One Last Elementary-Medium

 Thunder is currently enjoying a light couple of weeks after lots of work for the beginning of March. We were entered for what was to be our last EM on Sunday the 6th.

I got stuck at Elementary (2nd) for an inordinately long time. Four years, to be exact, although not on the same horse. After riding Arwen up to Elementary based on Internet knowledge and a single, lonely dressage lesson, I was then blessed with Coach J, and basically had to relearn how to ride from scratch. Thunder and I eventually built our way back up to Elementary, and then there was the pandemic and my money troubles of 2019, and eventually we got to the place we were two weeks ago: test riding Medium competently, playing with Advanced, and yet graded only at Elementary.

At least one can ride a single grade higher than you're registered in, so EM was an option, although it must be said that the early EM tests are virtually identical to the late Elementary tests. You get a travers and an easy half-pass but the rest is all counter-canter and simple changes. (Flying changes come in during tests 4, 5 and 6, but somehow things always worked out so that I was riding tests 1 and 2). I was getting a little jaded, and more than that, EM is the highest level where you're allowed to ride two tests per day (almost always back-to-back with the way our shows are structured). You ride two tests, each almost seven minutes long, with a brief break in between while the judge writes. At Medium, Advanced and obviously the FEI levels, you only ride one. EM is a bit brutal like that. At least, maybe EM is only brutal if you're on the struggle bus, but I digress.

So we EM'd our hearts out last year and only needed two more points (a score over 60% being worth 1 point, over 65% being worth 2 points, and so on) before we could upgrade to officially EM (able to compete at Medium). I was SO READY to leave EM world behind and move into a world of half-passes, flying changes, one test per day and no canter-to-walk transitions.

Anyway, we didn't put a lot of preparation into last weekend's show, since he had done EM 1 and 2 a thousand times by this point and knew the tests better than I did. I schooled him as normal on Monday and Tuesday and then we had a lesson on Wednesday with Coach J.

I took no pictures all week but Auntie H took millions of us being cute at the show

I did tell Coach that we had a show on Sunday but that it was tests we were very comfortable with and didn't really need preparation just to get our points. By that point I knew that I was riding against W, who rides the higher-grade horses at work, on Shy Boy who is super obedient, amazing in his body - and has the blessing of enormous gaits. TBird can equal or beat him in the first two departments but decidedly not in the third, LOL. So I knew we weren't going to be winning ribbons and felt confident that we could get our points without having to have a lesson on these two tests.

The one thing I did NEED to work on, though, was those hateful TOH that I just seem incapable of doing in the show ring. I think it's in my head at this point because I can actually feel good ones now (which is a fairly recent development), and ride good ones at home most of the time, but the week before a show they just start to crumble. Thunder is more than capable of 7s on his TOH, his mother just needs to get out of her own mind so much. Anyway, we worked on the walk pirouettes on a square like Coach normally has me do until they were good, and then we did some half-passes in walk with pirouettes randomly thrown in to keep him stepping over (and keep me focusing on his hind legs and not his mouth).

As the lesson went on, Coach started to throw in some walk-canter-walk transitions in the half-pass. I was unsure of these and overrode them at first but Thunder obviously did them very nicely when I asked nicely, maintaining bend, balance and sideways movement through the transitions. Still an exercise I need to practice a lot though, to smooth it all out, but the penny dropped nicely towards the end.

Finally, Coach had me riding a "big walk pirouette" - walk pirouette with his tail making a volte, about 5-8 metres. This was very easy for us both. We were doing this nicely when Coach said, "OK, now canter your pirouette" and I immediately forgot all of the aids and kicked Thunder so that he bolted forward, kicked at my spur and squealed. Sorry, my dude. Suitably unimpressed, Coach ordered me to stop overthinking and just ride the walk pirouette and then ask him to canter on just like we'd been doing in the half-passes. And that was how Thunder and I rode our first four or five strides of something like a large canter pirouette.

Yes, he's the best. Bask in his glory

We repeated this on both reins and honestly, it was very messy and I am not good at this, but the building blocks were absolutely there. Sure, he did lose his throughness, bend and balance a bit but it was a collected sideways canter in a large pirouette shape, and that's a start. Everything is there for the proper pirouettes - it's a matter of practice for us now, not only to strengthen him, but to build my confidence and get him to learn the movement. Thunder is really good at learning tricks extremely quickly, so he will pick up on the movement fast, and then things will be much easier to smooth out. Of course, it's going to be months before we have an actual canter pirouette of any description, but I still never actually dreamed that my coach would use the words "canter" and "pirouette" in the same sentence with Thunder and I, so this felt like a really exciting step.

Coach was very pleased as well, saying that once he has the pirouettes, he has everything he needs to go all the way to PSG. Obviously not yet in the quality or level of difficulty required - but the basic version of each of the PSG movements. And considering that I am an anxious mess, and that he is a farm donkey, that's pretty exciting and amazing. Just six months ago I was asking Coach what sort of level would ever be fair to ask of him, feeling like we could bottom out at Medium and not wanting to hurt my horse by asking for more - and now we're starting to work on the Small Tour stuff.

On this high note, we had a fairly relaxed Thursday and Friday, just working through our tests and remembering how to do the simple changes (he kept wanting to do canter to halt or flying changes). He knows EM 1 and 2 super well by now and will even help me out if I get lost so he very quickly realized what we were doing. He actually felt a bit bored in the tests. Not that we do them perfectly, but he just sort of felt a bit unenthusiastic about it all. Not resistant in the least, just sort of ho-hum, not the firecracker Thunder I have when we're test riding Medium. I had sort of the same vibe myself - looking forward to it, excited to ride well, but getting a little jaded with these specific tests. I've been riding them on Shy Boy and Lady Lionheart for more than a year too.

His coat looks so much better 💜

Sunday came along with nice late ride times and the prospect of my own first Medium on Lady Lionheart. Thunder was first, though. The show was at a venue we know well but in the indoor instead of its large outdoor. I had some trepidation about showing him in the indoor for the first time but didn't want to shell out the cash to school in it first, and besides, he is a big boy and I should start treating him like one. (Also I was deeply enthused to ride in the shade - I can't wait for DSA to realize that making us ride with jackets at little local shows in the middle of an African summer is just silly). 

Of course, TBird, who spooks at the same teeny birds EVERY TIME I try to ride him out, strutted into the spooky indoor without a second glance at spectators, stuff happening outside the arena, jumps piled in shady corners by the viewing area, etc. He just went in there, said "ah yes, this again" and did his thing like a good boy. I know one should cultivate a somewhat more amped state of mind for real competing, but honestly this was the most competitively I have ever ridden. I was so chill about it and he was so chill about it that we could focus on each movement and ride properly. It felt unexciting, but competent, relaxed and easy. Except the TOH, of course. I panicked in those and they were a train wreck, "stuck behind" as usual.

The scores reflected as much. We had a 61% and a 64%. Not much was particularly wow - we garnered a handful of 7s, an 8 for the extended walk (now that's more like it), and then 5s for the TOH. He also broke in one of his mediums for a 4.0, which cost us those few extra percent in EM 1 where we got the 61, but it paid off honestly because he suddenly realized that I will actually get after him about lazy mediums in the show ring so he pulled 6.5s for all his other mediums that day. This is not bad at all for him considering that, for his natural ability, the medium trot is absolutely the most difficult movement for him. Clearly it's mother that needs to get her act together to hit the high 60s and 70s.

Another huge achievement for us, despite the mediocre marks, was that I rode him completely without a whip from start to finish at this show. This is enormous for us because just a few months ago I couldn't even get him into canter without a whip. I did have my spurs, but I only used them lightly, barring one or two little reminders in the ring. I didn't have to kick at all. In fact I didn't even think about not having my whip, and I didn't panic in the walk-to-canter like I usually do, and everything was completely fine. I didn't even warm up with a whip! I am overjoyed about this. Not only does it mean that we don't have to worry about not having a whip when we go to the higher levels or ride in a championship test, but for me it's symptomatic of having a horse who is a thousand times happier and more comfortable in his work than before. I wasn't dragging him through the test the way I was dragging him through his first few EM tests in Jan/Feb/Mar 2021 - we actually had one show in February 2021 where I couldn't get him to canter a few times. But now we were just... doing the thing. Quietly, no worries, no fuss, both relaxed, both ready for it, made a few mistakes but didn't let it get to us, just going happily about our business. I honestly don't even care about the marks, I think this was our best show to date.

Possibly my new favorite photo of him

The judge seemed to agree; as always she commented that he needed more engagement but also said "Lovely harmony - a steady partnership", which seemed to summarize the feeling I had in the ring so well.

After this I covered him in all his fly things again and shoved him into a show stable (where he behaved impeccably for the first time in his life - thank you sir) and jumped on Lady Lionheart for our mutual first Medium. LL is obviously a ridiculously talented animal and she's a schoolmistress to me. I rode her for seven months when I first started at the Friesians and then she went to Coach J for schooling and to get her Sport predicate. He competed her extensively in the EM, and then after she got her Sport she returned in October and I started riding her again. So I know her well, but also am not yet fully there with all of her new buttons, and haven't competed her a lot myself. She is absurdly well schooled and unbelievably talented and also had a super temperament to boot - a firecracker of a mare but absolutely reliable and I trust her down to the marrow of my bones.

So it was very exciting to ride my first Medium on her, and while the marks weren't amazing, there are a lot of little things there that I can fix. The first was that I was a bit conservative because she is ON FIRE at home and I expected her to be hot, but she was actually far more chill at the show than at home, so I could have used my whip and woken her up in the warmup instead of concentrating on settling her down like I do at home. And the second was that I bombed the collected walk completely because I was dead nervous of not showing enough walk, so I showed too much - a mark we can easily improve. Anyway, the rest of it was pretty solid, not spectacular but solid, for a 60% - which was OK for our first go, but definitely something to improve on.

Good little LL!

All in all, it was a successful Sunday, but not quite as successful as Wynnie's Saturday - which I'll write about in the next post.

God is good!

February Photos

 Summer is technically over, although in reality the Highveld will feel richly green and abundantly rainy for another month or so before slipping into the verdant splendor of its autumn, a final fanfare to announce summer's passing.

For the first time in four years, I can say that I'm quite ready for winter. Not only is the beloved home this winter (he worked away during fire season for the first three years we were together), but it's also been a wonderful summer and left us with lovely grazing. I'm also quite ready for dry ground, no flies, and beautiful, balmy days. Hot chocolate and cuddles. Fluffy ponies. Thunder with a smoothly clipped coat, no longer itchy.

I'm no longer riding Shy Boy at work, but I did get the ride on an incredible mare I used to ride when I just started there. She went to Coach J's to be schooled for nine months and returned basically a schoolmistress. I'm so lucky to get to ride her. We'll call her Lady Lionheart because she is a total fireball (yet so trustworthy!).

This isn't Lady Lionheart, though, this is the three-year-old I've started working. We'll call her Miss Sweet and hope she doesn't make the nickname ironic. She's a half-sister to Miss Sassy and out of a stallion I don't know, so it's interesting to see the differences.

The beloved is completely in love with my Wynnie. (Also can we appreciate the very straight and correct legs? Hers, not his. He's toed out but you know what they say - one can forgive a conformation flaw if the temperament is exceptional).

Wynnie herself has been just wonderful and so much fun. We started teaching her to load this week, and she was a little hesitant at first, but soon followed her mommy in for a piece of carrot and a scratch.

I really look forward to Horse of the Year, although I'm admittedly a bit nervous - I've never shown such a young foal before. I don't think she'll be particularly bothered though, because Arwen will be by her side the whole time and she's a very confident young lady. I'm curious to see if showing as a young foal is a better first experience for them than showing as a youngster on their own. Anyway, she had her feet done today for the first time, and while she did get bored and impatient - and a little nervous of the sound of the rasp - she was OK. The farrier was quite happy with her.

My birthday was last week and the beloved surprised me with an unexpected chocolate cake, which somehow made it down our very washed-out dirt road (6km of it, nonetheless) on the passenger seat. It was so sweet of him.

Sir Flashy is doing so well and being so good for his little riders. He has such a special place in my heart 💜 He has three kids riding him for SANESA now and it makes for a long day for him, but he does well.

I tried to get a cute photo of Wynnie and Thunder together and then Wynnie tried to bite him.

She looks and acts more and more like Arwen with every passing day. Obviously I'm not complaining.

Lassie is getting bigger and sweeter by the day. She is just so beautiful and too cute for words! I've seldom seen a foal quite as friendly and at the same time quite as gentle as sweet Lassie, and I think she's going to make an absolutely incredible riding mare.

Miss Sassy's older sister, who has a foal of her own, was unbelievably sick in early February. Monitoring that IV was one of the most stressful experiences of my entire existence. Thanks be to God, she came through it so well, and now she and her little filly are doing so great.

Miss Sassy's body is starting to change a little, although there's still quite a bit of a hay belly going on there.

We almost stood on this little guy one night. He's a raucous toad, very common here, but normally the ones we find are palm-sized.

Just a few steps before, we'd nearly squished this little frog, whose species name I have totally forgotten. I've never seen frogs in this particular spot before - it's been a crazy wet summer. I haven't seen a platanna (a really flat frog, so sorry, I don't know the English name) on the farm at all before this summer, when we watched one float down the middle of the driveway in the river that was currently running down it. 

I have a huge thing for beaded horses, and I'm forever buying them for the garden. They're just so cute. I call this one Arwen because it's grey with a black mane and huge ears.

Lassie posed for a photo. She's greying so fast.

We road tripped to Frankfort, a tiny farming community south of us, to pick up our latest addition to the menagerie - a tiny Japanese bantam hen named Debbie. It was a beautiful day.

Old Skye looking round, shiny, and healthy while my poor sweet farrier knees down to trim her front right. This is as far as her knee can bend.

The broodmares at dawn. Rene was confirmed in foal this week - she put on weight so nicely on the summer pasture that she could happily go straight back to Dakota again (this time for a different lessor). It was Dakota's first time doing in-hand covers (he's used to having a group of mares out in the field) and he was so well behaved. Rose is getting very big, too.

Faith was also supposed to go back to Dakota in February, but she cut her leg quite badly right before coming into heat. She'll go back to him next week when she cycles again. Her condition is fantastic - she's the fattest broodmare we have and she's hardly getting any feed at all.

Wynnie escaped and celebrated.

She's becoming quite the little chunk.

Then she ran off to say hi to her daddy, who is back to cover Rene and Faith (Arwen will go back to work once Wynnie is weaned for a few more years before she retires to stud full-time). He's a bit ribby after a long season running after his girls, but he's still pure class.

On mornings when Thunder and I have a lesson booked, Lancey gets Thunder's usual 5:45am slot. The light is perfect - just perfect.

In two or three weeks all of this green will be in bloom - pink, purple and white. We call it cosmos.

Lassie and Rosie also got their halter training done, although they've yet to do their first farrier visit. They're both doing absolutely great.

This is the aforementioned Debbie (named after the chicken in Lost in Space). She loves mealworms.

The morning of SANESA Q1 was picture perfect.

Not a bad view, given that we had to leave the yard at 6:00 on Sunday morning.

Flashy was a superstar, of course, bringing home lots of satin for his kiddos.

And Dawn is just the most perfect creature for her child - even if her constant weight fluctuations make me want to scream. I'll never have another thoroughbred of my own, thanks. Friesians and Nooities are where it's at. 

Another kid on Flashy, another grin, another fistful of satin. This kid has been riding with me since she was 3 and she is now almost 11. It's crazy.

Lady Lionheart, who carries me through my Medium debut this Sunday, God willing. She's a firecracker but golden-hearted and one of the horses I trust most in the entire world. Which is a good thing because the debut will be in a spooky indoor lol.

The day after SANESA, Lancey and I took the kiddos out for a ride. Spirit, Midas, and Dawn above.

Flashy had done 5 classes at SANESA so he had the day off; his kid rode Dusty instead. I haven't been using Dusty in my own lessons much lately because my kids have outgrown her, so she's been with K's beginners, but I have a nervous intermediate kiddo joining in who needs a few months on her to build his confidence.

Look at them 💜💜💜

The newly baled hay field always makes for stunning scenery. Isaiah is still overweight but can spend an hour running with the horses on an outride without apparent effort.

Titan has become a trusty companion on rides, too, and it burns off some of his ever-present psycho energy.

Golden summer days, laughing kids, shiny horses, perfect skies, thriving crops, glorious African scenery. Can't ask for a whole lot more than that.

Wynnie exhibiting her pretty neck, cute head, and GINORMOUS ears. Don't worry Wynnie, big ears are in if you're a dressage horse. They flop attractively when you're relaxed. (She's more likely to use them in extravagant Mare Faces).

You know autumn is coming when the kiddos' ponies all come home from an outride with cosmos in their bridles. Lancey and I had to go bushwhacking to retrieve specific colours for kids who couldn't reach/whose ponies wouldn't go there. Of course we got some flowers for ourselves too. After all, who am I but a kid on a pony, deep down inside?

A kid curled up in the arms of her Father. God is good.

Counting Changes

My favourite thing about Thunder's new energy level - since switching onto the Stud Time and doing a lot more lungeing - isn't just that he can perform all of his work with so much more activity and so much less work on my part. My favourite thing about it is that Thunder suddenly loves to work.

Not to say that Thunder never liked work - he's always been absolutely willing, a comment we get over and over on our dressage tests - but he always seemed to be getting on with it in an obliging sort of way, like he was doing it because I asked. Even on a good day, he never really put in more effort than I was asking for (and on a bad day, he would be flat-out resistant). It frustrated me so much because I couldn't figure out what was wrong and had spent so much money trying to find and address the cause, and in the back of my mind there was always the niggling thought that maybe he had some kind of catastrophic unsoundness and I just hadn't found it yet. But all that is behind us now. I have a sparkly, spicy Thunder who actually gives me a hard time if I've let him have a few days off, instead of a ploddy Thunder dutifully going through the motions, and I love it.

I mean just look at that perfect animal

I can even ride him without whip or spurs these days - something that would have been completely unthinkable six months ago. Or even four months ago. Even his habit of kicking at my leg in frustration has disappeared. Instead, I have a bright-eyed boy who marches off eagerly from the mounting block and doesn't take any excuse to flop into walk. He occasionally squeals and bucks on the lunge on a cold morning (again, previously I had to CHASE him even to get him to canter), and gives me a walk to canter on the lunge from a quiet voice command. It's amazing. I'm delighted!

and his butt is normal again!! Also he's much more trim than he has been in the past, and I'm trying to put a little bit more weight on him, but not too much. He actually looks very nicely athletic to me right now

He has also perked up a lot since his skin recovered from that disgusting reaction he had in January. He wasn't depressed, particularly, but it must have been itchy and bothersome. Now, every part of his body that is covered by the fly sheet, boots and fly mask has almost completely recovered, even the hair growing back nicely. But the areas that stick out - his forearms, hind legs, and the gap on his jaw between the fly mask and the neck of the fly sheet - are now scabby, itchy, and bleeding. I drench those areas in fly spray and it does seem to be helping a little, but basically now we're just waiting for winter. Poor guy.

This entire area was completely bald and raw in January

Anyway, all that to say that Thunder feels amazing in his body and mind right now. We're ticking over nicely on a schedule that seems to be working - 3 schooling rides each week, plus 1 day lungeing, and then if by some miracle I haven't missed any sessions, the fifth day is just stretching or jumping or fooling around without a bridle. And we're making some really nice progress.

still trying to grow out his mane even though the fly sheet rubs the elastics out every. single. day.

We are still competing at Elementary-Medium, technically, although I hope for this weekend to be our last EM show before dipping our toes into the daunting waters of Medium. (It should be, since we only need two scores over 60%, unless something explodes or my brain trickles out of my ears). At home, we've been playing with the Advanced tricks, continuing with my everlasting struggle to ride quality gaits, and working through the Medium tests. We're busy with Test 4 (of 6) now and it includes a four-loop serpentine with flying changes over the centreline, as well as a rather thrilling little start: A, enter collected canter; X, halt, immobility, salute. The canter to halt proved to be much easier than I thought it would be, and once it clicked in his brain he started doing it very nicely.

Also had to move him back out to the foaling box he had in winter because he kept escaping his stable in the barn and then letting everyone else out of their stables too - pandemonium ensued

The changes are a slightly different matter. Not that he doesn't like the changes - in fact, it's the complete opposite. Thunder has decided that he FREAKING LOVES the flying changes. Where he used to get tense and rushy and kick at my leg through each change, he now has the strength, energy and balance to do them easily and cleanly. The straightness in his shoulders and suppleness in his neck that he was missing really helped to make them effortless, and he pricks up his ears the moment I start preparing him for the change.

The only trouble is that he gets a bit overexcited at times. To add to this, Coach J also encouraged us to play with the tempis a bit, and Thunder VERY quickly learned to count and does better 4-tempis and 3-tempis than he does single flying changes, because he thinks he is amazing and brilliant and an FEI horse now (I don't give him any reason not to think this). So when we start doing the serpentine, with only seven or eight strides of collected canter between changes, he thinks it is time for the tempis. If messy 4-tempis on a serpentine were a GP movement, my horse would be in the Olympics. I think he thinks he is in the Olympics. He feels so confident and sassy that I kind of feel bad for shutting him down and saying that no, sir, actually we have to do one at a time and remain civilized throughout. He doesn't lose balance, exactly, he just gets hotter and hotter to my aids until, by the last loop of the serpentine, he is LEAPING through his changes and tossing in a few celebratory bucks just because.

I love this new, enthusiastic Thunder so much.

We did eventually get a very nice, civilized serpentine with changes so obedient, rhythmic and smooth that I actually had to look down to make sure they had happened at all (I'm such a newb). In fact it almost feels like we could go out and ride Medium 4 tomorrow and not make a total idiot of ourselves, even though the extended trot is still not really on the menu for us. Considering that the medium is a desperately flailing movement at what feels like top speed for us both and still garners a 6.0, "needs more ground cover", I'm not currently holding out much hope for the extended.

The half-pirouettes in walk continue to plague my poor empty brain as well. Coach has me practice quarter pirouettes on a square and those seem to go just fine, but as soon as they become half pirouettes I panic. I think most of this is in my head right now because Thunder has abandoned his old swinging, pivoting ways and really listens to my aids (most of the time) these days. It's stuck in my head that I'm no good at them so I just panic and flail. (This is a recurrent theme - sorry Thunderbirdy. Coach J has been known to pet Thunder's face affectionately and tell him "You must be patient with your mother, she's crazy.")

It is with intense gratitude that I say that my horse has infinite patience and that I'm enjoying him more than ever before these days. He starts my day off on the right foot every morning with his gentle eyes and his new exuberance for the dance.

God is so good.