Hello again,

I am trying to update the blog more often so that when I do, its not so long and boring for everyone to read! The summer is chugging along and I can’t believe it is already July! I hope everyone had a great 4th, I did! My Mom always has her annual 4th of July cookout and I get to see my relatives that I don’t get to see very often and then my husband and I got together with some very good friends to watch the fireworks in Oxford (very cute little town on the water!). We packed a picnic dinner and set up camp on the beach and waited for the fireworks. It was such beautiful weather! I can’t ever remember a 4th where it wasn’t boiling hot and humid, we even had sweatshirts on when the sun went down!

Enough about me…. the horses are all good. We had PVDA’s Ride For Life show the last weekend in June. We had 5 horses there, so it was a very busy weekend! Friday before the show was the hottest day we have had so far, very hot and humid. The horses were not so used to it yet (the people either!), but we hung fans and got things as comfortable as possible. Luckily, the heat broke and Saturday and Sunday were very pleasant. Everyone did really well, Mike won his Saturday morning class and then placed 5th and 6th in his First level classes. My goal for Mike this show season was for him to go into the ring and really ride his horse. He tends to get into the ring and let things fall apart, so we have changed a few things with the way he warms her up and every time in the ring gets better and better! Mike is slowly coming out of his comfort zone bit by bit and asking for more, so it is good progress!

Olivia (my 13yr old student) also did really well! She has been riding with me since the end of last summer. She has a new horse, Benefield that she got in February. Benny is new to Dressage, we are not sure what he did before Olivia got him, but he is the perfect kids horse. He is a QH, very fancy and not what you would normally picture when you think of a QH, he is built uphill, forward moving and he has a nice combination of being sensitive but not tense or tight. What I really like about him is that he is such an honest guy, he takes everything in stride and has been just wonderful at shows, especially considering that he has probably never been in a show atmosphere before. Olivia is also quite new to Dressage shows, having only done a couple other shows, this is all quite new to her. I schooled Benny for her on Friday as she was at camp, and then she came and schooled him on Saturday at the show in the busy warm-up ring and they were both stars! On Sunday, she had 2 training level classes. She got two 5th’s! I was very proud of both of them! I think after this, it will just get better and better! Olivia got a little nervous and tense, but Benny took good care of her and overall, there were no major mistakes. Once Olivia relaxes a little and can be more accurate and focus on bending, they are going to be quite the team!

Windsor and I had a good show as well. I am still dealing with Windsor getting tight and behind my leg in the ring. I am going to explore this with my vet a little b/c its not the normal behind the leg feeling, my instincts tell me there is something more. I have been feeling it at home as well, its sort of odd, but he sometimes feels as if he is holding his breath and gets very tight in his barrell/back. I won’t bore you with all of the details, but hopefully I can get some answers. Even with him feeling sticky and not quite with me the whole ride, we are getting some good scores! But let me backtrack…. I schooled him on Friday and he felt wonderful! I only did about 20 minutes of work since it was so hot, but it was 20 minutes of really super work! Saturday, my rides were really close together (about a half hour apart), so he didn’t get much of a break between classes, which is not the best for Windsor…. but we made the best of it. He warmed up great Saturday morning and then as I was about to leave the warm-up and go to my ring, I felt that tightness again. I did some quick transitions and suppling work, but never felt as if he came back to me. I went and rode the test and it was pretty good. Not like it can be when he is not being tight, but it was good enough for a 63% and 3rd place. When he is tight like this, we make mistakes, like breaking from the canter, not enough energy in the medium work etc… the second class he felt the same, maybe a little better, although I still felt as if I was having to carry him around the ring (not easy with a big horse), and there was no brilliance. I ended up third with a 66%. Imagine when I get this all worked out, he is going to be super! On Sunday, I didn’t ride until 4:06 in the afternoon! I was very bust all day schooling my students, so it went by fast. Windsor warmed up really well, again, I only did about 20 minutes and then went in the ring. Again, it was a nice test and to someone watching, they would think it looked good, but I know its not what I can do with this horse… but as I always say, you have to ride the horse you have at that moment…. so thats what I did. We had one major mistake in a simple change that just sort of didn’t happen… lets just say I took about 7 strides to get it as opppsed to 3 (again, that sticky thing)! So that movement got a 4 and then the movement after that also got a low score. We ended up winning the class with a 67%! Not bad with some major mistakes! I love this horse so much, he has great heart and such a wonderful (although sometimes playful!) attitude, that I owe it to him to make sure he is feeling 100% for his work. So I will keep you posted on what we find.