Top 3 Dressage Scores at Happ's

Hopeful:
34.0
38.0
39.5

Beginner Novice:
35.5
38.0 (3 way tie)
41.0

Novice:
32.11
33.2
35.3

Jonathan Elliott Clinic at Aspen Farms - 25/26 Oct

Willig and I are going to register for the clinic at Aspen Farms, http://aspenfarmseventing.com/, with Jonathan Elliott on the 25th and 26th of October. I really need lessons, and this one is a great location (Yelm, which is just about half an hour from my house) and a great price: $185, including a night of stabling.
I was thinking about going to the Don Sachey clinic at Tulip Springs, http://www.tulipsprings.com/, in Kennewick, on the 1st and 2nd of November, but I'm not ready for back-to-back weekend clinics, and the gas price to Kennewick (and travel time) is considerably more. The Don Sachey clinic is only $200.

A gross p.s.

After the show, when I turned Willig out in his turn-out (with hay), he went over and ate some poop (his own) and then went back to his hay. My mom looked it up on the internet and it doesn't seem to be a big deal, but it was kind of shocking and horrifying. The vet has to come out for fall shots soon anyway, so now I will get to remain par for the course with bizarre or disgusting animal problems.

Happ's Derby - Willig was 2nd place in Hopeful

Compared to his ride the day before (at home), he was amazing. But compared to my normal expectations, he was mediocre. No refusals, a 39.5 in dressage (I think), and pretty well behaved all day. It was nice to have a team of three people to help me too.
I miss Bob.
The big surprise was that Mercury and I are Mr. and Miss May (well, one of three shots) in the Happ's 2009 calendar.

Happ's Derby - Kevin took good photos

Happ's Derby - Photos

Jump & Trail Ride Photos

Because my parents are here, I finally have some pictures of Willig.

Resolution!

I talked to the two barn managers tonight, and they said that the Sunday lessons don't start until 11 am (I had no idea), so I can have the 8-11 block to jump. That works wonderful for me, and I'm so relieved I talked to them. They also want to encourage some other people to jump too, so I'm not totally alone like I thought. They were so professional.
Something is going on that I don't want to blog about because I'm not sure exactly what it is, but if you are in the Olympia area and you want a part time or maybe even full time barn manager, I totally, totally recommend Amy who has been managing the barn since I got here. I don't even know that she's looking for a new job, but she is very, very professional and I've been so happy with her.
Of course, they were riding together, and I was riding Willig, and the doofus could NOT pay attention. (sigh) He is carrying Bob's torch of keeping me humble.

Irritating Arena Conflict - Any Advice?

There are four days of lessons at the barn. Most of the people who take lessons come in and ride school horses and are very, very beginners. Amy and Jen give lessons on Monday, Thursday, and Saturday.
A few weeks ago, Catherine added someone she knows named Kat to Sunday lessons. I have been jumping on Sunday's in the outside arena, and sometimes on Wed evenings. Last weekend, before I got there, Kat took down all my jumps. When I went out to ask her if I could put them back up, she told me NO. I looked surprised (because, to me, asking is a courtesy, not really asking permission) and she said "can you wait at least half an hour? My riders can't ride around your jumps.") and I said ok, but then her delicate rider who apparently can't steer at all got too hot and so they had to do the lesson inside.
So I left a note on the board that asked if instructors could post their lesson times 48 hours in advance, and that way Willig and I would ride different times and avoid the arena when lessons are going on. Jen and Amy wrote their lessons (as in, they just put down their huge blocks of time - what I meant was an actual list of lessons so I could see, for example, that there was an hour free from 2-3 on Saturday), but for Kat, it just says "Sunday."
So, since the show is next weekend, I planned to jump Willig again today. And again, she took down my jumps. So I put them back up (I couldn't find her), got Willig, brought him in, and then she walked by and said "I took down your jumps" and I said "Oh. I put them back up." and she looked really, really irritated and all huffily told the parents of the kid (a kid on a LEAD LINE, and if she can't LEAD a horse around jumps, then she's got problems) they had to ride inside.
Like 30 seconds after I finished jumping, she had the next rider take down all my jumps. She didn't ask, and didn't know that I wasn't going to ride another horse (which, normally, I ride Mercury over jumps after I ride Willig over them if I'm not too tired but today I was going on a trail ride with Sam).
So - I understand her position. She's a trainer, and she makes money giving lessons, and it is easier to ride in an empty arena. But my position is that I am there SEVEN days a week, while she is there ONE, and therefore, I have seniority, and if I want jumps in the arena, then I get jumps in the arena. I think baby riders who don't board a horse shouldn't get to control the arena all day four days a week, especially both weekend days.
And, I don't have problems on the other three lesson days. Only her day.
So one solution is I shift my jumping day to Saturday and avoid her completely.
Another solution is I talk to Catherine about what would work best for conflicts between boarder riding time and lesson time.
Another solution is I talk to her, but I actually don't think that one's going to be effective.
Another solution is I ride after lesson hours, but one thing I like about weekends is spending four hours out there in the middle of the day. It's not as fun from 6-10 pm which is what I do every weeknight.
The problem I see is that as we move into winter, everyone will want the inside arena, and it is too little for me to ride Willig in there with beginners who can't steer (especially with jumps), and I don't like having to ride after 7 pm on the weekends (lesson days go past 6 pm).
Any thoughts? I am being kind of selfish, and it is a problem kind of unique to me because no one else rides at my level (or jumps or has a horse as big as Willig).

Jumping

Last weekend I set up three jumps - two cross rails which I switched to verticals(about 2'8"/2'9"), and a "spread" - I set up two sets of jumps about 3' apart, with the barrels in between.
Willig had some issues with the spread (so I'm glad I made it and we worked on it). He did great on the cross rails and verticals, but he didn't want to jump the spread when we came at it from the left. And he would WAY overjump and do that deer jump that sproings up into the air like a rocket launching. The first time I lost my stirrups completely (I'm pretty sure my legs shot out to the side like a rag doll too), but I stayed on, and after that, although they weren't beautiful, I never lost my stirrups again.
He did a good job though - he refused a few times, but made an effort and tried to figure it out.
I think our biggest obstacle right now is just the herd-bound/confidence/lack of experience. Though I would very much like to start taking dressage lessons once a month and jumping lessons (especially at someone's place with a xc course so we can experience all the different stuff) once a month.
I am thinking about maybe doing one of the clinics this fall. Up to now, I was feeling like we had so much to work on that a clinic would be a waste of time, but now I'm starting to think it would be good for him about now.
The Happ's Derby is next weekend, but the weather prediction is RAIN. I don't know if it's going to be held or not. My parents will be here, but we have a lot going on too. And, I'm about to drive the truck today, because last weekend the ABS light kept coming on, and then twice the brakes felt funny to me - like they were jumpy?? I'm going to see if it does it again today, so I can take it to the shop next week if something is wrong. No way am I hauling Willig if my brakes are acting up.
I also realized one reason our progress is so slow (aside from not having a trainer and me having no idea what I'm doing) - although I'm out at the barn about 20 hours a week, I really only ride about 3 hours a week. And some of that is on Mercury. I spend a lot of time lunging Willig because he's had a day or two off (and then I don't ride him as long after), and even though it feels like I have hardly enough time in the week as is, I have to figure out a way to get more riding hours in the saddle. Then I thought, maybe if I totally suck, I'm at least slowing down the damage I'm doing to him until I get a trainer. I don't think so though - we seem to be making inching progress. And I'm really, really pleased with the 2'9" because that means that once we have the experience over the different types of jumps, and the dressage lessons, it won't take us long to move through BN to Novice. He's such a delight to ride compared to Merc, even though when he's not paying attention, his steering goes out.
I think in a few years he'll definitely be able to go Training. I don't know enough to know if he'll ever go Prelim. I am, however, a convert. Warmbloods for me from now on.

Growth opportunities abound

I know a decent amount about horses. Not compared to a professional, or someone who's been riding their whole life, or, ok, lots of people. But compared to a beginner, I know a lot.
But horses, one of the best and worst things about them, is the constant challenge. And man oh man is Willig good at that. As soon as I start to relax, he takes me by surprise again.
Last night, I lunged him outside while they brought in the last of the horses still in their turn-out. And he did ok with that. And then someone hauled in to ride, and rode past him into the woods, and he did ok with that. And it got to be dusk, and he did ok with that.
But then, two people came across the field from a trail ride and went into the barn, and then, he just had done so well with everything else, that old herd bound thing kicked in and he just couldn't deal with it anymore. I tried riding him, but couldn't get him to focus, so I got off him and lunged him and he did the thing where he broke into crazy nervous sweat and raced around with his ears just FIXATED on the barn and not listening to me and not paying attention.
After a while, his ear started flicking towards me, so I rode him again, and every time we came around the corner pointed towards the barn, he'd try to rush, so we'd make little circles - little circles - little circles - then try again. After about 5 laps, he quit rushing, so I just let him quit then.
We didn't get to work on any of the things I planned to work on, and while we've made good progress if I look back, it feels frustrating to not ever just - well - ride.
I know I'm learning a lot, and in an area I didn't know before, but I really, really wish I had a trainer right about now.
And, of course, he's not getting as much time as I wish he was because of my new position at work and Odie's heart.
I need to get some books about what to do about a herd bound horse. I've just never dealt with it before. All I can think of is ride him (or work him) until he behaves, then stop. Then keep introducing new things until he builds confidence. I'm just in totally uncharted territory (for me).
The wonderful thing, however, is what my co-worker and riding friend said today, about riding horses, even when they're naughty, makes you be present. It's true. Just like climbing. It is the single easiest way for me to be present. It's why I love it so much. Well, one reason.

Calorie burning day

Today Sam helped me "strip" Mercury and Willig's stall. They have mats, but sawdust and manure (and pee) gets in the cracks between them, and I thought the combo was mounding up. Turns out the floor is just bumpy. The mats were really heavy, and I couldn't have done it without Sam. It took the two of us two hours and I had sweat pouring down my face. Well, ok, trickling.
Then we picked some blackberries (yum!) and set up a jump exercise for both boys. It was three ground poles (like last time), 4'9" apart, then 9'6" to a cross rail, then 18' to a vertical (2'6" or 2'8", I already forgot), then 18' to an oxer (back rail was 2'9"). Willig did amazing. He had a couple refusals on the oxer, but Sam watched and helped me change the jumps. We started with no jump on the vertical and no back bar on the oxer, then the low bar on the vertical, then the high bar on the vertical, and then the back bar on the oxer.
He was, however, his usual freaky obnoxious self about the side of the arena closest to the forest. It is driving me crazy. It isn't even the jumps he's scared of because they were all INSIDE the arena today.
Mercury was not as good as Willig. He tended to rush a bit towards the end, and he got kind of wound up about the whole thing. But overall, they were both really good.
I, however, am old-lady-out-of-shape and suspect I'm going to be sore tomorrow from the stall cleaning.

Chiropractor

Both Willig and Mercury got an adjustment today from the chiropractor. Both of them had their pelvises out of alignment - Willig a little bit to the left, which is possibly what's making his left front knee look a little long; and Mercury a lot to the right. That's pretty typical for Mercury, who is conformationally challenged. The chiro had a nice, calm attitude, and both horses were really well behaved. Hopefully I will make it out Friday and see if they feel different. Neither of them were having problems, I just thought I'd get them checked while he was out.
Willig's personality is getting better and better. He still has room for improvement, but I can see some progress now if I look back at where we started. The biggest problem we're having right now is with the ever-so-scary jumps and barrels on the side of the arena. I can not figure out why they're such a big deal.