budgeting, work and training

Not much training these days... Been trying to get over a lung infection I've had since November, the antibiotics does not seem to take care of it:/

Still riding North Peak two days a week, allthough just until February. After that I'll concentrate on making the economy to go around with all the expences I get with my own horse.

The past week I've been budgeting to see how my outcome vs income will trun out with a horse involved. My problem is that I have a different salary every month and I haven't worked enough to be able to see the average salary. So I have to work with the amount I know I'm going to get. Right now I overestimate the outcome and underestimate the income and hope for the best :D  My mum and dad have said they would sponsor me with the starting amount, meaning, buying the horse. Going to have a meeting with them on thursday, after that I'll probably have a more realistic veiw on how much longer I have to save up money. Scary! And on top of all the saving, I work as many extrashifts as they'll give me. Preferably working nightshifts, that means longer shifts and more money! yay!

Last weekend I have been trainig Elins (Marias daughter) pony, Charlie. What I quickly realised is that my seat is alot more effective than before, and when I really focus I can make him do almost whatever i ask of him. The problem is me. Since I got sick in November I haven't been training anything other than the few times a week I'm at the stable. Peak is a young horse and most of the training is in a light seat so some of my muscles haven't been properly used in a while. *sigh* I have a gym membership but since I've been sick and most people are so scared of the swineflu I haven't been there in a while, but this week I'll go back! I need to strengthen especially my core and leg muscles.

Goals for the next few weeks, train more! Need more strength and stamina!

Sad message from the stable yesterday :( Tia Maria, the TB brood mare at our stable gave birth to her foal, 4 months before she was due. This was what they found in her stall =(

"Old" pictures

When going through my harddrives to find old riding photos, I found quite a few other ones as well.

Lovejoy!

Me and Modena at the race track

Lovejoy, 1.10 m. showjumping competition at our stable.

Same competition, we won!

Søndervangs Unik

Thunderbird "Birdie", LotR costume competition. I won a DVD i think.

Lovejoy again

Lovejoy and me tries out cross-country for the first time. Lovejoy did not like the drop, he was used to jump over stuff, not drop down.

In the water

more cross-country

Jumping Birdie

Winning another show jumping class at our stable

Scanned from a newspaper. First time competing 1.10 m.

Tia Maria and me.

Development

Sometimes when I ride horses i feel like I'm just banging my head against a wall and not getting anywhere. A post on a forum gave me the idea to look back at old photos and se how far I¨'ve come with my riding skills. I started looking through my old photos and learned that i haven't got that many pictures before 2009 of me riding anything else than jumping fences. Oh well, this past year I have learned ALOT so there is much improovement! Most of the improvement is in my head, but still you can see some of it in the photos.

Søndervang's Unik, Aug '04

Herkules feb 09

Herkules march 09

Herkules march 09, weekend course with Trollspeilet at our stable.

First clinic with David Oliveira. Licero, july 09

Clinic with Kristina Berggren, aug 09

Course with Trollspeilet, sept 09

Sept 09

Oliveira clinic sept 09

Sept 09

Trollspeilet, dec 09

Will be fun to see if there is any improovement from now until summer. I guess it depends on how often I'll be able to train and if I find a horse by then!

Så var det på'n igjen

A new year, new beginnings!

The past year has been great in many ways. I have, after 19 years in the saddle, realised what I want out of my life with horses. I know how I want to train, and more importantly, I know how i don't want to train. I have a job which I like and feel that i manage to do it well.

New years resolutions

• Be more positive! think before i speak and don't be to eager to judge people, there is usually a reason why people do what they do.
• Be myself and don't take it personally if other people judge me or don't like the choices I make in life. It's my life and I'm going to live it the way I want to!
• Buy a horse!
• Improve my riding skills
• Get a job! (not only the deputyship I've got now)
• Eat healthier, which means more planning from day to day. This also means; money saved!
• Exercise more. (not only riding)

That was all i could think of for now. Head goes empty while working nightshift!

Weekend course at Trollspeilet dec 09 (translation numero dos)

Day 1, december 18th.
Of course, i managed to choose the coldest weekend of the year to attend a new weekend course! Friday afternoon it was -17 centigrades/1 farenheit, lovely!

I had two lessons on day 1, it was cold and quite slippery so we used one of the fields for arena. First lesson was with Pelle and i rode Vitesse. Pelle had just returned home from a clinic with Claire Lilly and had learned a new thing, which meant I had to learn it aswell! This lesson we worked with the upper and lower leg aid, means squeeze with my thighs and calvesn and keep the knees firm agains the saddle. At the same time, relax in the buttocks and let go of my hip, difficult? Uhu! After riding for a bit, i had to get of the horse to try and find the right muscles in my calves and how to feel them work the right way. I stood on the ground, raised up on my toes and felt the muscles in my calves work. This was the feeling i was supposed to be searching for while riding. Exept that i was not supposed to stand on my toes in the stirrups, the power from the muscle was supposed to go against the side of the horse instead of pushing up.  Easier said than done, but I got it sometimes, and when i did, the horse worked so much better! We also worked on walk-halt transitions with only squeezing with my knees, when we managed to do this, we worked on walk-halt-walk back.

Halt – squeeze with my knees, keep the elbows fixed by using latissimus dorsi and frame the horse between the aids by using upper and lower leg, seat and latissimus dorsi. While in halt, be able to correct one of the hindlegs without everything falling apart by walking forward or backward.

Back – First transition to halt as described above. Squeeze with knees and calves to create energy, then lift the seat and lean a cm forward which will release the energy backwards and the horse backs up.

Some pinpoints to remember
Weight in the stirrups, weight down and use the muscle in towards the side of the horse, keep the heel down!
Think about holding a 1000 kr (120 €/170$) bill with my knees, one on each side. Do not loose the money!
Let go of the hip, active seat, make the horse move forward with seat and leg, frame the horse with the elbowes (tight latissimus dorsi)
The rein should never be used backwards!

I rode Faustino on the other lesson that day, Hanne was the instructor. Faustino was quite worked up, bucking and tried to be tough, but he had to give in eventually. We worked on the same stuff as with Pelle, but now we also focused on my upperbody. I tend to sway in my upper back, which means that my sternum «opens up» and points out. To correct this i have to think sternum down and inwards, at the same time stretching upwards with my head and use latissimus dorsi to keep my elbows and shoulders down. I managed to get everything together quite well in the end and my hip is much better than last time! Improvement! :D

Day 2, december 19th.
Two lessons today aswell, first one was abit delayed since one of the foals here broke out and ran into the big herd and was impossible to catch again. After a while Hanne and Pelle came to the conclution that the foal had it better in the big herd and let him stay there, he imidiatly gained to uncles, Bilro (3 yo Lusitano) and Viplan (20 yo Trakhener) looked after him.

First lesson with Hanne, I rode Vitesse. Same work as yesterday, legs and seat. If the horse is above the bit = stronger seat. If it is behind the bit = more leg. After the warm up we worked on one of the David exercises «mobilisation to the inside» and «mobiliation to the outside» on both hands. Vitesse wasn't really cooperating since this was heavy and she'd rather not use her hindlegs. But after working for a while she loosened up and worked nicely. After a while with theses exercises we made a transition to trot and worked on «lifting» the horse with the help of seat, upper leg and lower leg. At times we worked quite well, and Vitesse balanced great even tho it was icy and slippery on the field.

The second lesson was together with Berit and Petter up at the tournament arena. Some icy parts, but the arena was better than the field! This time Pelle was the instructor. I started the lesson by working with transitions walk-halt-walk. After a while i really got the hang of the aids. I managed to relax the buttocks at the same time as using upper and lower leg. In the transitions i usually sway in the back and by doing that i think that im shifting the weight, but im not. The trick for me was to push forward with the seatbones, inwards and down with the sternum, easy peasy transitions after that!

After this i got a new assignment. Transistions walk-trot. We managed to get a fair few nice transitions, Vitesse moved forward by leg and seat aid, i felt i could «squeeze» her between my legs, up and forward and lift her with my seat! Talk about getting the connection and being as one with the horse! Fun! New assignment, walk – prepare transition to halt, but instead do a half pirouette. After practicing «tale between my legs» for quite some time i remember it in halt, walk, trot and canter but when i want the horse to move sideways or do anything else i suddenly forget. So about half the times the half pirouettes were quite bad, because i just forgot to ad the seat. But when i do remember all the aids, it usually goes ok. I also have a tendency to loose my balance and get the weight on the wrong side, which doesn't really make it easier for the horse. We also worked with HTTW (head to the wall), so Tessa really had to use her hindlegs, and at the end of the last one she let go a big snort! Hah!

At the end of the lesson, we worked in trot at the circle. On the upper half of the circle I was going to extend her trot a bit. We managed to do it once! Pelle said it was close to medium trot, Tessa followed my hand, stretched her neck and extended her step nicely. After this we called it a day! Tired horse, and tired rider!

Day 3, december 20th.
New day, new possiblities.

New lesson with Hanne, rode Vitesse today aswell. Berit and McNiell joined us up at the tournament arena. We worked on the same stuff as the rest of the weekend, but this time i got Hanne to take a few pictures, so here goes!

Berit and Mc'ern

Light trot

Light trot

Light trot

Light trot

Light trot, Vitesse would like to say; "glærghp"

Sitting trot, I have a tendency to pull my heels up. Need to remember to keep the weight in the stirrups and the power of the muscle towards the horse.

A bit beter, but still need to keep the weight in the stirrups and more power in the seat. You can also see Vitesse has a broken neckline, about the 3rd vertebrae, which means more leg and power from the hindlegs.

Picture series: Vitesse doesnt want to work, pull forward, the result is I tense up, pull up my heel, hard contact and a passive seat.

This leads to: Tension in the horse, gets above the bit and rushes forward. This makes me try to keep still but you can see i twist my elbowes and my whole seat collapses.

I then straighten out my thoughts, seat, legs and elbows are almost where they should be, and miraculously the horse loosens up as well.

Here you can see i still poke my toes out if i don't concentrate.

Kip!

Once again it has been an educational weekend. I have figured out more about my body and managed to detatch parts and use them as seperate aids.  Feks squeeze with upper and lower leg, and at the same time keep a loose hip and an active seat. I have also discovered why I often fail to make the transitions down, I sway my upper back and by doing that i counteract my own aids. So when doing transitions I need to think; sternu down and inwards before using the seatbones. When I do this, it actually feels like I'm leaning forward, but I don't. That's what makes this so hard! It is a different feeling for each rider, so I have to find the feeling that is right for me and train after that feeling. No matter how wrong it feels the first time!

Who said riding a horse was easy?!

Weekend course at Trollspeilet nov 09 (translation numero uno)

This weekend I have been at Trollspeilet and have learned loads of new stuff! Or perhaps its more correct to say, I have taken another small step forward in my equestrian educaution. For the first time I have managed to «let go of my hip», which means I was able to correctly follow the horse with my seat without tension in the hipmuscles.

The weekend course is build up by 4 1hr lessons and there is supposed to be an hour theory a day, but in this house, the theory behind riding is discussed from the moment we get up, until we sleepwalk to bed :) I rode Faustino, a 5 year old TB gelding in all the lessons. He was given to trollspeilet for free because he was a «lost cause», trained wrong from the beginning, only muscles on one side, lots of pain and just not friendly with people. They've had him since April and he has come a long way since then!
These courses are first and formost a course in gaining a correctly balanced seat, so I mostly work with myself and when i get my act together i can start to demand the horse to work. Faustino likes to keep his head high and tensed so we worked on long and low the whole time.


Hanne (one of the ridning instructors) used the first lesson to correct the seat. Every rider has his or her own problem with theire seat, and as each problem is individual, every solution is individual. I have to sit more forward in the saddle and think «tale between my legs». While doing this, keep my leg further back and twist my femuralbone so that my heel feels like it's pointing outwards. Hanne pulled my legs abit and showed me where they were supposed to be and how that felt. To be honest it hurt like hell in gluteus medius, and my abdominal muscles had to work real hard!

I need to think up, up, up while i ride, often use the image of a tree growing upwards on the top, and the roots pulling themselfes to the ground (thanks Sally Swift). We worked on this for a while, in walk without the stirrups, before we made the transition to trot and tried to keep the same seat. Faustion worked quite well after a while, but I could really feel how uneven he is in his muscles. On the right hand he fell inwards in the circle, and on the left hand his right shoulder didn't really want to keep in place. Tried some transistions to canter this lesson, but my hip was too stiff so the canter was not efficient and really bumpy.

Second lesson: continuation of the work we had started with on the first lesson. We started out by trying to correct our own seat with Hanne for support if we needed it. I thought it went quite well, allthough i still need to be reminded to keep my heels down and in place, but it's getting there! During this lesson i felt i managed to let go of my hip quite well in trot, the horse responded quicker and i felt i could actually use my seat to lift the horse up and forward, and controll the tempo with my seat! Fun!

Third lesson: same word ;) It is funny how the things you work with, gets so much easier after a while. Today it was alot easier to keep my leg in place, and at the same time, relax my leg. I have a tendency to tighten my leg when i have to keep it in a place that feels unnatural and weird. This lesson i worked with transitions trot-canter-trot, with main focus on the transitions. Faustino likes to just speed up and fall into canter, and the transitions from canter to trot usuallu leeds to Faustino falling completely apart. After a while we got the hand on the trot-canter transitions, I wish I could say the same for the caner-trot transitions, but oh well, we worked hard on them! :p The big new improvement was that i managed to let go of my hip in canter! For the first time! I have never felt it before, and it was weird how easy it was to sit correctly. I must say i only managed to keep it for a few steps at a time, but little is more than nothing!

Forth lesson: my seatbones and coccyx were so sore i had a hard time just sitting in the saddle, funny enough i manage to «forget it» during the lesson (get a hard reminder afterwards tho). Last lesson, worked on same stuff as earlier, tale between my legs, let go of the hip, half halts and loong and loow. At the end i rode light trot so Faustino got the chance to really stretch his neck long and low, this is quite hard for him, and he doesn't really want to do it, but we managed it in the end! He worked well through the back and he almost even made a sound! Faustino usually keep his «prust» (can't find the english word for it) inside, so it came out in the form of sigh and moans, but we take what we can get! :)

Looking back at the course i feel that I have taken a few steps forward in my riding. I have, for the first time, really understood what it means to let go of the hip. Which means training, training, trainig!
I think I'm going to take a new course in december, perhaps a few more lessons since i got the time for some intensive workout! Hopefully I will find a solution to my coccyx problem, which was really annoying! The problem might have been the saddle this time, not the most comfertable thing i have ridden in...

Anyhow, a list of what to remember and practice on, until next time

• tale between my legs, all the time, not just when i remember it.
• The leg in its place
• twist the femur, heels out!
• Shoulders in their place
• head on top of the shoulders, not in front of them!
• Look forward, don't tilt the head!

Go me!

No photos this time, only three of us in the course and the last person on the farm had to babysit the kids, perhaps next time.