Dreamer & Cupid - My Super Boys!

Last weekend I went to my first Obstacle Challenge at Turkey Run Ranch – what a blast!

We strolled in a bit late at 10:30am which only left us 30 minutes to get saddled up and practice the obstacles. The warm up actually started at 9am but because it was raining and a 3hr drive we were a little sluggish getting there.

Cupid and Dreamer came for the show – Kahleesi is still taking time off hoping she’ll be sound for Kentucky after getting a mysterious hoof bruise while out in the paddock.

I was so incredibly proud of my horses as they approached all of the unique obstacles.

Obstacles included:

• ·         Kiddie pool with water and floating wood
• ·         Raised bridges
• ·         Sand filled tires
• ·         Piles of pine cones
• ·         Straw jumps
• ·         Tarps and sand hills
• ·         A sprinkler car wash
• ·         Water crossing
• ·         Narrow back through

There were really a lot of choices and I loved how they have the are set into 3 different parts. The sand ring was all Halloween/fall themed. One grass field area was set up Indian themed with a teepee and other decorations. The third area was set up as the cowboy field.

The only things my boys were weary of were the rope gate – because there was scary cornstalks on either end, yikes they might bite!

I planned out a good route to try and get as many of the 60 obstacles that I could. I rode first on Cupid and got a lot done. Cupid was so confident and really focused on the task. It was definitely his best show so far and I was such a proud mama.

Next up was Dreamer – I rode a very similar pattern with him and just had to change things a bit because he knocked down 2 of the jumps which makes it a ‘dead’ obstacle meaning you can’t do it again (otherwise you can do them twice). Dreamer did everything with confidence and speed making him a super star.

Results - Way to go Boys! 

At the end of the day we shared an amazing potluck and got to find out our scores. It was great to see the score sheets to see what exactly we did. There were 19 competitors and 10 of them (majority) scored between 67 – 106 points, with only the top 5 placings finishing above 106 points.

I was extremely thrilled when Cupid was announced as 5^th place with 121 points – wow has this boy improved! 2^nd, 3^rd, and 4^th went to very good rides finishing with 131-127 points which were extremely close scores!

Dreamer and I were flying like the wind and smoked up 148 points for first place. Crikey I knew he was a dreamer, but buddy you’re seriously an over achiever! Not too surprising that Dreamer had an admirer at the show wanting to buy him… but not to worry big guy, you aren’t going anywhere :)

I am super in love with Obstacle challenges and if you want to give it a go I super recommend Turkey Run Ranch – what a lovely set up and amazing people that are so kind and supportive… plus they know how to serve up one delicious potluck!

Tips from this show:

• ·         Put the focus on your foundation. Get your horse to trust you and build his confidence in you. Then when you start to see new obstacles it doesn’t matter that they are new because your horse knows you can keep them safe and they can do what you ask.
• ·         Get out there and try something new, take a chance and leave yourself open to find new passions, dreams, challenges, and fun.
• ·         Really make sure you have a plan heading into the obstacle challenge and know where you are going .
• ·         Ride the little obstacles on your way to the bigger point obstacles.
• ·         Do the obstacles that you can complete quickly – just because you can move the cows from one pen to another (which is a hard obstacle that scores high at 5  points) doesn’t mean it’s the best use of your short 5 minutes in the ring.
• ·         If you aren’t sure how to do something make sure you ask. One of the reasons I scored so high was because I clarified that one combination obstacle could actually be done 3 different ways and each was considered a different obstacle at 3 points– this meant 3 obstacles right beside each other could be done back to back for 18 points. Some other competitors only rode 1 or 2 variations of this obstacle and didn’t get the extra points.
• ·         Put the focus on fun – I project a confident smile to my horses and they know we are there for a  good time. Then they were able to have fun too.

On Sunday we started rehearsing for my freestyle patterns for the Kentucky TB Makeover. Stay tuned for more updates in the coming weeks. Thank you so much for the team that is coming to support me and be ring crew!

Extreme Cowboy at Ancaster Fair tomorrow followed some more TB Makeover practice. See you at the fair!

2 Competitions with an Unexpected Twist

This past weekend I went to two different horse shows. On Saturday September 12th I went to Glenaura Horse Farm for the Obstacle show, and Sunday I went to the Uxbridge Fall Fair Gambler's Choice Horse Show.

Obstacle Show
On Saturday morning it was pouring rain, dark, and cold when we headed out with the horses at 6am so we could arrive on time to Honeywood. By the time we got there the skies had cleared, the rain had stopped, but it was still pretty crisp in temperature.

We unloaded Cupid and Khaleesi and discovered Kahleesi was ouchy on her front right. Not horrible but not perfect. I walked her around a bit, assessed her legs/hooves, and determined it is either an abscess brewing or she stepped on a stone and bruised her foot. There was no heat in her leg, but seemed to be a little heat near her coronet band.

We tried wrapping her and putting hoof boots on and that helped. She was walking nicely and willingly but occasionally would take ouchy steps. I decided to keep Kahleesi walking because walking is good if it's an abscess, as well she seemed comfortable.

The competition started with an online obstacle class. I decided to keep Kahleesi in the class because it was going to be all walk and the exposure to new obstacles would be good for her. I competed in the Intermediate (they had two levels: Beginner & Intermediate).

The obstacles were fun and included:

• Tarp
• Barrels to circle around
• Pool noodle car wash
• Tunnel made out of a tarp
• Pushing a ball off a tire
• Pool noodle standards
• A swivel obstacle where you had to get the horse to push a piece of wood (watch the video because I don't really know how to describe it)
• Narrow bridge
• Pedestal (giant one)
• Caveletti jump (on a low height that you can walk over)
• Kiddie pool with water and an inner tube around it
• Teeter tauter

Cupid and Kahleesi were awesome. They did everything pretty easy except they had a good sniff at the pool. 

Kahleesi finished 1st and Cupid was 3rd out of a lot of people (they placed ribbons to 10th and there were more people than placings). 

After that we competed in Liberty, which was the same course but no rope. The horses were awesome and Kahleesi was 1st with Cupid 4th. There was a lot of impressive liberty work from the competitors. Kahleesi got top marks because I could send her through many obstacles from a distance. 

Next we had riding obstacles. This was walking (trot was optional, but with all the obstacles there wasn't room for a lot of trotting). This time Cupid came 1st and Kahleesi was 3rd. 

After that I decided to scratch Kahleesi from the Trail challenge because that would involve some jumps, trotting, and cantering. I didn't want to push her out of her comfort, and at the trot she was more ouchy. 

Cupid competed in the trail class which was outdoors and in a big back field. 

The obstacles included:

• Logs to cross over
• Flag that you had to move from one round bale to another
• A squeeze to ride through (hay feeders lined up in parallel rows)
• Brush jump with brush on the sides (similar to pool noodle standards but with brush)
• Jump with a car wash over top
• Brush jump with brush facing up towards the horse's belly
• Pick up a water bucket and move it
• A pole drage
• Water crossing
• Ditch
• A tunnel made out of tarp for a floor, round bales for sides, and a tarp for a roof
• A gate
• Bank jump
• Giant tires filled with sand to cross over
• Gate

It was a lot of fun - Cupid wasn't super relaxed so we need to work on finding relaxation at the obstacles so he can stand still better at them. He thought the ditch was scary and took about 5-10 minutes to cross it the first time. I was just patient and insisted he look/try but wasn't forceful. Our gate wasn't super pretty either because he was a bit anxious to stand beside it calmly. 

He placed 4th in the trail class and then when it was all done I spent an hour with Cupid at the gate building his confidence to stand calmly at the gate. Eventually he relaxed and did the gate beautifully so I hopped off and loved on him. It was important to give him so much comfort in the right moment because it was such a big challenge. 

Watch our show:

Gamblers Choice on Sunday

On Sunday I went to the Uxbridge Fall Fair for the Gamblers Choice. It was a bit of a drizzly cold day but Kathy and Larry Bonehill did an awesome job setting such a fun obstacle course. 

Because Kahleesi was still looking ouchy, I made a last minute swap and brought Dreamer (one of our lesson horses) instead. This meant I had Dreamer, Cupid, and Thetis. I brought Thetis because last year I competed with her and didn't place, so I wanted to do better this year. Cupid and Kahleesi were entered because they needed more exposure to obstacles before Kentucky.... so I had 3 horses to show. 

My round one was on Thetis. I carefully planned my route and executed it pretty well except our first obstacle she didn't want to let me get off onto the mounting block, and I dropped the ball on an obstacle soon after that (literally). After that we found our groove and aced all of the obstacles we attempted. 

Cupid was ride two. He entered the ring calmly but then the Merry Go Round started going and he had a bit of a melt down. I had to change my plan and avoid that corner of the ring because it was too big of a distraction that he was actually starting to go catatonic. We continued to other parts of the ring and he did awesome, once we were out of that corner he aced all of the obstacles we attempted. 

Lastly I rode Dreamer, final horse of the day. By now I had a strategy worked out and I rode a pretty efficient pattern. Dreamer was super awesome and aced everything except one water box he jumped over instead of stepped through. 

I was super happy and very thrilled with our progress. 

I was even more delighted when Cupid was announced as 8th place, Thetis as 2nd place and Dreamer as 1st place. Dreamer did pretty awesome as a back up horse and I definitely did better than last year!

Some tips I learnt from the weekend:

• Be ready to have a plan B, and C
• When plan B and C don't work, take a deep breathe and focus on what you can do
• Practice relaxation at the obstacles so your horse can approach with confidence
• The show ring is a place to show what you excel at, not what you are working on. If you don't think you can do an obstacle, don't try it during gamblers choice - do that during warm up, or after the course, or try it at home
• Make a plan and ride your plan
• In gamblers choice think about riding the obstacles that are close together rather than wasting time going all over the ring. For example do the 1 point jump that is just slightly out of the way between two bigger point obstacles. 

Watch the gamblers choice:

I had a super amount of fun and can't wait to do it again!

PHH Horse Show, Extreme Cowboy Race & a Wedding, could it get any better?

Last weekend was pretty intense, but I suppose that's the norm for this summer! On Saturday we had our second Partridge Horse Hill show and we had a fantastic turnout. Thank you to everyone who came out and we hope to see you on Saturday October 3rd for our final one.

Our horse shows includes walk/trot classes for novice riders or horses, hunter over fences, jumper classes, obstacle classes, and speed events to round out the day. Every first place got a bag of homemade molasses cookies to go along with their ribbon - thank you the Canadian Horse Defense Coalition! Thank you Alexandra for judging!

Champion and Reserve champions had a selection of prizes to choose from include a snazzy silver Western show halter, a bridle bag (thank you Greenhawk!), free saddle fitting (thank you Canterbury Outpost Saddlery!), earrings, polos, fly masks, leather halter, and more.

Showing Tips:

• Arrive early and take advantage of the fact that we let riders warm up in the show ring for the hour before the classes start
• Practice being calm and precise while in the warm up ring
• Focus on slow and right instead of fast and wrong
• Smile, breathe, and have fun!

Extreme Cowboy Racing on Sunday

On Sunday I went to the Marmora Extreme Cowboy Race. It was Cupid & Kahleesi's 2nd race and it was way different than our first one at Campbellford fair. There were a lot more people, so in my Pro division we had 14 very good riders and horses. Maya also came with Nillina to ride in the Youth division, she was 3rd in her first cowboy race, and then 5th in the finals.

It was really nice to see all of the excellent riders showing off their skills. This judge really valued correct bend and flexion. He was marking in a way that rewarded precision more than speed. 

Cupid was up first and he was so much more relaxed this race than last time. In Campbellford he was so panicked by the horses pulling carts in the show ring beside us that he couldn't concentrate at all. This race he actually did a lot of things really well and managed 11th in the tough competition. We still need to work on some things and find more relaxation in the ring, but he is definitely coming along. 

Kahleesi was her usual super awesome self and did most things really well, but overall we still need to work on better bend and flexion. She managed to get 8th in the first round so we just barely made it to finals (they take the top 8 to do a 2nd course). We improved in our 2nd round except for a big spook at the tractor, and managed a 6th place. 

I was very happy with both my horse's progress. 

Tips for Extreme Cowboy that I picked up this past Sunday:

• Practice riding with one hand
• Practice with odd decorations such as a rope gate with scarecrows on either end
• Practice stopping on bridges and picking up things (don't be in a hurry to get across)
• Practice strange obstacles like putting your hooves into a kiddie pool filled with little balls, or a mattress wrapped in a tarp
• Make sure your horse stands still while getting on after a ground tie for the best marks
• Double check your tack before you ride - the hackamore or bit might not be allowed
• Find a nice cowgirl/cowboy to show you how to rope!

Watch our video of our races!

After the show I got cleaned up and enjoyed my friend's wedding - congratulations Allison and Keith! It was an amazingly beautiful wedding. 

Monday was an exciting day because Esther Johnson and I figured out a routine for Kahleesi for when we show in Kentucky (We are also luckily sponsored by Equine Choice products and Cavallo hoof boots!). I am looking forward to Kentucky, it's going to be here before I know it!

NHA horse show finale weekend with Tips for success!

Last weekend was all about the Natural Horsemanship Association (NHA)- well except for Friday evening when I spent a couple hours with my centered riding coach Esther Johnson to start work on my freestyle routine for Kentucky. That was a lot of fun getting things figured out – we still have a lot of work to do, but we are putting together a nice routine for Kahleesi – Cupid you are next!

I was lucky to have a couple volunteers to help me set up for the NHA obstacle show – our gamblers choice had over 40 options so it was a lot to set up. We were blessed with good weather for the show and the best turnout for classes yet.

The horse agility classes seemed to be popular with 12 in the novice! The liberty classes still only had 3 entries, so perhaps this will condense to be just one class next year. Our judge, Shelley, gave some tips for scoring well in the class.

Tips for Scoring well in Horse Agility:

• -        Find a way to get your horse motivated, even if that means using a treat as a reward after some obstacles so that your horse looks keen, interested, and has a little spring in their step.
• -        Be careful to set your horse up nicely and straight to the obstacles so that they can complete them accurately.

We moved into the riding classes and there was a lot of fun to be had. We received a lot of great feedback about enjoying the Finesse, Speed, and Gamblers Choice classes because of the variety. 

Having prize money for the gamblers choice seemed to go over really well too - I guess everyone likes money? A lot of people stayed to enter the money class at the end of the day with 100% of the class entries going into prizes. We were happy with 14 people in that class, a good turnout for it's first time.

It was fascinating to watch the different ways everyone completed their gamblers choice, with more than 40 options there was a lot of variation to how you could do it. It was also interesting to see who dared master the big bridge for 15 points, and who was able to do the gamblers choice obstacle of the splash box worth 20 points.

The splash box is a box filled with water, with a floating piece of wood with holes in it. It looks solid to the horse but when they step on the floating wood, it sinks with water gushing up through the holes. You can imagine that a lot of horses find it intimidating at first.

The Unexpected Obstacle

What we didn’t expect, is that as everyone was splashing through the box, there was more and more mud created around the box which actually became more of an obstacle to some horses.

Being Impressed

I was super impressed with the riders and horses at the competition – I was also happy to have competition for the first time in the extreme division… the last two shows it had just been my horses and I, but this time there were 7 entries. It was great to see talented riders and horses competing at that level.

In particular a few things that impressed me –

• -        Andrea and her ability to ride a gate in a few seconds. She made it look so easy and inspired me to practice the gate to master this skill better… I am still not as good as her at it, but now I can ride the gate with Kahleesi!
• -        Dave with his horse that would walk on water if he ask or jump to the moon. He’s raised such a willing partner.
• -        Cody with his young horse that he did just the right amount to progress his young horse without pushing him too hard.

Everyone really did a great job and I was super thrilled with everyone’s horsemanship and sportsmanship at the show.

From watching & riding gambler’s choice, here’s some tips I picked up:

• -        Ride the high point obstacles first to make sure you get the big points
• -        Only attempt the obstacles you are sure you can do pretty easily/quickly because the seconds count down fast
• -        Have fun and smile! The horse can feel your tension, so if you smile and have fun your horse will do better.

All in all it was a great show day! 

We want to know what you like to see in the shows!

We are taking feedback for next year and would really appreciate you take the NHA Horse Show survey at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/BNSS3SJ 

– or email us any feedback (good or bad) you are willing to share to nhassociation@gmail.com because want to do this again next year, and want to make it better for you.

Sunday Wrap Up

The day after the horse show we had a fun trail ride out to the pond – it was a nice day to take a quick dip with horses – thank you for everyone that came out!

Also a big congratulations to the PHH riders that showed at Oak Ridges Equestrian Centre, we had a few riders come home with champion and reserve champion ribbons. Well done girls and thank you Caileigh-Anne for being our show team coach!

What's up Next?

Tomorrow the fun continues with our Partridge Horse Hill Show – we have hunter, jumper, obstacle, and speed event classes. We hope to see you there! More information at http://partridgehorsehill.com/HorseShowClinic.html

Keep in the know at https://www.facebook.com/PartridgeHorseHill