2012-10-31

Ride Journal



They worked in the grass ring for about an hour in total, including lots of rest breaks because of the horse-flu going around the barn. He wasn't showing symptoms, she just wanted to take it easy on him...

She had the big bit in, the gag snaffle she thought of as her brakes, so they worked on cantering the approach to a few fences. They would do one, and then go around and around and around and around until he was listening to her again instead of running off... she could enjoy the canter work knowing she had a say in the speed of it, the new bit was really helping her, without being severe on him.  The leverage action was useful to her and carefully used.

And yet, he was very strong and she was frustrated that he was towing her. She just could not sit up enough, to slow him. And, to her, her lower leg felt jiggly.  She looked forward to being in better shape.

They ended with a series of canter walk, walk canter transitions, in a dressage frame, mostly as an exercise for his mind!

It was good work and they both enjoyed it.  She recapped it by phone and he horse's owner agreed to come and videotape her next two lessons - the dressage and then the grid work/jumping session scheduled.

2012-10-29

The Weekend Wind



The weekend wind was up!  And, made for much excitement.

Jill had mentioned to her boss that there was a student she needed to challenge more, and then, the very next lesson, the very same kid almost came off!  During a canter spook and dart to the centre by a naughty pony. Had he read Jill's mind? Jill's mentor hadn't suggested anything, just smiled.

When Jill asked this student, during their subsequent outdoor walk, if she wanted to go left or right around the hay field, she requested straight through, indicating the spooky trees!!!   No wonder Jill couldn't resist having favourites!

The next student kept smiling oddly until Jill figured out that he wanted her/them all to notice his new braces. 

In the last private of the the day, the timid-est rider, had been truly inspired watching the Olympics and wanted to jump! She asked to!  And, she was very brave (relatively speaking) and it was great to see her smiling so much in class. Jill got a kick also out of providing the feedback "Okay buddy, now, try and keep your eyes open in the air.  And, how about you keep breathing."

Another of the students had shown up in the hairnet Jill gave her on showday. It was so cute to have a kid so excited about a meaningless attire item. It turned out that her big percheron cross mount was a good match for the fast-horse thoroughbred classmate, but they weren't doing pairs that day, they needed to practice jumping for next week's show.

All day Jill's feelings were hurt that her new friend wasn't interested in coming to the barn. He didn't even remember the invitation(s)! Had he pretended to be interested for a second as a way of wooing her?  Or had she projected this wish on him?  All Jill knew for sure was that if you were interested in spending any time with her, you were gonna have to be willing to horse around. She would not make that mistake again!

For a sponsorship request you were just supposed to go directly asking for what you needed right? Jill thought she should seek sports bras and maybe an IRH small, with dial, lol.

2012-10-28

Rain Pain





She'd seen on his twitter status updates that he'd planned on going riding, but the rain sent him to the movies instead. She posted that she recommended riding in the rain too, ha!  Jill even liked teaching in it.

The first lesson, ready in the barn, went into the arena and then voted to ride out. They mounted outside the arena and rode to the ring and after about 15 min a crazy wind came up and the pelting rain was bad enough for them all to agree to make a run to the arena. Jill looked the other way while they rode through the doorway mounted, this time, with the exception of the big chesnut who had been acting up in the weather in the first place, who was walked in the people door by his rider.

As soon as they were all indoors, it stopped. They felt choked with the dust.

Jill liked having a helper in there to help move the flower boxes. She was making good use of the mentor status and her delegation skills and the assistant instructor didn't mind the run with the manure fork for clean ups as required. "Do you really think I'll be an instructor someday?"

The second lesson saw the same student flying through the air TWICE. ack.  "I'm not as tough as her" big sister protested the horse change proposal "if I fall off I'll cry."  Jill laughed and convinced the twice fallen to carry on her existing mount and the rest of class, thankfully, went well.

Jill's reluctantly agreed bareback school of her charge who owned her pony, meant the 7 yr old did not get easy canter transitions from the fat grey mare. But it was fun trying! 

Bringing in the wee black pony for a wee groom by the 4 yr old was a good positive distraction in the frisky weather for the youngster's ride on a super-unusually-scooty chesnut with flaxen mane and tail, which had been cut very short for safety reasons), while her gramma had practiced lunging again, under Jill's instruction.

It was an honour to get an email from the absolutely World Class, indeed World Champion facility, asking for her resume and dates that she might do a trial.  But Jill hadn't updated her CV and sent it yet. She loved her town, and riding, and teaching, and, she wasn't sure she could actually move so far for a groom job at a Combined Driving facility...  If her headache was any indication of the intensity of the storm that was to continue in the area for several days, she thought she should hold off thinking about it for the time being and go out and get more batteries and duct tape instead.

2012-10-24

Winner's Circle

"You really broke his heart," the Olympic coach said, her former 6 week intern boss was frowning in greeting.  She dreaded seeing him in public now because she had fled the working student opportunity, rather unceremoniously on New Year's day, partially because of the boss's brother's suffocating crush, and the boss's pressure to move into bro's apartment on the farm.  Partially also because of the unsafe, unfair horse practices, and partially because of her illegal status while the aforesaid incidents were being investigated by the authorities.  She shrugged and sat down while he walked on.

Roomie was watching them across the show grounds and asking her student, as they walked the aisles of the barn at the competition, if she had ever been called by 911.  What? The young equestrian wasn't following...  Roomie said that one day during her stint in Ocala, Jill had been alone working in the barn when she answered the ringing landline.  It was the fire department, sounding desperate to find the farm.  Jill gave them the remote, rural address, calmly, and added that she was standing right in the barn and didn't see anything on fire...  The operator said, "We have that address.  We can't find it, and need directions from town.  We are responding to a medical emergency, called in on a cell phone from somewhere on the property."

Jill was new at the job, new in town and had no idea how to further define the location.  It was awful how she had time to go knocking on doors at neighbour's asking for help, while the emergency personnel waited.

The injured woman waited 45 min for their arrival, laying on the ground where the rearing horse had struck her down and crying the whole time, "I can't feel my legs, I can't feel my legs."  At the time she ended up airlifted to the nearest hospital, and then remained paralyzed for life.

"Thanks for housesitting!" a woman came up from behind and joined them, delighting "The pets seem so grounded."  Roomie had just taken care of not just the dogs and cats, but also her first birds!  Apparently the last pet sitter left the unruly puppy unattended and unexercised to the point the creature ate lightbulbs and batteries and electric wires, and then didn't even akcnowledge the housekeeper's text about it.  Roomie enjoyed taking over the babysitting assignments from her friends for the company and privacy and extra pay the mutual pet joy provided.

*

When the president of the equestrian federation passed with a joke about Jill being seated rather than officiating on the grounds, said she was "saving her energy for future exploitation," ha. "Maybe we can connect another time," he was serious.  Jill really wanted to hang around with David O'Connor and would start pitching articles as soon as she got home.  Or, how about "A Day in the Life of Chester Weber?

She still felt like the young girl who wanted to be like the star of National Velvet who won the Grand National and made headlines for being disqualified for being female before turning down the money available through the glory. "Everything comes in its proper order, Mrs. Brown" meanwhile, her mother was cancelling on her again. Jill would read the email later - she knew without reading it that the woman was either discombobulated about the date to meet at the horse show, or had come down with a sudden ailment.

Riders were chatting in line at the snack bar, "if he is expected to deliver perfection there where is the reciprocal?"

Jill caught up with Roomie and her student in the same line up, "Because i am a rider and coach i get thrust into senior positions sometimes at events and i have to ask after the basics like how to work the walkie talkie, ha." Jill caught up for the laugh.

The student wanted to know who she was riding now.  "I just work with whatever horse falls in my lap." For some reason Roomie added "Even when Jill has a boyfriend, she just expects him to stay out of the way." 

2012-10-09

Adversity



Jill always told her students that if she hadn't had to do horse work to help support her horse habit, in her horse history, then she would not be quite the horsewoman she has become.

That besides the obvious stregnth and fitness benefits, there is something more.

Jill said that the riders that show up for lessons and hop on a horse and ride do not know the animal as well as someone who feeds and waters it, leads it to and from the paddocks for turn out, administers the first aid, holds the creature for the vet, dentist, farrier and chiropracter and so on. Or, even manages "simple" tasks like pulling their mane -- now, there's a training exericize in the making for many ponies!

There's comfort, experience and communication built up with such contact and its something that money CAN'T buy. And, what about the learnings taken away from some time just watching a herd? And then, to know how to load and drive a horse trailer? And tractor? "Well now, let's not even get started on the COOL factor!" she laughed along with her students.

Roomie thought the dog rescue might be a staged affair, with the enthusiastic black puppy locked up in the new tenants apartment for the show of the search mission, and dedication in finding the animal, as a way of garnering credibility with the owners. But, regardless, she advised Jill to take the high road, and let time show the true nature of each new employee.

"Besides, at a certain point, you just have to trust your animals to take of themselves." Jill's new friend's father was an abuse counsellor, and Jill thought her new riding mate looked so cool, bareback on her pony by leadrope only, with her little dog running alongside.

Jill wished the other farm dog at the new place was allowed to come with her to the lounge/office, overlooking the arena, and into the barn with the horses. Instead she asked if she could use the Ken Danby prints she'd found rotting in storage, as decor in the furnished apartment she'd rented. "When I used to go visit my aunt and uncle's for overnight stays, i'd always sleep in my cousin's room. He played goal, and he had that goalie print up on the wall beside his bed.

Was it true that well-behaved women rarely make history? She asked for more time with this new horse pal too. It was so cool how they had sapped/stolen each other's Facebook profile quotes. "The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way the animals are treated." ~ Gandhi and "Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds" ~ Albert Einstein

Roomie called the event she was organizing Tom Sawyer Camp. "I've been inventing it my whole life." inviting kids to help in the barn chores and making it fun.  She also mentioned in passing "I can't imagine going to the gym after a farm job, but that's just me. I've never been at place with too many grooms." Roomie was very sad to see Jill have an amazing training scholarship, in a rare horse sport that was good for couples to share, alone. But she didn't say much, she was distracted and she couldn't stop thinking about how her dad kept mentioning his brain kicking in.

"Well, being in the paddock with them created quite a fuss." Jill said, having invited the owner to join her in saying a hello to the horses.   They acted up when the owner was around.

Her first time on the property, Jill had asked the farm hand, "What do you think about bringing in the pushy chestnut with the halter?" The other horses were all extra nibble and busy with their mouths because of sharing life with such an orally-fixated beast.  The farm hand laughed and advised against it.

Jill brought in the youngster.  At one point, the little bay acted up and started to rear in the cross ties. Jill said "cut it out" and looked at her front feet and to her surprise, it seemed to work, like a command the horse obeyed, and the inexperienced bay put them right back down on the floor where they belonged. When Jill lead her around the arena, she did do one big spook, rear thing. "But luckily, I was calm and my mitt wasn't stuck in the lead line and it all ended up okay…"  She found that sometimes having an episode to school through was even more valuable than an uneventful groundwork session.