail Boss, but as I picked up his foot to clean it, I discovered that he'd pulled a shoe.  I called Curt the Wonder Shoer right away, and Curt, bless him, said he'd be there in an hour and a half.  In the meantime I saddled up Capria.  She was jiggy-jiggy-jiggy and did not behave exceptionally well, but nobody got killed, so that was good.  Then Curt arrived and shod keed, but just as he was finishing, the rain set in.  So no ride for keed that day.  The horses got blankets, which turned out to be a good call--it got colder as the day went on, and by dinnertime was very cold and wet.  I made pork tenderloin with apples and cranberries for the humans' dinner, with apple-pear-cranberry crisp for dessert.   It was definitely a theme meal, and it was good.

Wednesday was the first lesson day, and was chilly but the storm had moved away.   Joni came over  in the morning.  I'd have canceled if it had been just me, as the arena was quite wet, but the west end was usable and it was enough to go on with.  Michelle had a nice longe lesson on Capria, to evaluate her seat and aids (both were very good), and Jen introduced Moose to Joni.  I rode da Pook.  He couldn't have the free longe he needed because the arena was too wet;  when he tried, he slipped so much I got worried.  So  I just got on and worked in walk.  He did his first concentrated work on the 20m circle--the standard training area of the dressage rider--and he was very good indeed.  I had to work on my hands.  Seat was OK but hands kept wandering off.  Outside rein would get dropped, inside rein get too active, and he would try to go veering out of the circle.  We had some decent work eventually.  I spent the afternoon in a lesson coma, while the others took their horses out for a road ride.  They were intrepid.

Thursday Jen and Michelle hauled their horses to Marana for more lessons near Joni's house.  I ran the last few errands, then did some baking (ah, young, athletic guests with a sweet tooth).  As I was finishing up, whitezinnia  arrived and settled in.  The others were very late coming back--they left the horses at the barn and toured the Desert Museum, then decided to leave the horses there overnight and do Friday's lesson with better footing.  Moose needed to work on her canter.  We rearranged the schedule so Joni would come here and teach us, then go there and teach the others.

Friday had a threat of rain in the forecast, but the rain never amounted to anything.   So, the day went as planned--Joni came here first and taught whitezinnia  and me and rode ze keed, and then went back to her side of town to teach the other two.  Pook was in a Mood by then, frustrated because the arena was too wet for a good gallop, and I couldn't turn him loose for a free longe--it was 'way too slippery.  Joni longed him on a line instead, which ticked him off considerably.  The audience got to see da  Pook's famous 20m circle in crowhop with bad words and head-shaking.  They were duly impressed.  When he had got the bucks out, I got on and we continued Wednesday's lesson, with the addition of trot.  More work on the vanishing outside hand and the overactive inside, and plenty of work on keeping him balanced, forward, and willing to keep trotting.  whitezinnia  had a good lesson on Capria, and keed was delighted to have his second dressage ride in three days.  Then everybody left to do the second half 50 miles away, and I stayed home to crash, bake cheesecake, and crash some more.  Everybody came back in the evening, and all the horses were tucked in for the night.

Saturday was the major clinic day.  We had spectators coming and going for much of the day, including casacorona  and a couple of Lipp breeders.  Everyone had good rides,  and Pook came out calm and happy and had a lovely lesson.  Joni said no 20m circles today apart from a couple for warmup.  Instead we got creative with the dry spots of the arena and rode "bowties"--circle at one end, come across the half-diagonal, change direction, circle, repeat.  It's a very nice exercise with lots of changes of direction, nice big figures, and plenty of room to work on  trot as well as walk.  Pook took to it very well.   I concluded that for shows, I need  to ride him the day before--get the bucks out--and then he'll be great on show day.

The other rides went well.  Teresa, Joni's oldest living student, brought her Andalusians, and rode the young one, Lumi, who is keed's age.  It was lovely to watch him.  He's such a flowing mover, not much suspension but very smooth and pleasant, and of course, being an Andy, he's beautiful.  It was great to see Teresa again;  she's a great good person and a fine rider.

Keed's ride came last, after Teresa and Lumi.  He started off a bit stiff--he was sore from the previous day--but he limbered up and did well.  While Joni rode him, I saddled up Camilla and brought her up to the west end where keed was, and climbed aboard.  She wanted me on her, was very clear about that.  Some spectators worried--we were in the middle of a lot of chairs, the camera tripod, and various paraphernalia--and if this had been a normal green horse, there would have been a great deal to worry about.  Camilla is always sure of where her body parts are, however, and she needed the security of keed being nearby and humans standing or sitting around her.

Clearly she had a Plan.  I was going to sit on her.  Eventually I was going to noodge her to go forward.  And she was going to kill me.  She was disconcerted when all I did was sit there.  She turned this way.  She turned that way.  She backed up.  Finally she stepped forward slightly on her own, and then she said, "Get off."  So I did.  Which flummoxed her even further.  We ended by wandering all over the arena, me in the lead, her following, stopping to say hello to a visitor, then wandering back to the end where keed was.  She definitely didn't want the session to end, though the ridden part had given her a great deal to think about.

After lessons ended, we had a SW Lipp meeting--discussing holding breeding-stock evaluations in the fall--and then it was feeding time for the horses, followed by feeding time for the humans.  My parents very kindly brought over a baked bean suppah, with homemade bread and cole slaw and the works, and it was good.

Sunday the Texas contingent left in the wee small hours for the 17-hour drive back to Austin.  whitezinnia and I had a more leisurely morning, then went to visit casacorona  and her ponies.  After that we headed off to Texas Canyon, did a bit of exploring and discovered that there's a guest ranch in there with camping and all.  Hmmm.  I wonder if one can bring one's horse?  We saw clear signs of people parking by the road with trailers and heading on into the canyon.  On the way home we stopped at Safeway and loaded up on veggies--dinner was grilled vegetables and a small bit of pork pie.  Yum.

On Monday whitezinnia didn't have to leave until afternoon.  We decided to go to town for lunch, but as I was getting ready, I realized I couldn't remember seeing Hillary since Saturday night, and he hadn't come out for his morning canned food with the rest of the crew.  Hillary sometimes slips outside, and being an indoor cat in coyote country, is not equipped to deal with the wild outdoors.  There followed a frantic hour in which we went outside and called him, then I decided to drive around the neighborhood and try to find him.  Just as I went out to do that, he came out from under the house, dusty and spooked but none the worse for wear.  He was very hungry when I got him inside, and stayed spooked for the rest of the day.  Thank goodness he was smart enough to stay right there, and hole up under the house when things got scary.  He's back to normal now.  I keep checking to make sure he's still there.  Hillary is the world's best cat.  It would be beyond awful if we'd lost him.

Once he was safe in the house, we headed off to City Grill for a very relieved lunch--kind of the last hurrah of the holiday excesses.   whitezinnia dropped me off at home and then headed for the airport by way of the Casa Grande outlet stores.  And I went, basically (allowing for horse chores and laundry), Thud.  Tuesday was more of same, mostly horse chores and watching Prisoner of Azkaban.   I wanna ride Buckbeak!  Today is about slowly crawling back to the real world, stalking warily around the next book while reviewing and revising the last one, and gearing up to get the horses back on a consistent schedule.

And that's what I did on my winter vacation.

Comments

[threeringedmoon.livejournal.com]

Thanks for writing it up. I enjoyed it.

[smoemeth.livejournal.com]

Wow. I'm glad the weather ended up (mostly) cooperating. Sounds like everything ended up quite well.

And big sigh of relief re Hillary ... it would've been beyond beyond awful if he'd gotten lost!!!

[sfmarty.livejournal.com]

It sounds like everyone had a great time. When you first said Hillary was missing, my heart skipped a beat. Such a smart kitty. I am very happy he was found.

We have had steady rain here, but it stopped for the week.

[raithen.livejournal.com]

Clearly she had a Plan. I was going to sit on her. Eventually I was going to noodge her to go forward. And she was going to kill me. She was disconcerted when all I did was sit there. She turned this way. She turned that way. She backed up. Finally she stepped forward slightly on her own, and then she said, "Get off." So I did. Which flummoxed her even further. We ended by wandering all over the arena, me in the lead, her following, stopping to say hello to a visitor, then wandering back to the end where keed was. She definitely didn't want the session to end, though the ridden part had given her a great deal to think about.

You should write a training book. That is just So. Wise. Also, it makes me think of Bonnie Ledbetter, in tone and substance, though certainly not in style. Have you ever read Ledbetter and Ainslie's book The Body Language of Horses? Mom found a used copy a few years back, and I adore it.

And it sounds like a lovely clinic, if somewhat exhausting for you!

[bdenz.livejournal.com]

Wow. I'm glad the weather [mostly] behaved. It could have been so much worse, considering what the weather gods have been doing elsewhere. It sounds like a lovely time! I'm glad you've been able to go thud and relax, tho.