Everytime I ride Arwen I at least try and take her on a little trail ride to cool her off. I think its good for her (even though sometimes we do encounter cows which just BLOWS HER MIND) to get out of the arena, not only for the mental stimuli but for walking on varied terrain to help build up/keep healthy those tendons and ligaments in her legs. Its also great to check for straightness, since the horse doesn't have any arena walls/rails to balance on.
So the other Sunday I decided to just hack her around in the grassy field next to the arena. The area is pretty well kept, with a gentle slope in a few places. I hadn't actually ever ridden her in the field, with the exception of sitting on her back and letting her eat grass, or just walking around when I was waiting for my lesson to start. I was hoping she would be a good girl, and let me tell you-she was awesome! She felt totally relaxed and quiet, both at the trot and the canter. I was even able to do some work on a pretty loose rein/light contact, and keep the pace with just my seat and body. She has actually been getting really good about this lately, which is a big step in my eyes because when I first got her she was quite the bolter and had to be ridden on a fairly heavy contact. But I think with some time, consistent rides by my trainer and me, and a bit change, she has finally started calming down a bit.
We then went into the indoor to hop over some poles on the ground in there that were already laid out (I'm lazy, and it was shady in there) and again, she was AWESOME. She went over them super quietly, didn't try and scoot out from under me on the other side. I'm wondering if it has to do with the new saddle I got (new Antares, its LOVELY) and the fact that it fits her infinitely better than my old one. I think since its not putting as much pressure on her shoulder/wither area, on the landing side of things she doesn't have to scoot away from the pain. The same thing was happening in my jumping lessons over the weekend. She was kind of horrible Thursday night, but then Friday and Saturday she was perfect. I think Thursday was bad for a number of reasons, namely I used a different bit that I tend to get a little too handsy with. I usually ride her in a gag, which when she does get speedy, allows me to do a quick correction and soften right away. In the other bit, I can take more contact, but in a horse that is pulling down the lines, it can sometimes result in a pulling match. Which causes her to charge between fences, and leave out strides (never a good thing!)
I'm definitely going to try and ride her out in the field at least once a week. I think it just makes for a happier pony!
And onto other somewhat unrelated topics, I attended a nutrition seminar at my gym. It went over a lot of fundementals I already knew about, but it was nice to get it all in one comprehensive presentation. Also gave me some good nutrition resources to look into about eating Paleo. I think that my diet is the one thing I really need to buckle down on in the next couple of months. Its been what, almost two months of doing CrossFit and while I feel great (which the exception of a few weird sprains, like the muscle that runs along my ribs. I mean honestly, who sprains that muscle??) I haven't been seeing the numbers on the scale I would like to see. And granted, that was even brought up in the seminar. Apparently a lot of women who start CF don't see any movement on the scale for the first couple months. No scientific backing really, other than the thought that our bodies have evolved to survive in harsh conditions and when put under stress, go into conservation mode. Once your body gets to a certain point and realizes its not going to die, thats when it will start letting go of excess weight. So I'm hoping I'm approaching that point. I've managed to lose about 7 lbs, which isn't horrible but I definitely want to make much better improvements than and average 1 lb a week! So, time to really start cutting out the grains and sugars. Sigh. It makes me sad because I really do love bread. But...I expect Arwen to be fit, so its extremely hypocritical for me not to do the same. Pony, I sure hope you appreciate this!
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Thursday, June 23, 2011
My Riding Struggles
So I thought it would be good to put down what I've been struggling with most in my riding.
I think number one without a doubt is my heels. I have never been able to get those dang things down and deep, at least not like you see on those super equitation riders. I can maybe get them slightly below level, but anymore than that and its game over-I start bracing against my irons too much and my leg gets shoved forward.
Second, is "feel". This is part of the holy grail of riding because if you lack any feel, well, you can't really communicate effectively with your horse. I wouldn't say I don't have any feel, because I do, but I don't think its as finely tuned as it could be. Its definitely improved over the last year and a half with more consistent riding, but my reaction times to what I'm feeling can still be off. A lot.
And from that, comes consistency. I can have a totally awesome ride one day, and the next sucks big time. Arwen can have her moods which doesn't help, but on the whole who she is day to day stays relatively normal. Like, I can always expect her to want to run through lines. Like my trainer says, she will never back herself off, you have to help her fit strides in if that is your plan. But, while one lesson I may not have an issue "feeling" what type of ride I need to give her, the next day its like I've totally forgotten everything. Its frustrating, but I know its all part of learning to ride. And when you've basically spent your whole time riding schoolies and not a well tuned horse like Arwen is, its a very new experience.
There are other small, nit picky type items too, like my t-rex arms (big body, tiny little arms. And I do not kid, I swear I have the longest torso ever). The three things above have been my achilles heel for quite some time and I'm not sure how they can all be addressed, other than spending a lot more time in the saddle!
I think number one without a doubt is my heels. I have never been able to get those dang things down and deep, at least not like you see on those super equitation riders. I can maybe get them slightly below level, but anymore than that and its game over-I start bracing against my irons too much and my leg gets shoved forward.
Second, is "feel". This is part of the holy grail of riding because if you lack any feel, well, you can't really communicate effectively with your horse. I wouldn't say I don't have any feel, because I do, but I don't think its as finely tuned as it could be. Its definitely improved over the last year and a half with more consistent riding, but my reaction times to what I'm feeling can still be off. A lot.
And from that, comes consistency. I can have a totally awesome ride one day, and the next sucks big time. Arwen can have her moods which doesn't help, but on the whole who she is day to day stays relatively normal. Like, I can always expect her to want to run through lines. Like my trainer says, she will never back herself off, you have to help her fit strides in if that is your plan. But, while one lesson I may not have an issue "feeling" what type of ride I need to give her, the next day its like I've totally forgotten everything. Its frustrating, but I know its all part of learning to ride. And when you've basically spent your whole time riding schoolies and not a well tuned horse like Arwen is, its a very new experience.
There are other small, nit picky type items too, like my t-rex arms (big body, tiny little arms. And I do not kid, I swear I have the longest torso ever). The three things above have been my achilles heel for quite some time and I'm not sure how they can all be addressed, other than spending a lot more time in the saddle!
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Don't mind the fatness...
I've always struggled with my weight. I remember being young, and having my overweight pediatrician tell me that I was way off the height charts for my age, but also way off the weight chart too. I ended up getting sent to a skinny nutritionist, who I'm sure was never a day overweight, tell me what I needed to do to get my weight down. I left that appointment almost in tears, frustrated by my inability to have a "normal" body as well as the silly things the nutritionist was telling me to do (what 11 year old girl is going to chart what she eats? Honestly...). That became the start of a life long struggle, including many "diets" and exercise programs, to try and make myself fit into that "normal" range.
I think I've pretty much lost and gained the same 30 lbs over a 10 year period. Its pretty frustrating to say the least. Part of the issue was/is I am by nature a pretty lazy person. If given the choice between Real Housewives on Tivo, and talking a walk, take a wild guess which one I will chose 9 times out of 10. But...all of it came to a head when I bought Arwen. Not only has she challenged my riding skills (or lack thereof, but thats another post) she has made me realize just how unfit and overweight I really am.
Case in point...there was a month or so where she was refusing fences with me. Not hard refusals, but stops sudden enough to unseat me. For a fitter rider with a stronger core, it would have been fine. But for me, I would go pitching over her shoulder every.Damn.Time. My butt hit the ground 6 times in that month, two of which sent me flying through the jump, taking out the poles and the standards. Needless to say, this was a pretty big wake up call that I was not the athlete I needed to be to be the best for my horse. After all, I expect her to be fit, why should I expect anything less for myself?
This time though, instead of feeling like I had to loose the weight, I just thought to myself "I want to be strong and fit for my horse". If weight loss was a by product of this, then I wouldn't turn my nose up at it. But what I really wanted was to feel healthy and not come off the damn horse when she refused. So I turned to Crossfit. And let me tell you, even though I've only been doing it a month and a half, its definitely a game changer. If you don't know anything about Crossfit, the core idea of it developing functional fitness. You aren't going to a gym and mindlessly doing 3 sets of 15 reps with a 15 lb dumbell, then hopping on a treadmill to run endless miles. Its short, quick and intense with heavy weights, and limited reps. A lot of the time, you're just using your body weight. In a word, its hard and it sucks and during the first week I would literally be dry heaving my way through the workouts. But the goal is to make you fit to be able to perform to your optimum ability in LIFE, whatever that may be for the individual person.
And boy does it. Three weeks in, Arwen threw in a refusal. I didn't budge. Nothing else had changed except I started doing Crossfit. I am definitely a believer.
I think I've pretty much lost and gained the same 30 lbs over a 10 year period. Its pretty frustrating to say the least. Part of the issue was/is I am by nature a pretty lazy person. If given the choice between Real Housewives on Tivo, and talking a walk, take a wild guess which one I will chose 9 times out of 10. But...all of it came to a head when I bought Arwen. Not only has she challenged my riding skills (or lack thereof, but thats another post) she has made me realize just how unfit and overweight I really am.
Case in point...there was a month or so where she was refusing fences with me. Not hard refusals, but stops sudden enough to unseat me. For a fitter rider with a stronger core, it would have been fine. But for me, I would go pitching over her shoulder every.Damn.Time. My butt hit the ground 6 times in that month, two of which sent me flying through the jump, taking out the poles and the standards. Needless to say, this was a pretty big wake up call that I was not the athlete I needed to be to be the best for my horse. After all, I expect her to be fit, why should I expect anything less for myself?
This time though, instead of feeling like I had to loose the weight, I just thought to myself "I want to be strong and fit for my horse". If weight loss was a by product of this, then I wouldn't turn my nose up at it. But what I really wanted was to feel healthy and not come off the damn horse when she refused. So I turned to Crossfit. And let me tell you, even though I've only been doing it a month and a half, its definitely a game changer. If you don't know anything about Crossfit, the core idea of it developing functional fitness. You aren't going to a gym and mindlessly doing 3 sets of 15 reps with a 15 lb dumbell, then hopping on a treadmill to run endless miles. Its short, quick and intense with heavy weights, and limited reps. A lot of the time, you're just using your body weight. In a word, its hard and it sucks and during the first week I would literally be dry heaving my way through the workouts. But the goal is to make you fit to be able to perform to your optimum ability in LIFE, whatever that may be for the individual person.
And boy does it. Three weeks in, Arwen threw in a refusal. I didn't budge. Nothing else had changed except I started doing Crossfit. I am definitely a believer.
Meet Arwen!
"So, what do you think about these horses?" I asked my trainer one day. I had been perusing sale ads on a local website and found a couple stunning, dark bay gelding jumpers that piqued my interest.
"I didn't even know you wanted to buy a horse!" my trainer exclaimed. Well...neither did I. I mean, buying a horse had been in the "plan" all along, but I wasn't really prepared to buy at that exact moment. After all, I had only been in my half lease on a nice, confidence building jumper for about 8 months and wanted to get some more shows under my belt. But, I went ahead and told her to just keep her eyes and ears open for something that might be suitable.
Famous last words, eh?
Fast foward two weeks, and I had just finished signing the papers to make Arwen officially mine. My trainer and I ended up going to a local sales barn, where she was the first horse I tried. I immediately felt safe on her, and knew she would take care of me. I tried a few others that day, but kept going back to her. We ended up getting her on a week trial, she passed her vetting with flying colors, and the rest is history.
This was about 8 months ago. Since then I've learned a ton. Arwen has so much to teach me, its not even funny. She can be bull headed and a freight train at times, and there have been many rides where I was ready to throw in the towel. But I wouldn't trade her for the world. She is still a very kind, and safe horse even though to the innocent bystander, she can appear to be very hot (what can I say, she has a very good "GO!" button installed). I plan to keep her for the rest of her days, maybe even get a baby from her for my next mount. Who knows? I'm hoping the two of us have many years left together. I couldn't have asked for a better first horse.
Monday, June 20, 2011
The Beginning...
I think every little girl goes through a horse crazy phase. Not sure what it is about these beautiful animals, but something about them draws like a moth to a flame. However, while some grow out of it, there are others who stay that obsessed little girl for life.
I am one of those obsessed little girls. At 28 years old.
I realized at a young age that what I wanted most in life was my very own pony. At around age 8 or 9, I had a lockbox, lovingly decorated with puffy painted horses, that I would slip my monthly allowance into in hopes of one day purchasing a horse. Mind you, at the time I had had little exposure to horses, let alone actual riding time. No real lessons to speak of, and only a very basic knowledge of care and cost. Regardless, I was crazy about them. I had all the horse toys, starting with My Little Ponies, then Fashion Star Fillies, Breyers, basically any horse toy I saw, I bought. I endlessly doodled pictures of horses, subscribed to "Horse Illustrated", even contacted someone from a classified ad to come look at her horses for sale (which, needless to say mortified my mom and she promptly made me write back and tell them woman I was not serious)
My parents, in attempts to humor this obsession, would take me on trail rides, signed me up for a couple of horse camps, even got me a two english riding lessons. I even came close to leasing an old horse at some barn my dad found in the yellow pages, but it never panned out.
Flash forward through my teens, where my obsession dropped off a bit as I started to get more serious about school, and swimming. However, horses were still always in the back of my mind and anytime an opportunity came up to be around them, I took it.
It wasn't until I was in my early 20's, at my first "serious" job that I decided to take some legitimate lessons. I had the time, and the money, to finally really get into this horse thing. Little did I know, that was the beginning of the end and that the horse crazy little girl in me would finally get to realize her life long dream. A horse to call my very own.
I am one of those obsessed little girls. At 28 years old.
I realized at a young age that what I wanted most in life was my very own pony. At around age 8 or 9, I had a lockbox, lovingly decorated with puffy painted horses, that I would slip my monthly allowance into in hopes of one day purchasing a horse. Mind you, at the time I had had little exposure to horses, let alone actual riding time. No real lessons to speak of, and only a very basic knowledge of care and cost. Regardless, I was crazy about them. I had all the horse toys, starting with My Little Ponies, then Fashion Star Fillies, Breyers, basically any horse toy I saw, I bought. I endlessly doodled pictures of horses, subscribed to "Horse Illustrated", even contacted someone from a classified ad to come look at her horses for sale (which, needless to say mortified my mom and she promptly made me write back and tell them woman I was not serious)
My parents, in attempts to humor this obsession, would take me on trail rides, signed me up for a couple of horse camps, even got me a two english riding lessons. I even came close to leasing an old horse at some barn my dad found in the yellow pages, but it never panned out.
Flash forward through my teens, where my obsession dropped off a bit as I started to get more serious about school, and swimming. However, horses were still always in the back of my mind and anytime an opportunity came up to be around them, I took it.
It wasn't until I was in my early 20's, at my first "serious" job that I decided to take some legitimate lessons. I had the time, and the money, to finally really get into this horse thing. Little did I know, that was the beginning of the end and that the horse crazy little girl in me would finally get to realize her life long dream. A horse to call my very own.
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