The Leaning Tower of Pony

Have you ever tried to hop on one foot, rub your head AND your belly all at the same time?  And stay upright?  If so, you know what it's like to ride a balanced canter on a green (at the canter) horse. Or, if you were unsuccessful at doing all those things at once, then you know what it's like to not be able to ride a balanced canter on any horse.

Tonight, Nova the Battle Ax and I achieved the impossible.  Bent the rules of time and space.  Literally turned Physics on it's side and made Newton's apple float back up into the tree!  We cantered, upright, slowly and balanced.

What!?

About a year ago, our canter looked kind of like this:

If you think that looks terrifying, it was.  And so I had partially resigned myself to the fact that we would be trotting and stuck at Intro for the rest of our lives.  Time passed and I looked on longingly as my friend's horses floated about the ring like large furry ballerinas.  Nova and I instead trotted to all my destinations.

Enter Dom Schramm:

The horse trainer equivalent to Cesar Milan. I start taking clinics with the man and my world is changed. I think, my gosh, with this Australian's help I may actually be able to canter this horse. Literally the best trainer I have ever had.  I now consider him "my" trainer.   I will save further gushing for a Schramm Equestrian dedicated post, but for now I will tell you what I did to achieve the miracle canter.

First, with Dom's help, I discovered my outside rein.  It's really always been there, kind of like Jiminy Cricket, but I never really listened to it or acknowledged it's existence.  The outside rein is key, it's the brakes! Who knew!?

Then, with Dom's help, I discovered my butt.  That sounds really bad, but it's true.  The way I place my butt in the saddle is very important.  No wonder I was offending Nova when I was just plopping down in the saddle with no real plan.  He was probably thinking "Gah! What is that lady doing with her butt!?"  So now, I place my patoot with purpose.

Then with Dom's help, I rekindled my relationship with my inside leg.  We broke up for a while, but now we are back together and loving every minute of it.  (I really just wasn't fulfilling my inside leg's needs, which is poison to any relationship).

So I had been combining those things and the canter was getting better and better albeit still a bit of a hand gallop.  But for the last two weeks, I've been riding with my new secret weapon.  And that is-MY INSIDE SHOULDER!  I just point it up to the sky.  This in turn, puts more weight in my outside seat bone and sets the leaning tower of pony upright.  Which makes him balanced and able to SLOW. DOWN.

So there are a few morals to the story.  First, finding the right kind of help is priceless (awww, thanks Dom!!!).  Second, working on the building blocks of the bigger issue makes everything fall in place eventually.  And third, never give up!

1-2-3, 1-2-3, 1-2-3 :)

When Harry met Sally....

Nova is not my first horse.  He is actually my 9th horse.  And so by the time I was looking for Nova, I knew a few things about what I wanted in a horse.

1.  He needs to be low to the ground so that in the event of an emergency dismount, I am not too far up.

courtesy worldnomads.com

2.  He mustn't be wild or I would be disowned by husband.

courtesy zazzle.com

3.  He must be sound and sturdy.

courtesy barnmanagerblog.blogspot.com

4. He must have a good sense of humor.

courtesy images.mitrasites.com

So I did pretty good on 1, 3 and 4 when I found the semi feral 8 year old Haflinger in a field at the breeder's and immediately knew he was THE ONE.  

Under the initially yak-like appearance, all I could see was my dream pony.  Husband sees hairy feral donkey. First words out of husband's mouth: "Can you take him back?!?"

courtesy cargocultcraft.com

Convinced husband that we could not return him.  Also promised profusely that I would not die and that he would be a really good horse. Eventually.

Here's what we started with:

Here's 4 years later:

And... I'm still alive and still married.  I guess sometimes things just work out. :)

Pretend Eventing

Most people that meet me find out within the first 5 seconds that I'm an avid horse-rider, equestrian, fur surfer. What isn't readily apparent is what TYPE of riding it is that I do.  Nope, I don't race my horse. Eh, not so much into the rodeo.  What I do is pretend to Event.  Yep that's right, I'm calling it like it is.  Pretend. For the moment. Even though I will still shout "3 days, 3 ways baby!" obnoxiously.  And I have cross country colors.  And I am crazy enough to hurtle myself at obstacles that do not move or come down if we/I hit them.

Eventing is described as an equestrian sport in which competitors must take part in several contests, usually dressage, cross country jumping and stadium jumping.
~From Wikipedia


Okay technically we do that:

And for the last year or so, we have done just that at the most beginning level they even sometimes call it amoeba, tadpole, green as grass, we have just begun, etc. The "jumps" at this level are low enough for a Chihuahua to walk over.

courtesy cutcaster.com

However, we are getting ready to make our shining debut at Maiden this summer and I'm super excited because the jumps get just a bit bigger (enough to where all four of Pony's feet must leave the ground). And with each cross country schooling and each bank, ditch, or water we stomp through, I'm thinking we get closer to real Eventing vs. just pretend Eventing.  Now don't get me wrong. Our goals do not include Rolex Kentucky (well, aside from spectating in 2013).  However, we do aspire to Pre-Novice. One day. Maybe.

And now, I suppose it would be a good time to introduce you to the trustiest of trusty steeds, Nova (also known as The Golden Snitch). Nova is a 13 year old Haflinger Gelding who got a higher score on the SAT than I did. He enjoys food of any kind, particularly Icee Pops.  He also enjoys trail riding, flirting with mares, and contemplating the purpose of winter clothes for humans.

I will tell you Nova's story in upcoming posts, but suffice it to say that this is the horse of a lifetime. I intend for this blog to chronicle our misadventures in Pretend Eventing and all the other fun stuff we do.  

And for now, I will close this post with a note about my dear husband, who fully supports this equine addiction, without whom this blog and its contents would not be possible.