And more where pony is doing her best impersonation of a mellow Eq horse...

So Tuesday and Wednesday night I had a couple more lessons with the super good, sensitive, light Arwen that has been making an appearance lately. Tuesday we were stuck in the indoor since by the time I was mounted up and ready to go, it was already dark out. Our outdoor does have lights, but they kind of suck. There were only two jumps set up in the indoor, so we practiced tight U-shaped turns going both directions. Pony face was once again, fantastic. She was listening to me extremely well, shortening her stride when I requested or lengthening a bit to get the distance. We missed a couple times trying to do the U-shaped turn, until I remembered I DO have an outside leg and YES it helps to use it on tight turns. A couple of the turns felt so good. I could really feel her hind end under me, and pivoting on the inside leg to make a nice, square, neat turn without losing impulsion. Trainer also raised the fences a little higher than we have been schooling lately, I would say probably around 2'6"-2'7".

Wednesday I was able to get out to the barn a little earlier, so I quickly groomed in hopes of being able to ride outside. Since she had been turned out for the majority of the day, we just did a super quick warmup, and then trainer had me doing a little cavaletti sized jump a couple times before cantering some crossrails and some larger jumps. Again-awesome pony. We pretty much nailed all the distances, she was listening really well, and only kind of ran off with me when we had to do a jump, then two stride to a ground pole. I'm pretty sure this happened because I got kind of nervous about the ground pole, so I forgot to sit up and keep leg on. Because we were losing light though, trainer just had me keep going...and going...and going...yelled out which jump to take as soon as I finished the first one. It was kind of fun actually, and kept ponyface guessing. Since we were outside, we even jumped a little bigger. One of the jumps was set to a soft 2'11", which was exciting!

I'm just really keeping my fingers crossed Arwen stays this way, at least for the majority of the time so we can keep progressing. I bought her to be a 3'-3'3" horse and I would like to get there with her before she can't (since she is going to be 15 this year). But the way things are going now, I feel like I'm pretty much on track with the goals I set. Lateral work is still a uh...work in progress but its getting better. She just doesn't like to move those haunches over, and/or I'm just not pushing the correct button (my guess is more the latter, less of the first). But rideability has improved so much from when I first got her, its nice. I think a lot of it is I have much better body control (due to CrossFit) and I've been reminding myself every. single. ride to SIT UP and back. Keeping my shoulders above my hips really helps.

Okay, where is my horse and what did you do with her?

Every year, my barn has a little Christmas Eve "show". I use the term show loosely, because all it really is is everyone getting together, eating and drinking, and throwing some riding in there. Sometimes trainer has a pre-established course, sometimes we're just on our own to make up what we want to do. Its just to get out there and have a little fun before the holidays/end of the year.

Well. I know I've been talking about how good Arwen has been lately. Saturday was no exception. She was EXCELLENT. It was funny, because the day before I rode her in my first jump lesson of the week and oh man, I couldn't find a distance to save my life! We took a couple of fliers, one even knocked me loose and I almost slammed my face on her neck. Got better as the lesson progressed and I actually started riding her but damn...I was thinking that the next day was NOT going to go well. So Saturday I get on her, and we do a quick little warm up and then trainer calls me out to do some jumps. They're all set at like speed bump height (probably 2'3"). I trot the first cross rail just as a little warm up. Arwen goes to it super quietly, then canters away almost on a loose rein. The ENTIRE time jumping continued on like this. She was so quiet it was scary. At no point in time did she feel like she was running away with me, even after a one stride which is where she can sometimes get quick. And, we even did a bending line to the new liverpool (which she didn't even peek at, unlike her owner who was staring at it with great big googly eyes on the approach). I quit jumping her after a few jumps at around 2'5" and now I'm kind of regretting we didn't do more! I bet that we could have done a really nice 3' course that day, and I might have even been able to play around a little bit higher.

I'm really liking how rideable she has been lately, and I'm wondering if its the supplements (SmartCalm Ultra, SmartGut) doing any of it. I definitely think the vacation she had helped her brain too. She's much more responsive and willing to listen to me. Also, maybe its me getting a little bit better? I know my posture in the saddle is improving so I'm wondering if its making my aids less confusing. Either way, I was so impressed with my girl on Saturday. We'll see if this week its back to regularly scheduled programming, or Arwen has a future as a hunter ;-)

Here's a short little video of us too. Good times, and man those jumps look so unimpressive! (although from the saddle my brain perceived them as 5ft tall)

Sickness :-(

So I've been fighting some really mild cold thingy for the past week or so. Its so mild its more annoying than anything else because I don't feel 100% but then I also don't feel particularly sick enough to be bedridden. I actually kind of prefer to just be really sick for a couple days and get it over with, as opposed to having this lingering cough and general feeling of crapiness.

I only worked out once last week because of it. It was a WOD that didn't involve any heavy cardio, because I knew I wouldn't be able to do it. I felt good afterwards, but then afterwards its like working out made the cold kick back in. So I'm hesitant to do it this week, but I REALLY need to. I figure I'll stick to ones that aren't super duper cardio heavy and hope that I don't feel like crap.

One thing being sick doesn't prevent me from doing? Riding, lol. Actually had another really nice week of rides with Arwen, the only exception being Tuesday night in the indoor when she was being really forward down the lines. She was listening though. When I actually stopped for a second and thought about my upper body and leg, she slowed down. But, when she starts blasting through the lines my thought process completely grinds to a halt for some reason. On Wednesday when we were inside again, she ended up being really, really good. I think first time riding in the week is always a little bit of an adventure because Saturday she was great. Did some bending lines and she was coming back to me nicely and even did an add in one of the lines. So overall, I'm happy with how things have been going.

This Saturday (Christmas Eve) we have our little barn "show" (which is mostly just eating and drinking, then riding) and I'm hoping to finally get some video of us jumping. Will be interesting to see!

Fitness Catchup and Riding Wins

Last Thursday, did my second day of skills testing at the box. Was definitely not as demanding as the first day, but still tough.

Was as follows:

500m row- completed in 1:50
Back squat- did 185lbs, could have probably done 200 if I really pushed it but its okay...
HSPU- 25 sec hold. Pathetic.
Toes to Bar-28. Hip flexors gave out before my abs did!
Max PU in 1 min- 30. Fairly happy with this. No girly pushups either, all CTD.

WOD "Helen":
 3 rds

400m run
21 swings (rx'd 35 lb kettlebell. Done)
12 pull ups (used the blue band. I suck at pull ups. Truly.)

Did it in 13:30 something I think? I can't remember, but it wasn't horrible. First time doing "Helen".

Felt kind of crummy going in and really unmotivated. DH pretty much had to drag me there. But, I'm glad I went its nice to have those benchmarks that I can now work off of. Overall between the two days, I think I pretty much fell in the middle of the pack for the women. At the higher end for the weighted movements, definitely in the middle for the rest, and maybe low middle for the WOD's. Retesting in 6 months. Yipee?

Riding was AWESOME on all fronts last week though. Oh man. I don't think Arwen and I have had a consistently good week like that in...ever. Usually there is always some day where something goes wrong, or we have a bad last fence, or something. I mean, I guess my first lesson Tuesday night could have gone better but it really wasn't horrible. She was getting a little quick, I was a little out of tune with her, but she was coming back when I asked her to. Which was weird. And it only got better from there. I did another lesson the next day, and she was great. I then stayed and watched a little mini clinic trainer was hosting, which I'll have to write about sometime soon. Super informative and I bowed out of doing it because of the $100 price tage, but also a little out of fear. I'm always apprehensive about riding with new people, mainly because OMG they can pick up on my weaknesses SO.FAST. Am I really that obvious? Its sad. But, I definitely think everytime I've ridden with someone new I've always gotten some totally fantastic to take away...so I think I just need to get overmyself.

The kicker was Friday, when we did the super fun grid I wrote about in my last entry. And then Saturday, we took is easy since I had already jumped three days but she was so great. We did bending lines, in both her bad and good direction, as well as some tight u-shaped turns. Listening well, coming back to me, not getting all crazy through the lines. Then on Sunday, our hack day, I took her through a serpentine (trot) and canter circle exercise (probalby 10m circles) that the clinician did on Wednesday and she was excellent. A little harder on the left bed, but thats pretty normal. I took some short video of myself, and I think I'm leaning my outside shoulder in when asking her for the left bend. Maybe because I'm trying so hard for that left bedn, I'm shifting my hips? I dunno. Either way, I'm going to make sure I'm keeping that shoulder back tonight when I ride.

The main things I was working on was keeping my boobs to the sky, having a soft, but steady feel, keeping leg on, and approaching the jumps with a little more pace. I think all those things helped, plus Arwen has been in a really good mood lately. I rode her in her bridle (the running gag) for the first time in awhile, and she was so soft in it. I barely had to touch the reins at all. We'll see how she is tonight...hoping last week wasn't just a fluke and we can FINALLY start progressing to some more complicated/higher stuff!

Whhhhheeeeeeeeeee!!!!!

Today was an awesome lesson. Arwen was being great (with the exception of refusing at one jump that was totally my bad) so trainer had us go through the grid set up in the arena. Four jumps, all one strides. Started with some cross rails and small verticals. Arwen was getting a little quick through them, I think totally unimpressed with the height. So trainer started raising and raising them. I just kept plunking through because in a grid, all you really have to do is get a decent in and then keep leg on and go straight (or, close eyes and pray). Well...I knew they were higher than normal because Arwen was actually jumping them. I'm pretty sure I went through the last time with a big grin on my face. When I was done, I had to ask "so how high are those?". Turns out they were like 3'5"!! Go me and Arwen!!

I Survived!

Day one of my CrossFit's skills testing. I went into this feeling a bit intimidated, mainly because I hadn't done the main strength move in a couple months and because I was a COMPLETE and utter slacker the last month. But, after trying to give the husband sad puppy eyes (which he completed ignored, by the way) to get out of this thing, I decided "EFF IT". I would just suck it up and well, suck if thats what it came down to.

Skills testing as follows:

800m run (had to be done in under 5 minutes)- 3:45 (I wanted to do sub 4, so I was happy with this)
1 RM Deadlift- 205lbs. On par with the most I ever lifted, but in June. Will be working on these.
Max consecutive ring dips (in two minutes)- HAH. Did these with blue band, 10. These are fun.
Max Double Unders (in two minutes, allowed to break up)- 35. Totally proud of this because I did 35!
Max consecutive pull ups (in two minutes)- 15 with blue band. Hands and forearms gave out before anything else

Benchmark WOD "Christine"
3 rounds
500m row
12 deadlifts (RX is bodyweight)- I used 115. At this point, my back was feeling a little tweaked and I didn't want to push it
21 box jumps

Did it in 16:30. Not the best (clearly) but also not the worst. First time I had done this WOD, so nothing to compare it to, unfortunately.

This was long workout. By the time we got around to the benchmark WOD, I was ready to quit. But, I put my big girl panties on and got it done.

One day down, one more to go.

WOD Catchup

After the hard WOD on 11/28/11, I waited until the end of the week to cram in my last two workouts and ended up doing two within a 10 hour time frame. Essentially doubles with some sleep inbetwee, lol. I think thats why I'm STILL sore.

12/1/11

Press 5x5-did 45 lb bar, plus 12.5 on each side. It was a struggle. On the last two sets I couldn't get to 5.

20
16
12
8
4

Consisting of DB snatches (total), women's RX'd was 25, and then pull ups, same number. I used the blue band. Can't do more than 10 at a time, max. My hands start to hurt. Makes me wonder if there is something weird going on with my pullup form, or I'm just really, really weak (I'm going to guess its the latter)

Can't even remember my time. But I'm pretty sure it was around 16 something?

12/2/11

5 rounds
300m row
15 wall ball (women use 14)
200m run

I hit up the 6am class for this one, after doing the 6:30 class the night before. Completed in 20 minutes exactly (although DH says it was 20:02. Whatever. I saw 20 on the clock when I came through the door). Felt pretty good, actually. Even the wall balls. I think I'm a sick, twisted individual who happens to like wallballs and thrusters.

Updates!

So since my last post I've had a couple of really nice rides on the pony! She's clearly been feeling a-okay and even came out pretty spunky last week for our first lesson. Flat work went as usual, just tried to do lots of bending, leg yields, circles and figure eights. Had some really great moments where she lifted her back and went on the bit. I was playing around with the amount of bend/inside leg to get her to use that inside hind and it takes a lot, as well as a lot of consistent feel from me. So we (and by we, I mean me) are going to need to keep working on that because I know she'll slip in and out of being engaged because of my inconsistencies. But, we're getting there, slowly but surely!

I also felt inspired after reading an article by Greg Best in the latest edition of Practical Horsemen where he talked about coming to jumps with more pace than usual, which then allows you to take back after the jump to get on that perfect canter. Its something that trainer has drilled into me for awhile, but I think because of the lesson I had last Saturday (where I was trying to take away *before* the fences) really brought it home for me, and finally stuck in my brain (hey, I'm a slow learner I guess. Give me a break). So going into this past week, I was bound and determined to have a great, slightly forward canter with impulsion to all my fences. And low and behold, it worked. I think when Arwen felt like I was letting her have enough pace to her fences, she didn't make a bid for them, and she stayed fairly soft afterwards. During the week we were only working on singles, but on Saturday we put together a 10 fence course with some lines so I really got to put it to the test. It was lovely. She came back nicely through the lines, we didn't have any ugly spots or rushy jumps. The only thing we messed up on was a right rollback turn where I totally forgot where I was going. We did it a couple more times though, and really smoothed it out (though it still wasn't 100%, we ended on a good note)

A couple other notes on some changes I've tried to make to myself. First, is I'm really trying to focus on not rounding my shoulders. From working at a computer all day long, they tend to round forward even when I feel like I'm sitting up straight. It takes a conscious effort for me to keep those darn things back. Unfortuantely, keeping those shoulders up and back makes a huge difference when riding. I've been playing around with that when riding and wow-it so far seems to make a big difference in how Arwen responds to me. Second, is the release I'm giving her. In my lesson with M a month or so ago she told me to really not release much and I hadn't gotten to practice/play around with it until now. I think thats making a big difference too. And its not really restricting my release, its just keeping that steady contact with Arwen's mouth. Its helping her not scoot off after the fences, and just in general have better control. Both of these things will take some time to sink in, I imagine. I am going to have to make a really conscious effort to keep working at them to be successful, which is hard for me to do sometimes, especially when Arwen has been really,  really good. But...its a vicious circle right? She is usually really really good when I stop riding her like a drunk monkey. And then when she's good, I feel like I can ride her like a drunk monkey, which she protests to, and starts doing naughty things. And then we have to start all over again. Like I said...I'm a slow learner!

Fitness wise, I FINALLY made it back into CF for three workouts last week. I am still sore from that, by the way (which is sad. Very, very sad). So, score on getting in there, but total FAIL on my nutrition. Started out the week well, but then ended on a really crappy note. After a month of gorging and not working out, I can definitely feel a difference in the way my clothes fit and my body looks. And obviously not in a good way. So...time to re-evaluate what I'm eating and get focused.

Thankgiving Binge Payback. WOD 11/28/11

Headed to CF last night for the first time in a week, and also the first time since gorging myself over the holiday. There was one day in there where I literally ate nothing but pie...so to say that my waist had expanded a little over the 4 day holiday is an understatement.

So, I knew this one was going to suck.

WOD as follows:

100 m sprint (more like "fast run" for me-these legs don't sprint)

24 burpees
24 swings (women RX'd was 35 lbs, which I would normally do if I wasn't feeling like an out of shape glutton due to being a slacker for the past MONTH. Did 25lbs)
24 lunges, total w/KB used for swings

400m run

16 burpees
16 swings
16 lunges

400m run

8 burpees
8 swings
8 lunges

100m sprint.

Goal was sub 20. Did it in 15:50 and felt like I was going to die. What made it worse was I was pretty much done after the warm up, lol. The coach has us do 5 minutes of double under practice in prep for next weeks skill testing (UGH...whole 'nother entry will be needed for that, I'm sure). A win for me though was I could do 2 whole double unders in a row! IN A ROW. More if I was doing double under, then single, then double under. Managed to do about 5 double unders doing it that way. So, pretty proud of myself for doing that. Other than that though, nothing much to be proud of. Have been away from the box far too much this month and I can tell in both my endurance and the way my clothes are fitting. I blame it on winter and the urge to hibernate. Gotta suck it up though, because swim suit season is not that far away, and I want to look good in one since I hit the big 3-0 this summer. Eep!

Pony is Back.

Did another lesson with Arwen on Saturday and she is definitely back to her old tricks, otherwise known as "Tune Katie Out". Had some interesting jumping, where god d****t horse, I just want you to go at the pace I'm dictating! Of course, Ponyface had other ideas. I think she felt the pace I was asking her to go was just too damn slow, even though we were only jumping a crossrail and a small vertical. Either way, she felt great. Definitely a little stiffer to the left like she was before, but I think thats due to being out of work for almost a month. Will definitely keep working on lateral/bending stuff like before, but I also really REALLY want to get a chiro out to do some adjustments on here. Just got to come up with the moola, and with some other stuff going on, its going to be a few months before that can happen.

So, just completely thankful she appears to be sound right now. But, also disappointed that we took a backwards step in the progress department. She didn't appear to have lost too much conditioning, but you can tell that she is a little bit out of shape at this point. Just small things like the bending, and then also she is tending to lean on my hands a lot towards the end of the ride when she's tired. I think this also translates into ignoring me and my leg, when she just doesn't want to get that rear end under her. Because the last real jumping lesson we had, she was on a slower pace, but with a lot of impulsion and was taking larger jumps than we were doing on Saturday. We'll see...I just want her to stay sound at this point.

Better?

I rode Arwen last night and I'm cautiously optimistic that she is better. She had been off bute since Saturday night (so three days without) and came out feeling really, really good. I only felt one little bobble, and it was in an area where the arena footing is kind of deep so I'm guessing it was more of a little stumble than a lameness bobble. We did a nice, long walking warm up to get her loose, and then progressed to some trotting on a relatively loose rein. She felt back to normal from the get go. She definitely didn't want to work though. I think ponyface really enjoyed her mini vacation!

After spending about 20 minutes warming up (I didn't want to trot her too much, just in case there was something that trainer could still see) and after getting the all clear from trainer we took her over a few little jumps (cross rails and maybe an 18 inch vertical). She was awesome. Didn't run away, or make a dash for the fence. And its just so nice to be riding a horse with a big stride that is adjustable (when she's listening). Jumping is seriously nothing for her, barely any effort over these little fences whatsoever. Unlike Ready who I feel like is putting in a lot of effort even over the small stuff (although he really isn't, but it just feels that way).

Anyway...here's hoping that last night wasn't a fluke. I'm hacking her tonight and all my fingers and toes are crossed that she still comes out feeling good.

WOD 11/21/11

Finally dragged my ass back into the box for a workout. Felt like I was going to puke, which is a sure sign that I haven't been working out enough, and fueling my body with crap. So...planning to get back with the program after this week. Trying to work out around the holidays and riding time is a little difficult.

WOD was:

5 rounds
5 thrusters (women RX'd was 95 lbs, I did 65 lbs)
10 burpeess

I thought this one sounded familiar, and sure enough when I looked back on here we had done one kind of similar (it involved heavy thrusters), but only 3 rounds instead of 5, and rowing for 250m at the beginning. In that WOD, I did my thrusters at 75lbs which makes me kind of feel like a cop out for only doing 65lbs last night. Oops. I have definitely been slacking and I'm not sure if I could have handled the 75 lbs last night. The 65lbs felt maybe a little light (I was able to do the 5 unbroken and felt pretty good) but I think the 75lbs would have been too much. Oh well. Next time, for sure will force myself to do the 75lbs. I can tell though from my little two week break and sporadic attendance my results are suffering a bit.

Fitness FAIL

So I've been totally neglecting CrossFit lately. I had two weeks of not going at all (dealing with the horse and other stuff) and then only made it out there twice last week. Looking like I'm only going to get out there twice this week again.

UGH. I hate not going because I feel like crap, but the more you don't go, the easier it gets not to go. And then the more I don't go, the easier it gets to eat the wrong foods. Its a horrible downward spiral that basically equates to I need to get my butt back into the swing of things and stop with the excuses.

On the pony front, she seems to be improving. We buted her for a few days to see if that would help with the bobbles and for the first couple days something was definitely still there, but then on Saturday she felt great. So Saturday was the last day she got bute, I did a super light walk/trail ride/turnout with her yesterday, and I have a lesson on Tuesday where we will see how she feels. Its all just very very odd, but hopefully it really was just a strained muscle or something. Oh, and she did get a shot of Pentosan on Friday, which she has been off of for a couple months (did get a shot of Adequan in the past couple months). Maybe that could really have been making a difference?

Anyway...nothing too interesting happening because I haven't been doing anything with her. She is furry as all get out, you can press your hand into her side and leave a compressed furry handprint. I haven't been blanketing her in an effort to get her to lose some weight and haven't wanted to body clip her since she hasn't been in work. But, if she is sound this week I'll definitely need to get her clipped. Otherwise she becomes this yak like sweaty mess which is no fun to wait around for it to dry, especially when its freezing and dark out. But knock on wood, cross fingers, say a voodoo spell, WHATEVER it takes, that she comes out sound on Tuesday. Pleasepleasepleaseplase!

Ponyface's Lameness Continues to Puzzle...

Two weeks in and Arwen is still not 100%. Last week we had Celebrity Vet out (I call him that because he has worked with the US Olympic team and spends most of his time flying around the world checking people's horses) and he diagnosed her problem as her coffins again. When we lunged her on hard ground, she was definitely off-doing a little bit of a head bob, and shorter stride going both directions. He blocked one of her front feet, and there was some improvement which is what caused him to come to that conclusion. Last time I had her coffins done, it was a pretty dramatic improvement, so I went ahead and did them. She definitely had inflammation in that area (before he puts the steroids in, he'll stick the needle in and then press on the area and a bunch of bloody liquid comes squirting out-not normal) so it was definitely getting close to the time to get them done (last time done was about 7 months ago)

However...I think I said before her "offness" felt a lot different from the last time she needed her coffins done. It felt higher up, like her shoulder area or something. But since she was relatively new to me at this time last year, it is possible that before she was *really* sore from the inflammation, she had felt like this as well and it just got progressively worse. Because last time, by the time we did her coffins she was head bobbing lame on hard ground. This time it was very, very mild but clear to both the vet and my eye that she was sore.

So after getting two days of just turnout from the injections, I took her for a very light hack on Sunday expecting everything to feel right as rain. At the walk, everything was fine. As soon as we picked up the trot though, I could feel that little bit of a lurch in her shoulder again. I kept her going though, and after about half a lap, she had worked out of it. We did a little bit of canter too, and then went back to the trot and she felt great. I chalked it up to maybe she was expecting some pain and bracing for it, then realized it was gone and relaxed.

However...trainer hacked her today and said she felt it too. Again, worked out of it. But, when she went to put her in the crossties she pushed on her chest to get her to back up (Arwen refuses to turn around, so we just back her into them) and apparently flew backwards. Trainer started feeling around on her chest area, and felt a definite swelling on her left side. Now this could be a number of things, some not so bad, some pretty serious. I hadn't noticed this swelling at all over the past week, and trainer asked me if she was particularly bad when I groomed her chest, but I was like well, she's always kind of annoyed when I groom her. Didn't notice any reactions out of the ordinary. She also hasn't been off her feed or acting lethargic. Has pretty much been her normal, bright eyed self. Also, she doesn't go crazy in turnout so I'm doubting that she pulled something out there.

Basically, I'm kind of at a loss. At least we have ruled out coffins so I know she's not in pain in that area. Now, we just are going to wait and see if this chest thing gets better on its own, or worsens. I'm going to ride her lightly this week to keep her moving, and trainer gave her some anti inflammatory stuff to see if that helps. We're hoping maybe its a bite, or she ran into something. But I'm thinking its probably something a little more serious if its been affecting her for a little while now. If nothing improves, will definitely be having the vet out again. Sigh. I sure do wish she could talk to me sometimes...

RIP Hickstead

Sad, sad day in the horseworld yesterday. Eric Lamaze's great stallion Hickstead passed away after completing his first go in the Verona Grand Prix. I have always admired this horse and rider team, mainly because Hickstead looked like a beast to ride, and Eric always handled him with such a light touch. And that horse-man, he jumped his heart out for Eric. There was a video a few months ago of another grand prix where Lamaze took a super direct bending line, that put him pretty much right in front of the right side jump standard. A normal horse would have probably refused it. But Hickstead, so trusting of his rider, jumped over the top of the standard on a grand prix fence. That is insane, but speaks TONS to the partnership him and Eric had together. That is something I can only dream of having with my horse. It does not happen everyday, nor to everyone, where horse and rider seem so perfectly suited for one another. I think in the case of Lamaze and Hickstead, the proof was in the pudding, the pudding being the millions of dollars they won together and the other various successes they had (including being ranked number one in the world by Rolex for three years). I'm not sure we'll ever see another horse like him, or at least not anytime soon.

The passing of any animal is sad, but one as great at this being taken away so quickly is especially heartbreaking. I went out to the barn after I heard the news, and just buried my face in Arwen's super fluffy neck and hugged her until she started backing away like "WTF is going on?" LOL.

Definitely serves as a reminder to appreciate your animals (or anyone in your life for that matter) everyday. RIP Hickstead.

Ready!

So since Arwen is still on her mini vacation to hopefully self recover from whatever is ailing her, Trainer let me ride a different horse in my lesson last night. Not just any horse, but the horse that basically taught me to jump and gain enough confidence that I was ready (at least mentally, lol) for a horse like Arwen. Ready (thats his name) is just so sweet and simple and fun. I leased him for about 8 months prior to buying Arwen, and did my first ever (and only, so far) show on him last September. 

Let me start out by saying-complete opposite ride to Arwen. Ready like an extremely light contact, and a lot of leg. I was basically completely staying out of his face on the flat and over fences. It was weird to have him just maintain a pretty easy rhythm without a lot of input from me, or having to take a feel before the fence. And then after the fence, no taking off! Again, SO. WEIRD. He's also very straightforward and honest-point him at a jump, he goes to it. I think in my entire time riding him (and watching other people) he refused on me only once when he didn't know where he was going. Arwen, on the other hand, is a much more precise ride. As I've written about before, she has refused. A lot.

Not only does he like a different feel from the rider, OMG is he uncomfortable. Has a much shorter, bouncier stride at the trot, same with the canter. I think if I were to ride him more I would definitely get used to it again but man...Arwen has spoiled me. She is just so smooth and easy when she moves. That is for sure one of the things I really, really love about her.

Also, Arwen is naturally so uphill and balanced, transitions, lead changes, etc are generally fine. Totally different on Ready. He's a little more downhill, and I didn't have the best pad on him so my saddle was tilting down a little which didn't help. So I felt like I was getting thrown forward, even though I probably wasn't. Funny how just a little tiny change in balance point can really throw you for a loop (or at least this unexperienced ammy, lol)

I swear I looked like a dead fish up there on him at the beginning, I know I felt like I was being bounced all over, couldn't stay down in my heel, and my canter transitions were horrible! Plus, he doesn't take up as much of my leg as Arwen does, so I felt like it was swinging like a pendulum. I think Arwen has definitely covered a lot of my flaws/weaknesses but made me stronger in other areas.

But jumping...jumping was so fun on him. When I rode him before I was definitely kicking him all the way to the fence but this time, since I KNOW what a quality canter is supposed to feel like now I wasn't taking any crap. I had a crop and I USED it. So by the time we got to jumping, he was listening well. We did get some half strides in because I was using too much hand, but when I finally softened and just kept my leg on, we nailed our distances each time. It was really nice!

Tonight I'll just be riding Arwen around at a walk. Maybe a couple steps of trot in the arena to see how she feels, but thats it.

Arwen is Lame

No idea what happened. Went out last night for a lesson with my trainer and as soon as we started trotting,  I could tell something was off. There was a definite bobble and initially, I felt like it was something coming from her hind but my trainer pointed out that it seemed to be in her front right. I hopped off and we proceeded to feel her hooves and legs, which felt great. There was a little heat in her front hooves, but not any more than normal. Rest of her legs felt cool and tight. 

This mare has been so sturdy so far (knocks on wood). The only other time she came out odd was when she needed her coffins done, but that was a different feeling. Her trot was stabby and rough, and this time it still felt like her normal trot, but she was definitely favoring something. Makes me think that she might have done something to her shoulder?

She was ridden earlier in the day by assistant S, who would be able to tell if something was off at that point, and if it was, my trainer would have gotten a call. She was also fine on Sunday, then proceeded to have two days off to be a lazy butt. So as you can imagine, I didn't ride her last night. Just untacked, put her away, and gave her a couple grams of bute with her supplement/fish oil mixture.

So I just don't know. The plan is that she'll be put on the walker today to get her to walk just a little, and then turnout. Buted again. Tomorrow I can ride her around, at a walk to see how she feels. Last day of bute. Saturday she gets another spin on the walker and turnout. Sunday (if I'm here, Esty and I may be going to Pismo but those plans are now up in the air due to his work) I'll go out and see how she's feeling.

If things are still crappy, we have our celebrity vet (he really is a celebrity vet, has worked with Oprah's animals and the US Olympic team) coming out next week to check on some other horses, so he could check her then too.

Its incredibly ironic that this is happening now when I just had a conversation with Esty about maintaing Arwen's mortality/major med insurance. I had been debating with myself whether I should because she had held up with no issues (other than expected maintenance) over the past year. I had decided that I was probably going to maintain it, as long as I was able to ride her as planned. But hadn't actually sent in the premium check yet...so I'm sure you can guess what I am doing first thing today!

Anyway, just wanted to send this out there in hopes that nothing is seriously wrong with her. Maybe I'm overracting but its scary when they can't talk to us, and they are pretty good at hiding stuff. When they come up lame, it means that something is definitely wrong.

New set of eyes

I know I've mentioned before about the benefits of having new sets of eyes watch your riding. Everyone seems to pick up on or put an emphasis on slightly different things, which will overall make you a better rider. At least thats how I feel everytime my trainer has us ride with someone different. Its been a rare occassion where I didn't have at least one take away, even in a really crummy lesson.

So this week was our area's big Halloween show so Trainer was away. Most of the barn was away too, including the assistant that my trainer has been using the past couple of shows (she has her own small business, and also took some horses to the show). So the people left at the barn were split between S, the original assistant, and a new one, M.

Everyone loves S. She is a very kind and knowledgeable, and has a similar style to our regular training. So there was no problem getting her integrated into the program. Didn't try and reinvent the wheel, just tried to build on what trainer was already working on. She's the one who reminded me about outside rein, and helped me have some pretty fabulous lessons with Arwen in the last couple months.

Now M...well, what can I say other than she's very different. A little more brusque, definitely more straightforward, and not as quick to praise. Only a few of us have ridden with her so far, and I know one of my barnmates did not have a good time with her. So when it came time for me to lesson with her yesterday, I was a little nervous.

However, it went much better than I imagined and needless to say, I was pretty surprised! I told her that lately we had been focusing on rideability between fences. That Arwen will start to take over and just sometimes drag me around. So we worked a lot on using my upper body/seat/leg to slow her down. It was a nice reminder that my leg must be on at all times, and that when I'm using a lot of hand, I also need to back it up with A LOT of leg. Like...A LOT. Its something I think I had forgotten a little bit about, because on the whole, Arwen has been pretty soft lately. But within the past week. some of our old habits have been slowly creeping back in and I've been at a little bit of a loss regarding what I'm doing.

We also worked on feel. I told her I am never sure if I'm using too much hand, or too much leg. Basically, I want Arwen to feel like she is between my hand and leg at all time. Never squirting out in front of me, or sucking back. It should always feel like a nice, easy contact in my hands, you know, that whole concept of "elastic" feel. When it starts to feel like she's pulling, that means I don't have enough leg. When it feels loosey goosey, again, not enough leg.

I don't feel like anything new was presented to me. I just feel like I got a really good reminder on how I need to be riding her. In fact, M said that if I can figure this out, that I'll pretty much be set.

And slightly validating, but M really really liked Arwen. She kept saying what a nice horse she is, how she has a really good mind, etc etc. Which is very, very true. Not a bad bone in that horse's body and I think when/if I get my s**t together, it will be great.

My only frustration is I'm not sure if I'll ever figure it out. I feel like trainer, S and M have all basically been telling me the same thing and I'm still working on it. UGH! I think if I'm still in this same place in another year, it might be time to re-evaluate things. I'll keep working on this and everything else I set in my goals, but if I'm still stuck doing tiny little jumps trying to get my horse rideable for ME, it might be a sign that we are just not a good match. Don't get me wrong, I love her and will fight it out as long as I can. But if it ever stops being fun and I'm more upset about my ride than enlightened, I will probably want to consider other alternatives.

WOD 10/24/2011

Good times with this one. Craziest part was one of the dudes did it as RX'd, in 2:53 minutes. For comparison's sake, I basically did half the prescribed weight for women in more than double that time. Yeah.

"Air Force"

start with 4 burpees. Then you do 4 burpees every minute on the minute.

20 thrusters
20 SDHP
20 push jerks
20 OH squats
20 front squats

Took me the longest 7:54 ever. RX'd for women was 65 lbs, I did 35lbs. I had to go light for the OH squats. I think the last workout I did with OHS I may have done 45 lbs, but I didn't feel like I could manage that in this particular workout. I just barely got out of doing another set of burpees, thank goodness!

Yuck.

I had a total carb gorge fest this weekend, so now I feel like a water retaining oversized lump. Never again. Seriously, if only someone had told me to just put down the bread...

Honestly, I'm feeling a little disappointed in myself, especially since I was just starting to lose a little weight again after being pretty good last week in terms of diet. I think that I needed this because not only am I now kicking myself, but I feel like crap. Nothing like reminding me how much what I put in my mouth will affect my body/performance. Will have to suck it up at CrossFit tonight because I can pretty much guarantee after fueling my body with empty calories, the WOD is going to be brutal.

On the riding front, had a pretty decent ride on Saturday. Nothing like the previous Saturday, but I knew that was going to happen. Arwen started out super quiet, and we did a few courses like a hunter. On the last jump though (again, curses on me and my last jump-itis) I let her make the decision on a tiny bit of a long spot, and it was kind of downhill from there. She decided to tune me out, both on the approach and on the landing side. We ended on an okay note, but it was still a little bit of a downer since she started out so well. I know its me though-I really need STOP RELAXING, or at least relax but still ride her. I was trying a new bit on her that I didn't love. Let her get low (which we want, because she does need to work on the bit more) but that also meant she was able to grab on and pull down when she was trying to avoid listening to me. She doesn't do that in the controller or the gag, I think because those are both broken mouthpieces. I was using a hackabit, which had a mullen mouth. So, the next up to try is the flash with the three ring. I rode her in it yesterday, but we didn't do anything serious for me to really try out how it felt.

And on yesterday, it was totally amazeballs! I'm a little bit of a wuss to try things but last week I saw the resident 70 year old at our barn riding her horse barebake. I was like dang, if she can do it, I can do it! The juniors have actually been bugging me forever about riding her bareback (I think because I'm the youngest adult there, they kind of think of me as one of them, lol). So yesterday, I finally sucked it up and did it! I did put a pad on her because there was no way I was facing Mt Witherest in my crotch without some padding. But, I took her into the arena, walked around, did a little sitting trot and even...wait for it...cantered! I know, so silly that it seems like a big deal, but it was. When I was leasing the trail horse I was SO petrified to ride him bareback, let alone canter. I did try it once on him for like 5 steps, but that was it. Arwen has such a nice canter though, it was super easy. Seriously, I could just sit on her and canter around for days. She was such a good girl about it too. Didn't even bat an eye having mom up there with no saddle. Since I was feeling so brave after that, I took her out on the trail too. Again, she was so good!

It was interesting too to be able to feel her back muscles moving under my legs. I think I'll try and ride her bareback once a month or so, and maybe we'll work up to doing our pole work and small crossbars. This is, of course, assuming that she stays nice and calm through the winter. I'm guessing that this is something I'll pick back up come spring.

I really do love my pony. She has such a great brain. She'll spook at things occassionally, but its never bad (except in the indoor. In the winter) and she doesn't run away or do anything stupid. She's just very sensible and kind.

Lesson 10/20/11

Well, I think this was my first challenging lesson in a couple weeks. Arwen wasn't really being "bad", she was just in a mood to go, and go fast. We saw this trend happening last year around this time too, especially in the evening lesson. Don't know if its something about getting dark early or what, but she gets frisky. Also, we started out the lesson with another horse or two in the arena, and ended with none. I think she gets upset that they get to go back to the barn and possibly get food before her!

Anyway, like I said it wasn't bad. And Arwen was actually being pretty good i.e. going to all her jumps, we were getting decent distances (just had one quasi long spot when she was blowing through my hand a little). Trainer also had us start on a bending line going the harder way. Had to do it a few times because she wasn't giving me the lead change and kind of running through the aids. Finally got it after really focusing on riding the line as three parts, and also focusing her at the first jump (because that actually made her land on the correct lead, by setting her up correctly. Imagine that). Then took her through a couple lines (both 4 strides, she was fine) then did a tight roll back to the left (again to the left, noting a trend here?). First two times through, we did the outside turn, mainly because Arwen was charging over the first fence and there was no way I was going to be able to get her through that inside turn safely. The last time through though, Trainer told me "you are GOING to do that inside turn" and I was like,  "okay then". And we did it.

Again, I think another example of me just not demanding enough of her, dangit! And I should have known, because at the beginning of the lesson she was being kind of naughty with the trot jumps. I was trying to get her back, but I should have tried harder. Once she decided she could kind of ignore me, she continued to kind of ignore me.

Oh well...still learning. Have another lesson on Saturday!

WOD 10/19/11

This was a fun one, and by fun I actually mean it was hard.

For time:

5 rounds
400m run
15 hang power snatches (rx'd 65lbs for the ladies)

Another one that looks deceptively simple on paper. I thought that the RX'd weight might be a leeeetle too much for 75 snatches, but after the first round where I was able to do all 15 in a row, my coach yelled out "your weight is too light!". I would rather err on the side of caution to begin with, because there is nothing worse than being only one round into the WOD to discover that the weight you chose is waaaaaaaaaay too heavy. But, if we ever do this one again (or the hang power snatch in a WOD in general) I will at least do the 65 lbs.

The running wasn't actually as bad as I thought it would be either. I was actually really nervous about it because holycrapballs, that is over a mile! I had to walk once, for about 10 steps on the last round of the run, but I told myself "only a couple more minutes of pain" and just pushed through it. I actually felt pretty good, despite getting some tightness in my right side. That only crops up when I do WOD's with a lot of running, and I'm pretty sure the only way that goes away is with...more running. So, on weekends I think I'm going to try to run maybe a couple miles to help because that side tightness really slows me down on the other components of the workout. At least it didn't turn into a full blown cramp, because that would have been disasterous.

Anyway, completed the WOD in 19:14. Goal was sub 20, so I was pretty happy. I had been afraid that the running would really slow me down, but it wasn't too bad. Average for the run was around 2:15-2:45 (which is on pace for a 10 minute mile or around that) Probably came in about right in the middle of the pack and from what I could tell, only ONE girl yesterday did the RX'd weight. Some of the other girls were even doing super duper light weight, like 20 lbs snatches, so I feel pretty good I managed 55lbs!

Lesson 10/19/11

Had another grrrrrrrreat lesson last night (yes, I am Tony the Tiger). Did some new stuff, worked on some old issues.

The New:
Trainer had us do some no stirrup work at the beginning of the lesson. Apparently she was feeling like we needed to be worked hard (on a Tuesday night! *cry*) I am not new to this, but I am new to not having my stirrups over a freaking jump! Thats right, ladies and gents, I jumped without my stirrups. And it was fab. Granted, these weren't really "jumps" so much as very small "crossrails" but whatever. Arwen jumped over them for reals and I stayed on and actually did a decent job! I did grab mane in case anything funny happened, but she was so. Good. We trotted up to the jump, she took it, and then cantered quietly away.   Love my pony!

The Old:
Our arch nemesis, bending lines. The last part of the course was doing the outside bending line we nailed on Saturday. BUT...going the reverse direction. So it was a seven stride bending to the three stride. The way its set, going the reverse is making Arwen bend in her hard direction (left bend). Without fail, when asked to bend that way she just gets a little stiff in both her side and her mouth, and tends to rush down the lines. I always work on softening her that way, but I imagine when I get tense she gets a little tense, and the bad habits come flooding back. So we broke it down into simple steps. First jumped just the crossbar, until I felt like she was listening. Then we did the 7 in an 8, because she really didn't want to bend and because the rail is on her right side, she REALLY wants to go towards it. Finally, we got the seven but it wasn't that pretty (she took a fairly long spot like a good girl, lots of pats for that). Did it one more time and had a much nicer 7. The 3 stride through that exercise was never a problem. Like I've mentioned, she is really great through those. So we ended on that last one because a) she did it, and did it fairly well and b) with her, we just can't drill things over and over and over. It usually leads to a meltdown of communication. So when she gives to me, we tend to compromise and meet in the middle. I think though that is a sign of real partnership, right? I mean don't get me wrong, I definitely want her to respect me. But like my trainer tells me, sometimes you just really have to pick your battles. And the thing is, she wasn't being bad at all. Nothing naughty, not being rushy or charging through my hand. I was just asking her to do something that is harder for her, and that we really both need to continue working on. 

Overall pretty successful lesson and I am so thrilled with how she is being. Of course, I think all lessons are going to pale in comparison to the one we had Saturday where it was totally on but I think that feeling is a good one to strive for each time I ride. Also...I have to remember not to relax on asking things of her, and making sure she is listening to me. I haven't been slacking so far (we are doing lateral work consistently, which I think is helping a lot)!

Oh, and on a random note, I saw that she is slightly stocking up on her front legs now. Just a smidge. She has always stocked up on her back legs from being in her stall (and she's not a walker-she's a stander and wait for food type of horse) but the slight stocking up in the front is new. There is no heat though, and she's not lame at all. Also, it does go away after exercise. Nevertheless, its something I'm definitely going to keep an eye on.

WOD 10/17/11

Was a super fun one. I was pretty much done after our warm up, Ian, the owner, lead us through it and it was long, lol. Got us nice and warm though...

WOD as follows:

800m run
20 swings
30 push ups

2 min rest

400m run
30 swings
20 push ups

1 min rest

200m run
50 swings
10 pushups

Rx'd weight for swings was the 35lb kettlebell, which I did. Those last 50 swings were pretty brutal though. Completed the WOD in 18:14.

Have to say though, I've never run 800m fresh, and I felt surprisingly good. Also, I did it in a little under 4 minutes, which makes me wonder what I could do a mile in? In middle school, the fastest mile I ever ran (and this is the fastest mile I ever ran, period. It only got slower from there, lol) was 9 minutes. I wonder now if I could do that time? I'm going to have to try it sometime. And this just makes me laugh inside because really? Me and running? We don't have a great relationship. Or at least we didn't used to. CrossFit has really changed that, and shown me that out of all the evil workouts I could inflict upon myself, running should be the least of my worries!

Another boring weekend recap...

I know, I know. But its hard to post everyday/everytime I ride over the weekends, doing a recap is just so much easier!

Thursday night: had a lesson with Trainer. Can't even remember what we worked on, because all I remember is the AMAZING one stride that we went through (actually now that I think really hard about it I'm pretty sure we did some singles and some bending lines). It was seriously so much fun. I know I've said before I love taking Arwen through stuff like that because she's like a spring. So much power and its so easy for her. It was probably set at like 2'6" going out, but it was an oxer with maybe 2' of spread. Trainer asked me if I wanted it lower and a vertical, but I was like "nah, its the out of a one stride. There won't be any problems". And there weren't! It was beautiful. Arwen just boinged through it, and did a huge, lovely jump out where she was actually using her back (she doesn't put much of a effort into the smaller stuff). I was grinning afterwards and my trainer was like "why don't you ride like that all the time, that was perfect distance, pace, etc etc). Yea...I feel the same way! (as does Arwen I'm sure)

Friday morning: had another lesson. Rode her in her usual bridle, which is a running gag. Lesson was great, up until the very last fence where we were taking a bending line from the one stride off a short turn (Arwen was awesome) to a single in seven strides. Single was set right next to the arena gate, so Arwen was kind of taking off. We went over that one fence a couple times, and then halted in a straight line, and called it a day. I think she is just not great in the running gag anymore. I never really loved it on her, but it offered pretty good stopping power when before I had none, lol.

Saturday morning: last lesson of the week. Rode with the 70 year old at our barn (who is truly inspiring) and a 9 year old, lol. I have no ego, especially when the 9 year old started doing more complicated fences/higher fences than me. But whatever, I digress. Rode Arwen this time in the controller noseband that trainer bought. I have been riding her in this for the past month or so maybe 3 times a week and she goes lovely in it. Slightly new course that went haybales set on an angle, rollback turn to the left to a single, around to a 4 stride on the diagonal, to a three stride set off the wall on a short, angled turn, to a bending 7, to a single, bending 7 to the one stride. Probably the most technical course we've done in a long, long time. Or ever, actually. The three stride off the wall was a super short turn. You turn off the wall and maybe have three strides before getting to the fence. Trainer put down ground lines to help us because otherwise I'm sure I would have gone too far through the corner.

But...Arwen was AMAZING. I know I've said that a lot in this post, but it was so true. I am still so happy with how she/we rode this weekend. She totally did the hay bales (I made sure to give her extra encouragement over them since it was her first time jumping them) and the first time through the rollback we did the outside turn, but then the second time, we actually did the inside turn! She wasn't charging through my hand so I was actually able to turn her. She was also awesome through the 4 stride, totally listening and put in a nice, even four steps. AWESOME to the three stride, and then again, totally listening and not rushy through that bending 7. And then of course, nailed the bending seven to the one stride again, although we did get 8 instead of 7. Trainer didn't make me do it again though, because we put in such a nice 8 and nice course overall. It was amazing, so amazing. Did I already mention how amazing it was? ;-) I wasn't fighting with her, she was listening to me, and at no real point during that course was she rushing off with me. I mean granted, I always feel like she is on the verge of being uncontrollable, but I think that is kind of what makes her fun (I know, I'm crazy). I also think that is what makes her so talented. The day that she doesn't feel like a controlled stick of dynamite on course is the day that I will start to worry!

Oh, and over all observations from this weekend:

Lateral work is definitely helping. It makes her realize she *has* to move off my leg when I ask her. Also, I feel like the better I control her feet, the better she is. She likes someone helping her out, and in the past I've definitely left too much of the decision making up to her.

And on decision making-on Friday, we started out trotting some crossrails (I try to do all the time, because I suck at trotting jumps) and Arwen started cantering probably about two trot strides out. I didn't correct her right away either and I think that bled over into the rest of the ride. She was a little rushy that day, in addition to flubbing that last fence. On Saturday when I did trot fences again I was thinking "no canter" and gave her a hard half halt before when it felt like she wanted to rush. I think it makes her go "yes ma'am!" instead of "okay, I've got to make the decision now" and like I said, she appreciates that and then starts to trust me more the rest of the ride. Because really, Saturday was just amazing (lol)

Oh, and I forgot about my Sunday hack ride! We rode out in the field to warm up (she was great, as usual) and then I set down some trot poles, and one canter pole. She actually trotted calmly and did the canter pole great. So I only made her do it twice, and then we went on a trail ride. All in all, fab weekend!

WOD 10/12/11 and interesting barn happenings...

Okay...so I haven't ridden all week, that is why my updates have only been CrossFit related. Boring, I know. But, I have a lesson tonight with my trainer so here's hoping that Ponyface is in a good mood still!

However, doesn't mean that barn happenings don't still go on when I'm not there. I just found out one of my horsey friends is moving to my barn! I met her on COTH forums when I was looking for a new trainer almost two years ago. She rode with one of the trainers I was considering, but hadn't heard much about. So I sent her a message, and she was so super friendly and helpful, she ended up telling me to call her and we talked for probably a good hour just about trainer and horses and history. Since then we'd kept up on and off through Facebook, or visiting at each others barns, or at shows. And recently, she had wanted to come out to my barn to meet Arwen. When she did come out, my trainer was super nice and friendly (like she always is) and my friend was very impressed. That was about 2-3 months ago, I think, and since then I guess my friend was having issues with her old trainer and decided it was time to make a move.

Moving trainers is kind of like breaking up with a boyfriend. It can be easy and clean and you can part on good terms, or it can be kind of ugly and messy and you've probably burned that bridge forever. I think in the case of this particular trainer and my friend, its the latter, unfortunately. Not due to anything my friend did though, I think the attitude of this trainer will prevent them from being on super good terms ever again. But, I'm happy that she's making the move, and also happy for my trainer who will now have two new clients in the barn! (one of my friend's friends is moving from this same trainer too, lol). My friend likes to show, and wants to do bigger stuff (she's already kicking ass and taking names at 3'6" and higher) so it will definitely be a nice addition to a barn that is filled with brave juniors, but kind of weenie adults, lol!

But...onto the WOD from last night. It was short, but painful. We started out doing some skill work on snatches, which I definitely need work on, so it was good. WOD was as follows:

3 rounds:
250m row
5 thrusters (RX'd was 95, I did 75. *Maybe* could have gone heavier, but it definitely would have been tough. I did get yelled at by the coach though that I was lifting too light)
10 burpees

Goal was to get it done in sub 8, but that didn't happen. Did 8:24, which I'm still pretty happy with. I think what really slowed me down was the second set of thrusters and burpees. I dropped the weight midway through the thrusters (my center of balance was too far forward) and then burpees are just killer anyway. But like I said, still pretty happy with how I did. I was not the fastest girl, but I was also not the slowest (and I think only a very small handful of girls actually did the RX'd weight).

WOD 10/11/11

Just wanted it to be made known that we did "sprints" yesterday (I put that in quotes because its more of run as fast as I can, which is not a sprint. Its more of a slightly faster jog) and I didn't die. I actually kind of enjoyed it, in a weird, twisted this sucks kind of way.

Its funny, because 5 months ago if you told me I would have to run and actually be like "phew! Today's workout is running. Not that bad" I would have laughed. Like in your face, loud laughing. Because honestly, running is not my forte. I am not built for speed, I am built for sitting on a couch. But, after 5 months of doing CF I've actually found I can run, and it doesn't kill me. Granted, the longest distance I've had to run so far is 800m (half a mile) but its amazing to me that I can even do that, and live to tell the tale.

Yesterday was a strength day, so we started with:

5x5 deadlifts, 70% of IRM. I don't have a IRM yet, so I added 10 lbs to where I left off last time. Ended up doing 45 bar plus 50 on each side (145 total). Could have probably gone a little heavier, but will worry about that next week.

Then...

3x400 sprints

Managed to maintain a fairly even time across the board, did the first in 1:30, then no time (my stopwatch didn't start, and my coach didn't get my time either), then 1:36. But I figure that my second go ended up somewhere in the middle of that.

Like I said...I'm no runner. There were people who were blasting through this in a minute. A MINUTE, YO. To run 400m. It takes me a minute to run 200m! But...I ran the whole thing, and I'm pretty sure I ran it faster than I did last time (I think my times were in the 1:40 range). So as long as I am improving, I'm happy!

Soooo...

I had a big ol' long post typed out, and it got deleted.

I'll basically sum up my EUREKA! moment from riding this weekend: outside rein only through the lines and after a jump makes Arwen happy. No more bracing on the bit, or dragging me through the corners. It was seriously amazing. More later as we finesse this newfound trick, and make sure its not just a fluke.

WOD 10/06/11

Felt pretty good last night. I think I really enjoy doing straightforward strength work, and I haven't gotten a chance to do it in awhile. Was a nice break from the looooooong metcon stuff we've been doing as of late.

5x5 push press (same weight across the five sets). Strict presses, no help from the legs. Used the 45 lb bar, 12.5 on each side. Last few reps were tough.

Then...

20-15-10-5
Sumo DL high pulls (65lbs, I technically did it at 63lbs since I used the womens bar. But I still say it was RX'd)
box jumps (did it on the women's box, which I believe is 20 inches)

For some twisted reason, I REALLY like Sumo DL HP's. I think because its mainly a leg/hip driven movement, which is where most of my strength is.  I also like box jumps. Simple and straight forward. Did it in 5:55, which I'm pretty happy with. Overall, good workout and man did it help me get over the residual soreness I still had from Monday. My hamstrings have been SO TIGHT, which tend to get somewhat loosened up when I'm riding but not this time. I think the DL's helped alot because they're feeling better this morning.

Anyway, lesson on Arwen tonight with Trainer's new assistant/friend/helper. Hopefully I don't make too big a fool of myself.

A little bit better

Had another lesson last night with one of my trainer's assistants. Kept it really low key, and went through the same two stride-bending six stride that we did the night before.

New thing last night though-Arwen was being sluggish off the leg going forward, although she was responding well laterally. Also, really trying to evade the bit at the canter. Not sure if its from all the work we were doing the night before, or I'm doing something weird with my hands. Will have to figure it out tomorrow. Regardless, she gave me some really nice lateral movement. Towards the end too, she was moving off with just slight leg pressure. Still not completely straight, but she's starting to work with me on what I'm asking her, as opposed to ignoring.

The one benefit of all that flat/lateral stuff-she was AWESOME over our warm up jumps. Not rushing, and actually carrying herself through the corners as opposed to diving in and rushing. It felt so great. She was also approaching and cantering away nice and calmly. That is the feeling I've got to strive for every time I ride her.

And then, we started doing the two stride-bending line again. Tried to make her fit the seven in again. Had a few pretty ugly goes, but then we got one good one where she was really compressing her stride and fitting it in nicely, as opposed to rushing at the end of the two stride and forcing me to fit a super duper tight 7. After the got the 7, we tried for the 6 again. But, me and my brain was still thinking she was going to get there too easy so I started getting handsy again. Finally, last time through she did the 6 really nicely and we quit on that.

The take aways from last night: lateral really is the key. Getting her to respect and move off my leg, and not use it as a crutch to lean/balance on. Also, to not let her do it to begin with

I also decided that Arwen really does try to do what I'm asking her. We just run into problems when what she thinks I should be asking her isn't the same as what I really am asking her. But, she does have a lot of try in her. She tries to do what she thinks is the right thing, and then gets upset when I'm telling her its not what I really wanted. So somewhere in there our lines of communication are still a little bit fuzzy and thats my fault. I really hope with this flat work focus it becomes more clear to her and me what we're asking of each other. That, and I'm going to try the clicker training. I bought it ages ago, just never got around to doing it.

Meh.

Had my first lesson after the breakdown on Saturday. Wasn't great, but also wasn't horrible. We spent a lot of time at the beginning of the lesson working on getting her to give to my hand/the bit, and getting her to not lean on my inside leg and actually bend correctly around a circle. I got a few steps in there where I went "ah ha!!" but then I would lose it. I asked my trainer if she has to continually ask Arwen for it too, and she said "oh yea". Only difference is for her, its automatic. She reacts before it even happens. I, on the other hand, react after it happens. Which again, all comes down to feel. That elusive "thing" that we strive for in riding and that I just seem to be somewhat lacking in naturally.

Anyway...after working on the flat for a bit, we started jumping a crossrail. Trotted both ways, was excellent (at least those trot jumps have gotten really good. I am happy about that). No longer sticky to/over the jump, and she canters away sooooo quietly. Makes me wonder why she can't canter away quietly like that when cantering a jump? Will have to ponder this one for a bit. Trainer then had us do the collected five stride again (which she was fine in 3 out of 4 times. The one time she did try and drift right, I pulled her up after and made sure she was moving off that right leg. She didn't try it again), then the two stride to a bending six. Two stride was much much better in terms of straightness. But, she still wants to land and scoot off, and then the canter through the bending six is tight where we either chip, leave out, or its all pogo stick bouncy. I just want a nice,  even canter through there people!

99% of this is flatwork. That much has been made clear to me. Through the bending six, its like she isn't wanting to accept my aids. Trainer had me just taking a steady feel and while she was coming back to me, she wouldn't do it until about three strides away from the jump which is too late to get that smoothed out, even tempo canter. So trainer agreed with my plan that its going to be all about flatwork with her right now and that it will definitely benefit both of us to get me working with her on the more advanced flatwork stuff. Because after all, she knows how to do, she just hasn't been asked to do it much in the past year I've owned her. We'll still jump, but we're going to keep it super simple.

WOD 10/3/2011

Let me preface this by saying this one really, really sucked. Looked deceptively simple on paper, but it was a ball buster. Particularly hard for me because, well, I've been pretty much failing at getting in 3 times a week workouts consistently, and its showing in my results. Apparently, its also showing in my riding (see previous posts, lol). I think its been at least a good two months since I've been able to string together multiple weeks of consistent workouts. So, new resolution for October is to do the entire month back at my three times a week. If this means going to the early morning class, that is what I'm going to do. Because it really irks me to be getting so fatigued in these longer/harder WOD's, for no reason other than my endurance isn't what it should be, due to my own laziness.

Without further ado, the WOD:

20 calorie row
30 burpees
40 DB ground to OH (either a clean to a push press, or a weird kind of hybrid of a snatch/kettlebell swing. 25 lb DB's was women's RX)
50 toes to bar (I did KTE)
100 ft lunges with 45 lb plate (supposed to go OH, but at that point I didn't even try. I was lucky I could hold that thing to my chest)

Completed in 17 minutes. Longer than I wanted, but still sub 20 minutes. I've been using the 25lb DB's for all WODs lately, but last night they just felt especially heavy. I could only do 5 reps at a time, which is not good. At one point I was even tempted to ask to grab the 15lbs, but made the decision to suffer through because the 15lbs would have just been way too easy.

All in all, glad I did it, but I'm definitely feeling the pain today.

Happy One Year Anniversary, Arwen

Thought I would do this as a separate post.

A year ago today I made the decision to purchase a super experienced, trained, forward jumper to be my very first horse. She wasn't exactly what I had in mind for my first horse. She is a mare, first of all, plain bay with a little bit of chrome and well, did I mention she is a mare? I had always imagined I would end up with a gelding of some sort because I have always clicked better with male animals in general. But, the first time up on her back and I was sold. Even though she was forward and a bit hot, I immediately felt safe on her. I knew that she wouldn't do anything stupid, or try and hurt me.

That much has turned out to be true. She has a great brain, without a doubt. Her spooks are pretty few and far between, and there is nothing crazy about her. I've never seen her buck/bolt/rear, even when pushed hard. She stands quietly when I get off her in the arena to set jumps, and only once have I seen her run around in turnout. For the most part, she just meanders off to eat some grass and roll.

This is not to say that we haven't had our challenges. She is a tough ride, for me at least. I got her coming off a nice, confidence building horse who is simple and sweet. Basically just had to sit there and he would tool around a course like a good boy. Didn't have many bad habits, other than being sloooooooow (which for a beginner is good). After him though, I knew I wanted something with a little more fire and I definitely got her. She has proved to be a true challenge. No more sitting up there, expecting the horse to make decisions, only having to worry about the "go" button. Arwen wants me to help her make choices. She wants me to tell her what she is supposed to be doing. And most of all, she wants me to support those decisions and not throw the decision to her at the last minute. She has truly made me into a rider who is thinking about all aspects of the ride, as opposed to just "there's a fence, lets go!".

She really has taught me so much in this past year. She has taught me to be patient but firm. That consistency is good but that you have to ride the horse you have, and sometimes the plan goes out the window. She has taught me to see distances, whereas before I saw nothing. She has taught me about pace, impulsion, responsiveness and compromise. Most importantly though, she has shown me how rewarding it is to have an equine partner in this crazy journey of riding I embarked upon in adulthood. I love you Ponyface, even if you're a brat sometimes!

My Pity Party Weekend

So incredibly frustrated with myself. After a good solid few months of nice rides with Arwen, it all went to hell on Saturday (insert dramatic music here, complete with high pitched violins). Since starting CrossFit, I have said how despite some refusals, I have managed to stay on. Not on Saturday. We were coming down a pretty forward set line where you had to have a decent in fence in order to make the striding. First time through, no problem. Rode easy since Arwen wants to do the lines forward anyway. Second time through, we had a crappy in, and I still tried to push for the striding. Ended up being a SUPER long spot at the second fence, and Arwen slammed on the brakes (rightfully so-this spot was dangerously long, even for a 2'6" fence). I ended up on her neck, then swung over the side. Granted, I landed on my feet so I'm not sure I even consider it a real "fall", but still. We had gone probably five months with no involuntary dismounts and my crappy riding broke the streak. BLARGH! Its funny because I don't miss distance in general that much. Sometimes I've got a chip here or there, but for the most part they're nothing horrible and nothing too scary. But when I do miss badly, its ALWAYS at a long spot and I ALWAYS lean forward, and throw my reins away, expecting the horse to take charge. Trainer and I have discussed this many a time. If I JUST. SIT. BACK and keep leg on at those spots, 9 times out of 10 it is pretty much guaranteed that Arwen would fit the last stride in herself and do an ugly chip, but still get over the fence. Its because I throw all my weight forward and take away the support that she slams on the brakes.

That was just the beginning of the end for this lesson though. Earlier in the week, I had noticed that she was drifting a bit right going down lines. Apparently, in my complacency I continued to let her do it and it came to a head on Saturday. Going down this a different line, set more conservative, she was veering right, totally bulging against my right leg and ignoring it completely. This resulted in another refusal (which I managed to sit, thankfully). Weaved her back and forth in front of that fence, did a tight circle, and popped her over it again. Went back over the line the other way. Same thing, bulging to the right, although no more refusals. And then...she started leaving out a stride. At this point, I think I'm just getting tired and frazzled. Trainer has me take her through a little two stride set with crossrails and Arwen stumbles through it, knocking the crossrails. Crossrails, for petes sake! At this point I feel like I'm doing more harm than good because the tools in my tool box just aren't working. So trainer has me get off, so she can get on to see what I'm feeling.

Arwen proceeds to get her ass whooped for the next half hour.

Thankfully, trainer felt what I was feeling too, so it wasn't all my imagination. She also said that Arwen sometimes would rather fight you, than give in. That is why that argument lasted 30 minutes. All she wanted her to do was get off that right side and Arwen was resisting it, hard. At one point trainer just had her right leg on, and Arwen was backing around the ring instead of just doing a simple leg yield.

Honestly, I think what it all comes down to is what I had been wanting to do originally for the rest of the year. LOTS more lateral work. She needs it. She needs to respect my leg and respect me, even on days where she is feeling less than respectful (like Saturday). I need to DEMAND more from her, instead of letting her get away with so much. I also need to stop relaxing when things go well, because she will take that little bit of freedom and run with it. She's a total alpha mare, and I think in her mind we're kind of just buddies. I'm not the clear cut leader yet and I don't know if I'll ever be. But I am going to try. Because when Arwen works with me, its super fabulous awesome. But when she doesn't, shit like Saturday happens.

So armed with my newfound determination, on Sunday I went out ready to tackle the same lines, but as ground pole versions. But the arena was closed and it looked like they were going to start doing some work in there. FOILED! Instead, we just did a lot of walk work. A lot. I worked on getting her to give to me, we did a TON of lateral stuff and I didn't let her give me any shit. I was carrying a dressage whip (which I think I will do from now on in flatwork stuff) and when she ignored my leg, she got a tap. She got all indignant and dramatic about it at first (head tossing, snorting, etc) but wouldn't you know, it just took the one tap. I got some really good leg yielding and haunches in from her towards the end, and once she gave me that, I decided to end on a positive note.

Arwen is a funny mare. Like I've said before, she definitely keeps me on my toes. The second I become more of a passenger, rides go downhill. I've had her a year today, and in that year she has taught me so much I can't believe how much I didn't know before I got her. So while it is sometimes extremely frustrating, I know I will forever be thankful for the experiences she has given me.

Lesson 9/28/11

I know, not very creative with the title. Thats because nothing super eventful happened last night, which is a-okay by me.

Got there pretty early, so I got in a decent amount of flatwork. Lots of trotting circles again, figure eights, some leg yielding with some pretty decent forward/sideways movement. At least now I can really "feel" it when she's crossing those legs, as opposed to just tilting the body sideways and walking forward. And she *knows* how to do it perfectly fine. Its just a matter of me asking in the correct place, and being able to feel/correct her through the movement. That is what I really want to drill down, and then be able to leg yield correctly across the diagonal. Baby steps though!

I got kind of mishmashed in with the 4:30 group lesson that does the bigger fences (like 3'6", no way in hell was I going over those!) so we just stood around and watched them jump. I always think its a good thing to watch people more advanced than you jump, especially in a lesson. I was able to see what kinds of mistakes they were making, how they were correcting it, and how much better it made the horses go, and think about how it translates into my riding. Also, it was nice to see that even these much more advanced students make the same mistakes as me. Like one of the juniors was having trouble seeing a distance, mainly because she didn't have the correct canter pace. Trainer told her to just let go, canter and she would get there. And when she did finally just let the horse take her there on a good canter, sure enough, the distance and fence were beautiful. I tend to pickpickpick to a fence too, especially on a long approach. I think I've gotten better about it in the past couple months, but I could definitely empathize with what the rider was going through.

When they finished up, I did a couple of trot fences (which are now great, but I still force myself to practice them) and then a couple of warm up canter fences. Oh, and we did do a repeat of the rollback turn I was having issues with last Wednesday, and it was fine this time around. I just really tried to remember to sit up and down, instead of hunching forward and pulling. Definitely helped get her around that turn. Trainer then had me do a little course of some diagonal lines, roll backs and a one stride. Had to do the one stride to the diagonal line a couple times because Arwen was rushing a bit through the line (per usual). The last time through, I really tried to sit up, and she bulged a little to the right, but we made it through pretty nicely despite it being slightly bent to fit in all the strides. Eh...gotta pick my battles with that horse. She was pretty good overall so we decided to end on a positive note.

So like I said, not super exciting. But nothing dramatic or horrible happened either, so I'm happy!

Back from my break!

Went out to the barn last night to do a little hack after having my five days off. My goal was to just do lots of trot work, and really try and get Arwen to reach under herself and use that bum! 

Surprisingly, I didn't feel horrible after being out of the saddle for almost a week. It used to do a number on me when I would take that much time off, but since starting to increase my fitness and riding more, it definitely phases me a lot less.

I did grab a dressage whip, just for kicks to see if it would help her engage a little more. She normally starts out a little distracted and pokey, and what do you know, holding that dressage whip made her start out at a nice brisk walk. Horses are so funny sometimes. I haven't had to use any kind of crop/whip with her since she is naturally so forward, so holding it plus the reins felt really, really weird (last horse I used one on was my lease, which was almost a year ago!).

Started out with just that nice, brisk walk a few times around the arena in both directions on a loose rein. Then picked up a trot going left (still on a loose rein), asking her to go nice and forward, but not rushy. This is where I felt holding that whip made the biggest difference. She was immediately off my leg, and doing a nice, sproingy trot that was forward, but not all quick and rushy like she can sometimes do when I ask her to go forward. Did this a couple times around going both directions, with a few large circles to get her to soften and bend in both directions. I also wanted her to start reaching for the bit (which she would do), but I think my timing is still off or my contact is changing because for the life of me, I just can't get her to hold it.  After the trotting we went back down to a brisk walk and did some lateral stuff, mostly mini shoulder ins, some leg yielding, and turn on the haunches and forehand. We ended on a couple laps of canter, with flying lead changes both directions, and then trotted over one of the little crossrails set up both directions.

Couple thoughts on the lead changes and the crossrails. After doing all the lateral stuff, and making sure she was listening to my leg, those lead changes were great. No falling in against my inside leg, and she got them right away. Funny how that works, right? Same with the trotting crossrails. Super straight to the jump, and super straight afterwards (which is something we were struggling with last lesson, where she wanted to dive into the turn and I was struggling to keep her off my inside leg). She also cantered away really quietly, and I focused on my upper body and seat telling her to whoa/slow as opposed to being all hunched forward over my hands and pulling (conflicting message, right? Makes her pissed)

So, definitely going to keep working on lateral stuff every warmup. And I decided that right now, I'm just really going to focus on perfecting that leg yield, and getting it done correctly. But overall, it was a really nice ride, even if it was kinda short. Sucks that its getting dark so much earlier now too! Pretty soon I'm going to have to move into the indoor in the evenings and I'm not looking forward to that. Lesson tonight though, will post about it later!

Camping!

So DH and I just got back from a five day camping trip up in the high Sierras near Mammoth Lake. Fun, but pretty exhausting and I now feel like I need an extra two days off from my five days off. I think this was the most active camping trip we've ever done. We did one really long hike, then two shorter ones, plus some driving around and exploring the area a bit. Now, camping is not really *my* thing. Its DH's hobby, especially with off roading mixed in. It has gotten a lot more enjoyable though, since he bought a little teardrop trailer that helps keep us protected from the elements and has a kitchen in the back. Now if only Teardrop could figure out a way to cram a bathroom and shower in there...

On the hikes, I have to say I was very impressed with my stamina and ability to actually hike at 11,000 feet and not die. Last time we tried hiking at altitude (probably around 8,000 feet) I had to stop every ten feet to catch my breath. This time though, I trucked up those switchbacks like a boss. Actual altitude gain was probably around 800 ft, topping out at 11,000. So, thank you CrossFit! Functional fitness at its best, and that is with only working out three times a week for short periods of time. I feel like I am walking proof that high intensity interval training (which is essentially what most of our workouts are) really does work.

As for the rest of the trip, we saw a really cool national monument called Devil's Postpile and then visited a well known ghost town called Bodie. I think the high Sierra's are growing on me a bit as I did used to not love the whole high desert scene. As a kid I spent most of my time amongst towering pines and granite, not scrub brush. But there is definitely a different kind of beauty to the area, and I am coming to appreciate it more. Although the appreciation ends at the random thunderstorms that happen up there in the summer. We got caught in one on the way back from one of our hikes and we were drenched in a matter of minutes. We had to run back to camp, and shove everything under our trailer, all while getting rained/hailed on. All in all though, it was fun and I managed to take a lot of nice pictures. Some didn't turn out as well as they could have because I forgot to switch the ISO setting on my camera to "auto" (whoops) but thats okay. I'm still trying to get the hang of the whole manual setting dealio.

I haven't seen Arwen in 5 days but I'm going to go out there tomorrow and hack her. We'll see how she behaves!

Weekend Recap

First on the fitness front. Got to do "Dumb Fran" for the second time since I started CrossFit. "Dumb Fran" is the dumbell version of "Fran", one of the benchmark WOD's that you do probably every few months in order to help gauge your progress. It goes:

21-15-9
DB Thrusters
Pull ups


The WOD is meant to be done quickly. Women use 25 lb dumbells for the RX'd weight. Last time I attempted "Dumb Fran" in July, I mistakenly thought that the 25 lbs DB's would be fine. HAH. It was death. Back in July, I came in at 9 minutes, 30 seconds using the 25 lb-ers, plus the green band for the pulls ups (its the second easiest band, has lots of resistance). So, I was a little nervous going into the WOD because OMG, what if I haven't improved? What if I still can't do the 25's? I knew that I had gotten stronger since July but still...WHAT IF I SUCK??? Its funny to have these thoughts running through your mind about a workout, right? But really, CrossFit is a competitive environment, even though that isn't the focus. I knew that people would still encourage me if I hadn't improved, but it might also mean that I would need to seriously rethink how CrossFit as a program was working for me. Really, the only person I would be letting down would be myself, and I hate that feeling.

But, ladies and gents, I managed to drop 2 minutes and 30 seconds off my original "Dumb Fran" time, and that was with using the next step down in bands! Came in at 7 minutes. I think I could have even gone faster, except my forearms were cramping up and it made it really difficult to grip the bar. But, I'm still happy. I got through the thrusters with the 25 lb DBs and didn't die. Hopefully next time we hit this WOD, I'll be able to do the whole thing as RX'd. That would be pretty damn sweet, even if it means that my time is slower. Its pretty amazing to me though, this is the first benchmark WOD I've done twice and the amount of improvement kind of blows my mind. I was *hoping* to drop a minute. But clearly my body is adapting in a good way,  its been within a relatively short period of time (come October, I'll have been at CrossFit for 5 months), and with working out only three times a week. Even though I haven't seen my weight decrease like I would like to see (partially my fault, I am still not totally dialed in on my diet) from my results and riding I know that it is making a difference. I love it.

On the horse front, I had another lovely round of lessons this week/weekend. Arwen was fan-freaking-tastic. We had one little minor spook at a jump with panels (its her favorite jump to spook at, coming off my least favorite corner, for some reason) and I don't even really count it as a refusal.  We just circled, and then she popped right over it. We also had some great bending lines, still a little rushy, but rideable. Overall she was just super quiet and responsive, and FUN this weekend. We even had a first-when we were warming up over a trot jump, she didn't even canter away. She trotted over the damn thing, and landed trotting. This has NEVER. HAPPENED. people! Sometimes its even been a struggle to get her to trot quietly over a pole on the ground so for her to trot over a crossrail is pretty impressive (its the small things, right?). I did have her hocks injected a couple weeks ago, so I think she's just feeling loose and pain free. Doesn't feel like she has to scoot off, and also, I think she's just finally relaxing a bit with me, and vice versa.

Upon pondering further, I think both of our more relaxed attitudes have been reflecting in our rides for the past couple of months. I also think Arwen appreciates me not flying off her back via unplanned dismounts, which does make her nervous. Its pretty cool though, because my one year anniversary with Arwen is coming up in a couple weeks. I wasn't anticipating "clicking" with her to take this long (and I mean riding wise, since I knew she was "it" the second I sat on her) but people do say it takes at least a year to really get to know a horse.  I really am hoping this progress continues, so I can finally effing show with her next spring! There is still a couple more shows this fall before the season ends for a couple months but I a) don't have the cash and b) don't want to go to one show, then have a big break. I feel like it makes more sense to be able to do three in a row (or however many).

Oh, and I finally got her papers! I officially know her breeding and history. Its pretty cool, actually. I had found online what I thought was her lineage, but I think some of it was incorrect. She has a lot of Westfalian blood in her, some Hano, some BWP and a little bit of Selle Francais thrown in there. You can definitely tell the Westfalian (personality) and Hano (big ole jughead, but still pretty). I also now have the name and address of her breeder, so if I ever happen to be down in Monterrey, Mexico I will have to pay him a call. Because I would LOVE to see if they have any baby pictures of her. I may even write a letter, but I would have to have my hubs translate!

So, that was pretty much my weekend in a nutshell. Good, but mellow. Just the way I like 'em.

Reason #145696 to exercise

I've been dealing with a mild, but constant headache since Tuesday. No idea what from, wasn't super painful, just more annoying.

Finally caved and took one Excedrin last night before heading out to CrossFit.

And what do you know...got back, headache was gone. Attributed it to the Excedrin. But, woke up this morning feeling completely refreshed, sans headache.

Funny how that works, eh? Note to self: do not go over a week without hitting up the gym because apparently it pisses my body off, and also makes those burpees hurt that much more.

Last nights WOD for time:

500m row

5 rounds
7 DL (supposed to be 70% of 1 RM, but I just couldn't do it due to feeling kind of shitty from the headache, so I managed 115 when my 70% is probably more like 135-145)
9 burpees
11 KTE

400m run

Did it in 18:23. Not mind blowing super athlete time, but my goal was to be sub 20 minutes which I did. And didn't die.

Oh, and on a side note the NB Minimus Trails I bought less than two months ago have already given up. The Vibram tread on the bottom of one of them is peeling off. You can bet those are going back to the store this weekend where they had better give me a new pair. Those shoes have had it EASY the past fews weeks. They have no excuse.

As follow up to my last post...

I thought I should also post some of my goals for the next year with my pony, since I'm trying to stay in this positive mindset!

1) get back to jumping solid 3' courses. Was doing this pretty succesfully, but we backed down due to the refusing issues.

2) get to three shows. I am DYING to show but due to money issues, haven't been able to get my *ish* together. Those money issues being buying my um...Antares saddle. That was basically where all my showing money went this year. Oh well...Ponyface needed it, I swear!

3) really drill down my flatwork, maybe even take a couple dressage lessons. Last night we did a ton a flatwork and Arwen was GREAT when we started jumping, even though she generally depises flatwork. What I want to be able to successfully AND correctly: haunches in, shoulder in, leg yield down center line, and really work her consistently in a nice, round and engaged frame. When my trainer gets on and shows me what she can REALLY do (because all the buttons are installed, I just have to learn how to push them correctly) it is beautiful and impressive.

4) try and get through the next two months with no refusals. I know that this will also link back/improve if I get more serious about demanding more from her on the flat.

5) keep working on my equitation. I know, this is very general but its always a work in progress so I gotta throw it in there.

Thats it for now. I'm sure these will change/evolve as time goes on, but these are the immediate things I would like to improve. For most of these (except the showing, since the season doesn't really ramp up until March) I would like to get them accomplished by January. That gives me a good 4 months, which doesn't seem like much but I think if I really buckle down and get a little more serious about this, they can be done. Because really, the things I want to improve are about ME, not the horse. She doesn't need any additional training, she is almost too smart and too well trained. I, on the other hand, still sometimes feel like a bumbling fool up there and I think that is why we run into issues. So I want to work really, really hard on this stuff going into the winter time, because I think it will also help make her a much more rideable horse when the cold really sets in (she was a bit of a fire breathing dragon last winter). Wish us (okay, just me) luck!