Riding Wins by HUGE Margin

I blogged in my my non-riding blog about having purchased a bodybugg and my frustration that I am NOT a calorie burner.

Nothing much has changed except this one astounding truth:

I burn as many calories while riding AT THE WALK as I do at the most intense part of my workout at the gym, and when we start doing REAL work, I'm burning a whopping 600 calories an hour, which is MORE THAN DOUBLE what I burn during the most intense part of ANY of my gym workouts. So there!!!

Let anybody try to say that riding isn't a sport and that we're not exercising hard now, I double dog dare them!

And that's riding Tequila, my "easy" horse, the one I save for the days when my gym workouts have taken everything out of me and I don't have the stamina and/or endurance to be effective. I can't wait to see what kind of calorie burn I get when I ride Jacco or Facet, though it may be a while until I get that chance because we're so understaffed right now and Jacco has been high as a kite with this weather. Efficiency-wise, it's a lot easier to let Jessi ride him (and no one's got time to give me a lesson on him and I'm not so egotistical to believe that without a lesson I would get much done since I'm still figuring out the buttons and only just beginning to get them straight).

Until Jürgen returns from Christmas with his ailing father, and Birthe from vacation with her parents (and of course, Candice has moved on to her mammal training), life is whacko around here. I understand. At least I've got my old faithful, who is not only fun to ride even after all these years, but she's the best darn calorie burner around and at Christmastime especially, we all need one of those now, don't we?

A Whirlwind of Activity

Life's been so busy, I haven't had time to update my blog....

I'm having a blast with Jacco, who is turning out to be a real star--and Jürgen is so smug about it, he's impossible! Jacco's hindleg has always been amazing. Since we removed his wolf tooth and continued with the basic work on the training scale, his shoulder is becoming wonderfully expressive, too, and his mind, well, I won't bore everyone by waxing eloquent. Let me just say that he's been to four shows now, and he's undefeated at 3rd Level with the exception of a single class where he was 2nd (but they went off course twice, and only lost by a single point).

I'm riding him at home 4 days a week now (of my 6 days in the saddle), with one day on Facet and one on Quila. I think Facet probably tells tales in the barn aisle about my mistaken aids. He'll ignore my request for flying changes, or give me half-pass when we've been working on shoulder-in and I decide I want to do canter work, because he doesn't think my aids were clear enough (or he thinks I'm going in the wrong sequence--I'm never quite sure which...) and I'll catch him looking back at me with one eye and shaking his head. I tell Jürgen that maybe it's a good thing horses can't talk, because sometimes I'm not sure I want to know what Facet has to say about me, LOL. You have to love the old man, though, who at 21 is still the world's most patient (and exacting) teacher.

I need my day on Quila--it comes on Friday, after I've been to the gym 5 days in a row, and that morning, I've had my hardest workout class of the week with all the endurance runners and triathletes. I can manage precise aids or I can manage forward, but not both. Quila, at least, will go forward on her own, unless I ask her not to, and she'll take pity on me and give me the benefit of the doubt in the aids department. Facet is a demanding task master, and he wants his i's dotted precisely in the middle--not the slightest drift to the right or the left--which is as it should be for where I am right now. Jacco? He's not hard so much as he's a big mover. My core is exhausted after a ride on him, just from staying firmly in the saddle--and if I don't sit quietly, then he refuses to go forward. So riding him is tiring in and of itself. And it takes all my concentration to give him the correct aids while I'm sitting nicely up there so he'll go forward without me having to push him.

I know that when I've mastered everything with him, riding him will be a piece of cake. He's really quite forward... but he's also sensitive, and he does NOT like to be ridden from the seat, and he especially does NOT like to be pinched or to have a seat that isn't quiet and nice on him. So, my priorities have become an adhesive but not driving seat first, then we work from there. He's more like a mare than any mare... very particular, but if I ride him his way, then he'll do anything. If I don't, he's obstinate, and it takes muscle. You can still get your way (not like a mare in that regard), but then it's not finesse riding, and I would rather not have to go to the gym ten times a week to prepare to ride him!!!

Jessie, who has been riding him at home and who competes him, showed me the secrets to getting him light and easy and forward, and WHAT A DIFFERENCE! So different, though, than any other horse I've ridden, especially for picking up the canter. He hates it if I use my seat. Just leg, please. With Quila and Facet, if I don't use my seat, they'll canter flat... so much to remember. But I love him, and his goofy personality. And I'm so grateful that his previous owner let him come with me and be mine!

The only other news is that the Breyer horse that Quila was the model for is FINALLY out. Here it is:



And here's a video of Jacco at the last show:

Jennifer and Farinelli at San Juan

I love YouTube. Some wonderful soul filmed Jennifer's rides in the Intermediaire-1 and the Freestyle and put them online, so I can post them here. I was too busy being the thrilled-to-the-gills owner to even think about filming them myself.

Not as Easy as I Thought

I love Purple Rain, aka Jacco (I always call him Jacco), and I'm having fun riding him--and learning to ride him well--but we're a long way from being ready to show. I'd hoped it would be otherwise, but it's not, in part because I found a whole other trot than what I originally knew was there--a big, beautiful trot that is a real challenge to ride well, but now that I know it is there, I'm not willing to settle for anything less. The same with his canter.

I wish I had the natural coordination that Susan and Emma have, but I don't. In order to ride with enough leg supporting his "super" gaits, I struggle not to tense up in my hips. When I get it right, riding him is sheer heaven. When I don't, it's like driving with the parking brake on, and I'm working MUCH harder than the horse, especially now that the weather's getting hot. If I'm telling him stop with one aid and go with the other, quite reasonably, he picks the one he prefers, and it usually isn't the "go" one.

The biggest obstacle I've had, however, has been consistency in the saddle. I'll just start to get some momentum going, just start to make some progress and something will come up to derail me. First it was wolf teeth. Poor Jacco's mouth hurt him so bad he'd toss his head every time I half-halted on the right, and he'd throw in explosive spooks for no reason. It wasn't characteristic for him, so I had the vet check him and sure enough, he had an inflamed wolf tooth (I figured it was either that or a sharp hook). She pulled the tooth, but because of his age, it took a few weeks to heal, so that kept me off him. Then I moved... and then I started the new gym program and I couldn't manage more than a few rides a week because I was so body sore.

But I got better--and I got back on track--until a series of horse shows interrupted us. I couldn't ride because I was at the shows all day. On track again, things were going great, and then he twisted a shoe and it was 3 days until we could get the farrier out.

This week, only 2 rides because of another show (but what a show! It's the Olympic Selection Trials a mere 45 minutes from home, and the PSG/Int-1 Championships are being held at the same time. Jennifer is riding Susan's horse, Farinelli, in the PSG/Int-1 Championships and he is looking mighty fine right now. We feel like he could place near the top, though we don't expect a win).

Next week, though, FINALLY life should be back to normal and I should be able to get 5 rides in a week. This week seemed to turn a corner for me... and I'm starting to feel good from the gym without too much muscle pain or fatigue, so crossing fingers that we'll see our learning curve shoot skyward. I'm ready to make some real progress. I know we will... it's just filling in those basics and getting the foundation right, and me learning a new horse after having spent so many years with Quila who didn't need aids because she could read my mind.

A Dose of Humility

Quila broke her all-time high scores twice this weekend at the tender age of 19, without me. (69.666% and 71.000%) The fifteen year-old girl she's fallen in love with was in the saddle, and I have to honestly say that I've never seen Quila put in in a better performance. She was certainly never that nice for me. We had a few rides that were that close, perhaps, but when she was that quiet and that easy, we lacked the forward energy that she gave to Emma.

Maybe I can take some of the credit, though (along with Fabian and Birthe)--Quila has finally, after all, learned to half halt from the seat and leg. But an even greater amount of credit goes to the rider who not only showed the mare well, but had the grace and tact to tell me, "Well, it was only because you told me what she'd try to get away with and how to keep her from doing it."

I wish it were that easy. I knew for a long, long time what Quila would try to get away with at a show, but knowing and keeping her from doing it (even when I knew what tools I SHOULD use) were two entirely different things. The difference, I think, is that Emma is stronger than I am, with faster reaction times, and she is also more athletic. Quila never had a chance to "freight train" which is what Emma and I laughingly call Quila's penchant for the medium paces. Every time Quila even hinted at taking over the test, Emma caught it. Quila didn't get things her way for more than half a stride. I was usually several strides too late in trying to nip things in the bud, no matter how much I resolved otherwise, because I'd be focusing on the next movement, or keeping her straight and not losing her shoulders or haunches, or I don't know what...

No, I have to hand it to Emma. Quila is NOT an easy horse to show. She thinks she is smarter than you are and she knows the tests by heart, so if you relax for one tiny second, by golly she's going to take over (meaning well, mind you--she really does believe she's raising your score by at least 20 or 30 points), because she sooooo wants to help you out. The problem is that no matter how hard I try, I've never been able to convince her that judges don't quite see things her way. Perhaps it's just as well. I think it would break her heart to know she's been wrong all these years. Perhaps it's better that she just finish her career with Emma, who stays ahead of her, so she finishes a winner, still believing that she's been a heroine for both of us and knowing how much we both love her.

I'm glad Quila has Emma, too, because I'm so totally head over heels for Jacco. He had some time off with a wolf tooth, but now we're going like gang busters. We've been working on getting him supple and through, and now his trot is sooooo amazing. People stop and stare, with their jaws bouncing off the ground. I rather like that, and like it even more when I get comments like, "Gee, I never knew you could sit the trot like that!"

We're working on our foundation, perfecting our transitions and making sure our connection is correct and that I've got him straight and so forth. He's tipping his head a bit now on the right (that showed up just before the wolf tooth and got a lot better after the tooth was out, but it's not quite gone)--we want to see that gone and everything just right before we introduce him to the show world, but honestly, I don't mind.

I'm used to paying my dues... I did it for years with Quila. This, however, is paying my dues at quite a different (and much more fun) level, and he's such a terrific boy--great work ethic, lovely on the aids, willing. I look goofy when I'm riding because I can't wipe the grin off my face, even when I'm panting and out of breath because he's such a mover it takes a ton of core muscle to stay with him and not impede that movement. He even makes me look forward to going to the gym, just because I know I'll ride him better. Now that's saying something!

Oh, WOW!

I am having such a BLAST riding Jacco.

Although the temptation is there to start riding movements (and it is a HUGE temptation), I'm being good and focusing on really learning to ride his gaits--and it is paying off. You could hear jaws thudding left and right yesterday when we were trotting around the arena in our WORKING trot because he has such expression and elegance if I don't get in his way, and I'm not in his way the majority of the time now. One of the benefits to having been stuck at First Level so long with Quila is that I did have the opportunity to really focus on my seat, and on riding those P-E-R-F-E-C-T circles. It's all paying off now with Jacco, in that I'm finding that riding those super gaits of his isn't going to be impossible for me (though I sure am glad I'm also investing all that time at the gym--I had no idea how much Jennifer must be using those abs of hers when she rides every day--she makes it look so EASY when she sits on those huge moving horses of hers, and while I think Jacco is the bees knees, I have a sneaking suspicion that his movement is still an order of magnitude less than her mounts.)

Still, Jacco is super honest and willing, very forward (haven't picked up a whip since I got him), and lovely off the leg. He WANTS to do the job, and now that we've figured out the difference between the "Dutch" aids and the "German" aids and explained it to him, he's been very quick to adapt to our system of cues and life is going smoothly. His two goals in life seem to be 1) to be told he's a good boy, and 2) to be cuddled and scratched all over. Food isn't nearly as important to him as #1 and #2, though he's not a poor eater by any means, LOL.

Susan went to LAEC to compete this weekend, but I stayed home to ride. She's pouting. "My mom got a new horse, and she loves him more than me!" she tells anybody who will listen. She isn't getting much sympathy, though. It's reported that pretty much everybody is answering her, "Well, it's about time!"

The Best Horse Ever!

Sorry, Quila.

Tequila Sunrise is, and always will be, "The Mare of My Heart," and I will love her as I have loved no other horse, but I have had more fun riding the last two days than I have ever had in my life--and I was riding Jacco. Of course, in a tribute to her, much that I love about him is because he is so much like her only more so...

His trot has that same smoothness to it that you could sit all day, only he has suspension and loft that she lacks, at least in recent years, and when I ask for a lengthening, those afterburners kick in and I get a breath-taking trip across the diagonal that I know is beautiful to watch, too (I've seen Alena ride him).

His canter is large and uphill, also smooth and easy to ride, but with a natural jump to it that I had to work hard to help Quila learn to achieve (and which is still a struggle for Quila some days--though to Quila's credit, she proved the savants wrong: you CAN improve the canter, because hers went from flat and ordinary to becoming one of her best gaits, surprising everybody who knew her before and after, and even now at 19, it remains lovely to watch).

Both horses have equally fabulous walks.

And lovable? Same. Both would rather be loved on than eat. Both EXPECT to be adored. Jacco is King to Quila's Queen, but he makes dorky faces that are endearing, while Quila maintains her regal appearance except to flash her Ugly Mare Face at horses who dare intrude on her territory. Jacco isn't territorial. He just assumes he's so cute you'd never dream of sharing your affections with anyone else. By and large, he's right. The only horse he hasn't been able to steal attention from is Quila, and that's because no one dares. He has successfully stolen the hearts of all the other horse owners in the barn, much to their horses chagrin.

Jacco's had many surprises for me--he's my little Maserati, with handling that is far more sensitive and responsive than any other horse I've ever ridden. He's quite kind about it (thank goodness, otherwise I might find myself the riding-equivalent of wrapped around a tree, LOL), but I have found myself riding a 6 meter circle in travers when I'd intended a perfectly normal 10 meter volte, simply because I'd given him the aids it would have required to get Quila to do a 10 meter volte without losing her haunches. Oops. I'm adjusting, and learning not to "shout" and he's teaching me.

Can't wait until Wednesday, which will be my next ride, though I had so much fun this weekend, I've got "rollover grins" (think "rollover minutes" a la the phone company) in the bank, and I won't run out until long after I'm dead at the rate we'll be piling them on.

Jürgen tried to tell me that we're going to hit snags down the road, and not to expect every ride to be as rosy as the ones were this weekend. I told him, "Of course not, but somehow, I think my worst ride on Jacco will still be better than a lot of my ordinary rides up until now. All I have to do is remind myself what it took to get to this point, and a "bad" ride won't seem bad at all. I have a feeling riding Jacco is going to go from good to very good to great to damn exceptional."

In case you haven't guessed, I'm smiling.

Purple Rain in the United States!

It sounds like an environmental disaster, doesn't it? But it's not. It's about the greatest thing to happen this century!!! And here he is:




The second photo includes his former owner, Lydie, who loved him and trained him and made him the wonderful horse that he is--and who was so incredibly kind to me to send me a letter, a book of photos (including from when he was a newborn, and from his sire, dam and grandsires!), a full set of wraps and his blanket. She and her entire family also insisted on driving him to the airport in Amsterdam themselves to see him off, rather than asking us to send shippers to their farm for him. It's obvious that he meant a great deal to them and that he was a member of the family in the 8+ years she owned him. I hope she realizes that he will be no less loved and cared for now that he's become a member of my family. I think she must... she saw me bawling for joy when I finished riding him, and must have known that I appreciated how truly wonderful he was.

I've waffled and waffled and waffled--and waffled some more--and I've come to the conclusion that I will stick with his original names. I've loved "Purple Rain" from the moment I heard it (I've always been a Prince fan), and I think "Jacco" suits him. That, and I already own a 3 year-old gelding with the barn name Prince, and I don't think I want to own a 3 year-old gelding known as "The Horse Formerly Known as Prince." I'm certain Jacco is a Prince of a horse, but Lydie called him Jacco, and I also think it's a tribute to Lydie to leave his name as she gave it to him... and that, more than anything, is my reasoning. If he'd belonged to some big breeder who hadn't put any thought into anything and just handed the horses off to a trainer who rode (nicely) a dozen horses or more daily, without any strong attachment to any because they could be sold at any time, that would be different. But that's not Jacco. He was named out of love, and those names shouldn't change--ever.

I can't wait to put my arms around him tomorrow and give him a hug and a kiss, and to whisper, "Welcome home, Jacco. I love you."

We Have a Date...

So, we have a tentative date for shipping... and it seems like forever and a day from now to me. Of course, I wanted him here yesterday. I even volunteered to leave all my clothes behind and stuff him in my suitcase. I would gladly have paid the $50 overweight charge. But Jürgen said I couldn't do that, that the airlines frowned on the practice and that we had to vet him first. Damn. I tried.

So now, I have to wait until February 20. That's more than two weeks away. And then the folks in Los Angeles will want to keep him until February 22. They call it "quarantine," but I know the truth--they want to make moon eyes at him and tell him how lovely he is, and on top of that, they want me to pay THEM for the privilege. Don't you think it should be the other way around?

I can hardly wait for February 22, when I can pick him up in Los Angeles and drive him to our facility. I hope it's a sunny day. Coming from Holland, that would be such a treat for him. He's not going to believe his good fortune, landing some place where the sun actually SHINES and where he can work outside without getting soaking wet. He'll also get to share a barn with a famous Dutch stallion (Facet), so he'll have a friend that speaks the language while he learns to converse with the Germans (that should help him feel at home), and he'll have a beautiful brand new bridle and blankets, and he's going to get lots of love and attention. He'll get used to the grey mare that makes the ugly faces at him... I'm sure Facet will explain about HER. Facet learned to ignore Quila a long time ago. (She saves her "best" faces for him, but my guess is she'll transfer them to Jacco, or split them equally between the two boys--she is a jealous one!)

A New Horse!

It took some looking (and two trips to Europe after the horse from the first trip didn't vet and we didn't find a suitable back-up), and countless hours spent watching videos of completely unsuitable horses. In fact, for me, the search seemed so endless as to be hopeless but Jürgen and Susan didn't give up hope. (My budget was low, since I only had the insurance money from Promise and she was under-insured, and Jürgen insisted that I needed a horse that would get me OFF those damn circles, one that I could show right away and start moving forward with; he wanted confirmed changes, show experience, a good mind. He said he'd lost enough hair already, that he didn't need to worry about my safety, LOL. Susan strongly agreed with him, and both were determined to find me just such a mount. I didn't think one existed at my budget, not that was healthy and not close to retirement.)

We made our second trip to Europe January 21 - 28. Susan had bilateral knee surgery on December 28, so we didn't think she'd be able to join us. She recovered so quickly, however, that we were able to bring her along (Want cheap last minute plane fare? Check out www.cheapflights.com to find the best bargains. I got her flights on Delta for less than I paid for mine 3 weeks in advance!) It was great having her along (and educational for her, too, since she's studying German at the University of San Diego. We laughed a lot and had a great time, and she was VERY opinionated (what else is new?) about the horses we tried. She rode the horses we considered for me before I did (so did Jürgen on most of them, but not on the day that we found my new boy--he could tell as much by watching Susan ride and he trusted Susan not to get herself killed in making sure they were safe enough for me). The first we tried was lovely--I could have been very happy with him. The second, not so much (I didn't ride him after he bolted with Susan. She giggled and said she loved him but he was NOT for me--"I like my mom" was her comment), and then I rode the love of my life.

I didn't know there WAS such a horse... so beautiful and elegant, and so uphill that he'd need stilts for his hindlegs in order to go on his forehand. Kind, patient, well-trained. Needs to be ridden more through, but we're pros at that at my barn, so two or three weeks and that issue will be history. The big thing is he was so much FUN and he met all of our criteria. When I got off of him, I had a wrap around grin on my face and tears in my eyes... and I was a giggling idiot. I knew, absolutely, that he was the one. I was 100% hopelessly in love, and there was no going back.

Thankfully, he has passed vet and now I can call him mine (or at least I'll be able to as soon as the bank transfer goes through.., but that's just a formality).

So, I'm pleased to introduce PURPLE RAIN, an 11 year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding by Jaccardo. He's dark bay (nearly black) with 3 small ermines and a tiny tiny tiny star on his forehead, and he's going to be the most loved gelding on the planet. I can't wait until I can introduce him to everybody in person.

Thank you, Jürgen and Susan, for not giving up. My dreams are coming true.