At long last! Yippeee!

Well, a project that has been in the making for several years now has finally gotten in motion! Catherine RODE Wyatt! This is fantastic as she has many more miles under her belt and has worked with multiple Weltmeyer offspring over the years! We have a plan of how to advance him and make the training easier for all of us! There are lots of photos in the newest album on the Farm Page - check them out!

Wendy was a rock star for her work - lots of changes, lateral work, mediums and half pass with some working pirouettes for good measure! Such a good mare! She is also working with Patrick to learn to Spanish Walk. She was remarkably unimpressed by the whole exercise, so we'll see what happens down the road.

Patrick working on Wendy's Spanish Walk

It was also move in day and Vet Inspection at Global...so very busy and then we are a bit short handed at the stable this morning with lots of horses to tend to before going to cheer for The Boss in the CDI Grand Prix.

TheraPlate offers stretching for grooms, riders and spectators

 So remember to root for Catherine and Mane Stream Hotmail in the CDI today! They go at 10:20! Check USEF Network for Livestreaming coverage!

Wednesday and a whole lot of work to do!

It was a very foggy start to the day here in Loxahatchee! High humidity, thick fog, sweating horses and riders with pretty poor air quality made for tough training for both horse and riders!

I watched Catherine school Mane Stream Hotmail through most of the Grand Prix work and tried to focus my eyes on his frame, the straightness of the work and the quality of the connection of the hind legs. They are a really fun pair to watch as the consistency of the work is so high and then the light year of difference of "really good" vs. "incredible" and the way in which Catherine helps Hotmail to become that much more special! Such a treat!

Then it was time to tack Wendy up and have a warm-up ride before my lesson on Wyatt. We worked on straightness, alignment, connection from the hind legs to the poll, respect of the aids and the lightness of the bridle. Such a good girl! Great push from behind! Better elasticity and reach - all the things that we have been working on are paying off! At the moment, I am planning on trying out one of the 3rd Level tests to see how that goes tomorrow with an eye towards the school show here at White Fences next weekend for her.

And on to Wyatt we go! Lots of half pass work, bunches of flying changes, tons of pirouettes and then putting it all together for the canter tour of the PSG. I am currently struggling with the actual test. Riding the movements is not a problem, schooling the pattern goes ok, but ask me to ride each stride with focus and attention...that's where it is getting a bit rocky for us. Catherine was super helpful and Meredith's husband James shot a bunch of photos, so I'll upload them to FB tonight to share with everyone. In the meantime, the house is quiet and we have a bit of a break, so I'm going to catch a quick nap before the fun begins again at 4 with the start of evening stables.

Check back tomorrow for photos of The Boss on The Peach!! ;)

Tuesdays are Terrific!

Daffney with her new toy

Tuesday

What a great day!!

I had a wonderful ride on Wendy! She’s really coming along nicely and getting softer in her back each and every ride. The lateral work is coming along beautifully and the changes are smoother and more uphill all the time. Such a good girl!!

Wyatt’s lesson with Catherine was stellar!!! We worked on fine tuning the half pirouettes, a more open poll and forward connection in all of the work and then making precise flying changes with perfect balance! Loved every second of it and then got to really turn him loose in the trot tour work for the PSG!!! No more use of the brakes - it’s all about getting the hind legs in gear to get the energy up and out in front of my leg and seat! Color me happy and paint a rainbow with a pot of gold! All that power and correct work is really coming together!!! (I think in the end he will outshine his grand dam - as I know a lot more than I did in 1996 and am not so overwhelmed by the complexity of the work!) 

But so everyone does not think Florida is truly perfect 110% of the time - I got stung by a wicked hornet today when I was putting Wendy in her stall. WHAM! Right on the outside of my shoulder! Thanks to Austin’s mad skills with a can of Hornet Spray - I think it will be safer tomorrow but OUCH! it stings tonight!

  These 3 very different flowers were about 2' apart in the grass near my horse trailer. It's starting to look a lot like spring here. The neighbors have called in some gator wranglers to attempt "Boots" - but so far no luck! 

Monday

Monday 

Morning at the stable

What a super day!!! Wendy and I got a good ride in the main arena while Catherine changed horses. She was much improved in all aspects and we had a nice line of 3’s that got Catherine’s stamp of approval (always a good thing). Her half passes were also much better and it is a real treat to be able to use the mirrors to check the angle and crossing! So handy!!

Wyatt had an intense lesson with The Boss! We worked with the alignment and straightness in the canter, counter canter, changes and then it was time to go along the training scale to our pirouettes! And they were stellar!! Super self carriage, staying up in the bridle, light off of the leg with super even rhythm and balance!!! Color me happy!! Then onto the canter half passes and working on maintaining that same self carriage and uphill quality...which is so much fun! After a quick breather in the humid air, we started working on polishing the trot tour from the Prix St. Georges...which was so much improved than the last time we did it. 

So with all that hard work behind us, The Boss has given her stamp of approval to enter the show here at White Fences on the 8th and 9th of March! Tail coat here we come!!! :) 

Sunday

Sunday

Ahhhhh, a chance to catch up with myself!! I’ll be honest - yesterday was tough. The double lesson format going on less than 4 hours of sleep was a bit much in the heat! I am not complaining about having had the awesome experience of working for Catherine at Global...far from it! My riding was not up to snuff for either lesson (although the horses were good) so today was all about addressing the things I _know_ I can do better as a rider! 

Both horses were very, very good. Wendy worked on her half passes - improving the bend, angle and crossing while maintaining good forward energy and honestly up into the bridle with good rhythm! Good gracious that sounds like a lot...but it was truly quite refreshing to settle into the patterns that are so familiar and then use some haunches in or advance the shoulders as needed to tweak the work as we went along. We did a bunch of shoulder in - haunches in - renvers - travers on a circle followed up with shoulder in - medium - shoulder in on a circle. She was fabulous! We did a few lines of counting changes and some counter canter to keep her honest and then had a nice hack around the property.

Wyatt had a very light work with a serious plan - we focused on stretching at the withers and maintaining an honest connection with the bridle while working at about 2nd Level. There was quite a parade of traffic going past the front field where we were schooling, so Ms. White Range Rover - I saw you videoing my work. I hope that it met with your approval!! 

The rest of the day was spent catching up on household chores and the immense laundry pile that is generated with so many horses in work in Catherine’s busy stable. 

Saturday! It's time to get down to business!!

Mane Stream Hotmail & Catherine

Saturday

Whew! What a night!! Global was rockin’ last night!!! What a thrill to be a part of Catherine’s team and help the boss get ready to strut her stuff!! We were all decked out in our Team USA gear and waving flags while Catherine had her freestyle debut with Hotmail! Boy they did a great job! A super test with high difficulty and risk and awesome music!!! I can not wait to see how they do at future competitions!! 

I had 2 lessons with The Boss today and they were both super! Wyatt worked on his pirouettes, the straightness and alignment in his changes and then getting better self carriage in his collected and medium trots. The pesky left pirouette is now the easy one - or at least it was today!! The right one was a bit tricky but we were both getting a bit hot and possibly tired as it’s been a hectic couple of days! Overall, I feel that he is getting ready to start putting the tests together and eyeball some show closing dates. My coats all fit, he’s looking good...soon. Very soon. 

Wendy had a super lesson working on her collected - medium - collected transitions in both trot and canter. I will admit that the heat was getting to me (and probably to her), so it was not our best work. Tomorrow will be better and we’ll be ready to sparkle in front of The Boss at that point! 

It has honestly been a very long series of days, so my apologies...but I am exhausted. Getting into the barn by 4:45 is taking its toll on me. Last night we got out of the barn after midnight. Add in dinner is almost ready and I just want to put my aching feet and screaming ankle up for a bit - there’s a thunderstorm on top of us that’s setting it off. Tomorrow is our “quiet” day, so I will do my best to finish editing the photos from Global and get them posted to the Farm Page on FB. 

Sorry to be slow. 

Friday!! Freestyle Day!!

Friday

It’s Freestyle Day! Which means we had time to do our horses here at the stable in Loxahatchee and then go to Global a bit later in the day! Woohoo! Time to practice a bit of what I’ve been seeing in the big rings! (there is a bit more to that and I’ll get to it in a second!)

I rode Wyatt as early as I could get to him as the weather is frightfully warm and humid with no breeze. He and I worked on some lateral suppleness, the energy from the hind quarters and maintaining a soft contact with the bridle. Every ride seems to be picking up where the last one left off, so I am very happy with the progress we have made under Catherine’s watchful eyes!

Wendy is in season. If you are not a horse person, just imagine a cranky teenager who is not in the mood to clean their room and that’s a fair comparison! ;) I tried to jolly her along She did what I asked her to do but with a bit of an attitude and small snarky comments - “you didn’t need to kick me that hard!” which has an indignant swish of her tail attached of course! 

My seat continues to improve and the energy from the hind legs is more accessible on both horses. I feel like we are consistently making forward progress and I am relying less and less on the reins for the half halts...thank goodness! 

So it is off to Global shortly! Go USA! Go Patrick! Go Davidor! Go Catherine and Mane Stream Hotmail! 

Fun, good horses, great rides and now a pile of photos to edit!

OK - I'm not going to get to the photos tonight as it's already 7PM and I need to find dinner! So in honor of not editing and posting - here is my Current Top 10 List -

Top 10 Signs You’ve Been in Loxahatchee 

10. Speed bumps are normal and no cause for concern (ie slowing down)
9. Listening to alligators when it is fully dark is no reason to fret

8. Knowing 3 different gate codes is normal and expected

7. Playing with lizards is fun and normal

6. Making at least one U Turn is part of any driving directions

5. Hills become vague memories

4. “Cold” is below 65*

3. A windy day is as well received down here as a day that doesn’t get above freezing up North

2. Going 8 miles takes 45 minutes

1. Having a GPS is required!

So much to cram into a day!!

Yesterday was crazy busy! (it was a typical Monday here in the busy stable of International Dressage apparently!)

But by my standards - we were hopping!! Our usual start time at 4:30 just had us finishing morning stables on time and then it was time for a quick breakfast, then tack up horses for Catherine and Patrick,  watch some lessons, then have some lessons - which I'll get to in a second and then more horses, chores, stables and then eventually some dinner. Which is somehow making a day that was jam packed with a ton of work and hectic scrambling seem so mundane and quiet! (must meditate on why that is at some point!)

So onto the lessons! Just last week, Catherine had taken away my stirrups to help get my knee up in the position where it belonged to allow my hip and pelvis angles do what they need to do so I no longer block the energy from the hindlegs from coming up through the back, into the withers and up into the poll. I think the Boss gave my seat a stamp of approval as she said the change is "the best thing she has done for my riding!" Plus the horses could not be going any better, so they agree as well!

Wyatt was my first lesson when it was still relatively cool. We had an amazing lesson with a strong focus on using my seat instead of my reins, perfecting our canter pirouettes and then improving our elasticity and straightness in the flying changes! There is not much to say beyond it is going great! The pirouettes are much better and I can start and stop them at will with good balance, uphill quality and control of the placement and forward energy. She is happy. I am happy and Wyatt finds them easy and fun now!  *picture a victory dance as they have been tricky for both of us to improve*

Wendy's lesson was in the heat of the day but she came out and did her best work to date! Lots more swing from her back, softness under the saddle and big push from behind with good lifting of the withers. She is a delight to ride every day as her neck and jaw are not an issue - she is uncomplicated in the bridle and getting more elastic in her connection under the saddle. :) Our medium trots were stellar show quality and I'm beginning to think she'll be ready for a horse show here at White Fences in a few weeks!

Today was move in day and Jog Day at Global for the big 2014 CDIO Wellington, so check the farm page for new photos and some snapshots from today. 

I am going to be working some at Global for Patrick and Catherine as well as time here at ID, so updates will be spotty until a real schedule is firmed up. There are not enough hours in a day but it is so much fun to be back in the big leagues of the CDI world!